Tag Archives: FEI European Eventing Championships for Young Riders

Championships, Competitions, Eventing/H.T., FEI

Double-Gold and Individual Silver for Dominant British at Strzegom

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(L to R) Great Britain’s Sophie Beaty (silver), Great Britain’s Will Furlong (gold) and Germany’s Christoph Wahler (bronze). (FEI/Leszek Wójcik)

Strzegom (POL), 30 August 2015 – Great Britain enjoyed a great weekend at the FEI European Eventing Championships for Young Riders 2015 at Strzegom in Poland when claiming the team title along with individual gold and silver. And it was 2014 team silver medallist, Christoph Wahler from Germany, who clinched individual bronze.

A total of 56 horse-and-rider combinations lined out, and 10 nations were represented in the team event in which Germany finished in silver medal spot ahead of the defending champions from Ireland in bronze. It was a gutsy performance from the Germans and Irish who went into today’s final jumping test with only three riders remaining after yesterday’s cross-country test.

Dressage rankings

British individual, Sophie Beaty, led the dressage rankings on a score of 36.30 with Stanly after the first day, but team-member, Will Furlong, overtook her when posting 32.70 with Livingstone on Friday. Constance Lucie Copestake and Aprobanta were awarded a mark of 40.40 by Ground Jury members Christina Klingspor (SWE), James Rooney (IRL) and Slawomir Pietrzak (POL), and this put the French rider into third ahead of Germany’s Flora Reemtsma IIkarosz) in fourth, Britain’s Emily King (Loxley) in fifth and Germany’s Julia Funtman (Contina) and Christoph Wahler (Green Mount Flight) in sixth and seventh places respectively.

Copestake would disappear from the reckoning on cross-country day, however, when Funtmann’s 9.6 time penalties saw her plummet to 17th spot.

Cross-country track

A total of 21 of the 56 starters collected fence penalties and eight were eliminated over the 26-fence cross-country track set by Polish course designer, Marcin Konarski. There were two retirements, including German team member Pauline Knorr (Abke’s Boy) who decided to call it a day after a refusal at fence nine and another at the third element of fence 21. And Copestake was the third of the French team to be eliminated, her day coming to an early end with a fall at fence six.

France had been looking really competitive when sitting in bronze medal spot, and just 20 penalties behind the British leaders, after dressage. But Stephanie Landois’ Klan de Cheylac fell at fence 11, and then Capucine Bourgeois’ Obelix de Mail fell at fence 20, so French team chances were already dashed before Copestake parted company with Aprobanta.

A total of 17 completed inside the time, and 10 had just one refusal on course. The individual leaderboard showed the British taking an even firmer hold at the end of the day, with Furlong and Beaty still holding the top two places and Emily King now lying fourth behind Germany’s Reemtsma who added nothing to her scoreline.

Dramatically improved

Beaty’s score didn’t count toward the team, however, but King’s rise to fourth was backed up by the fact that Ella Hitchman and Rocky Rockstar dramatically improved from 12th to sixth place after their foot-perfect tour of the track while Isabella Innes Ker and Carolyn rose from overnight 20th all the way up to 13th when doing likewise.

The British now had just over 10 points of a lead over Germany in the team rankings, while the departure of the French allowed the Irish to move into third spot despite cross-country elimination for Harold Megahey and Chuckelberry who were members of the 2014 gold-medal-winning side. Cathal Daniels (Rioghan Rua), Susannah Berry (Carsonstown Athena) and Tony Kennedy (Westeria Lane) all kept a clean sheet on cross-country day, and once they had the bit between their teeth they were determined they would not let go. But they were being stalked by the Swedes going into the final jumping phase so there was plenty of tension as the third-phase action began.

Unbeatable final tally

Clears for Furlong, Hitchman and Innes Ker meant the British could discount the 12 final-phase faults collected by King for an unbeatable final tally of 128.10. And although Reemtsma picked up eight faults, both Wahler and Lisa-Marie Forster (Columbo) completed on their dressage marks to hold firmly onto silver for Team Germany. Also reduced to a three-rider side, the Irish were boosted by a clear from Daniels, and despite four faults for Berry and 10 for Kennedy, they finished more than 16 penalty points ahead of the Swedes who added 24 to their scoreline.

