Great Britain reign with Team Gold at the FEI Pony European Championships
Friday 26 July 2024
Not to be outdone by their senior counterparts, who retained the Prince of Wales Cup in the 5* Agria Nations Cup at Hickstead, Great Britain claimed Team Gold at the FEI Pony European Championships at Sentower Park in Belgium.
It went to the wire as Germany’s final rider could force a head-to-head jump-off with Great Britain for Gold and Silver. But a rail fell, handing the glorious gold medal to Britain’s victorious team.
Day one’s 12-fence 1.30m speed round not only counted for the individual scores, but the team result as well, and Britain stood in fifth out of nine teams overnight on a total of eight faults, Katie Bradburne and Westpoint Foreign Affair the only pair to post a clear round. Germany, Ireland and Sweden loftily stood at the top of the leaderboard on a zero score.
There was work to be done, but the British team upped their game 24 hours later.
The time allowed was fair but there were subtle questions in course-designer Raf Suarez’s cleverly thought out 12-fence 1.30m track, and several riders were caught out by an early triple bar on a related distance to a double – including Ireland’s James Derwin’s double gold medallist Rincoola Babog – while the later combination and final line of skinny top plank on a dog-leg route to the final oxer also claimed victims.
Pathfinder Katie and the young, eight-year-old Westpoint Foreign Affair, a British-bred Fruselli x Fulton mare she has ridden for six months ago, again delivered the goods with a beautifully executed clear round to give her teammates a boost.
Second out of the gates, Hollie Gerken, another rider to join forces with her pony this year, only five months earlier, picked up four faults on Galaxy V in round one. Nonetheless, she pulled a clear out of the bag on the 12-year-old British-bred daughter of Argento.
Sophia Rogers and the scopey but sensitive Neil 55, also on four faults from day one, never looked like touching a fence to coolly come home clear and put Britain on a score of zero for this round.
Anchor Cate Kerr and the 17-year-old Cindy (Gelha’s VDL Emilion x Guidam), another round one four-faulter, left the rails intact but a foot in the water marred their round and they finished on four faults.
Britain shot up the leaderboard to be in medal contention on a total of eight faults. Germany also touted eight faults while Ireland and Sweden dropped down the order. It all hung on the final round.
Katie, 16, and Westpoint Foreign Affair looked cool and composed as they again came home on a clean sheet while Hollie, 14, followed suit aboard Galaxy. The team collectively held their breath as Sophia, 14, and Neil, an Otangelo 12-year-old bred in Britain by Charlotte Platt out of her five-star Nations Cup mare Paulien, entered the ring. Any fears were groundless as the pair delivered another foot-perfect clear round.
Cate, 15, made it a final round clean sweep with a clear aboard Cindy and Britain stood proudly at the top. But Germany could force a head-to-head jump-off for Gold and the atmosphere was tense.
However, their final rider Hannah Blandfort, drawn last in the whole competition, had to come home clear. The pressure was enormous, you could have heard a pin drop in the arena. And when Karim Van Orchid S lowered the middle element of the combination, it was all over. Great Britain had won Team Gold!
“The night before, I told them they were all capable of jumping clear, the course would be harder and others above them might have faults – and we kept jumping clear and put the pressure on. They all played their part and we had great team spirit,” said Chef d’Equipe Clare Whitaker.
The focus now turns to the individual medals on Sunday. Katie is in the best position, sitting in equal first place with five others on a zero score. Hollie and Sophia are two of three riders in equal seventh on four faults – picked up on the first day. Cate is in equal 12th on eight faults and Britain’s individual Aimee Paxton stands equal 18th on a score of 12 with Las Vegas.
Tune in to https://www.clipmyhorse.tv/en_GB/ on Sunday, 28 July at 15:00 local time (14:00 BST)
FEI Pony European Championships Nations Cup, Sentower Park, Belgium – 26 July 2024
1st Great Britain – 8 (8/0/0)
Katie Bradburne & Westpoint Foreign Affair – 0/0/0
Hollie Gerken & Galaxy V – 4/0/0
Sophia Rogers & Neil 55 – 4/0/0
Cate Kerr & Cindy – 4/4/0
2nd Germany – 12 (0/8/4)
3rd Ireland – 15 (0/15/0)
Image credit: Pegasus Photo
1sy9ny7stdf5l.jpg "Applications for British Equestrian’s Young Professionals Programme to open on 1 August 2024")
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14retacbkqqex.jpg "Nurse Gillian has a prince of a ride at Hickstead")
