Zoe Vorenas and Neversfelde Kipling were the winners of the Grade 4 Freestyle class at the 2019 Serata Dressage Festival

© The Australian Equestrian Team

Today saw the final say of competition at the 2019 Serata Equine Dressage Festival, which was held at Victoria’s Boneo Park. The final of competition saw a range of classes including the Grand Prix Special, the Medium pony and horse tests, as well as the anticipated Para Equestrian Freestyle tests. 

By Zoe Vorenas

 The final day of competition at the 201 Serata Equine Dressage Festival saw the para dressage riders dance their ways through their Freestyle tests.

Marnie once again had a big smile on her face and seemed to be very pleased with Spyda after their test. And rightly so! The pair scored 66.3%, a great effort.

In the grade 2 we had Bridget Murphy and Tash, and Vic and Eddie. Both riders put their best foot forward, producing some lovely work. Vic took out the championship with her lovely stallion, after a great test scoring 68.378%. 

Bridget Murphy and Dracmoore Flirtacious scored 65.012% in the Para Freestyle Grade 2 class

© the Australian Equestrian Team

The grade 3 saw Emma Booth score an incredible 76.323% with her boy, Zidane, to their very Aussie themed “Man From Snowy River” music. A fantastic score which will be extremely competitive on the world stage. Emma certainly has her sights set on a medal performance at Tokyo, and with scores like that, she should be happy that she’s on the right track. 

Emma Booth and Zidane at the 2019 Serata Equine Dressage Festival at Boneo Park

© The Australian Equestrian Team

The grade 4 was a competitive class. Claire Graham is definitely starting to show off her beautiful gelding, Der Beste, and the two danced their way to a 68.325%. Just above her was Tilda and Devils Chocolate, with a score of 69.575%. A wonderful, flowing test by Tilda and one she should be really happy with. I said it previously but Tilly is improving each time and it’s a credit to Tilda’s hard work. 

Kip definitely had a bit of fun in the ring today. I had to laugh, because we went onto the diagonal to do our medium canter... and well, it was more of a medium gallop. The comments of “bold” were definitely well deserved, I think. But I had no problem bringing him back for the corner, albeit maybe pushing it a little close! Ahh well! All good fun and I really did enjoy my time in the ring today. Kip was just a ball of good energy and really put in the effort today. We were rewarded with a 75.6%, which I am absolutely thrilled about but I think the best part is that there’s room to improve and make changes still. 

Stuart did a beautiful test this morning and was rewarded with a 67.892%. This means he took out the Grade 5 Championship. 

Thank you to the event committee, the sponsors, EA, Boneo, all the stewards, staff and volunteers. It really means a lot to us Paras that we are able to compete at such an event in the lead up to Tokyo 2020. 

Grand Prix Special:

Today’s Grand Prix Special was won by Marvin Smink, who received a total score of 63.319%, with Haya. Second place was awarded to Jenny Bray, who received a total score of 63.191%, with the talented DJ Diamond Dazzler. 

To view the results, please click here. 

EQ Life would like to congratulate all the combinations who competed at this year’s Serata Equine Dressage Festival, and would like to thank the organisers for putting on such a wonderful event. 

EQ Life’s live stream from the main ring on Friday, 13th December can be found here. 

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