Congratulations to showjumper and Pocklington School pupil Harriet Hodge, who has qualified to compete in the prestigious Longines Royal International Horse Show at Hickstead in July.
Harriet earned her qualification for the Winter JC Championship after a stunning performance last weekend at the Large Pony Premier at Aintree International Equestrian Centre on her pony ‘Little Charlie’. With only three qualification places available the competition was held over three rounds of jumping, starting at 1.15m and finishing at 1.25m in the third and final round. Competitors needed to jump clear to progress to the next round; incredibly, Harriet and Charlie jumped clear in every round.
Out of almost sixty starters Harriet finished in an amazing 3rd place, which now qualifies her for The Longines Royal International Horse Show at Hickstead in July which will be against the best junior riders in the UK.
Harriet summed up the whole experience by saying: “It was a huge relief when I realised I’d qualified. After my round I went into the lead but there were still seven very good competitors to go. I knew it would be close. I couldn’t have asked anymore from Charlie, he was amazing!“
Speaking about his daughter’s accomplishment, Mr Hodge said: “Outside of being selected for team GB to compete at a Nations Cup, domestically qualifying for the Royal International Horse Show or the Horse of the Year Show is truly the pinnacle of the sport for Junior showjumpers and without doubt Harriet’s biggest achievement in the sport to date. She has had an amazing weekend and we are so proud of her!”
Harriet has also qualified to represent the School in the NSEA Hickstead Elite Championship at the beginning of July. This competition is due to take place in the main arena, which will be the perfect warm up for her and her pony, Charlie, before they return a few weeks later. Harriet is very excited and thrilled to be competing at Hickstead as she explained: “The main arena at Hickstead is a very special place; I have been very lucky to jump there twice before and I can’t wait to go back!”
With the championship not for another six months, Harriet has plenty of competitions ahead of her before then. She is full of ambition and aspires to qualify for the Horse of the Year Show in October. She certainly is going to have one very busy year and we wish her and Charlie the very best of luck!
***February update***
Following another equestrian competition at the weekend, Harriet has qualified another of her ponies for the prestigious Longines Royal International Horse Show at Hickstead in July, after jumping clear in every round to finish 4th out of over 50 ponies.
Mr Hodge commented: "The qualification was very unexpected and such a significant achievement, simply because Harriet has only been riding JET for five months and the pony is a complete novice; it had never jumped a course of any height. Through incredible drive, patience and commitment Harriet has produced it into a talented pony. It was by far the most inexperienced pony in the entire field , yet Harriet made it perform like one of the most experienced!"