Shearwater Young Horse Finalists - Calum Whitworth and Jezz Palmer

With the British Dressage Nationals getting closer and closer we caught up with two other riders heading to the Shearwater Young Horse Finals

Dressage rider Calum Whitworth will be competing with the 4-year-old Damaris S who qualified at Port Royal.

Can you tell me a little bit about your horse?

Damaris S is a homebred AES mare her sire is Don Frederic and dam sire Wynton. Her dam Elinsey comes from a very successful family including two Grand Prix horses Robin Hood ridden by USA team rider Susan Blinks and Trione under Dutch rider Grabrielle Rensink. Damaris has an amazing temperament,  super work ethic, she is very forward thinking and has just the right amount of sass!

What will you be doing to prepare for the finals of the Shearwater Young Horse classes?

Damaris will be nicely ticking over in preparation for the Shearwater Final, she is still growing a lot so we are cautious not to over push her.

Aside from the finals what other ambitions do you have for your horse this season and beyond?

We have big plans for Damaris’s future as well as the goal of GP we will also love to take embryos from her and use them in our breeding programme.

What in particular do you like about the Shearwater Young Horse Finals?

The Shearwater Young Horse class is a super competition to show case the young horses and gives them the chance to see big shows.

Hampshire based Jezz Palmer is heading back with the 5-year-old Swanmore Wynter who contested the 4-year-old finals last year at the Nationals.

Can you tell me a little bit about your horse?

Swanmore Wynter (Wambo to his friends) is a very happy horse who loves all the fuss to be about him. This is Wambo’s third time at the Nationals qualifying in the 4-year-old finals and novice freestyle at Hartpury, also winning the regional novice freestyle title with 77%.

Is this your first time in the Shearwater Young Horse qualifiers?

This is our second time in the Shearwater Young Horse qualifier. We have also had previous horses in these young horse classes.

What in particular do you like about the Shearwater Young Horse Finals?

I like to see the other young horses and other peoples up and coming horse power and the buzz of the nationals is always a great feeling. However some of the young horse don’t like the buzz!

Further information on our Young Horse competition can be found here