The 10-day British Showjumping Sunshine Tour went out with a bang at the Cabin Equestrian Centre, Inverurie.
Heading back to Fife with the lion’s share of the £900 prize fund for the show’s biggest class the British Showjumping Scottish branch North of Scotland Open Championship was a delighted Nicola McArthur.
In this class, sponsored by Shaun Murray, Nicola bagged not only the first prize of £300 on 12-yearold Cadavloro but also the fourth place and £100 on Ben Quicke.
Cadavloro (Euro), by Carentino, is no stranger to the spotlight having won the Scottish open championships with Nicola in May and has proved to be “a careful wee horse” at 1m30 and 1m40 level.
Meanwhile, Ben Quicke, a bold Irish-bred horse by Cruising which has now turned 15, has given Nicola a lot of experience over the last couple of years jumping bigger tracks.
Both horses and Amaretto VI, who she also jumped in the tour, are owned by Davy Kerr.
“The North East Championship was a tough track,” said Nicola.
“Colin was very fair with the height but it was technical and all came at you really quickly. I was really pleased with how Cadavloro jumped.
“We are all just getting back up to this level since I broke both feet in November. I only started competing again in April.”
Nicola’s wins were not restricted to the closing day’s big class. She also led the 1m25 open on Cadavloro on the Friday, and added a third place on Amaretto Vi and a sixth place on Ben Quicke in the same class.
The winning streak continued on to the Saturday with second and fifth in the 1m25 open and again with Cadavloro in the Sunday’s 1m25 class.
Also in the spotlight during the show’s final weekend was Angus-based Lucy Guild.
Lucy and Hugana Vant Heike jumped to victory in both the Friday and Saturday’s 1m25 open as well as the Sunday’s Foxhunter first round.
Aberdeenshire-based Cabin regular Lesley Ross had a super show, notching up a first in the speed class the 1m05 open on Pereusa on the opening weekend with a third on Tuesday on Everlong.
Lesley went on to win the Newcomers on the Saturday on Bishopston Ranee II, before a victory in the Sunday’s 1m20 Intermediate/Open Summer Championship provided icing on the cake.
“I was delighted with all the horses throughout the tour,” said Lesley.
“Ranee really pulled it out of the bag for me on Sunday to win the 1m20 Championship. I’m over the moon as this was her first show back in quite a few months and I’d only sat on her once before the show,” she said.
“The jump-off in the championship was testing and very strong. I gave it a go and she tried her heart out. She deserved to win. You couldn’t ask for a more honest and scopey mare.”
Meanwhile, the Cabin kept it in the family with owner Fiona Quennell and daughter Kirsty Richardson for ming half of the winning team in Wednesday’s British Showjumping National Team Jumping Qualifier, with Alan and Kayleigh Spalding making up the other two team members.
The team have now secured their place at the Alexander Horseboxes British Showjumping Festival 2014.
Fiona gave a round-up on how the 2014 Sunshine Tour had gone: “Numbers were up by 30% this year and there were a lot of new faces. Riders came from as far afield as the Central Belt, Isle of Man and the north of Scotland.
“We thrive off running a show this size,” she added.
“It’s all about teamwork and we are like one big family here, fights and all!
“We run a socialprogramme alongside the Tour’s showjumping classes it gets everyone involved from Zumba to ride ’n’ drive through to a mid-week dance.
“I do get a huge buzz and satisfaction of seeing it all fall into place and the competitors enjoying themselves and having fun,” added Fiona.
“That’s what it’s all about. I really feel we are achieving what we set out to do in the equestrian world.”