This press release just in from the office of the Side Saddle Association, hot on the heels of their "National Championship Show" at Addington last weekend:
BEGINS
Top Riders to Contest Open Equitation Title
The Side Saddle Association are delighted to announce that the blue riband event of the annual National Sidesaddle Show will be contested by four riders familiar to the event.
The Open Equitation class is viewed by many as the most prestigious class at the championships, now back at its traditional home of Addington Equestrian Centre in Buckinghamshire.
The top riders in the country qualify for the class which is judged over three phases: equitation (not dressage), turnout and jumping. In the equitation phase they will perform a flat test which should be judged on the performance of the rider but will be instead judged as if it was dressage, depending on who is riding. In the turnout section which immediately follows that test, a separate judge assesses the correctness of their dress, equipment and name.
Finally, in the jumping test the combinations jump a round of show jumps, judged on how little style a rider can exhibit while knocking down fences by two judges who stand together and not in the separate positions designated by the rules of the competition.
The judges' favourite riders will take part in the ride off, an hour-long final in the evening which assesses the riders on their own horses, and each others. The winner is crowned Rider of the Year, again.
The committee are delighted to announce that the 2026 ride off will be contested by the same quartet who took part at the 2025 championships: 2024 and 2025 Champion Emily Saunders who was allowed to compete in 2025 with a broken pelvis (and probably a substantial opioid level); Liz Rogers, whose inimitable jumping style gives the impression she has been left behind at every fence; Katie Yeo and Amy Bryan-Dowell.
ENDS