Last week, a party of BE Youth riders (mixed Juniors and Young Riders) travelled to Ballindenisk International Horse Trials for a friendly Great Britain v. Ireland team International Development Trip competition supported by The Howden Way. The aim of the trip was to give younger riders the experience of an international team competition as part of their competition development.
The riders and horses concerned were:
CCI3*-L OIu21 Maddison Peries and Vivero DH Z
CCI3*-L YR Beatrice Montgomerie and Buenos Quality
CCI3*-L YR Beatrice Montgomerie and Silk Spinner
CCI3*-L YR Beatrice Montgomerie and JAG Womanizer Lady
CCI3*-L JNR Jago Jackson and Glynndale Prometheus
CCI3*-L YR Ada Marson and Izzietop
CCI2*-L JNR Jago Jackson and Kinda Brunette
CCI2*-L YR Oscar Fitzgerald and RL Rolls Royce (ISH)
CCI2*-L YR Oscar Fitzgerald and Super Cillious
CCI2*-S JNR Flo Burnop and Kyrion Weering
CCI2*-S JNR Harriet Blair and Beechhill Kiko Clover
CCI1*-Intro JNR Harriet Blair and Chilbrid Mable
Both countries’ teams consisted of a mixture of both age categories competing across the short and long format classes at 2* and 3* level. Unfortunately, the team competition had to be cancelled after the short format CCI2* and CCI3* competitions were abandoned on Sunday morning before the cross-country phase, due to heavy rain and gale force winds making the conditions unsafe. This was particularly hard on Flo Burnop who was lying in third position after dressage and show jumping, and Harriet Blair, neither of whom had the opportunity to complete the competition.
Thankfully, the long format competitions were able to complete all three phases, although the conditions for the show-jumping phase were challenging in the extreme weather. In the absence of the team competition, there were some notable individual results, with Oscar Fitzgerald winning the overall CCI2*L competition, beating a number of senior professional riders in the process. Jago Jackson finished 8th in his first CCI3*L and Madison Peries jumped double clear in the same class.
The riders were supported by team coach Katie Williams and team vet Debbie Jackson, kindly funded by The Howden Way. Katie said: “Eventing is essentially an individual sport day to day, yet in both youth and senior international championships we need riders to perform at their best in a team environment, with all the additional pressures and demands that places on them. These friendly competitions provide a fantastic opportunity for riders to gain experience of riding on a team, as well as travelling horses to compete abroad. We were delighted with the way the riders embraced this opportunity and dealt with the challenges they were presented with, not least by the weather!”
See the full list of results here
