Equestrians' head: First Eventing World Challenge a success

THE Trinidad and Tobago Equestrian Association (TTEA) hosted the first International Federation for Equestrian Sports (FEI) Eventing World Challenge at San Antonio Stables, Santa Cruz on July 13.

The event – aimed to provide opportunities to local riders who face challenges in competing abroad – brought riders from across Trinidad and Tobago to compete in three categories: FEI category, national category and dressage only.

The competition began with the Dressage segment.

In Eventing, scores from the Dressage segment are converted into penalty points which are then added to penalties incurred during Cross Country.

Leading the Eventing Competition after Dressage was Amy Costelloe, riding Audacity to Hope, with 28.76 penalty points, closely followed by Justynne Fletcher on Cape Canaveral with 29.83 penalty points, and Sandhya Moll on Apocalypse with 32.15 penalty points.

The Cross Country course designed by Javier Jeri Leigh, FEI level-two course designer, posed significant obstacles with 18 jumps.

Fletcher, 16, emerged victorious in the Eventing Competition, adding only four penalties to her Dressage score, achieving a final score of 33.83 penalty. Her younger sister Jaimie, 14, secured second place with L'ouvre (50.27 penalty), followed by Moll on Apocalypse (50.95 penalty) and Caitlyn Sebastien on Rafa came in fourth (63.02 penalty).

In the National competition, Mia Vieira on Miss Lily led with 35.69 penalty points after Dressage.

Charlotte Mack, however, claimed overall victory in the National Class on Madame Bean (45.58 penalty), followed closely by Caitlin Whitling on Caro's Legacy (47.82 penalty), and Mia Vieira on Miss Lily, who finished third owing to time faults (53.69 penalty).

Mia Tewari on Romeo excelled in the "Dressage Only" competition, securing victory with an impressive score of 69.03 per cent.

TTEA president Patrice Stollmeyer said, "It has been a fantastic showcase of talent and determination among our local equestrian community. We look forward to building on this momentum in the future."

Stollmeyer said equestrian sports in TT had been up and down for the last number of years.

"We had gotten to a decent standard about 12-15 years ago in show jumping and dressage and things fell down. The younger riders began leaving the sport as they began going to university and experiencing life."

She hopes this "successful" event will be the rebirth of equestrian events.