‘It’s a learning experience every time I go in the ring’: meet the teenage CSI5* competitor – riders to watch for 2023
WELLINGTON, FL - JANUARY 22: Grace Debney during the $37,000 CaptiveOne Advisors 1.50m Championship Jumper Classic at the Winter Equestrian Festival on January 22, 2022 at The Palm Beach International Equestrian Center in Wellington, Florida. (Photo by Aaron Gilbert/Icon SportsWire)
(Image credit: Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
US-based British showjumper Grace Debney has enjoyed a breakthrough year in which she won her first five-star classes, stepped up to grand prix and won a team bronze medal at the European young rider showjumping championships.
This 18-year-old is clearly a star of the future.
Grace Debney: ‘I’m figuring it out and it’s a lot of fun’
Her other top mare is the 15.3hh Boheme De La Roque, but Grace has added two exciting new horses to her string in recent months. The 11-year-old gelding Agadance Van’t Gelutt Z is proving a fantastic schoolmaster.
“I got to jump my first bigger grand prix on him,” she says. “It’s a learning experience every time I go in the ring, which is how it’s going to be, but I’m figuring it out and it’s a lot of fun. I own Agadance with Jos Lansink, we bought half of him in August to get me going in the bigger rings and he’s really done a good job of that. At only my second show on him I jumped my first five-star grand prix. He’s a real confidence giver. I also bought an eight-year-old, who shows a lot of good talent so I’m very excited about both of them.
“I still feel ‘wow’ about jumping at five-star, but hopefully it can become a regular thing for me,” she says. “I have some big goals this Wellington season in Florida, so hopefully I can achieve them all. It’s really exciting to have so many good horses going into the new season.”
In July, Grace Debney fulfilled a life-long ambition to fly the flag for her native Great Britain when she was selected as part of the young rider team at the European Championships in Oliva Nova, Spain with Boheme. The squad won a bronze medal and Grace finished sixth individually.
“That was unbelievable, I was so happy and proud of my horse, she gave her all,” she says. “It was a bit intimidating coming in and not really knowing anyone on the team because I’m in a different area obviously, but everyone was so welcoming, I made a lot of friends and hopefully I’ll try to keep working towards a championship again in 2023 — I’d love to do it again and try to ride on some teams, it’s definitely a goal.
“So after Wellington the plan then is to go back to Europe — I don’t want to miss another opportunity like that. We have good experience from last year as to where to go and what to do, so hopefully it will be fun.”
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