THERE was no faulting Laura Ferguson in the first round of the UK Riders non-affiliated event after she qualified for the regional finals with two perfect rounds.

Laura of Burnley completed two rounds with no faults on her pony My Chestnut Dream to book her place in the finals which will take place back at Osbaldeston Riding School in March.

Laura was one of six riders to qualify for the regional finals at the first attempt after coming top of the Pony class.

And Laura also showed her class in the Open Section - which was not a competition event - when she teamed up with My Chestnut Dream again to pick up her second win of the day.

She was one of 130 riders who took part in the first round of the winter series and now will be looking further afield to the national finals which take place later next year.

Other riders who qualified for the regional finals from the Pony Class included Nicola Slater of Langho on Flying Colours and Karen Stringer of Clayton-le-Woods on Black Pearl.

Nicola also tasted success in the Open Section when she came runner up to Laura but this time on Rhythm Rock while Becky Knowles came third on Razzmatazz.

The UK Riders non-affiliated event attracted novice riders and horses who were tasting competition action for the first time. Osbaldeston Riding School will be holding heats every Thursday to give riders the chance to qualify for the nationals via the regional heats which will also be held at the centre in March.

However three other riders made it through at the first attempt in the senior category.

Katie Jordan completed two rounds without a fault on Baxter to win the category with Blackpool's Adele Johnson on Milnrow Ellie in second place.

Rachel Leyland was in third position on Panama Dazzle.

Norman Barge, who helped coordinate the event, expects a busy winter season as the weeks go by.

He said: "We had 130 riders at this event but in a few weeks time the numbers will soon increase. This sort of event is ideal for those riders who are just starting out because it is a nice gentle introduction to the competition environment."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.