1 August 2019Horse& Hound 65A GARGANTUANTASK
THISwasthefirsteditionoftheyouthEuropeanswithallfourage
divisionsheldsimultaneouslyatthesamevenue.With 220 horses
entered,thiswasa gargantuantaskfortheorganisers,butit proved
tobeanincrediblyformativeset-upforthecompetitors.
As emphasizedbyGermanjunior/youngriderchefd’equipe
MariaSchierhölter-Otte:“Thisway,theyoungestcan
learnfromthemoreexperiencedriders.It is so,so
importantthechildrencanwatchandbepartofthe
sameexperienceastheunder-25s.Allofusverymuch
hope the FEI will repeat this system in the future.”TALKING
POINTsometimesonlyjust—byhis
18-year-oldrider.Inthefreestyle,
Janahadtoworka littleharder
thanonthepreviousdays,with
somevisiblehalf-halts,butstill
produceda testthatthoroughly
deserveditsscoreof78%.
“It’scrazy,”saidJana,stillin
disbelief.“Wehadsuchlittletime.
Tothenwinthreegoldmedals
is justunbelievable.Intheteam
test,DerErbewaswithmein
everysinglepartofthetest.He
wasreallyworkingforme—it
wassucha ‘wow’feeling.I hadthe
samefeeling,if notevenbetter,in
theindividual,whereI couldlet
thecantercomeevenmoreuphill.
“Inthefreestyle,hewas
strongerbecauseofthemusic.At
times,I wasa littlebitaheadof
themusic,whichwasdonethree
yearsagoforanotherhorseof
mine,butit wasspecialtometo
ridethisfreestyleonhim,”said
therider.
TheonlyBrittoqualifyforthe
freestyleinanydivisionwasjunior
CharlotteMcDowall,onherown
Olivimare,AliviaII.
“Wehada fewmistakes
intheteamtest,includinga
missedchange,butwewentfor
it intheindividualandI couldn’t
believethemark[70.3%].In
thefreestyle,shewasquite
tired,butshetriedherheartout
andgoteverymarkshecould,”
saidCharlotte,whosefloorplan
startedwithhalf-passzig-zags
andincludedchangesonthe
serpentine.
“Werodetomusicthat
originallybelongedtoherold
owner,JulieHugo-Ross,but
shekindlyletmeuseit forthe
Europeans.Alivialovesthat
music.Assoonasshehearsit
sheperksup,”saidtherider,who
trainswithPeterStorrandPaul
Fielder,whowasinSanGiovanni
asteamcoach.
TheotherjuniorBrit,Jessica
McConkey,finished39thinthe
individualonher10-year-old
QuaterbackmareLadyGaga,after
impressingintheteamtestwhere
shehadscored71.5%for13th.
“Myfirsttestwasoneofthe
bestI’veeverridden.‘Millie’
stayedwithmethewholeway
through.Bythesecondtest,we
werebotha littletired,butoverall,
thisis thebestshe’sbeen.I’m
hopingtobuildonit fornextyear
whenthechampionshipsareat
Hartpury,”saidthe17-year-old,
whotrainswithGarethHughes.
POIGNANTMEDALS
THEyoungriderdivisionsaw
anidenticalpatternwithteam
goldforGermanyaheadofthe
Netherlandsandbothindividual
goldsgoingtothesameGerman
combination,Semmieke
Rothenberger with the graceful
blackmareDissertation(Don
Crusadorx Glückspilz).
Semmieke’striplegoldwas
particularlypoignantfollowing
thetraumaticeventsoflast
February,whena largepartof
herfamily’sequestrianfacility
waswipedoutbya devastating
fire,whichalsoclaimedthelifeof
someofSemmieke’shorses.
“Thisyear,we’vehada tough
timeandlostfivehorsesinthe
fire.I’mgoingtodedicatethese
medalstothem,”saidSemmieke.
“Whenyouhaveexperienced
somethinglikethis,it’snotso
terribleif youhavea mistake
anymore.Youjustwantthehorses
tobefit,happyandsound.
“I’msooverwhelmedbyhow
‘Daisy’showedherselfthisweek.
Shegavemesucha goodfeeling
inbothteamandindividualtests,
andshowedoffallofherpotential.
She’ssucha specialhorsewho
alwaystrieseverythingformeand
sodeservesthegold.
“Inthefreestyle,I hada super
feeling,butwehadonehuge
mistake,whichwasexpensive,”
continuedthe19-year-old,
referringtoanuncharacteristic
missedchangeafteroneofthe
canterhalf-passes.“Therewasa
smallpuddleandshedidn’twant
tojumpintoit.Thenwehada
misunderstandingastowhich
directionweweremeanttogo,but
shecontinuedbrilliantlyafter.”
Britainfinished12th,with
RebeccaBellandtheBritish-bred
NibeleyUnionHitprovidingthe
bestperformanceintheteamtest
for30thplace.
“Shewasa bitflatintheteam
test.She’sfit,butI thinkwedidn’t
quitegetherfuelrightandit’s
the first time she’s ever travelled‘I’msooverwhelmed’:
SemmiekeRothenberger
andDissertationland
doubleindividualgoldas
wellasteamgoldinthe
young rider division‘OneofthebesttestsI’veeverridden’:Britain’sJessicaMcConkey,
17, and Lady Gaga score 71.5% for 13th in the junior team test