There are times to pull out all the stops, and there’s your first attempt at five-star. New Zealand rider Abigail Long had never scored better than 33.7 at any international competition with Henton Audacious – even logging 51.4 this year – but produced a stunning 27.9 in the Pau Horse Trials dressage phase. This put her at the top of the leaderboard after a third of the field had performed.
“I’ve always known she’s got a nice test in her, it’s been about figuring her brain out,” said Abigail, 29. “This week has been a bit of an experiment, with the help of Jonelle Price. I’ve only dressage schooled her once, and that really helped. She was with me the whole time.
“We took her for a gallop, jumped her, did polework – it’s all about her brain, making sure she’s in a good headspace. Staying away from schooling kept her sweet, so she was happy to go in there and do everything, rather than thinking ‘This is the sixth time we’ve done dressage and I’m over it’.”
Henton Audacious (Daphnee) is a New Zealand Hanoverian, bred for dressage. She floated across Pau’s sand arena with her flashy paces, but the test was also notable for its consistency; the flying changes on point and the halt to rein-back a particular highlight.
“We bought her cheap on Facebook as a failed dressage horse,” said Abigail. “She was only four but they didn’t think she had a good enough hind leg, so were selling her to be anything.”
Abigail moved to the UK two years ago, where she is based in Swindon, and brought Daphnee with her.
“We’ve had her since she was four and she’s now 12,” she said. “She’s my little heart horse, I love her so much.”
Pau Horse Trials dressage phase: the early starters
Sub-30 tests were hard to come by on Friday morning – all 53 competitors are riding in one day as a result of Storm Benjamin affecting Thursday’s schedule.
The 2022 winners Grappa Nera and Jonelle Price opened proceedings with 34.1. They started well, trending sub-30 but the test unravelled midway with the flying changes and the marks slid.
Another three-horse rider, Bubby Upton, was next in with Cola, a good benchmark for a smart test. The 15-year-old, owned by Bubby’s mother Rachel, has a personal best of 26.7 at five-star. Here he produced a polished and consistent test, the only real mistake one poor flying change, which scored a four, before regrouping quickly for an impressive extended canter.
Their halts were the highlight; all three were excellent and scored 7.5s and eights. Their overall score of 30.3 may have looked a touch disappointing but set the target for the field at this early stage and they remained in the lead until Abigail’s test.
Although most horses were scoring below their best, Heartbreaker Star Quality (Angel) threw in a massive five-star personal best for Libby Seed to lie just 0.1 of a penalty behind Cola. The 14-year-old grey mare’s last three scores at this level have been over 36, but she raised her game today.
The mare has a lovely way of going; super-expressive and active. All four flying changes came off – unlike most of her rivals’ – and her highlight was her extended trot work, which was both light and ground-covering. Her only blips were slight resistance going into the walk, but as Libby said: “She usually jogs!”
“David Trott has been great with us over the past few months, just working very gently on the changes, the submission and improving the trot work,” Libby said. “She’s better with a bit of atmosphere – the engine takes over!”
Pau Horse Trials dressage: Yasmin Ingham “frustrated” after uncharacteristic blip
Yasmin Ingham made a quick return with Rehy DJ after their fall at the Blenheim Europeans last month in a bid “for redemption” to round off his season on a better note. They scored 31.2 despite a couple of uncharacteristic mistakes. The 15-year-old gelding, owned by Janette Chin and the Sue Davies Fund, produced a typically accurate test in the main, with on-point transitions, a superb halt to rein-back for eights, and an excellent walk tour. He was trending sub-30 when he fluffed the first two flying changes and although he nailed the last, their fate was sealed.
“I was frustrated with those two flying changes as they’re normally his highlights so that has brought his mark higher than what I’d have liked, but the majority was really good,” said Yasmin. “Those would be the only two mistakes he’s made in flying changes all week.
“But sometimes they do them perfectly outside and it just doesn’t pull off in the arena. They’re not machines, they’re animals, and we have to work with them to make them understand. Perhaps my aids weren’t correct, I’m not sure.”
With a third of the field left to go, Bubby Upton has taken the lead on her second ride Cannavaro (25.6). Tom McEwen lies second on Brookfield Quality (26.1) and Abigail holds third spot.
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