The sun made a brief appearance last weekend for the East Devon Hunt Supporters Club Hunter Trial, writes Kathryn Botting.

The sun made a brief appearance last weekend for the East Devon Hunt Supporters Club Hunter Trial. Despite the heavy rainfall that caused flooding in much of the region, the event proved to be a great success, with over 200 entries gathered at Straitgate Farm, Ottery St Mary. For this hunter trial, the organisers included some new fences in order to add variety and a fresh challenge to the overall ride.Event organiser Katie Down said of the course: "We have a superb ground here. It is fantastic that we can still run when we have had so much rain and the going was perfect." The Minimus class for under 12 years was won by Ellie Neason riding Frisby. Second place went to Annabel Hill and Christopher Robin, with Chloe Jarman and Willow taking third place. At the same height for the over 12s, Flora Fraser riding Callie won. Josie Banister and Hiawatha were in second place and third place went to Laura Summer and Flicka. The height increased for the Restricted Novice class, which was won by Charlotte Ball and Nadia. In second place was Jenny Goodall riding Lady Eleanor and in third Clare Pitfield riding Meg.The pairs class involves riders completing the course together. The winning combinations were Imogen Moody, riding Oscar and Sarah Richardson riding Town Parrs Omiro. Second place went to Chloe Jarman riding Willow and Ellie Neason riding Frisby. The pair in third place was Rachel Keitch riding Scarlet O'Hara and Alys Jones riding Secret Service.The height increased again for the Novice class, in which Rebecca Bellew took first place, riding Connelly King. Sarah Ley and Nexel came in second and third place went to Katie Ayres and Nutkin. The Intermediate class was won by Jenny Smith riding Georgie, with Joshua Strudwich and Princess Yena coming second. In third place was Jan Harvey and Star Role.The biggest and most challenging fences of the day were jumped in the £100 Open class, where Joshua Strudwich took first place riding Princess Yena. In second place was Catherine Bellew riding Major Surprise and the third placed combination was Stuart Govier riding Rodney.