In the end dedication and hard work ensured that riders ended up winners in more than one way.

What made this year’s awards so much more fun was the allocation of added categories, such as “Newbie show jumper”. This ensured that even the most novice rider stood a chance of winning a prize and being rewarded for the hard work put in.

This year the “Newbie” certificate was given to Oliveah Fourie. This youngster has an obviously bright future ahead of her in the equestrian limelight.

Mieke Slabbert received a highly commended in both show jumping and dressage, and LEC committee members mentioned that they are excited to see how she will grow from strength to strength. Her mother, Elma, also received a highly commended in the same two categories. What made this so exceptional is that Elma only recently started riding as an adult, and has done extremely well in the short time she has competed.

John Husband, Natasha Bourdin, Phebe Tyson, Megan Lintvelt, Devhyn Trollip, Shelby Trollip and Jocelyn Phelan received a Highly Commended in the “Newbie show jumper”.

Anisca Smit stood out like a shining star at this year’s awards. She received trophies of achievement in dressage, showing as well as showjumping. Jana Engelbrecht also made her mark this year under the coaching of Shari Oberholzer, and received achievement certificates in both dressage and showing.

Kelly Harris is one of those riders who stayed low key for a long time, and then suddenly started to excel. She was awarded for her hard work in show jumping and stadium eventing and received certificates of achievement in both disciplines.

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Other awards include:

• Certificate of achievement – show jumping: Kayla Hugo
• Certificate of achievement – dressage and showing: Taylor Dedekind
• Certificate of achievement – dressage: Kim Husband
• Certificate of achievement – show jumping and dressage: Petro van Rooyen
• Certificate of excellence – Kraai Kamffer
• Certificate of excellence – Hanelize Kamffer
• Certificate of excellence – John Middlemiss
• Certificate of excellence – Francois Combrinck
• Certificate of excellence – Natasha Whyte
• Certificate of excellence – Kyra Whyte
• Certificate of excellence – Alex Butcher
• Certificate of excellence – Rebecca Lockheart
• Certificate of excellence – Ellen Holland
• Certificate of excellence – Helle Wagner
• Certificate of excellence – Michelle Groenewald
• Certificate of excellence – Jessica Whyte.

Photos by Whyte family: