Team GB seize double Bronze
8th July 2009The British Riding Clubs Squad clinched Team and Individual Bronze medals at the European CIC** Team Championship held in Nagykanizsa, Hungary, last week, missing Gold by less than two penalties.
The Championship came to a nail-biting finish with just 1.25 penalty points separating all three medal positions at the end of the Team Competition. Despite missing out on the top prize the British Team were thrilled, especially with the team’s performance in the Dressage.
Outstanding performances in the Team and Individual tests saw Britain overcome ‘Dressage masters’ Belgium and Germany to top the leader board in this phase for the first time. The team were complimented on their riding by Peter Wagner, President of the Ground Jury, who awarded them three nines for their performance.
Graham Cory, Chief Executive of the BHS said: “It’s an incredible achievement for the team and a brilliant result for BRC.”
Austrian course builder Karl Parr’s cross-country course provided a tough test, especially as holding ground proved tiring for the horses. Only three riders completed inside the optimum time, and these included Britain’s Hannah Mace riding Toy Boy III and Matthew Heath on Gran Chaco. Germany proved the stronger across country but a run out by the German leader after dressage allowed Hannah Mace, who had been lying second, to move into the Individual Gold position.
Three poles down in the Show Jumping put the Gold just out of Hannah’s reach but she was delighted to finish third, taking Individual Bronze. Hannah also received the Sue Picken Trophy for the highest placed British rider.
The few clear rounds in the show jumping included Harriet Morris-Baumber (Shannon Dales Skatman), Jodie Amos (Altairs Luck) and Matthew Heath (Gran Chaco). Matthew was the only rider to finish on his dressage score and gain an eventual Individual sixth place. Julia and Robert Hodgekinson, owners of Gran Chaco, had travelled to Hungary to support the team. They were ‘absolutely delighted’ with the horse’s European Championship medal, having bred him as a hunter.
Peter Buist, Chef de Mission to the British Team said: “It was a fantastic result; the whole team just out performed themselves. The training provided by Richard Waygood and Jonathan Chapman was clearly a major contribution to the success of the squad.
Our grooms also worked hard and turned out their horses in immaculate condition. It's a credit to them and the riders’ fitness work that all horses came out on the last day and jumped so well.”