British ponies reign supreme in Europe
Britain’s youngest international show jumping squad showed that they remain at the top of the European tree with fabulous performances at last week’s Pony European Championships.
Daniel Neilson (Micklow Madness), Louise Saywell (Kadia Mouche), Matthew Sampson (Lakeland Little Wonder) and Rebecca Roe (Aroldo) took the team gold medal with an impressive two fences in hand from Germany. France took the bronze.
In the individual competition Daniel Neilson produced the only clear round in the six-pony jump off to claim the gold. Woulter Voss from the Netherlands was faster than Daniel, but had a pole down on the way to take silver ahead of Louise Saywell, who also had four faults but was slightly slower than the Dutch rider.
Eventing
Following a disappointing cross-country day, the Derby House British Pony Team produced a good performance in the final day’s show jumping following torrential rain to take team bronze. Germany took the gold with Belgium in silver medal position.
Libby Soley (Noble Springbok) held her nerve to take the individual silver medal as the highest placed British rider, some way ahead of her team mates Chloe Kirkpatrick, Sienna Myson Davies and Amy Hawley, who finished 17th, 24th and 27th respectively. Annabel James and Majic Mouse competed as individuals but withdrew before the show jumping.
Franca Ludeke of Germany won the individual gold medal, with the bronze going to Kelly Vercauteren of Belgium.
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Dressage
Samantha Harrison and Manitu N led the British pony team into fourth place after finishing fourth individually in the pony team test with a score of 72.21%. The winner of the pony team test was Germany’s Lydia Camp with Dulcia, who scored 75.95%.
Germany won the team gold with a score of 4,265, while Holland took silver on 4,013 and Denmark bronze with 3,947. The British team were not far off a medal with a score of 3,894. The other British team members were Natasha Leak and DHI Langar, who finished 14th, Alexandra Barr and Devito, 15th, while Alice Thompson and Donnerblitz were 23rd.
Germany also dominated the individual final taking gold (Lydia Camp) and silver (Louisa Lüttgen). Angela Krooswijk of the Netherlands took the bronze.
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Carol is an experienced journalist and editor, who is also a passionate amateur rider and dedicated horse owner, having ridden since childhood. She has a particular interest in the emotional well-being and ethical training of horses, alongside veterinary matters, having garnered extensive first-hand experience of numerous equine health conditions through more than 30 years of horse ownership.