Local rider excells at SA eventing contest 

Linda Squair at the SA Eventing Championships held in Kurland, Plett
Published: September 28th, 2016
Linda Squair at the SA Eventing Championships held in Kurland, Plett

Aonther successful jump. Linda Squair and Danzig’s Spirit crossing one of the high obstacles in the championships.

Linda Squair, one of Eden district and SA’s top riders, achieved an excellent third place at the highly competitive SA Eventing Championships held at Kurland Eventing near Plettenberg Bay recently.

She missed the second place with a narrow margin after touching the pole on one of the high jumps.

Colin Hallaby, with WOW’s Safwan, were the winners of the very tough competition. Nathalie Lugard and Saratoga Dublin’s Dancer was second and shared the victrix ludorum prize with Squair and Danzig’s Spirit.

The rain came bucketing down on Saturday, which made the cross country day very testing.

SA Adult Eventing Champs was hosted in the Western Cape for the first time ever in the history of eventing in South Africa and Kurland was the most beautiful venue and setting for a national championship. Eric Winter from the UK assisted with the course design and has been the technical delegate at Badminton Horse Trials for some time.

Linda Squair at the SA Eventing Championships held in Kurland, Plett

Linda Squair and Danzig’s Spirit concentrate while approaching the next obstacle. Photos: Supplied.

Horses and riders had to qualify through the levels from EV80 to the FEI star classes. This year the SA Eventing Champs was at CCI two-star level.

Of the 165 horses at the show, nine horses from all over the country qualified at this level and competed for the title of SA Adult Eventing champion.

Squair was second in South Africa in 2011 at her first attempt at CIC three-star level, fourth at SA Eventing Champs in 2013 also at CIC three-star level and now third in the CCI two-star.

She was on the long list for World Equestrian Games in 2014 and competed in the UK and Ireland that year. She also made the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee’s long list for Rio 2016.

She has a degree in equine science and runs her riding school, Burnside Equestrian, at Watershed Stables in Blanco. Her daugters Pippa (9) and Rosslyn (6) have represented SWD at schools league and will be representing Western Cape at the SA National Equestrian Schools Association finals in Pretoria in October.

“I am so blessed,” says Squair, “with the most amazing horse and family. Thank you, Arthur Squair, Pippa and Rosslyn for all your support and patience. This is truly a team effort.

“Eventing is a wonderful sport and we have the most amazing friends all over the world because of it. So many people assist, inspire and guide us as riders”.

Eventing is the triathlon of equestrian sport with dressage, cross-country and show jumping. One horse has to complete all three phases and the horse and rider combination with the lowest penalty score after all the phases are completed are the winners of the competition.

The sport originated from the military, when horses had to go on parade and to war.