On Wednesday, the York equestrian 1sts won their final BUCS Championship League competition, beating Bishop Burton, Durham and Teesside to the top spot.
This was a fantastic result, made even more spectacular by the fact that Bishop Burton have a great focus on equestrian which would usually give them a huge advantage.
York’s four riders were determined to win from the start, with three out of four riders in the lead on their horse after the dressage. This included an outstanding performance from Joe Hinde who was awarded 82% for his test on Matilda.
Riders are assigned a horse at random for each discipline, and the aim is to get the best out of an unknown horse. Each university uses the same set of horses, so results can be more directly compared.
The horses proved difficult for Bishop Burton, who performed poorly in this first stage of the competition. Durham, however, put up more of a fight. The complicated BUCS rules meant that even though they were behind on two of their horses after the dressage phase, they were actually in the lead on penalties.
Three clear rounds for York in the jumping phase and high marks for style put the team ahead to win the competition overall.
It was a double win for team captain Elle Lockey, who successfully ended the competition on zero penalty points, winning individually. Club president Kate Paxton took individual third for her rides on Felix and Scilla.
At the end of the day, Bishop Burton took second place, Durham third and Teesside fourth. Total league points were very close between the top three teams, however Bishop Burton just clinched it and will be going through to the regional rounds later in the month. While York just missed out on qualifying for regionals, it was a great result to end the season.