Rebecca Marsh and Stevie G became the first combination to successfully defend the national champion title, seizing the British Showjumping (BS) Business Partnership international stairway final at the BS National Championships with a fiercely competitive round that was also the sole double clear.
“Winning the national championships twice in a row is a bit of a dream, especially with it not having been done before,” Rebecca said. “He’s so amazing, what a guy. I absolutely adore him, he gives 100% every time.”
The first-round track was “quite big and tough”, and clear rounds were slow to materialise, but by the time all 28 competitors had jumped, six remained faultless.
Rebecca had taken two rides through, enabling her to have a pathfinding trip on her less experienced mare Izara Des Dames. And by the time she entered the ring in penultimate draw on 13-year-old Billy Mexico gelding Stevie, nobody had kept a clean sheet.
She delivered a fluid and harmonious round that axed one second from Miles O’Donnell’s leading four-fault performance on Jackpot DS – and there was only Anna Power and McQueen IV left to challenge. They went all out to cut 0.57sec from the target time but had to settle for the runner-up spot when a pole fell.
Rebecca’s run-up to the show was almost a facsimile of last year’s, as the pair hit top form right on cue, winning the area trial at Royal Lancashire before going on to claim victory here.
“Getting a Horse of the Year Show [HOYS] wild card was the aim,” she said.
“It’s great qualifying for HOYS – it’s one of those shows you always want to go to as a child, so to do it last year and have that experience, to then do it back to back this year – you know it means a lot, and I can’t wait to go back.”
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