Avenches: Manuel Grave amongst the best riders

Last weekend was host to the FEI European Eventing Championships for Juniors held in Avenches, Switzerland. It began on Wednesday 1 August as 73 junior competitors from 17 nations went through the veterinary inspection.

Unfortunately, one of the horses from the Hungarian contingent was excluded, leaving the team with only 2 members and therefore no longer eligible for the team competition and reducing the number of competitors to 72.

Thus 72 horses and junior competitors set out on Thursday for the first leg of this European Eventing Championship, Dressage.

The Dressage phase did a lot to place some of the favorites in the top spots. Indeed, title holder Laura Collett and Rayef from Great Britain got off to a good start, and were in the lead with 35.48 points, slightly ahead of last year’s bronze medalist Franziska Roth (GER) aboard Dictus J while Christoffer Forsberg (4th last year in Ireland) and Grafman from Sweden were running third. A lot of suspense ensued as there was little certainty following the Dressage leg with many competitors in feasible reach of a medal. While on the team front, Great Britain was ahead, followed by Sweden and Germany.

And yet the suspense continued, as the cross country did little but confirm the current positions, with title holder Laura Collett still in the lead followed by Franziska Roth and Christoffer Forsberg… In effect the first 6 following the Dressage leg, retained their places at the conclusion of the cross country, a very orderly cue indeed.

Much praise went to Pierre Michelet and Peter Hasenböhler for the great Cross Country Course, replete with challenging and interesting obstacles and scenery.

At this stage of the game, Great Britain retained first place, followed by Sweden while France stepped up and was looking at Bronze pushing the German team into 4th place.

There was little that could change the determination of junior rider and European title holder Laura Collett and Rayef as they officially confirmed their status as European Champions and gracefully took gold following the Jumping leg. Franziska Roth (GER) and Dictus J valiantly earned silver, making that one spot up from last year’s bronze. And while he had played his cards right from the start, Sweden’s Christoffer Forsberger relinquished his claim to third place as he committed three faults and thus allowed Emily Llewellyn with Pardon Me II from Great Britain to step up and claim Bronze.

As far as the teams were concerned, Great Britain took gold, Sweden the silver and France bronze. The title holder, Germany, just missed out on a medal, coming 4th overall.