Moody magic at the Winters

At last year’s NAF Five Star Winter Championships, Becky Moody and her equine superstar, Jagerbomb, were undisputed champions of the small tour classes. They won the Superflex Intermediate I and Intermediate I Freestyle, as well as the Magic Prix St Georges Gold.

Winning by a considerable margin from their nearest rivals, this was just the start of a very successful 12 months for this talented Dante Weltino x Jazz nine-year-old who was bred by Becky and is part-owned with Jo Cooper. At the LeMieux National Championships in September, he and Becky won the Saracen Horse Feeds Intermediate I Supreme Championship, which included a very impressive score of over 80% in the freestyle class. In the Stübben Intermediate II, the more experienced Gio, ridden by Annabella Pidgley, kept them off the top of the podium.

This year, Jagerbomb has made a successful start on his Grand Prix career with scores of 71% and 76% in his first tests at the level. “Now he’s started at Grand Prix, the Winter Championships weren’t an option,” explained Becky. “It’s so exciting as he has a real talent for the GP movements – he just needs to get stronger and more confident. I’m hoping to be selected for some CDIs this year and focus on building him up and maybe a place on a Nations Cup team.”

This year, Becky’s contenders at the NAF Five Star Winter Championships are the impressive duo, Jack Diamond and James Bond II. The pair were bought as three-year-olds by Becky and her long-term supporters, Jo Cooper and Pat and David Webster.

In 2022, Jack (Electron x Diamond Hit) was Equitex Advanced Medium Gold Reserve Winter Champion and followed this with a win at the Nationals in the Fairfax Saddles Prix St Georges Supreme Championship. This year he’s contesting the Inter I and Inter I and PSG freestyle. “He’s a big-moving horse and we struggled for a time as he didn’t have the strength to cope with it,” says Becky. “To be honest I couldn’t even get him on the bit!”

“I didn’t compete him between four-year-old young horse classes and him coming seven and I was on the verge of saying he wasn’t cut out for a dressage career. My sister Hannah rode him for a few months and took a different approach. He started to turn a corner so I stole him back!”

“He’s still very much a work-in-progress but he’s going to be really phenomenal when his balance and self-carriage are even better.”