Team NAF Pony riders finish second at Nations Cup in Fontainebleau
Saturday 30 April 2022
The penultimate day of the CSIO Youth Show at Fontainebleau saw the Nations Cup competition take place for our pony riders. Under the guidance of Chef d'Equipe, Clare Whitaker, and riding under the title sponsor banner of Team NAF, the team brought home second place, finishing just one fence behind the winners, Belgium.
The team were drawn sixth out of the seven teams who came forward to contest in the 1.30m twelve-fence Nations Cup track, designed by Yann Royant (FRA). Pathfinder Tabitha Kyle, aged 14 years from Loughborough in Leicestershire with the 13 year-old bay gelding Gangnam Style, owned by TJ Hall Limited, rolled an early pole and an unfortunate foot in the water in the first round, completing on 8 faults. Their second rounds saw them lower the very last pole to finish on 4 faults.
Second to go for the team was Izabella Rogers, aged 14 years from Chelmsford in Essex with the 9 year-old grey mare Queen Star, owned by Nicola Rogers. This combination produced two faultless rounds to finish with a double clear - one of only two in the class.
Madison Seedhouse, aged 15 years from Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire with the 18 year-old chestnut gelding Quaprice, owned by ESM Equestrian, was next up and coming towards the end of the track, the combination were on course for another clear when an unfortunate rub of the last fence resulted in 4 faults, a score they matched in the second round having lowered an upright at fence three.
Finally, it was the turn of Poppy Deakin, aged 15 years from Dalton, Newcastle-upon-Tyne with the 12 year-old chestnut mare Armene du Costilg, owned by Kerstin Deakin, who posted a faultless clear to keep Great Britain in contention for the win. Entering the second round level pegging with Belgium, who had just posted a clear as Poppy and Armene du Costilg entered the arena, the pressure was on for the combination. An early falling back bar at fence four secured the win for Belgium, who finished on a total of eight faults, and meant that Great Britain's Team NAF Pony riders finished in second place, completing on a score of twelve faults. Germany finished on sixteen faults and finished in third place.
Further information on the show and full results can be found here.
British Showjumping would like to thank NAF, title sponsors of the Senior Nations Cup Teams along with the Pony, Children, Junior, Young Rider and Veteran teams.
NAF’s premium range of Five Star brands include Superflex, Superflex Senior, PROFEET, Optimum, Magic, Oestress and Respirator Boost with quality at the heart of everything they do. They are a UFAS (Universal Feed Assurance Scheme), GMP+ (International Feed Assurance Scheme) and BETA NOPS (Naturally Occuring Prohibited Substances) accredited company and this enables them to guarantee full traceability on all the natural ingredients they utilise in their formulations, which are also selected in compliance with the FEI guidelines for Clean Sport. For further information, visit www.naf-equine.eu/uk/index.jsp.
The GBR showjumping teams are supported by the British Equestrian Federation’s World Class Programme, funded by UK Sport through the National Lottery. The Programme focuses on identifying talent, developing potential and maximising medal-winning performances on the world stage.
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