Paul Tapner on Kilronan has once again proved he is at the top of his game by winning the Open Intermediate at Tweseldown Horse Trails finishing on a score of 37.40. In a class with very few Showjumping clears, several withdrawals and high time pentalties, presumably due to the hard ground, Paul also snatched ninth place on Wickstead Didgerdoo.

Amongst the withdrawals were Mark Todd and NSB Mouse, who like so many had a pole down in the showjumping. Pippa Funnel withdrew her two horses after the dressage phase including the talented Billy Landrrette, who will have to wait to add a 14th win to his collection.

Oliver Townend was rewarded for his hard work by winning the Intermediate Section R even after adding four showjumping penalties to his dressage score on Carden Imp, one of his many rides of the day. Oliver Townend’s dedication to the sport was reinforced by five rides in the Intermediate sections and was seen in between rides doing his cross country course walk at a run. His rides were not without incident, however; Nikos was eliminated in the showjumping after an impressive rearing display. Also among the placings in this section were Alex Hua Tian with Willows Accent who made the water - that had caused problems for so many including the experienced Lucy Wiegersma - look easy.

The Second Intermediate Section Q was won by Nici Wilson with the nine year old gelding Wineport Quest. With one of only two clears in the section’s showjumping, the crowd were delighted to see this pair go so well and secure their first win beating the likes of Tina Cook who was just out of the placings on one of her many rides. As always, Tweseldown proved to be a testing but fair course pulling in some of the big names and pushing horses and riders to the limit.