The Pet Plan Area Festival was held recently at Fountain Equestrian near Aberdeen alongside Gordon Dressage Group’s usual BD fixture.

The standards were particularly high with Victoria Gladwyn and her own Granite winning the advanced medium qualifier ahead of Doreen Duffin and the consistent Linka S.

Victoria commented: “I was pleased with his results at the weekend. Jack was unsettled in the warm up before his medium test, which meant he wasn’t quite on side with me, so I decided to go for a ‘safe’ test.

“Despite this, we still achieved a qualifying score. His advanced medium test was more settled and workman like.

“I’m delighted that he has qualified for the Pet Plan festival finals and it is our intention to make the trip down south. There is always room for improvement and I just hope that the winter weather is kind enough to allow us to keep up our training.”

In the restricted section, Jackie Gordon and Silken Prince pipped Fiona Maxwell and Ridinghill Everdon into second. Jackie’s husband bought the ID x TB from the Ballinteggart Stud, in Northern Ireland, six years ago after he won the four-year-old middleweight hunter class at Dublin Show.

Jackie commented: “We have only done a handful of advanced mediums, so I am pleased with the way he went. His trainability and his talent for collection means that hopefully we can progress up the grades.”

Carmen Gammie had a good day with her pony, Champagne Bubbles, winning the medium open qualifier ahead of Victoria Gladwyn and Granite. Carmen’s mother, Elizabeth, explained: “Carmen has been working on engagement with her trainer, Mary McFarlane and, unfortunately, at the moment Bubbles is not always convinced that he should be working that hard which leads to some argumentative moments in the test!

“However, there was also some really good work and Carmen was delighted to score 7s for all her medium work and 8s for her walk pirouettes as these are areas which we have also been working on.

“She has just been selected for the GB international pony squad for 2010/11 so our plans for the winter will be focused around squad training which takes once per month at Stow-on-the Wold and getting more experience in the arena at medium level. They have already qualified for three classes at the winter regional’s so luckily we don’t need to chase any qualifiers.”

Eventer-turned-dressage-diva, Sharon Lindop, won the medium restricted with Waikiki Bay. Sharon reflected: “Waikiki Bay was OK in the Petplan but not as submissive as he had been the previous day in a fabulous lesson with Jane Rutherford. He was spooky in the arena and shortening in the neck which is difficult to fix within the test.

“I don’t know if I’ll go to the final or not as the rules on Pet Plan and National qualifications are changing so you can’t do both at the same level anymore. This is understandable but as you now can’t even do Pet Plan and National music at the same level, it makes for one very expensive trip south for a six-minute test!”

Linda McKenzie and her Furstenreich-sired eight-year-old Far Beyond topped the open elementary. Linda bought the gelding from Verden sales as a three-year-old and has brought him on herself.

Linda commented: “I am delighted. I think we might actually go to the finals! I plan to compete him at medium now while working on his changes over the winter.”

Aimee Devane rode Jane Rutherford’s Belgian-bred Romanov to win the elementary restricted class. This combination have recently been in form, winning classes at Dumfries and Rowallan, recently.

Sue Grice won the novice open class with Frodo, while Luisaidh Owne and Sir James III took the restricted class. Kyla McLeod rode Werlewind B to take the prelim qualifier.

In the normal BD classes, Doreen Duffin continued recent form with her own Straloch stud bred Linka S, winning advanced 98. Doreen commented: “I was pleased with our changes, but felt she wasn’t as forward into the contact as she could be during our tests.

“I don’t think my test riding skills were up to scratch as I had some wobbly centre lines. She’ll have a few weeks off then we’ll have another go at an advanced 100 at GDG in November.”

Joanna McIntosh rode her own Donnergotsch to win two elementary tests. This combination are heading south to Keysoe as part of the Scottish Home International Team, Joanna said: “Winning both the elementary classes on the Sunday is good practice for Keysoe!”

