Excitement Building for 2012 British Dressage Championships

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2012 British Dressage Championships

Excitement is building around Stoneleigh Park with just days to go until the 2012 British Dressage Championships on 13 - 15 September 2012. Laura Bechtolsheimer will be defending her title as national champion with Andretti H but will face tough competition from Carl Hester who is bringing his number one horse Uthopia to challenge her for it.

Many more distinguished British Grand Prix riders are bound for Stoneleigh: Emile Faurie, Maria and Michael Eilberg, Henriette Andersen, Gareth Hughes, Judy Harvey, Nikki Crisp
and Hannah Biggs.

This year’s Championships promises to be one of the best yet. There will be a celebratory flavour to the event with British dressage now on top of the world, thanks to the achievements of our Olympic and Paralympic riders. To honour their amazing performances, a Salute to the 2012 Champions will be held on Saturday afternoon.

There is some terrific competition in store. From Thursday through to Sunday, 22 National Champions will be crowned, across classes from Preliminary to Grand Prix, as well as the National Para Championship and the Young Horse Championship. Throughout the competition you will be able to watch the country’s best horses and riders in action as they go head-to-head for National Titles.

The entry list reads like a who’s who in British dressage, and includes our Olympic gold medal winners. Charlotte Dujardin will bring along her four-year-old, Why Banquo and Laura Bechtolsheimer will compete on her promising home-bred Polar Bear in the Suregrow Advanced Medium Open. Twenty-one riders are entered for the Grand Prix Championships.

There will be two fantastic demonstrations during the Championships. On Saturday and Sunday, the Eilbergs will host an insightful 30-minute Masterclass, where you can share in their training methods as they will show what it takes to train horses up to international Grand Prix. We also have Olympic rider Richard Davison on hand to give his tips for success in his 25-minute Freestyle Explained session, also on Saturday and Sunday.