At the end of the day the individual scoreboard showed three of the British team, as well as individual competitor Beaty, in the top eight while Germany completed with three team-members in the top 10. Ireland’s Cathal Daniels, who started out in 17th spot, finished sixth behind Italy’s Matteo Arrighi who also completed on his dressage score with Quieto du Pin, while Britain’s Hitchman missed out on the individual podium by just three points.

It was another excellent result for bronze medallist Christoph Wahler who finished fifth individually at last year’s Young Rider Championships in Portugal and who won the CIC2* at Rockingham in May with Sammy Deluxe. And for 20-year-old Sophie Beaty today’s individual silver medal is a long way from her 33rd Championship placing twelve months ago with Stanly who finished fourth at Houghton Hall (GBR) in May and ninth at Barbury Castle (GBR) just last month.

Will Furlong, individual bronze medallist at the Junior European championships in Jardy (FRA) two years ago, has meanwhile lived up to the promise he showed when winning the CCIY2* at Houghton Hall last year before coming back to fill runner-up spot at the same venue this season.

Results:

FEI European Young Riders Team Eventing Championship 2015: GOLD – Great Britain 128.10: Livingstone (Will Furlong) 34.70, Rocky Rockstar (Ella Hitchman) 45.20, Carolyn (Isabella Innes Ker) 48.20, Loxley (Emily King) 54.00; SILVER – Germany 140.40: (Green Mount Flight (Christoph Wahler) 42.50, Ikarosz (Flora Reemtsma) 48.60, Columbo 38 (Lisa-Marie Forster) 49.30, Abke’s Boy (Pauline Knorr) 1,000; BRONZE – Ireland 164.80: Rioghan Rua (Cathal Daniels) 47.50, Carsonstown Athena (Susannah Berry) 54.20, Westeria Lane (Tony Kennedy) 63.10, Chuckelberry (Harold Megahey) 1,000.

FEI European Young Riders Individual Eventing Championship 2015: GOLD – Livingstone (Will Furlong) GBR 34.70; SILVER – Stanly (Sophie Beaty) GBR 39.10; BRONZE – Green Mount Flight (Christoph Wahler) GER 42.50.

By Louise Parkes

Media Contacts:

Grania Willis
Director Media Relations
Grania.willis@fei.org
+41 78 750 61 42

Ruth Grundy
Manager Press Relations
Email: ruth.grundy@fei.org
Tel: +41 787 506 145

Championships, Competitions, Eventing/H.T., FEI

Will Furlong – European Champion of Young Riders in Eventing

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Sophie Beaty, Will Furlong, Christoph Wahler. Photos: Leszek Wójcik.

Will Furlong from Great Britain riding Livingstone won the European Championships of Young Riders in Eventing. The post from Polish riders was Michał Knap.

20-year-old Will Furlong secured a leading position with an excellent result of dressage test. Very good cross country and clear show jumping confirmed his excellent performance. He finished with a score of 34.70 penalty points winning the gold medal.

The title of vice-champion of EC won his team colleague Sophie Beaty riding Stanly, which also maintained the position until the end obtained after dressage. She finished with the final result of 39.10 penalty points.

The bronze medal went to Christoph Wahler from Germany riding Green Mount Flight. Double clear of cross country and show jumping got him promotion from seventh to third place with a total score of 42.50 points.

Representatives of Poland unfortunately beyond the first twenty. The best result (64.80 p.p) received Michael Knap on a 9-year-old gelding Bob the Builder, representing the colours of Zielona Góra Sport Club. After a successful cross country test he was on 19th place. Three falls during the show jumps test cost him his position. Finally, he finished on 28th place in the final classification.

In the championship there were 58 riders from 17 countries. Completed 44 riders.

Britain won gold in the team classification

Representation of Great Britain won the European Championships for Young Riders in Eventing in the team classification. Polish riders finished on eighth position.

British team
British team

British team, represented by Emily King on Loxley, Ella Hitchman on Rocky Rockstar, Isabella Innes Ker on Carolyn, and Will Furlong riding Livingstone, led just after the dressage test. The final score of the winning team was 128.10 penalty points.

Silver medal won the German team with the final score of 140.40 penalty points. German team was on the second positions after the first test. Third place on a podium, with result of 164.80 p.p., got last year’s champions – Ireland.

