Catching up with our sponsored riders…
At Elevator Equestrian we are proud to sponsor and support riders competing at different levels in eventing and dressage, and love watching them train, compete and learn. It’s a privilege to be a part of their journey and we’re delighted to share some updates from our stable of riders with you for our May blog. So, without further ado:
Fred Powell
Fred is the lucky rider of our Director Jo’s very own event horse Grafiba, and the partnership tackled their first ever Advanced at Thoresby International Horse Trials at the start of April. They did brilliantly with a foot-perfect double clear to claim 11th place. Next stop for the duo is the CCI4*S at Bramham International Horse Trials next month. Good luck Fred and Grafiba!
Kate Bleloch
All our sponsored riders have had a busy month as the eventing season really hits top gear. Kate is no different and has been at Thoresby, Cirencester and Aston-le-Walls in the past few weeks with her strong of up-and-coming eventers. Kate’s busy year has continued into May, and she is also competing at Chatsworth International Horse Trials in the CCI4* short format with 3 of her string as we write this blog – good luck Kate! After that it’s a quick turnaround for Kate to head to the Fairfax & Favor Rockingham Horse Trials in Rutland – we’ll keep you posted on how she gets on!
Alan Nolan
Alan is a very busy man indeed, juggling his full-time job as Business Manager for GAIN Equine Nutrition with competing a string of eventers all over the country. April saw him heading to Larkhill in Wiltshire, Solihull, Kelsall Hill in Cheshire and Oxstalls in Gloucestershire – all from his Worcestershire base! He’s already popped up at Aston-le-Walls in Northamptonshire so far this month, so we imagine he’s racking up some loyalty points with the filling stations. Alan has competed up to 5* level and is set on heading back to Badminton Horse Trials in the future, so we’ll be keeping a close eye on his super young horses, as he brings them up through the British Eventing levels.
Alex Hellings
A slight change of pace as we focus on our final sponsored rider, talented international dressage rider Alex Hellings. Alex is based in Bakewell, Derbyshire and as well as travelling across the UK to compete holds regular clinics for riders hoping to improve their dressage skills. This month has seen Alex out and about with her younger horses getting them used to the buzzier atmosphere at bigger shows and stepping them up to new British Dressage levels. Alex will be heading to Somerford Premier League at the end of the month with her top horse UVENDER V and we will be wishing her the best of luck for that big day out!
Pippa Funnell
As a legend of the sport of eventing who has achieved so much – including inspiring the 2022 Badminton winner Laura Collett to aim for the stars – Pippa Funnell is rightly deserving of her own category here at Elevator as a supported rider! Pippa has had an extremely busy couple of weeks, first taking the gorgeous Majas Hope and Maybach out to the Rolex Kentucky 3-Day Event in Lexington, the latter for his 5* debut. This super combination came an incredible 6th which is all the more impressive given it was the horse’s first time at this level, with Majas Hope finishing a very respectable 14th. Pippa then had no chance to reflect or pat herself on the back before she was on a plane to the UK and heading to Badminton Horse Trials with Billy Walk On and MGH Grafton Street. Sadly, her Badminton was not destined to equal Kentucky with Billy Walk On not feeling himself, leading to Pippa pulling him up, and then a nasty fall for MGH Grafton Street later in the day. As Pippa herself would say, onwards and upwards to the next challenge and tomorrow will be another day!