Reigning Maynard Champions at top of their game

The consistently brilliant National Champion titleholders from The Maynard School in Exeter continue to stamp their dominance with yet another victory in the NSEA Eventer’s Challenge at Bicton on Saturday 21 January.

With one team from the school already qualified for Hickstead in June, the pressure was on to get another through to the finals and the team of Tatiana Wharton, Grace Williams, Kitty Guinness and Ana Hepburn were determined not to disappoint.

“I know we keep saying it but it is always a wonderful surprise to win – we never come to these events with any expectations as we all know just how competitive they are! But it was a lovely course with plenty of questions and, at the end of the day, it all came down to the riding,” said Rebecca Wharton, mother of Tatiana.

There is no doubt that the Maynard teams are consistently strong with a whole catalogue of successes to their names in many disciplines but, as the current reigning National Eventer’s Challenge Champions, this is certainly their forte.

“They put in some really nice rounds and just seemed to find the perfect rhythm which is important when the time faults play so heavily on the placings. Everything flowed beautifully and they just got it right on the day!” added Rebecca Wharton.

This was also a first competition for Grace Williams riding her new horse, Quinnies Buster, who not only was top scorer for the team, but also took third place individually. Just one time fault separated the top five positions to prove just how crucial the timing is in these competitions. “Our girls just seem to have a very natural knack for getting it right and it’s just brilliant to now have two teams from The Maynard travelling up to Hickstead to defend our title. We know only too well how competitive these events are and can only hope that lady luck will shine on us on the day!”

It was an exciting culmination to a week that saw the school ranking highly in the Department for Education’s Performance Tables, based on last year’s GCSE and A-level results. The Maynard was also rated as 16th nationally and the best in the South West by The Daily Telegraph at GCSE level.

“It‘s wonderful to witness the girls achieving so well, both academically and in their many individual spheres! Well done to them all, and to our exceptional equestrian teams for their continued successes. We are very proud of them and they are huge assets to our wonderful school” said Headmistress, Sarah Dunn.