NZ's final event for the season was  held in Taupo this weekend  past  , supported by  the wonderful long time sponsorship of  BELL TEA .
Weather was a mixed bag, each day starting with thick fog which burnt off on  XC day to glorious sun, and touch of rain late Sunday  .
The CCI*** was won by NZ Olympian rider Heelan Tompkins showing her fine form on yet another catch ride, the 16 yo TB "Major Difference"  owned by Crothers family.
He is such a superb scopey clean jumper and lovely to see this horse have such a good win .  Dressage has never been his forte but  this was prob one of his best  dressage tests to date, definetly improving !!! Well done Heelan.
Annie Styles and "Opera Groove"   took 2nd place after a classy performance XC round and SJing clean. He was a bit 'naughty ' in the dressage, showing moments of brilliance  but of course marked harshly for the moments of  tension.
Click here to watch some of the CCI*** horses attack the meaty water jump !!!
"Bates Trademark"  took out the CCI** with a fine performance 4th after dressage  and double clear jumping. This big tall horse is still got alot of developing to do  and  Bryce is keen to keep him on to have one last shot at higher levels before calling it a day he tells us !!!
Last years CCI*** winner , Donna Smith and the stunning grey Hannoverian  "Corambo" took out the CCI*,  leading with a beautiful dressage test to score 40 .
A large class of pre novice horses was won by the very popular rider  Liza Johns on "Silent Seeker"  ( bred by Mamaku Stud ).
On a terribly sad note, our dear friend Nick Brooks lost his  beloved and very talented young TB gelding  Tangleton (  aka Digby ) on XC day (  suffered fatal aneurism ) , doing what he loved best , running and jumping XC.........   RIP Digs !!!!