IN PICTURES: Experienced riders and up-and-coming local faces enjoy Southern Solstice Dressage Competition

The Southern Districts Dressage Club played host to dozens of horses and riders on January 17 and 18 for its annual two-day dressage extravaganza, the Southern Solstice Dressage Competition.

The Albany Equestrian Centre was packed full of cars, trucks and horse floats for the weekend as riders prepared to put their horses through their paces in the arena.

Riders drove for hundreds of kilometres to compete at the multi-day event, with 50 riders entering around 65 horses in test categories from preparatory to novice.

More than 150 dressage tests were undertaken across the weekend, with the challenging task of judging falling to the experienced panel of Heather Carrington-Jones, Judith Cunningham, Lisa Baker, Virginia Longley, Penny Lee, and Lene Skovsted.

The competition drew both tried-and-tested high-level riders and up-and-coming local combinations, and the winners’ list at the end of the weekend included a healthy mix of both.

Olympian Sonja Johnson returned to the competition for another year, this time aboard young mount Sharvalley Sterling, as did three-time Paralympian Sharon Jarvis, who made an impressive showing with Lord Larmarque.

Albany locals and up-and-coming juniors also made their mark on the prestigious annual competition, with Imogen Boyle topping the rankings of the FEI para novice class on Drumeden Royal Act, and Alyssa Scott beating Johnson and Sharvalley Sterling in the preliminary 1.1 class.

Bethany Rainbow also made a clean sweep of categories aboard Kellerains Nullaki, making it a successful weekend for the up-and-coming eventing duo who look to be back in work for the year after a big outing at Sydney Three Day Event last November.