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BYEH Finals: Success for Vic
Following on from our last blog, where Meridianway Victory qualified for the 5YO finals in the BYEH class at Badminton, we are pleased to report that we have just returned from a successful trip to Burghley!
Meridianway Victory (Vic) is one of our homebred horses, by the Billy Studs Cevin Z, and was the last foal out of our good mare Fernhill City Girl (by Ghareeb). We sadly lost his mother during the foaling, and luckily Vic was adopted by a cob, which we are sure has made him the very loving character he is today.
Vic was born during Badminton and named after the famous Vicarage Vee. It was also the same year that we competed there on the wonderful Fernhill Now or Never - a memorable week!
Considering everything that goes into breeding a horse, it's even more special when you qualify for finals like the Burghley Young Event Horse class. Set in the beautiful park, with the house as a stunning backdrop, it is a special and prestigious final to be a part of.
New Experience for Young Horses
We headed up with Vic, wanting to give him a positive experience. He sometimes lacks confidence, but we saw this as an opportunity to expose him to a bolder atmosphere and see how he went.
On arrival, the lorries were parked in a sectioned-off part of the famous Burghley Deer Park, with quite a few deer nearby (albeit fenced off) - making getting on quite interesting! We soon got over that hurdle and he settled during the walk down. He did need a fair bit of hand-holding during the warm-up, with so much happening around him. When it was time to go in, we were very much of the opinion to not put too much pressure on him and to see how he felt.
The format of the class is to do a dressage test in an arena before going straight onto showjumping and cross country, before stripping the horses off for the conformation judge.
Vic did a sweet dressage test, focusing well, but perhaps a tad rushed if we were being super critical.
Onto the jumping, and having walked the course and watched a couple, it was a good test. But Vic was on form: he wasn’t fazed by the crowds and delivered two great fault-free jumping rounds. We were absolutely over the moon with his performance and the judges liked him in both the jumping and the conformation phases.
The Results
He scored 70 overall for 11th place – just missing out on joining the top 10 final gallop. But we were delighted with him. It was by far the largest atmosphere and course he has tackled to date and he took it all in his stride!
He is creating a good story for himself already at only 5 years old, so fingers crossed there is much more to come…
- Kate Honey - PE Sponsored Rider
