On 31 July and 1 August 2026, the De Eschruiters driving club in Wierden organised its annual combined driving competition in Hoge Hexel.
Lynley Benneker has entered Stapleford Joint Venture (nickname Johnny) for this competition.
On Friday 31st, Lynley had to ride the dressage and agility tests with Johnny.
Although Johnny was a little too forward (and therefore a bit restless), which led to comments and criticisms regarding his posture and bowing, as well as a few minor errors in the walk, he still put in an acceptable dressage test, albeit with slightly lower marks in various elements than usual. The two judges agreed, awarding an average score of 58.75 per cent, which resulted in 65.95 penalty points and a 6th place (out of 12 competitors).
As the cones competition took place immediately after the dressage, the agility course had already been inspected on Thursday evening. The course was in good condition, although certain sections were damp and therefore a little slippery, particularly for a course with many turns and tight bends.
The agility test went quite smoothly up to gate 9, with good speed and just one ball knocked off so far. But then things went wrong: after gate 9, gate 10 should have been taken, and whilst gate 16 seems to offer a shorter route to the finish, this is not accepted by the judges. As a result, Lynley was called off and disqualified.
Following this disqualification, we quickly got back to the business of the competition and set about exploring the obstacles for the marathon, which was to be held the following day.
The A course of the marathon was completed neatly within the specified time limit, so that resulted in no penalty points.
The B course of the marathon – the jumps – was completed without any faults, but with a new bit, Johnny was a lot more enthusiastic when approaching the jumps, particularly the first three. Overall, however, he took the jumps just a little more slowly than the other competitors. Ultimately, this resulted in a score of 81.17 penalty points and 11th place; incidentally, this was just 10 penalty points more than the fifth-placed rider in the marathon.
A disqualification is never pleasant, but all in all it was a good, enjoyable competition, thanks to the grooms Tessa, Leanne and Roos, and with plenty of lessons learnt and areas for improvement under our belts, we’re looking forward to the next competition.