Student Success: National Show Jumping Success for Lucy & Airbourne Freddie
Lucy, 9BP, continued to build upon an amazing year of show jumping with her pony Airbourne Freddie by realising her dream of competing for England in October 2019.
Following injuries to both pony and rider, this combination only started jumping the top tracks in July 2019! In their very first top track competition they qualified for the prestigious Horse of the Year Show at Welsh Home Pony International. It was an extremely tough qualification process where three clear rounds were needed, with progressively higher jumps reaching 1.30cm and where only the top four combinations went through to jump at HOYS at the NEC in Birmingham.
In August, they continued to build upon this success when they went on to get placed in the Top 5 in our region to qualify for the British Show Jumping National 138cm Silver League finals, where they achieved a tremendous first place, followed by an unbelievable 2nd place in the Gold Level National 138cm Championships.
Her placing in the National Championships led Lucy and Airbourne to be picked for the England squad for the English Home Pony International.
On October 24th 2019, Lucy and the other four squad members jumped in a selection class, their strong performance meant that they were picked for the England team on the next day.
The competition was fierce, but they took it in their stride, helping the England team win a silver medal. Lucy and Airbourne are now looking forward to building upon their 2019 successes next year.
Well done Lucy!
