Michael Eilberg rode Half Moon Dynasty to head the inter II championship on the opening day of the LeMieux National Dressage Championships. The Dimaggio mare posted just shy of 70% to clinch the title over Pippa Hutton and Duela.
The British Dressage wrote:
Michael Eilberg’s 2015 National Championships campaign got off to a flying start with a solid win in the Monarch Equestrian Intermediate II Championship. Taking the class with a confident 69.87% on the British-bred Half Moon Dynasty, owned by Jon and Julie Deverill, Michael was pleased with the mare’s test; “It was really good actually, a few little mistakes in the green areas but her potential is looking great. I was hoping for a good score especially with the way she was passaging down the last centre line and the pirouettes were a lot better than they had been in the past.”
“One less mistake would have been nice – I got a three in the two time changes, I was trying to be careful she didn’t go into ones, so I was a little bit behind in the movements. She then came round the corner and the one time changes were really good, especially considering she was not doing them until right before we went in!”
The combination has only competed at one other competition this year, securing their nationals qualification at the Hartpury Premier League back in July in their first ever inter II test. Michael declared their national’s preparation as ‘short and sweet’! “She wasn’t quite at inter II level until the Hartpury date and then it wasn’t too long until we came here,” he added.
Looking to the future with this horse, Michael is aiming to progress up to grand prix as soon as the 11-year-old by Dimaggio, also known as ‘Molly’, has gained some more confidence. “She can get a little bit on her toes at times, as soon as she feels confident enough to take the difficulty of the Grand Prix on, then we’ll crack on with it.”
The partnership have been together since 2011 making this victory and the future ahead all the more exciting; “She came to me after doing a few young horse classes and I started her out at medium, it’s lovely then to get them up to grand prix and get that feeling,” a happy Michael said.