Teenager scores first win

Two riders score their first victories at intermediate level and an RAF flight sergeant has a magical day

- CATHERINE AUSTEN

Pontispool (1), Somerset

TWO riders scored their first intermediate wins on bank holiday Monday at Pontispool.

Mia Ketcher, 19, took section W on Chris and Jilly Baker’s Chanson Du Village on only the rider’s second attempt at the level and her first on this nine-year-old mare. The pair were among the quickest of the day across country with 5.2 time-faults, and added nothing in the showjumping to their dressage mark of 31.1.

Mia, who works as head girl to Italian rider Vittoria Panizzon, said: “She’s such an awesome mare. She’s full thoroughbred and so quick; she just glides across the ground.

“She’s quite sensitive and it’s taken us a while to find the right buttons – she gets quite stressy at shows and the dressage is the trickiest part, but she’s usually very reliable in the jumping phases.”

She described Eric Winter’s cross-country course as “huge”, and admitted to being very nervous before tackling it.

“The Bakers walked it with me – it was the first time they had walked a course, and they were really emotional when we finished,” Mia said.

“When I came to Vittoria’s from north Wales when I was 16, they basically adopted me into their family and their house has become my second home.”

Mia is hoping to groom for Vittoria at the Tokyo Olympics, and then “crack on” and aim for a three-star later in the season.

Hannah Horton’s victory aboard her own 13-year-old Ars Vivendi gelding Its Lush in section X on a finishing score of 29.4 was also her maiden success at intermediate.