May is one of my favourite months - it always has been from a seasonal point of view - but it's a highlight of the Demi Dressage calendar for me too, because it's the event where we celebrate all things bright and rainbow, and go all-out with those 'rainbow rosettes'!
The "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" tests introduce riders to shallow loops as well as half circles, and the tougher three classes (Yellow-Plus, Blue and Red) have a fantastic final centre line movement which is often very influential in the marks.
MiniD's birthday is in May, as is The Pony Club's, and so we also celebrate Pony Club Members with a Highest Placed Special rosette. It's been brilliant over the years we've been doing this to see many young Pony Clubbers start out on their competitive journey with us before going on to represent their clubs in PC competitions.
For 2022 we introduced our *new* Harmony Awards: the ethos of Demi Dressage has always been to encourage kind and correct riding. Many riders will be rewarded for this simply in their placings: a harmonious test is more likely to score higher. However, there are times where we see a particularly pleasing test that might not necessarily be the highest scoring, but pony and rider are working well in partnership together, and that is what our new Harmony Awards are about.
This month we awarded two Harmony Awards, both newcomers to Demi Dressage. Congratulations to Molly and Raven (Red) and Bea and Snowflake (Yellow).
Results are published on the Demi Dressage Facebook page as they come in, but are posted here in class order for easy reference :)
"SOMEWHERE OVER THE RAINBOW" RESULTS - GREEN
First up this month is the Green test - a very gentle introduction to dressage for those just starting out in their riding!
Green is split into two sections - off lead and lead rein. In the off lead section we allow the rider to have someone in the arena for moral support - but we had to swap a couple of people around this month so please do check both sections when looking for your results Whilst we allow the person to be a little closer to the rider in the Green test than we do for our Assisted Yellow class, if the person assisting is essentially just 'leading with an invisible lead rope', or if they touch the bridle/reins at any point, this counts as lead rein. (For anyone still unsure, there is a demo video of MiniD riding a Yellow Assisted test on the Facebook page, and this gives a good example of how an adult is in the arena/nearby, but the rider is still independent - as always please feel free to message me to discuss at any point!)
Admin over - onto the results!
GREEN:
1st - Poppy and Toodles - 64.7%
2nd - Millie and Bliss - 64% (Highest Placed Pony Club Member)
3rd - Iris and Westie - 63.7%
4th - Lucy and Penny - 63%
GREEN (Lead Rein):
1st - Jeri and Sparkles - 68.3% (Highest Placed Pony Club Member)
2nd - Neve and Leightor 005 - 66.3%
3rd - Emily and Blossom - 66%
4th - Lexi and Princess Milly - 64.7%
5th - Alyss and Skye - 63.3%
SMARTIES EASTER CIRCLES RESULTS - YELLOW
In the interests of getting the final Results out as speedily as possible, this is just the Yellow Off Lead - Yellow Assisted and Yellow Lead Rein will follow shortly. We had a lot of Yellows this month!
Our introductory walk/trot Yellow test is split into three sections - off lead, assisted, and lead rein.
YELLOW:
1st - Bea and Snowflake - 77.9%
2nd - Elsa and Shamri - 76.6%
3rd - Wini and Tally - 74.2% (Highest Placed Pony Club Member)
=4th - Emme and Powysvalley Princess - 69.2%
=4th - Florence and Peppa - 69.2%
5th - Jule and Minimouse - 68.9%
6th - Holly and Pride - 68.2%
7th - Elly and Fifi - 67.1%
=8th - Sebastian and Endellion - 66.1%
=8th - Sophie and Teelings Little Legs - 66.1%
=8th - Ati and Minimouse - 66.1%
9th - Darci and Minimouse - 64.7%
10th - Lucy and Penny - 63.7%
Phew! That's the closest we've come to splitting a class since lockdown days (I like giving out rosettes, so classes are randomly split if over 18 entries, to give everyone more of a chance of a 1st - 6th placing! )
And our final batch of results - Yellow Assisted and Yellow Lead Rein (Yellow off lead has been posted previously as a separate post). We had a lot of Yellows this month!
