British Pony Team join in the GB medal delivery by winning Pony European Champs Team Bronze
Friday 19 August 2016
The British Pony Team competing at the Pony European Championships in Aarhus, Denmark this afternoon secured a Team Bronze for Great Britain after a difficult third round jump off against Sweden.
The team of riders aged between 14 – 15 years of age were all determined to ensure they secured a medal for Great Britain and they didn't disappoint.
At the end of the first round the team were sitting on 12 penalties, just two fences behind the leaders. Fortunes changed for many of the other nations in the second round with rider after rider notching up high penalty scores across what proved to be an incredibly tough course.
For Great Britain, we managed to hold things together enough for us to sit on 20 penalties at the end of the second round alongside Sweden allowing us to jump off for the Silver and Bronze medals on offer. Italy, had assured themselves of the Gold medal position having finished on 12 penalties; which gives some indication as to the difficulty of the task the children had been set by the course designer.
Allana Clutterbuck (15 years) from Upminster, Essex with Sultan Du Bary, a 10 year-old bay gelding owned by Susan Evans was the first to go for the team. Having jumped for a respectable 4 penalties in both the first and second round in her role as pathfinder, she was absolutely delighted to come home clear in the third round jump off to return a zero penalty score.
Next to go Jack Whitaker (14 years) from Whatton, Nottinghamshire with Elando Van De Roshoeve, a 12 year-old bay gelding owned by Michael Whitaker was next to go. A fence down in the first round saw them pick up 4 penalties followed by a foot-perfect clear in the second within the time allowed. The Jump Off however saw them caught caught short when Elando put in an uncharacteristic refusal resulting in them picking up 4 penalties.
Hallie Lunn (15 years) from Rochford, Essex with Javas Alun, a 13 year-old piebald mare owned by Richard Lunn put in a brilliant clear in the first round. Their second round unfortunately didn’t go to plan resulting in an elimination.
Robert Murphy (15 years) from Preston, Lancashire with Rainbows Mocha, a 10 year-old brown mare owned by Hans C Jacobsen finished the first round with just one fence down and a time penalty. Their second round saw them come home within the time allowed but with another 4 penalties when a slight touch of a pole saw it lowered from the cups.
With the first two riders having gone in the jump off and with Sweden's first two riders having delivered strongly the decision was made not to ask Robert to jump again. The reason to this decision was that Sweden had done enough to secure themselves the silver place finish spot no matter whether Robert jumped clear or not.
Clare Whitaker who was accompanying the team in her role of Youth Team Manager commented afterwards “It was a particularly difficult competition today. We were lying equal fifth after the first round and had to hold it together to climb our way back up the leaderboard.
“The second round was carnage for many, but we held on and managed to finish in a strong enough position to jump off for the Silver and Bronze medal positions. Their medal was hard earned today and I’m proud of what they have achieved. It was a big scoring championships which gives a real indiciation as to how difficult it was to achieve what they did.
“We have got three riders qualified for the Individual Medal Grand Prix and Jack Whitaker is sitting high on the rankings carrying just the 4 penalties”
The Individual medals will be decided on Sunday 21st August at 14:00 hrs local time. Matt Lanni is accompanying the team in the role of Chef d’Equipe.
Further information on the show, and full results once the show is underway, can be found by visiting www.vilhelmsborg.dk.
British Showjumping would like to thank their consortium of Business Partners who assist support the Youth Squads.
The British Jumping teams are also supported by the Equestrian World Class Programme. The programme, which encompasses both Podium and Podium Potential squads, focuses on identifying talent, developing potential and maximising medal winning performances on the world stage. The Programme has been funded by the National Lottery via UK Sport since 1998 and is a portfolio within the British Equestrian Federation.
