Great results for Longspring at Tauherenikau
Longspring Stud had a great weekend in the eventing at the Tauherenikau Event held Mar 26 & 27th in the Wairarapa with a 1st and two 4th placings.
Rupert Vallance who hasn’t ridden in any eventing in quite a few years rode two young Longspring horses Troy LS (by Tiger Moth LS – Dolly LS by Distelfink) in his second eventing start who finished 4th in the Training Class which means he now qualifies for the Young Event Horse class in Taupo. His dressage test is still a bit unsteady for his young years (5) but he did get an 8 for his paces from the judge. He was one of only 6 horses to jump clear out of 17 in the showjumping and was clear cross country but for 5.6 time faults. As a young horse, Rupert was more focused on keeping him steady and confident. The horse jumped boldly with no hesitation and was a thrill to ride and watch.
When Rupert turned up several classes later with Devolution LS (by Discern LS – Trinity LS by Tribune) in the Pre-Training class on the cross country, commentator Stuart McLeod was prompted to good heartedly comment that Rupert must be on “Bute” for someone of his age to be going back eventing two horses in a row. This time Devolution LS and Rupert pulled off a win after lying second following the dressage, clear in the showjumping and clear in the cross country with no time faults. Rupert was particularly pleased as while this is a more experienced horses this was the first time Rupert had ridden him in competition.
Then it was Eamonn Pearless’ turn with her Longspring horse Tiger Woods LS (by Tiger Moth LS – Dresden LS by Distelfink) in a second division of Training. He was lying about midfield after the dressage, had an unfortunate rail in the showjumping but the pair had a flawless and smooth cross country round to pull up to a 4th placing. The horse and rider really enjoyed their cross country round and their placing topped off a great weekend for Longspring and their clients.
Longspring Stud are breeding a line of horses more suitable for eventing using Tiger Moth LS (3/4 tb), Hula Town (already a top eventing sire) and Colombia (top TB bloodlines and sport horse type) as that is what NZ is reknowned for producing and overseas buyers are still interested in these types of horses
