THE Portland and District Adult Riding Club hosted more than 50 riders on Sunday at Yarraman Park for the final round of the Crater, Caves and Coast Dressage series.

There was plenty of local talent on display with the level three contest led by Portland member Jessica Wilson on Mullaya while Danika Troeth from Cashmore finished in second place on Surry Park Blueprint.

Portland and District Adult Riding Club committee member Helen Clarke said it was one of their best turnouts to date.

“All in all it was a really, really good weekend,” she said.

“We always try and run the last round of the series because it’s the best of 12 rounds and the eight best scores are taken so if you have a horse that plays up in your first rounds people are always trying to get to the last event.

“It was a fantastic turnout with about 55 riders on the day – there were people from Melbourne, Geelong, Naracoorte, Horsham and plenty of other places.

“There were quite a few locals who rode and they finished really well in all of the levels.”

After a few years of tough turnouts and less than ideal conditions, the weather played its part in the weekend’s events.

“I had a friend come down from Point Cook to ride and she said it was the best round so far, when the weather turns on Portland is a great place to be,” Clarke said.

“We had a lot of support from local businesses as well for our raffles and there was great sponsorship – we honestly couldn’t have asked for a better weekend.”

Six different levels of dressage competed across the day with Cashmore rider Emma Calderwood coming second in level four, the biggest division of the series.