THE North Yorkshire Area Show allowed riders to make the most of the sunshine this Bank Holiday weekend as they played host to the first Equitop Myoplast Senior Foxhunter Second Round on Monday and it was Durham's Annabel Shields who claimed victory.

With two direct qualifying tickets on offer for the Equitop Myoplast Senior Foxhunter Championship Final at Horse of the Year Show in October, each of the thirty-seven starters had their sights set on producing a treble clear. The first two rounds over a technical course designed by Ian Clark saw fourteen combinations left to battle it out in the final jump off.

Making the journey from Crook, Durham with her father Robert Shields’ 7 year-old chestnut mare, Gerona, Annabel rode three stylish clears to finish in first place. With other combinations setting the bar high, Annabel went in to the jump off with her eye on the prize and delivered yet another fast and accurate round to stop the clock in 31.36 seconds.

With the top two taking the direct qualifying tickets for the Equitop Myoplast Senior Foxhunter Championship Final, the combinations in third to seventh took home the chance to compete at the British Showjumping National Championships.

North Yorkshire Area Show – Monday 7th May 2018

Equitop Myoplast Senior Foxhunter Second Round

1st Annabel Shields & Gerona - 0/0/0 – 31.36 seconds

2nd Louise Saywell & Gentleman - 0/0/0 – 31.76 seconds

3rd Paul Barker & Crispina Z - 0/0/0 – 33.38 seconds

4th Richard Howley & Farianne – 0/0/0 – 33.62 seconds

5th Richard Howley & Air Lupicor Z – 0/0/0 – 34.06 seconds

6th Annabel Shields & Capriole II – 0/0/0 – 34.14 seconds

7th Sarah Borthwick & Blatinka – 0/0/0 – 40.55 seconds

The Horse of the Year Show 2018 will take place from the 3rd – 7th October at Birmingham’s NEC. The British Showjumping National Championships 2018 will take place during the 7th – 12th August at the National Agricultural and Exhibition Centre (NAEC), Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire.