After dominating the winter championships with four national titles, Sadie Smith kicked off her 2025 LeMieux National Dressage Championships with a win, taking the BETTALIFE novice gold title on Sarah Tyler-Evans’ five-year-old gelding River Rise Pizzazz (Valverde x Lord Leatherdale), scoring 74.68%.
At one stage, it looked close with Sophie Wells and Charlotte Hogg’s Ontario LC, who scored 72.87%, but River Rise Pizzazz grew in confidence through the second half of the test. As he moved into the canter work, sevens began to turn into eights.
“I was so pleased with him,” Sadie said. “He was such a good boy. We had one spook at A, but other than that he went really well through the test. We did the four-year-olds here last year and could barely get around, but this year he’s so much more confident. He’s a lot stronger in his body now.”
She added: “To be honest, I came out smiling because his trot is starting to get a lot of swing to it. But the main thing was confidence – he’s gone from being quite a spooky horse to really trusting me.”
The novice gold at the nationals often doubles as a de facto young horse class, with talent spotters on the lookout for future stars. River Rise Pizzazz – already a prelim gold champion at the winters – looks certain to be counted among them.
From top-10 hopes to first place at the 2025 National Dressage Championships
Ella-Grace Dovey and Sheepcote Jackson clinched the Topspec medium silver with 70.44%, finishing more than a percentage point clear of Anna Burns and San Isidro.
Ella-Grace Dovey and Sheepcote Jackson win the Topspec medium silver title at the 2025 LeMieux National Dressage Championships. Credit: Kevin Sparrow
The win adds to a remarkable record for the pair, who ended 2024 by becoming Britain’s first-ever children-on-horses medallists at the European Championships in Opglabbeek, Belgium – winning gold – and the national children-on-horses champion.
Now, a year on, Ella-Grace is still surprising herself. “I came here hoping to get top 10 at most. I wasn’t expecting to come top five, let alone first,” she admitted.
Riding early in the class meant an agonising wait. “It was a very, very long wait – we kept trying not to look at the scores, but then we’d give up and check our phones again,” she laughed.
Her winning test was marked by strong medium canters and simple changes, but she credits Sheepcote Jackson’s temperament as much as his talent. “He’s such a good boy in there. He’s very lazy, so it always looks a lot better than it feels – but he’s so fun to ride.”
Preparation for nationals included ironing out small details. “We just kept working on the little mistakes and our corners – I always forget about them in the test,” Ella-Grace explained.
She also enjoyed another recent milestone in her development. “I had my first ever lesson with Carl Hester a few days ago — it went really, really well.”
The 15-year-old already has her sights set on the next step. “We’re aiming to go out at juniors over winter and hopefully move him up. My other horse, Boccelli, has been helping me learn the changes, so that’s the plan.”
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