Year 10 pupil Mia competed in the Welsh Masters over the holiday. It was her first competition on her new horse Nessie and they have developed a great relationship. 

In order to qualify for this competition, riders had to place 15th or above to qualify for the preliminaries. They also then had to jump clear once again to qualify for the final jump off, with over 100 competitors of both senior and professionals. Mia qualified for the final clear round, placing 8th out of 76. She then qualified for the jump off too! Overall she finished 19th out of 100 entries. What a fantastic result!

This was Mia's first jump off, where the judge will allocate six jumps and the rider has to memorise them without walking the course. Mia is now going to concentrate on jumping higher and qualifying for the bronze league semi-finals.

This coming Saturday she is competing in a Bronze League direct qualifier which would lead her to the semi-finals. If she manages this, it is a chance to compete in the final at the Horse of the Year Show. This will be a challenge as she will have to come 3rd or above in the jump off! Mia is absolutely determined to try and everyone at St Gabriel's wishes her the best of luck. Fingers crossed!

It is fantastic to hear about pupil achievements outside of school. Congratulations Mia for all your hard work and success, well done!

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- Emily Jennings