The Polish team was ranked in 8th place of 10 national teams which took part in this year EC.

Press Office
Agnieszka Chmielinska
press@strzegom2015.pl
www.strzegom2015.pl

*Featured/Spotlights, Championships, Dressage, Eventing/H.T., FEI

FEI European Eventing Championships for Young Riders in Strzegom

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Will Furlong. Photo Credit: Leszek Wójcik.

Will Furlong broke the domination of the horsewomen

There was massive reshuffle in the classification of European Eventing Championships for Young Riders after the dressage test.

The British rider Will Furlong riding Livingstone after an excellent performance took the lead with 32,7 points.

Foregoing leader, Emily King (GBR), went down to 5th position. Second place belongs to her countrywoman Sophie Beaty riding Stanly (36,3 points). Third is Constance Lucie Copestake (FRA) riding 10 year old mare Aprobanta (40,4 points).

Polish riders, who are classified at the highest position, are Aleksander Kadłubowski riding Devin du Maury and Michał Knap riding Bob the Builder. They both scored the same result, which amounts to 50,8 points.

56 riders completed the dressage test.

In the team classification the first place is taken by the British team. Emily King on Loxley, Ella Hitchman on Rocky Rockstar, Isabelle Innes Ker on Carolyn, and Will Furlong on Livingstone are the line-up of the team from Great Britain. The result they scored amounts to 119,9 points.

The second place with 128 points takes the team from Germany consisting of Pauline Knorr, Lisa-Marie Forster, Christoph Wahler and Flora Reemtsma. The third position takes France with 139 points.

The Polish team consisting of Szymon Nachotko, Michał Knap and Aleksander Kadłubowski with 162,7 points is ranked 9th.

Tomorrow the riders are going to compete in the cross country. The spectators will be able to watch the cross country online on the competition’s official website: www.strzegom2015.pl.

Press Office
Agnieszka Chmielinska
press@strzegom2015.pl

Championships, Eventing/H.T., FEI, FEI

Individual Gold for Germany’s Hachmeister as Irish Claim the Team Title

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Enjoying their well-earned moment of glory on the podium at the FEI European Eventing Championships for Young Riders 2014 in Vale Sabroso, Portugal were the medal-winning teams from (L to R) Germany (silver), Ireland (gold) and Great Britain (bronze). (FEI/Nuno Goncalves)

Vale Sabroso, 23 September 2014 – The Irish claimed the team title while Germany’s Charlotte Hachmeister clinched individual gold at the FEI European Eventing Championships for Young Riders 2014 which drew to a close at Vale Sabroso in Portugal on Sunday. This year’s fixture was a test of grit and nerve as well as horsemanship, with very testing conditions for some on cross-country day. But the next generation of Eventing stars showed they are made of the right stuff when rising to the challenge to produce spectacular sport.

For the Irish in particular this was a particularly rewarding result, as three of their four winning team members were in last year’s gold medal-winning Junior squad at Jardy in France. All of these Championships are about development and preparation for the future, and the Irish are showing great potential and progress thanks to superb back-up from coaches and management.

Hachmeister was always in contention for individual honours with her 10-year-old Trekehner gelding Kassio after posting a Dressage score of 36.90 which placed her second after the opening phase. And having moved to the top of the leaderboard following Saturday’s cross-country she was so far ahead of the rest that she could still secure the win despite having two fences down in the final Jumping phase.

Led the way

It was David Doel, a member of last year’s silver-medal-winning British side, who led the way after Dressage on a mark of 34.00 with the 14-year-old Dutch mare, Miss Caruso, who was placed first by judge at C, Andrew Bennie (NZL) and also by judge at B, Ciska van Meggelen-Peek (NED), while judge at H, Wolf Muller (AUT), put the pair in second spot. Lying third at this early stage, behind the eventual champion Hachmeister, was Alexis Gomes from France with the Selle Francais mare Rien qu’un Crack who posted 39.20, while Germany’s Gregor Bensmann and Nick Quick were lying fourth with 41.20.

The French team was in the lead after dressage followed by the British in second and Germany in third, but there were big changes to the scoreboard on Saturday, and by that evening the Irish had taken control.

The French lost their grip following stops on the cross-country track for team members Gomes, Stephane Landois (Klan de Cheyllac) and Eurydice Schauly (Kiwi d’Auton) which dropped them to fourth going into the final day.

