IMG_6693Back to back wins for local rider

Johnathan Bowman, local show jumper and trainer achieved an unheard of result by winning the Welsh Masters 1.25m Championship title for the second year in a row, on his seasoned campaigner, “Marcel des Rosiers”. Marcel has been owned by Johnathan since he was three years old. Now seventeen, the spritely chestnut gelding, is kept for the big occasions. Having jumped the week previous at the Blue Chip Championships, held at Hartpury, as a warm up, the pair were fully prepared. The competition offers two qualifying rounds, starting on the Thursday, and having qualified on the first day, Johnathan saved Marcel from jumping until the Sunday when the Championship class was scheduled. The championship put forward 60 starters, thirty from each qualifier, so it really was a test of the best horses and riders. Being given a drawn order towards the end of the class, Johnathan was able to watch the best rounds, and have a plan in place. Johnathan commented “The fastest rounds all kept to same jump off route, so I knew where I had to go, we just had to ride faster, and leave the jumps up”. When it came to the pairs turn, and with the plan in mind, the pair produced a master class round, taking a massive 1.40 seconds off of Faye Adams riding Ebriolita, to force her into a second place.
Johnathan who is runs his own JB Academy for talented up and coming riders, also trains many local riders, as well as producing new horses for the future. Johnathan commented “Its amazing that Marcel still has what it takes to win these prestigious classes, and that is testimony to the excellent care that the whole team put in, as well as the support I get from NAF to keep him nutritionally in tip top condition. It’s an exciting time at the moment, I have some amazing owners who fully support the long term plan, we have some good horses coming through, we buy them as two and three year olds, many directly from Studs across the UK and Europe, and slowly produce them so that they become the stars of the future. However we couldn’t do this without the amazing support from our vets, Wessex Equine and our sponsors who make sure that the whole team, including the horses are sporting the best and safest equipment, Toggi, Woof Wear, Champion, Claudio Lugli, Antares and most recently Flying Colours.”
So what’s next? Johnathan’s next big competition will be Bicton Arena which is at the end of May, with some of the less experienced horses, and then onto The Royal International Horse Show held at Hickstead for Marcel and new ride Freule TN owned by Mohsin Mohsin, having qualified for the Winter Novice Championship.
More can be found out about Johnathan Bowman and the team by visiting www.jbshowjumptraining.com