Results of the World Championships for Young Horses

After the cross country event, Andrew Heffernan and Newton de la Love were still in the lead of the World Championships for 6 year old horses, in front of Frank Ostholt and Quite Easy. Camille Piat and New de la Bergère are still in 3rd place.

The sun shone brightly at the beginning of Saturday morning on the Isle-Briand Estate. In fact, it was so bright that the judges and the technical delegate chose to remove the first obstacle (the Haras Nationaux Bivouac), to avoid any problems caused to riders and their horses which could have been dazzled by it.

Elsewhere, there were not many problems. There were only two falls: the Russian rider Yuri Nechepurenko (competing with Khangol) fell on the first part of the Jefco Sylco Devil’s Hole (no.5), and retired; the young rider Mathieu Lemoine fell with Newman du Roulet in the Equideos Drinking Trough (no.8) and was eliminated. Three other couples were eliminated after three refusals in a row by their horses at the entry of the Equideos Drinking Trough or the Aigle Water Jump (no.14), including Esther Andres and Schwalbenprinz, who were 5th after the dressage event.

With 10 seconds of additional time (the ideal time was 8’44), Alessandra Gherardi and Golden Boy 0134, who was 4th after the dressage event, slipped back into 10th place. On the other hand, Andrew Heffernan had no problems with Newton de la Love and held on to the provisional lead. “Everything went very well. It is a great course for young horses. It is the most complicated round that my horse has ever ridden and he did really well ! “rejoiced the Dutch rider.

The young rider Camille Piat overcame the course’s difficulties with New de la Bergère. The Selle Français horse appeared to be at ease with all of the obstacles. “He had a great round. He reacted very well, even when he was faced with difficulties which he had never experienced before. He was a bit excited because of the public at the beginning and then he concentrated on the course and things went well.“

Frank Ostholt did not have any problems either with his mare Quite Easy. “I am very pleased with her! The World Championships are really a great experience to train young horses. The obstacles are simple, there are not too many combinations and that allows them to finish the season well. Having said that, we have been really lucky with the weather. Finally, maybe some people will end up by thinking that the cross country event is not so difficult since many horses finished on time. But if it had rained, as it has done in the past, and if the ground had been very heavy and muddy, it would have been a completely different story “concludes the 2006 World Champion in the team event.
In any case, the show jumping event promises to be very exciting, as only four faults separate the first three riders.
This difference is even less important as the World Championships' arena is very unique: it is small, surrounded by the stands and the public is very close to the lists. All of these factors can perturb the 6 year old “babies“…

FRANK OSHOLT WINNER OF THE CHAMPIONSHIPSFOR 6 YEAR OLD HORSES

The suspense lasted right up until the end of the competition but after the final show jumpingevent, Frank Osholt and quite easy won the world championships for 6 year old horses, in front of Andrew Heffernan and Newton de la Love, Camille Piat and new de la Bergere held onto their third place.

COMPETITION FOR 7 YEAR OLD HORSES: PIGGY FRENCH AND CAST AWAY II HOLD OUT

Almost 30,000 spectators were present on Saturday for the cross country event. Therefore, the 7 year old horses which competed on the course designed by Pierre Michelet, which was 5,480 metres long, were cheered on by a huge crowd.

The cross country event for the World Championships for 7 year old horses took place with conditions similar to experienced by the 6 year old horses and there were also very few incidents. Nelly Schorer was one of the few riders who unfortunately did fall, on the landing of the Pays de la Loire Gazebo (no.4). The French rider competed again with Myrage du Bois, and then retired on obstacle no.15 (the new Renault Laguna). Denis Mesples was eliminated after Mahogany fell at the entry of the Aigle Water Jump (no.14).

Like for the competition for 6 year old horses, the two water jumps were the obstacles which caused the most problems for the riders. Having said that, the majority of them finished their round without any problems and within the time limit. All in all, these were ideal circumstances to train these young horses, some of which are destined to replace the crack horses currently competing on the circuit. Several of the 7 year old horses stood out from the crowd. This was especially the case of those which were in the lead after the dressage event… The little horse Prada, ridden by Lucinda Fredericks, was wonderful throughout the entire round, just like Avebury, ridden by Andrew Nicholson (4th).Michael Jung and La Biosthetique Sam (3rd) were also successful in this event: “He was fantastic! He jumped very well and was fast throughout the round.“

Piggy French (1st) was also thrilled at the finish line of the cross country course: “Cast Away is really a very, very good horse! I had a slight problem on the 3rd obstacle (the Val de Loire Apples), but apart from that he was perfect! He is calm, he loves performing and is competitive. He is a horse for three or even four star level competitions… If he does not manage to reach this level of competition, it will be because I have failed!“

The rider everyone was waiting for, Nicolas Touzaint (2nd) of course, lived up to the public’s expectations! He had a wonderful performance with his Spanish horse Barlovento. “I am completely thrilled! At the beginning, he was very sensitive to the public, he shied when they applauded. He is rather curious, but he remained concentrated on what I asked him to do. He is very straightforward on the obstacles. He is still tricky to ride, but he really has potential“said the European Champion enthusiastically, once he had crossed the finish line.

The top of provisional line-up has not changed and the first seven riders are still only separated by four faults. As a result, the show jumping event will be even more exciting to watch on Sunday afternoon. After a lot of suspense, Piggy French and Cast Away II won the championships for 7 year old horses, in front of Michael Jung et La Biosthetique Sam and Lucinda Fredericks and Prada.

Check the results.