Eric Winter’s cross-country course proved extremely influential, and, for safety reasons, action was halted for just over 30 minutes in the middle of the day due to a passing storm that brought monsoon-like rain and spectacular thunder and lightning. Fortunately the sandy soil at Vale Sabroso could handle the downpour and things got underway again quickly after the break, but some riders got a real soaking.

A perfect start

The British didn’t fare much better than the French despite a perfect start when Woodhead and DHI Lupison were flawless. Alexandra Liddle had a run out with Romeo Z at the second part of fence 11, a big double of corners, but it seemed all was not lost when another of last year’s team silver medallists, Tom Jackson with Waltham Fiddlers Find, collected just 9.2 time penalties. However, Dressage leader, David Doel, also fell victim to the double of corners at 11 and picked up a massive 24 time penalties to plummet down the leaderboard, so Germany improved to silver medal spot before the Jumping phase.

Germany’s Christopher Wahler and his Irish horse Green Mount Flight produced one of just four cross-country clears, and when his team-mates Leonie Kuhlmann (Cascora), Jule Wewer (Lasse 730), and Lisa-Marie Forster (Columbo) collected only time faults there were only 2.2 penalties separating the Germans from the Irish going into the last day.

By then Ireland had lost one team member because Jodie O’Keeffe had a fall from Kachemire le Beau late on the cross-country track. Her colleagues, however, handled themselves brilliantly, Elizabeth Hayden steering the aptly-name Miracle home for one of those elusive cross-country clear rounds while Harold Megahey and Chuckelberry picked up just 4.8 time penalties and Joshua Pim and The Irish Minstrel collected 8.

With all three scores to count, the pressure on the Irish was immense as the Jumping phase got underway, but when Hayden and Megahey each kept a clean sheet and Pim left just one fence on the floor they had gold in their grasp. These three were all on last year’s winning Junior side, so it was another very satisfactory result for Irish Chef d’Equipe, Sally Corscadden.

Individual

Hachmeister had a lead 0f 10.2 points over Britain’s Woodhead on the individual leaderboard going into the final jumping phase, and the 21-year-old rider used up a lot of her luck when posting an eight-fault result with Kassio. But she still finished more than two points clear of Woodhead who took the silver with a lovely clear. And when Germany’s Leonie Kuhlmann picked up four faults then Ireland’s Elizabeth Hayden moved up from overnight fourth to add individual Young Riders bronze to the Junior individual silver she claimed last year.

Technical Delegate at Vale Sabroso was Ireland’s Gillian Kyle, and she praised the organising committee for a job well done. “The whole team put their hearts and souls into providing the best possible event, and they succeeded brilliantly. The riders were presented with a proper championship cross-country track and they all came away from the event having learned a great deal and having thoroughly enjoyed themselves,” she said.

Results:

FEI European Young Riders Team Eventing Championship: GOLD – Ireland 162.00: Miracle (Elizabeth Hayden) 51.00, Chuckelberry (Harold Megahey) 52.30, The Irish Minstrel (Joshua Pim) 58.70, Kachemire le Beau (Jodie O’Keeffe) Elim; SILVER – Germany 168.20: Green Mount Flight (Christopher Wahler) 53.30, Cascora (Leonie Kuhlmann) 54.40, Lasse 73 (Jule Wewer) 60.50, Columbo (Lisa-Marie Forster) 61.90; BRONZE – Great Britain 187.60: DHI Lupison (Holly Woodhead) 48.70, Waltham Fiddlers Find (Tom Jackson) 56.90, Miss Caruso (David Doel) 82.00, Romeo Z (Alexandra Liddle) 86.20.

FEI European Young Riders Individual Eventing Championship: GOLD – Kassio (Charlotte Hachmeister) 46.50; SILVER – DHI Lupison (Holly Woodhead) GBR 48.70; BRONZE – Miracle (Elizabeth Hayden) IRL 51.00.

By Louise Parkes

Media Contacts:

Grania Willis
Director Press Relations
Email: grania.willis@fei.org
Tel: +41 787 506 142

Malina Gueorguiev
Manager Media Relations
Email: malina.gueorguiev@fei.org
Tel: +41 787 506 133