Our introductory walk/trot Yellow test is split into three sections - off lead, assisted, and lead rein. Our special Yellow Assisted class allows for someone in the ring for moral support, please see our website for the definition of Assisted - if you're still confused, as always please feel free to message me to discuss at any point!
YELLOW (Assisted):
1st - Millie and Blue - 72.4%
2nd - India and Gracie - 68.4%
3rd - Holly and Beanie - 65.3%
4th - Isabella and Westie - 64.2%
5th - Lily-Mae and Major - 62.1%
YELLOW (Lead Rein):
1st - Benjamin and Millie - 73.7% (Highest Placed Pony Club Member)
2nd - Quinn and Peppa - 70%
3rd - Bobbie and Della - 69.7%
=4th - Aveline and Sakara - 67.9%
=4th - Mallory and Tangle - 67.9%
5th - Ellis and Rocky the Rockstar - 65%
6th - Lexi and Princess Milly - 61.6%
SMARTIES EASTER CIRCLES RESULTS - YELLOW-PLUS
This month's Yellow-Plus class is a little smaller than usual - I think a few have moved up to Blue!
Yellow-Plus is our child-friendly equivalent to a BD 'Intro' - essentially a walk-trot test. We tend to see a pretty high standard in this test, with most of our riders having established themselves using our simpler Yellow tests before progressing up our levels (our winner a very good example of that <3 )
YELLOW-PLUS:
1st - Isaac and Robbie - 73.9% (Highest Placed Pony Club Member)
2nd - Neve and Milly - 70.2%
3rd - Holly and Shamri - 68.6%
4th - Emily and Chester - 66.6%
5th - Lilly and Sunny - 64.5%
6th - Ayla-Rae and Gracie - 59.5%
SMARTIES EASTER CIRCLES RESULTS - BLUE
Blue, as you probably all know by now, is my 'special favourite' class - because it bridges the gap between Intro and Prelim, allowing children to have a go at riding canter in a test in an encouraging, easy and safe way. No tricky movements in canter feature in Blue tests - just an opportunity to try getting that 'third gear' in a test situation!
BLUE:
1st - Anna and Katy - 75.6% (Highest Placed Pony Club Member)
2nd - Isaac and Robbie - 70.8%
3rd - Freya and Eric - 68%
4th - Caitlin and Milly - 67.8%
5th - Lucy and Autumn - 64.8%
6th - Ruby and Micky - 63.8%
7th - Ayla Rae and Gracie - 58%
SMARTIES EASTER CIRCLES RESULTS - RED
This month's Red class was strong - very nice to see some newcomers to this class helping it to become more competitive at our toughest level! The Red class is for riders competent in their canter work, and working their ponies at or just below BD Prelim level.
RED:
1st - Molly and Raven - 74.3% (Highest Placed Pony Club Member)
2nd - Jed and Songbird - 71.1%
3rd - Freya and Eric - 66.6%
4th - Ffion and Rocky the Rockstar - 64.6%
5th - Harriet and Daisy-Pony - 64.3%
6th - Tilly and Royal Flash - 55.5%
Well done everyone!
Our next tests are the “Summer Ice Creams” June dressage, and there is a CASH* PRIZE for the winner of each class for this event :D The tests can be downloaded from the Current Event page, and the closing date is Sunday 26th June 2022. To celebrate Tangle's 15th birthday earlier this month, there is a special rosette sponsored by my art page Four Paws and A Pencil for the Highest Placed Welsh Pony in each class.
*We can't post out ice creams as prizes, but the winner of each class will receive a £3 cash prize to treat themselves to a well-earned ice cream!
*Refunded from your original entry fee via Paypal or Bacs. Minimum entry numbers apply (5 per class/section - sections will be combined if low entries)