On February, 1st 2026, the third competition of the winter competition organised by the De Sterruiters driving club from Haaksbergen took place. Lynley Benneker participated in this outdoor competition with Stapleford Joint Venture and Gerard Horst with Now Or Never.
Lynley was the first of the two to drive. In both dressage tests, Joint Venture, nicknamed Johnny, seemed a bit tense. This caused him to dribble a bit in the working gait and made it difficult for him to stand still relaxed, something Johnny normally does very well. Nevertheless, Lynley managed to complete two acceptable dressage tests with Johnny, which were awarded with 200 and 180.5 points respectively. This earned them three profit points and a selection for the indoor district championship with an average score of 196.25 points.
This championship will take place on 28 February 2026 in Putten.
In the first cones test, Lynley and Johnny knocked down three balls and incurred 1.5 penalty points for exceeding the time limit. In the second cones test, Lynley stepped on the gas and completed the course 16 seconds (!) within the set time, but unfortunately knocked down one ball. So no drive off, but one profit point earned.
For the third time, Gerard participated in a dressage competition with Now Or Never, nicknamed Brammetje. Due to a lack of experience, this remains a challenge for Brammetje. Brammetje also had some difficulty walking calmly and standing still due to nervousness. Nevertheless, both tests were completed satisfactorily, although the scores differed considerably. The scores for the tests were 152 and 191.5 points respectively, earning one profit point.
With an average score of 183.5 points, Gerard also qualified for the district dressage championship on 28 February.
Gerard completed the first cones test with Brammetje without any faults, but with 10 penalty points for exceeding the time limit. The second cones test was therefore completed a little faster, but with one ball knocked down and a more limited time overrun, this ultimately resulted in 8 penalty points.