Judy Reynolds IRL riding Vancouver K, during the grand prix of the dressage competition at the Olympic Equestrian Centre in Deodoro near Rio, Brazil on 11th August 2016Judy Reynolds IRL riding Vancouver K, during the grand prix special of the dressage competition at the Olympic Equestrian Centre in Deodoro near Rio, Brazil on 12th August 2016
Judy Reynolds will not contest the European Dressage Championships (22-27 August) as her ride Vancouver K has picked up a slight injury.
The 15-year-old KWPN gelding strained a tendon in training yesterday (15 August), enough to rule him out of the trip to Gothenburg, where he and Judy would have been the sole Irish dressage hopes.
“It’s nothing serious but we didn’t want to take the risk of it getting worse; he doesn’t deserve that,” Judy told H&H.
“He’s a faithful partner in sport; he deserves the best treatment and the best chance, and I couldn’t have ridden him knowing that.
“It was just a normal training session. He was totally fine at the start but at the end, I just felt maybe he wasn’t 100% so we got it checked out.”
Judy and “JP” were the only combination to represent Ireland in dressage at the Rio Olympics last year, where she became the first Irish rider to qualify for an Olympic freestyle.
They finished in 18th place overall but Judy said JP has been improving since, with results this year including fourth place at the World Cup final in April.
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“It’s a pity because he was on such good form,” she said. “I really felt we had a good chance of making an impression on the leaderboard.
“He does just get better and better so hopefully next year, we’ll still be able to show that.”
JP will have a few weeks of ridden walking, after which Judy hopes she will be able to increase his work. She is aiming to return to competition over the winter, when the new freestyle she had ready for Gothenburg will be aired.
“These things do happen, it’s just bad timing,” Judy said.
Don’t miss this week’s H&H magazine (17 August) for a full European Championships preview.
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Eleanor is an experienced journalist who spent over eight years working for local and national newspapers before joining H&H as news editor in March 2016. Passionate about equine welfare and exposing the truth, Eleanor has reported on all aspects of the industry, from Brexit to anti-bullying campaigns, and from dressage rules to mules. Her sport of choice is showjumping, in which she competes her own horses, and she also enjoys reporting at local jumping shows through to international championships.
