On Saturday 14th May three members of the Gordon’s School Equestrian Team competed in the Land Rover HRH Services Class at Royal Windsor Horse Show attended by Her Majesty The Queen. Gordon’s School had never competed in this class before and only four schools in the country took part.

There were 30 teams in the class, most of which were comprised of adults, some of whom were professional riders. However, the three Cadets representing the school’s CCF surprised everyone from the moment the first rider trotted into the arena. Chloe Burrell rode a confident, foot perfect clear round. She finished 9th out of the 63 riders in the team’s section.

Then Rebecca Wilman was up. She had the first fence down but remarkably, kept her cool and rode her heart out and consequently rode an otherwise flawless round.

Last to jump was Francesca Elliott. She was 10%/6 seconds quicker than the other 89 riders in the class. It was incredible to watch.

The results of the first round meant that Gordon’s had made it into the Jump-Off. Following all 30 teams parading in front of HRH The Queen, the top 12 riders from the first round had to jump in front of her and over three thousand people watching in the stands alone and many more able to watch it on live-stream. Francesca was the 10th to jump. At this point she knew that she needed to go clear if Gordon’s were to hold their current second place position. Yet again, Francesca set the fastest time and her horse, Lucky Break, didn’t even tap a pole! 

By the time all the riders had jumped it was clear that Francesca had won both sections of the class. She was declared 1st out of all 90 riders. She was presented with two bridles by HRH The Queen as she also won the Best Under 25 Rider, they even had a conversation about the bridles.

The team, as a whole, finished an unbelievable second in their section (out of 16 teams) and astonishingly third overall (out of 30 teams). Just to be able to say that Chloe, Rebecca and Francesca have jumped in the main/Castle Arena at Royal Windsor Horse Show and ridden in front of The Queen was enough of an achievement but to compete in the style they did, with such professionalism, maturity and class will remain a school legacy for many years to come.

If you would like to know more about the Gordon’s equestrian team, please like their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/gordonsequestrianteam/