Horse & Hound – 22 August 2019

70 Horse& Hound22 August 2019

Picture

by

Richard Julliart

DRIVING

FEIFOUR-IN-HAND

EUROPEANCHAMPIONSHIPS

15-18 August

EditedbyHannahLemieux

[email protected]

@ hannah_lemieux1

FEIfour-in-hand

EuropeanChampionships,

Donaueschingen,Germany

THENetherlands’BramChardon

hasmade 2019 theyearhehas

comeofageinhissport,addinga

Europeangoldtohisvictoryin the

FEIWorldCup.

The26-year-oldsonof

drivinglegendIjsbrandis no

strangertothetopofthepodium

—havingtakenthreeconsecutive

goldsintheponyfoursWorld

Championshipsin2011, 2013 and

2015 —butthisvictorymarked

a newreignofdominanceforthe

youngbloodinthehorseteams.

Bram’swincontinuedhis

family’slegacyashetookoverthe

titlefromhisfather,whocollected

individualgoldattheGothenburg

EuropeanChampionshipsin2017.

“TwoyearsagoI washereon

thebackofmyfather’scarriage

asgroomandnowhewasbeside

methewholeweek,”saidBram.

“Thisyearhasbeenverygoodfor

me,winningboththeindoorand

outdoorchampionship.I knewI

hada teamabletodogreatthings,

butattheworldsinTryonit didn’t

workout.It’stoughfortheteam

ofpeoplearoundyou,sotomake

it cometogetherintheright

momentatanotherchampionship

is a greatfeeling.”

TheNetherlandshaslong

presidedoverthedriving

EuropeanChampionships,

winning team gold at every edition

BramChardon

claimsindividual

goldforthe

Netherlands,

whileGermans

take the team title

sincetheirreintroductionin2011.

Thistime,misfortunestruckand

it washomesquadGermanywho

finished11.03penaltiesoutin

front,withBelgiuminsilverand

Franceinbronze.

Theirpositionsweresecured

bystrongperformancesfrom

France’sBenjaminAillaud,who

collectedindividualsilverwith

histeamofArabo-Friesians,and

Belgium’sGlennGeertsinbronze,

whohascontinueda dogged

ascentinrecentseasonswithhis

chestnutwarmbloods.

Germany—trainedbyworld

championBoydExell—were

impressiveacrosstheboard,

takingindividualfourth,fifth,

sixth,seventhand10th.

DOWNTOTHEWIRE

DESPITEanunusuallyachievable

cones track from course-builder

JohanJacobs,theindividual

competitionstillwentdowntothe

wire,withfiveteamsproducing

doubleclears.

OvernightleaderBram

loweredoneballtoleavehim

just0.5ofa penaltyaheadofhis

Frenchrival,whohadleftlittle

breathingroomwhenheclocked

just0.91ofa time-penaltyinthe

finalphase.

Benjaminhadledthedressage,

withBramplacedthirdandhis

fatherIjsbrandsecond,butthere

wasa significantshakeuptothe

leaderboardonmarathonday.

Bramhadgivenhisbrilliant

LipizzanerPandura restover

Aachen,butthegallantindoor

andoutdoorleaderwasbackin

thesquad,lending“greatvalue”

inthemarathontosecureBrama

secondplaceinthephase.

Whilethiselevatedhimto

overnightlead,theDutchteam’s

chanceswerescupperedwhen

Ijsbrandflippedhiscarriage

atobstaclefourashiswheels

mounteda treewhilecircling.

Therewasfurtherdisaster

whenremainingteammember

KoosdeRondeusedthewrong

marathontimesonsectionA (see

box,left)earninghim 35 penalties

—a crushingdisappointmentfor

thedriverafterstrongobstacles

performancesthatwouldhaveput

himinsilver.

“Consideringwhathappened

tothewholeDutchteam,it

wasgoodatleasttobringthe

medalbacktotherighthouse.

Weallpushit tothelimitin

championships, so every now

BySARAHRADFORD

Chardon comes of age

‘THECHAPTERISCLOSED’

DUTCHMANKoosdeRondeelectedtogohomebeforefinishingthe

championships,afterhewasawarded 35 time-penalties.

Sheetswithtimingsforthemarathonwerehandedoutonthe

firstdaybuta newversionwasgiventocompetitorsafteranerror

wasspottedonsectionA,whichlistedponynothorsespeeds.

Whileallothercompetitorscompletedthesectioninthecorrect

time,Koosusedtheoriginalfigures—a mistakethatputhimout

of medal contention.

“Thebalefulfeelingis stillhere—myhorseswere

greatandfit,myteamweresuper-sharpandthere

wereterriblemoments,butthe chapter is closed,”

Koos said on social media.

TALKING

POINT

RESULTS

Individual.—1, B Chardon(NED),

153.46;2,B Aillaud(FRA),155.58;3,G

Geerts(BEL),156.6.team.—1, GER,

313.71;2,BEL,324.74;3,FRA,330.60;

6,GBR,390.50.

andthensomething goes wrong,”

Bramsaid.

BRITSBOUNCEBACK

IN2017,fundingprevented

Britainfromfieldinga teamin

theEuropeansinGothenburg,

Sweden,soit wasrewardingtosee

thesquadbouncebacktoa sixth

placefrom 10 nationshere.

Theline-upconsistedofDan

Naprous,whofinishedbestof

theBritsin25thwitha new

teamofArabo-Friesians,Wilf

Bowman-Ripley,JamesBroome

andindividualPippaBassett,who

hadsuccessfullycrowd-funded

£6,000tomakethetrip.

Britain’sformwasa little

underminedwhenoneofDan’s

leadershada majoraccidentat

homeandhehadtoborrowa

horsefromWilf.Twentypenalties

fromWilfonthemarathon,

whenhewentthrougha gate

backwards,alsotookitstoll.

“Iwasverykeenweshould

goafterwhathappenedwith

Gothenburg,”saidchefd’equipe

ZoeMorgan.“WilfandDanwere

invitedtoAachenthreeweeks

before,whichwasa hugehonour

andtheydidwellthere.Wilf,Dan

andJamesalsoachievedbronzein

theNationsCupinJune,sowefelt

we had a strong team.”H&H

‘Tomakeit cometogetherinthe

rightmomentis a greatfeeling’:

BramChardonaddsEuropean

gold to his World Cup title