First up was the line-up of 36 horses in the Gregory Equine Best Presented and Conditioned. This class ran in the morning sun, and it was a delight to see these horses parade. Each horse was trotted up, followed by an inspection.
The Palamountains Derby consisted of a course of 11 show jumps set over a cross country style distance and incorporating a man-made mound. The course was a test of boldness as the mound was probably unlike anything the horses had seen before. The class was judged on speed, so that the fastest clear round was the winner. For each rail down, four seconds was added to the time. Unfortunately during the class the weather changed for the worse, and riders and spectators alike got very wet!
The bad weather continued through the Equissage Barrel racing. Some of the starters in this class displayed a very convincing turn of speed, while some seemed a little overwhelmed by the requirement for speed.
The Gavelhouse Fault & Out attracted a crowd of spectators, who enjoyed the thrilling competition as the jumps went up after each round. The final round saw three horses contesting at 1.40m, with only one, Donna Edwards-Smith’s Sunset Pass clearing the jump.
Images will be for sale by the end of the weekend.
ShowCircuit images from Equidays are for sale at: www.showcircuit.photoshelter.com
Pip Hume images are available here: piphumephotography.photoshelter.com