Uplands produces another national champion
Moreover, it was the 14-year-old's first SA championships.
It was her first-ever national championships, but that did not deter Kaylyn Tilden Davis (14) from becoming the new South African junior champion in the individual 80 centimetre class.
Kaylyn, a pupil at Uplands College, and her horse Tic Toc participated in the South African junior u/18 equestrian championships, which took place at Kyalami in December.
On the first day the magnitude of the occasion was a massive emotional and nervous encounter, but both rider and horse came out of the arena proud of their performance.
It took Kaylyn a day or two to realise that it is just another competition and once she started to relax they were not far off the class leaders.
Kaylyn and Tic Toc jumped beautifully on the final day against the top equestrian athletes and their horses from all the different provinces.
They beat them in the final jump-off round in a grass arena, on which neither Kaylyn nor Tic Toc had ever competed, but they adapted well.
With the fastest time and no penalties, she became the new South African junior champions for the individual 80 centimetre class.
Ms Bev du Preez, marketing manager at Uplands, noted how remarkable the win was.
“What makes this win even more remarkable is the fact that this is Kaylyn’s first SA champs she competed in and she is only 14 years old. She competed against much older and more experienced riders.”