LEADINGawards:

P15 – 1, Wervelwind B, K McLeod, 70.4; 2, Busilus, S Turpitt, 67.8; 3, 3 tied. P19 Area Festival – 1, Wervelwind B, 66.8; 2, Elton, A Noble, 66.1; 3, Borrohill Venture, S Strong, 65.9. N38. open – 1, Homeside Ronaldo, C Rutherford, 70; 2, Frodo, S Grice, 65.1. Rest – 1, Sir James III, L Owen, 70.9; 2, Wildwinds Bailey, J Price, 67.1;3, Marnoch Hope, L Cowie, 64.8. N35R – 1, Sir James III, 68.2; 2, Homeside Ronaldo, 65.1; 3, Bees Knees, Z Fuller, 64.8. N35 Open Pet Plan – 1, Frodo, 64.4.E57. Open – 1, Zooka, J Grant, 67.1;2, Theo D’Or, J Rankin, 56.4. Rest – 1, Romanov, A Devone, 65.7; 2, Balhagarty Harvest Gold, J Burnett, 65.7; 3, Newparks Connoisseur, L Corsie, 64.2. E53 Pet Plan Rest – 1, Romanov, 66.4; 2, Balhagarty Harvest Gold, 64.7; 3, Haddo Riff Raff, E Mennie, 64.2. Open – 1, Far Beyond, L McKenzie, 66.4; 2, Theo D’Or, 64.7. M73 Open – 1, Zooka, 62.3. Rest. 1, McCarten, S Morrison, 62.9; 2, Waikiki Bay, S Lindop, 62.3; 3, Croft Sugar and Spice, J Gourley, 61.7. M69 Pet Plan Rest – 1, Wakiki Bay, 65.1; 2, Tiger Feet II, L Gray, 64.5; 3, Croft Sugar and Spice, 63.4. Open – 1, Champagne Bubbles, C Gammie, 68; 2, Granite III, V Gladwyn, 63.7. AM98. Open – 1, Linka S, D Duffin, 63.9. Rest – 1, Ridinghill Everdon, 63.9; 2, Glenmarcus, G Green, 61.3. AM85.Pet Plan Rest – 1, Silken Prince, J Gordon, 62.3; 2, Ridinghill Everdon, 62; 3, Glenmarcus, 62. Open – 1, Granite III, 63.9; 2, Linka S, 63.8. M73 Rest – 1, McCarten, 66.4; 2, Woodlander Coco Chanel, G Peters, 62. M75 – 1, Tiger Feet II, 63.7; 2, Woodlander Coco Chanel, 56.4. AM98 – 1, Ridinghill Everdon, 56.8. PSG – 1, Solitaire, J Grant, 67.6. PYO – 1, Solitaire, 69.2; 2, Ridinghill Everdon, 61.2. EMF open – 1, Donnergrollen, J Johnston, 74.7. Rest – 1, Floribunda, S Steven, 67.5; 2=, By Chance, M Kilmurray, Tropicana, E Grant, 66.4. NFM – 1, Wervelwind B, 71; 2, Retanach M’Izzy, 67.2; 3, Drumcarrow Domino, A Sall, 66.3. P19 – 1, Hooze Knockout, H Croft, 65.4; 2, Ballymacad Diamond, L Johnston, 63.6; 3, Rhuan of Denhead, A Mitchell, 61.8. PSGM – 1, Donnergott, 65.6. P15 – 1, Balhagarty King George, J Lyon, 70.8; 2, Ballymacad Diamond, 69; 3, Hooze Knockout, 51.7. N38 – 1, Sandhaven, S Lindop, 68; 2, God’s Gift, A Gartly, 67.7. Rest – 1, Polska, S Krawczyk, 62.2. N35 open – 1, God’s Gift, 63.4; 2, Sandhaven, 60.7. Rest – 1, Balhagarty King George, 66.9; 2, Drumcarrow Domino, 65; 3, Gransired, S Jardine, 62.6. E53 open – 1, Zooka, 68.5. Rest – 1, Donnergotsch, J McIntosh, 65.2; 2, Floribunda, 54.7. E57 open – 1, Zooka, 69.4. Rest – 1, Donnergotsch, 63.5; 2, Floribunda, 60.7.