Junior Dressage Rider Megan Lane Wins Individual Bronze at NAJYRC

Ottawa, ON— Megan Lane of Collingwood, ON, won the bronze medal Saturday in the FEI Junior Individual test at the 2009 Adequan FEI North American Junior & Young Riders’ Championships, held July 21-26 at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, KY.

Lane, 18, and her eight-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare, Caravella, were tied with American Lauren Knopp and Rho Dance for the silver medal, as both scored 65.842%. The general impression marks were used to break the tie and consequently, Lane was awarded the bronze.

“The weather made the conditions for the individual test very difficult. My horse was very energetic with the high winds, but I tried to use it to my advantage,” said Lane. “Caravella has a lot more to offer, so the Freestyle test tomorrow will be very exciting.”

The top 15 riders from the Individual test will move onto Sunday’s Freestyle. Three other Canadian team members also earned this privilege. Tied for sixth place with scores of 63.789% were Ariana Chia of Winnipeg, MB, aboard Odilon and Anne Mylaine Messier, of St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, QC, riding Marzipan. Alexandra Dvorak of Hillsburgh, ON, and Fling scored 61.842% for 15th place. Lane, Chia, Messier and Dvorak will all advance.

Exclusively for Junior Riders, aged 14–18, and Young Riders, aged 16–21, the NAJYRC gives up-and-coming riders the opportunity to representtheir country as a team, and prepares them for future international competition. Featuring the disciplines of Dressage, Eventing, Show Jumping and Reining, the 2009 edition of NAJYRC is also featuring the FEI discipline of Vaulting for the first time. Another first for the Championship is the presence of the FEI President, Princess Haya. This is the only time that a current FEI President has attended the prestigious event.

The Championships, presented by Gotham North, are being hosted at the site of the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, giving these young athletes a taste of what’s to come next year for their senior counterparts.

For more information and complete results for NAJYRC, please visit www.youngriders.org.