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Olivia Sealy from Kingston Langley, Chippenham in Wiltshire has won the Petplan Equine Novice Restricted Championship at the Petplan Equine Area Festival Finals on A Leonidas. After qualification at Summerhouse Equestrian & Training Centre Petplan Equine Area Festival in September the pair spent the winter preparing for this prestigious event held at Hartpury College, Gloucestershire from 6th – 10th April 2016.

A Leonidas is a Dutch bred 11 year-old gelding sired by Sander owned by The Duchess of Beaufort and ridden by Olivia. The partnership clearly impressed the judges as the only pair in this class to break the 70% barrier achieving a combination winning score of 70.32%.

Kingston Langley-based rider Olivia rode the two round competition tactfully but wasn’t expecting such a result, “It was a massive surprise! I’m very, very excited, really thrilled.” Olivia currently loans A Leonidas and has had him for around for around a year and a half. “He’s quite tricky but we’re starting to gel now. He’s very spooky, at home he’s quite settled but he stresses going to competitions and finds everything scary.”

Petplan Equine Area Festivals, now in their 17th year provide riders across the levels from Prelim to Intermediate I with the chance to experience the thrill of competing in true championship conditions. There are 19 Petplan Equine Area Festivals around the country with almost 4,000 horse and rider combinations taking part with the aim of qualifying and winning one of the coveted titles.

Kate Hopkins, Marketing Executive at Petplan Equine, commented; “Participation in the Petplan Equine Area Festivals increases year on year and the standard rises at every Championship. We are delighted to see how important the Area Festivals have become to amateur and aspiring dressage riders. We are really proud to sponsor a series which gives riders at the grassroots level a chance to showcase the depth of talent that is out there. We would especially like to congratulate Olivia and A Leonidas on their fantastic win and wish her the very best of luck for the future.”

British Dressage’s Chief Executive Jason Brautigam said: “I am so impressed with the level of participation in the Petplan Equine Area Festivals series. This amounts to an astounding 47% of all British Dressage members qualifying to take part in the series, which is something to be applauded. Petplan Equine’s on-going support of these championships has helped us develop the series into something which is now part of the sport’s fabric; they’re intrinsic the calendar.”

Further information about the Petplan Equine Area Festivals and how to qualify for next year’s finals is available from the Petplan Equine website at: www.petplanequine.co.uk/area-festivals/area-festivals.asp

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• Petplan Equine offers comprehensive insurance cover for horses and ponies aged from 30 days. Established 27 years ago, Petplan Equine understands the evolving equestrian market and strives to enhance knowledge and understanding of the equine world through employing horse enthusiasts and working closely with the equine industry.
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