Flying flag for north in quest for glory

The talented rider is based at Aughton near Ormskirk yet will partner Huddersfield’s Woodcroft Dancing Queen owned by Nikki and Chris Lawton.

As long as her efforts benefit “up north”, grand prix-winning Marriott will be satisfied.

Marriott and Woodcroft Dancing Queen, otherwise known as The Ginger Witch, will head for Warwickshire having sealed a place in the national championships through a wild-card entry.

After missing out on qualification by 0.001 per cent, it is a wild-card that was both expected and richly deserved.

A strong showing at Stoneleigh Park looks likely for Marriott’s mount who was crowned The British Hanoverian Horse Society Supreme Champion & Mare champion in 2011.

Huddersfield-based owners Nikki and Chris Lawton were so impressed with Marriott’s skills at a competition they attended six years ago that the couple asked the rider if she would be interested in striking up a partnership with The Ginger Witch.

The rest, as they say, is history with the duo having gone from strength to strength.

Marriott is optimistic of a strong showing at Stoneleigh Park when the duo will fly flags for Yorkshire, Lancashire and in general the dressage scene ‘up north.’

“I have lived in both areas as I used to be over Grimsby way and I am certainly a northern girl,” said Marriott.

“As long as it’s northern, I’m happy! I know it’s colder up here and wetter and everything else but you get used to it in the end!

“We are all really looking forward to going down to Stoneleigh Park for the nationals.

“We just missed out on qualifying for the National Championships by 0.01 per cent so I was always hopeful for a wild-card.”

Marriott is also hopeful of a decent showing at Warwickshire on a mare the rider has struck a fine bond with.

“She is known as The Ginger Witch because she is a little temperamental shall we say,” said Marriott.

“She’s a bit fiery, she’s a little bit difficult and she’s a bit of a diva really but it seems to be that when we get in the competition ring that it all goes well.

“When I first met the horse’s owners, Nikki and Chris, they were really very positive and they said ‘we have a mare of our own – we’d like to talk to you about her as well.’

“I had a reputation for riding mares more than geldings and stallions – I seem to get on with tricky mares and so they came to me, really.

But as well as having a reputation at excelling on mares, Marriott has something of a glowing dressage reputation as a whole.

She first sat on a pony at just four and, after much success at junior and young rider level, the Lancashire ace has focused her last 15 years on building a training facility whilst also competing at national and international level.

In 2004, Marriott was also placed by former British national champion Richard Davison into the Bartels Academy in Holland where the rider has been gaining valuable experience and knowledge over the last eight years.

The aims for the future are two-fold with Marriott hoping for both her own training facility and her own riding career to further blossom. Plans are also fluid for the ever-improving The Ginger-Witch.

“She is doing really well in her training and she’s going forwards,” said Marriott.

“We are looking forward to the nationals and after that we’ll carry on training her into the winter and, hopefully, start with the Premier League Shows in March.

“As for myself, on a personal level I have my own stable which I have had for 17 years but it doesn’t have an indoor school so my next real target a little bit away from competition is to build an indoor school.

“It’s a big building so it’s quite something to put up and really I want to get the school set up between now and Christmas.

“Then we can train all through the winter and the focus can turn more towards the competitions for next year.”

When it comes to competitions there is one that stands out a mile with Marriott knowing that even backed by 21 years of riding experience she still very much has time on her side.

She is, after all, only 35 years old.

“With dressage and riding it’s not like it stops when you get to 40 or 45 or whatever,” said Marriott, whose long-term hopes are pinned on two exciting three-year-olds named Fern and Figaro.

“In this sport, you keep going as long as you are healthy.