Willinga Park Arena Eventing October 2022
A few weeks ago on the 8th and 9th of October, our Elegant Exposures Team had a wonderful outing down to the superb Willinga Park grounds for the Arena Eventing and combined training competition. Whilst we were dismayed that we couldn’t be back out on the fabulous cross country course (with many thanks to La Niña for the wild weather during the competition’s lead up) we were extremely grateful to the grounds keepers and organisers for running such a great competition despite the wet weather.
On Saturday morning we began by photographing the Combined Training Dressage tests down at the Grand Prix Arena. And as the sun was shining and the birds chirping, the horses and riders brought out some of their best moves in the Dressage Arena to wow the judges.
As midday rolled around, we positioned a team member at each of the arenas, which saw Mel down at the Main Arena for the higher show jumping classes whilst Shelle snapped the speedy ponies in the showjumping classes over at Ring 2. I (Liv) remained at dressage to capture the star classes for their Combined Training Tests and I saw some really great tests throughout the day - well done riders!
Towards the end of the day the dark clouds began rolling in and we experienced a huge downpour - luckily it was right at the end of the last showjumping rounds and only a few tough riders and horses had to battle out their showjumping rounds in the rain. Once the day was completed Shelle set off back home and Mel and I headed back to our onsite accomodation (thank you a thousand times to Sophie Evans for organising for us!) and we began editing the days photos - luckily we were inside by this time as the rain really began to set in overnight.
Sunday morning, we woke up to the pitter-patter of rain on our roof and checked the weather report to see that we had experienced over 100ml of rain overnight - and we were worried whether the competition could continue in these conditions. Luckily as we left the house to head back over to the arenas the sun finally emerged through the clouds and the rain stopped. We headed down to our arenas to set up for the day and amazingly the arena surfaces were immaculate - not a single puddle in sight, the day could go on!
We photographed the showjumping classes in both rings throughout the morning which saw some cracking rounds had by many! As the afternoon set in, the fun began during the Arena Eventing classes. Set over two back-to-back rounds of Cross Country jumps followed by a showjumping course, riders tackled the tough courses in the star heights for a wonderful afternoon of jumping had by all.
Many thanks must first go to Sophie Evans for all your hard work and dedication to the event - it absolutely couldn’t have happened without you! Also we would like to thank everyone behind the scenes who made this day possible; the catering team, the judges, pole pickers, grounds and maintenance staff (and anyone we havent mentioned), the riders and connections for their continued support of us, and the Willinga Park team for the wonderful grounds - there was no where we’d rather be for a wet weather event - or any event really!
As for now, we hope to see you again very soon (once the weather decides to coordinate that is) but for now keep riding and smile when you see us!
Many thanks,
Liv
Event Manager
Elegant Exposures Photography
