Annabella Pidgley Wins British Under 21 Championships

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2021 British Dressage Championships

On the final day of competition at the 2021 British Dressage Championships on Sunday 19 September, Annabelle Pidgley won the U21 Title in a Championship class, unique to Great Britain: Youth riders aged 12 to 21 compete against each other in their respective pony, juniors and young riders test and fight for an overall title.

After an exceptional season on board her mother Sarah Pidgley’s French Hanoverian bred Sultan Des Paluds, Annabella Pidgley continued her run of great form with a win in the British Dressage Under 21 Championship. With a leading score of 72.9% already on the board with her second ride, the KWPN gelding Dibert L, Annabella went one better with Sultan completing a one-two, with her champion earning 75.65%.

Taking centre stage the very start of the final day, Annabella showcased the work that earned her two silver medals at this year’s FEI Junior European Championships. Speaking about being at the Nationals after her win, Annabella said, “It’s amazing, it’s so incredible with the crowd – to have an audience again after such a long time in competition without anyone watching is so good for the sport. I’ve never really experienced an atmosphere like it, even at the Europeans, it was really nice to have a home crowd and looking around, knowing so many people and feeling so much support.”

“It was really really good, I was really pleased,” Annabella continued talking about her top drawer test with the 11 year old gelding by Soliman des Hus. “He was a little bit tired because I also did the Andrews Bowen Advanced Medium – but he was super and it was a nice clear round. We’re just working on coming together more and more every day as a partnership.”

The elegant duo, trained by Danish medalist Cathrine Dufour and Britain’s golden girl Charltote Dujardin have been working hard in the run up to the event, “we’ve been working on our flying changes, getting a bit more expression, just to go for the even higher marks and try and push our score up.”

“Looking forward to next year, I think I’m going to carry on campaigning at Juniors and I would love to go to another Europeans, either with Sultan or with my second horse Dibert and to just really keep improving and getting better so that when I do step up to the higher levels I’m already ready to go out and do really well.” With the European Championships for Juniors and Young Riders back on British turf next year at Hartpury College, we can look forward to what 2022 brings us, not only for Annabella but also the wider wealth of talent in the British youth rider ranks.

Third place went to FEI Pony combination Mette Dahl and George Clooney, in this strong PYO class showcasing the FEI age groups at the British National Championships.

Text by British Dressage, edited by Eurodressage

Results - 2021 British U21 Championships

1. Annabella Pidgley - Sultan Des Paluds - 75.657 %
2. Annabella Pidgley - Dibert L - 72.929 %
3. Mette Dahl - George Clooney - 72.095 %
4. Ruby Hughes - Hilkens showgirl - 70.762 %
5. Mette Dahl - Florina - 68.485 %
6. Charlotte Lutener - Full Fusion BS - 68.284 %
7. Myles Graham - Dresscode Cocktail - 68.048 %
8. Gemma Owen - Sirius Black III - 67.99 %
9. Beatrice Butterworth - Carlsson - 67.714 %
10. Isobel Lickley - Lord Leatherdale - 67.576 %
11. Oliver Gould - Feiner stern - 67.222 %
12. Samantha Willson - Delhurens sunshine - 67.157 %
13. Lily Laughton - Armada Danubio - 66.869 %
14. Ruby Hughes - Extra Time - 66.869 %
15. Rose Foley - Cordici K - 66.286 %
16. Darcey Blaze Marcus - Valido’s Starlight - 65.333 %
17. Chloe Hill - Fort Knoxx - 65.202 %
18. Claudia Davis - Fergus RT - 63.48 %
19. India Durman-Mills - Escade - 61.01 %
20. Coco-Isabella Mussell - Zolansky - 56.759 %
Lauren Geraghty - WS Jackson - DNS
Holly Kerslake - Extasia - DNS
Jessica Mcconkey - Lady Gaga II - DNS
Caitlin Burgess - Chocotof - DNS