The British team are off to a good start in Strzegom Photo: Strzegom2012
Many of the best junior riders in Europe aged 14-18 are competing this weekend at the FEI European Eventing Junior Championship in Strzegom, Poland.
Sophie Howe and Pebbly Aga Khan Photo: Strzegom2012.pl
With 83 competitors from 18 countries, this championship gives us a good insight into the possible future European stars of eventing. After both days of dressage the top three teams are Great Britain, Ireland and Germany with five British riders in the top ten individuals including Sophie Howe riding Pebbly Aga Khan in the lead on an impressive score of 35 and Emily King, daughter of Mary King, riding Mr Hiho in equal second place with Irish rider Tori Dixon on a score of 42.50.
Last year the British team took home team and individual gold from this event in Portugal and will no doubt be hoping to do the same again this year. David Doel who we interviewed at Haras le Pin recently was part of the 2011 gold medal-winning team and individual bronze medallist.
This is the third Junior European Championships for course designer Ronald Alexander who describes the cross-country course as being “fairly ‘forward’ to encourage positive riding, but there are plenty of questions requiring attention and accuracy”.
“As a championship the course must necessarily be at the top end of one star level to seek out the best teams and individuals, so the course is rather more of a test than a normal one star which should be mainly educational. However, I realise that for some countries, riding at this level at this age is a relatively new experience, and so I have introduced a lot of alternatives, so that all the riders can hopefully find a way through to the end, and have a useful and enjoyable experience.
The course begins with some fairly straightforward confidence building fences, but fully up to height, so that the horses realise this is serious right from the start,” he says.
If you would like to watch some of these up-and-coming riders tackle the cross country, there will be online coverage on the event website live on Saturday from 10am (Polish time) http://strzegom2012.pl/en/strzegom-tv.html
CLICK HERE for team results after dressage.
CLICK HERE for individual results after dressage.
