Allison Croft was surprised and delighted to find herself at the top of the leader board in the BackinAction Preliminary Championship at the LeMieux National Dressage Championships in Stoneleigh, Warwickshire with her own five-year-old gelding, Tantoni Dallaglio.
“I can’t stop shaking; it’s unbelievable,” said Derbyshire-based Allison, who only took up dressage 12 months ago after suffering an accident while show jumping. “I’m so glad I made the switch; I’m having such a brilliant time.”
A score of 74.58% left Allison and the British-bred son of Danone II more than one percent ahead of the rest of the field.
“He’s so laid back; he’s got an old head on young shoulders,” continued Allison, who is based in Derbyshire with her trainer, Tim Heappey. “He only started competing in March and Tim has been riding him in five-year-old Young Horse classes and doing very well. It’s my first nationals and I was thrilled to just get here, let alone win.”
Allison works for a care home company in operational management but has designs on climbing the dressage ladder.
“I’d love to keep going up the levels and see how far we can get,” she said.
