Horse & Hound – 22 August 2019

54 Horse&Hound 22 August 2019

Pictures by leszekwojcik.pl

SHOWJUMPING

PONYEUROPEAN

CHAMPIONSHIPS

15-18 August

PonyEuropeanChampionships,

Strzegom,Poland

ALTHOUGHherteamlostout

toIrelandina tensejump-offfor

goldontheFriday,GreatBritain’s

HollyTruelovebouncedbackin

styletoclaimindividualsilver.

Thistime,thechaseagainst

theclockdidn’tinvolveIreland’s

MaxWachman,whowasalready

celebratingasthenewEuropean

champion.

Max,whois trainedby

CianO’Connor,didn’ttouch

a poleduringallfiverounds

onhis14-year-oldLuidamx

CavalierRoyalewonder-mare

CuffesgrangeCavalidam,on

whomhetookthesilvermedal

lastyearatBishopBurton.

Fifteen-year-oldMax’syear-

youngerbrotherTomwasalso

onthewinningteamherewith

17-year-oldOceanDesAs,the

ponypartneredbySweden’s

IngemarHammerströmto

individualgoldin2018.

“ThisperformancefromMax

wassimplyoutstanding,”said

HorseSportIrelandCEORonan

Murphy.“Tofinishfiverounds

ofchampionshipjumpingand

a jump-offroundintheteam

competition on a zero score

Irelandclaimsa tremendousdoublegold, while it is silver

all the way for Britain’s pony riders

isanincredibleachievement.

CongratulationstoMax,tothe

winningownersCoolmoreandto

RonanSheehan,breederofthe

winningpony.”

HollyTruelove,16,hasa great

relationshipwithherfather

Barrie’s14-year-oldFrench-

bredRexterD’Or.Thestriking

stallionhashisownwayofdoing

things,whichsometimesincludes

approachingfenceswitha hop

anda skip.

Hollywasamongfourriders

whowentintothefinalona zero

score,andlookedunluckyto

notbejumpingoffforgoldafter

Rexterlefta toeonthewaterjump

tapeinroundone.

Therewasnosuchmistake

inroundtwo,andwitha medal

alreadysecuredtheywentinto

a jump-offagainstFrenchrider

IlonaMezzadrionCallas

RezidalZ.

TheFrenchpairweredrawn

second,soHollysetofflikea

rocketandremainedclear.The

pressuretoldonIlona,whobeat

thetimebutdroppeda pole.

“Ididn’thavemuchtolose,so

I plannedtogoasfastasI could

andit paidoff.Rexter’sbeen

amazingallweek,”saidHolly.

AllfiveBritsfinishedinthe

top 20 individually.Claudia

Mooreendedupsixth,withLila

Bremner16th,ShaunieGreig

18thandindividualriderHannah

Barker19thon Ammanvalley

Santino.

‘INCREDIBLE

TEAMSPIRIT’

IRELANDandBritainfinished

thethreeteamroundstiedon

four faults, two fences clear of

ByPENNYRICHARDSON

Luck of the Irish

Right:BritsHollyTrueloveand

Rexter D’Or claim double silver

MaxWachmanand

CuffesgrangeCavalidam

keepthepolesupallweek

tolandtheindividualgold

medalandhelptheIrishteam

to top spot on the podium

France,whobeatGermanyina

jump-offforbronze.

Inthedeciderforgold,

Ireland’sJohnMcEntee(Little

Smithe)jumpeda goodclear,then

Shauniewasmuchquickerwith

a roundthatincludeda fantastic

recoveryaftershewaslefthanging

offthesidewhenCasinoRoyale

twistedintheairovera fence.

Ireland’sNiamhMcEvoy

(ArdfrySkye)wentclear,but

whenTomWachmanhadtwo

downandClaudia(ElandoVanDe

Roshoeve)andLila(Lapislazuli)

bothjumpedgreatclears,Britain

heldtheadvantage.

ThenincameMaxWachman

andCuffesgrangeCavalidam.

Max,a memberoftheCoolmore

StudracingdynastyfromCo.

Tipperary,withspeedinhisgenes.

Hejumpeda sparklingclearin

frontofproudgrandfatherJohn

Magnier,andputthepressure

backontheBrits.

ItwasalldowntoHollyand

RexterD’Or.Theirtimewasgood

enough,buta late-fallingpoleat

a trickyverticalmeanttheBritish

teamhadtosettleforsilver.

IrishteammanagerGary

Marshallpointedoutthekeyto

histeam’ssuccess.

“Theteamspiritwehadhere

wasjustincredible.Youdon’t

winmedalswithoutthat,"he

said."Thereis somuchworkthat

goesonbehindthescenesfrom

parents,coachesandeveryone

workingatHorseSportIreland.

Everyoneplayedtheirpartand

a specialmentiongoestothe

supporterswehadouthereand

allthemessagesofsupportfrom

peoplebackhome.”

Britishchefd’equipeClare

Whitakerwasincrediblypleased

withherriders.

“Thiswasanextremelytough

competition,oneofthehardest

I’veseen,andtheywereall

outstanding,” she said.H&H