Britain has won silver and bronze at the FEI Junior and Young Rider Championshipsin Haras de Jardy, France.
Poles falling
First-timer Will Furlong took individual bronze in the Juniors, while Britain’s team of Young Riders won silver, despite one of their riders being eliminated.
Tom Jackson took a tumble on the cross-country riding Waltham Fiddlers Find, which meant the pressure was on the three remaining riders, who went into the final phase in the silver medal position.
There were certainly plenty of coloured poles falling, as David Doel had three down riding Ricoshea, Camilla Dumas and Artistiek had two poles, and Holly Woodhead had one down with DHI Lupison. However, it was still enough for the British team to hold onto second place.
It was a great championship for the host team France, who won a number of medals across all the events, closely followed by Ireland who were hot on their heels throughout.
Great season
In the Young Riders team event, France won gold, while Ireland rose from sixth to third place, despite their last rider, Caroline Marwood, being eliminated on the cross-country.
The individual competition was dominated by Finland’s Elmo Jankari, who won gold. French rider Pierre Touzaint moved from 14th place after dressage to take the silver medal, while bronze went to Germany’s Nils Trebbe.
In the Juniors, Will Furlong kept his cool to jump clear in the showjumping onboard Pioneer Silvie. The pair finished on their dressage score of 44.2, to take individual bronze.
“It was my first time at a European Championship so I wasn’t expecting anything like this sort of result as I was lying in fifth place going into show jumping,” said Will.“Making it here was my ultimately my goal for the season so it has been the perfect end to a great season with her. I owe her so much.”
Hopes shattered
Chances of a junior team medal were shattered when Emily King (daughter of Mary) and Mr Hiho were eliminated in the showjumping. The pair, who won individual silver in 2012, only added 0.4 to their dressage score following the cross-country, so their sudden exit from the competition was very unexpected.
“Really wasn’t my day today,” Emily tweeted. “Unfortunately luck was just not on my side.”
This time Ireland took gold, while France settled for silver and the Swiss team won bronze. France also won gold in the individual, with Robin Boulanger finishing on his dressage mark of 42.5 – just 0.4 points ahead of Ireland’s Elizabeth Hayden who took silver.