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Dressage riders were out in force at North Allerton Equestrian Centre on 18-20 August for the Petplan Equine Area Festival where classes ranged from Preliminary through to Inter II. The Area Festivals take place at top competition venues across the UK and allow riders the chance to compete under championship-style conditions. This gives grassroots riders the chance to experience a real competition atmosphere and rise to the challenge with the back-up of a supportive and friendly environment.

Tina Walker, event organiser at North Allerton was delighted with the competition, “I like to have a happy team when we have such a lot of classes and with over 300 starters and it all went so well,” she commented. “Events like these, don’t happen without the goodwill of many volunteers giving up their time, we had around 45 people during the competition all doing different jobs varying from parking and checking entries to tack inspections, stewarding, writing and judging. It makes it all so worthwhile though, when the competitors make such an effort to be here in the first place and so many of them take the time to say thank you.”

One competitor in particular, caught the eye of one of the judges - Caroline Howard on her horse ‘Robe Kilshanagh Diamond’ rode in the Preliminary Bronze class and scored 65.7% coming 18th in a class of 40 entries. “Caroline was smiling so much,” commented Ian Brown the Class Judge, “I could barely write my comments at the end of the test, she was making me smile too. This is what the Area Festivals are all about though, enjoying the competition and having a great time on your horse.”

Kate Hopkins, Senior Marketing Executive commented, “This is Petplan Equine’s 19th year of sponsoring the Area Festivals giving true amateur riders a taste of the big time! We congratulate all riders who qualified for the Area Festival at North Allerton Equestrian Centre and hope they enjoyed their day.”

To find out more about the Petplan Equine Area Festival series please visit: www.petplanequine.co.uk/area-festivals.

ENDS

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EDITORS NOTES

Petplan Equine offers comprehensive insurance cover for horses and ponies aged from 30 days old. Established over 25 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.

Petplan Equine is part of the Petplan brand. Founded in 1976, Petplan is the UK's largest pet insurance provider, offering comprehensive cover for dogs, cats, rabbits and horses.

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