Canadian athletes tackled the first dressage obstacle of the 2019 Adequan/FEI North American Youth Championships (NAYC) presented by Gotham North on July 31, completing the Junior Team Competition at Old Salem Farm in North Salem, NY.
Team Quebec/Nova Scotia pushed through the day’s heat and humidity to deliver consistent performances from teammates, Ariel Boesener of Canning, NS, Chloe Vandenplas of Sherrington, QC, Marilie Roy of Outremont, QC, and Lily-Rose Lemaire of Drummondville, QC, to end in fifth place on a total score of 195.424.
Roy, 17, boldly led the charge with a fluid test on Sam By Guert (Spielberg x Ferro), an eight-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding owned by Nicolas Guertin. Their score of 65.879% put the NAYC rookie combination 16th in the individual standings.
“I feel really good about Sam’s performance; he always does the best he can,” said Roy. “He’s still young, he’s always playing, and he had a good time. I had an even better time, so I feel super great about how everything went! Leading up to NAYC, we’ve been hacking a lot, having cardio time cantering, and doing pole work – just having so much fun and not much test riding, which might sound weird, but I wanted him to be in good shape before coming here and healthy in his mental state just as much as his body.”
Less than a full percentage point behind Roy was 17-year-old Vadenplas and Bethanne Murphy’s 14-year-old Westphalian gelding, Furst Rubilo (Furst Heinrich x Rubiloh), with 65.121%, which earned the duo 20th place. Lemaire, 15, contributed the final score to count for Team Quebec/Nova Scotia, piloting World Lady (Weltmeyer x Akzent II), a 19-year-old Hanoverian mare owned by Lynda Tétreault whom Lemaire also rode at NAYC 2018, to a score of 64.424% for 23rd. Boesener, who recently turned 17, completed the team’s efforts with a score of 63.970% on her 16-year-old Hanoverian gelding, Winniepuuh (Weltmeyer x Ludendorff).
Canada was also represented by Team Ontario, which finished in eighth place after the unfortunate elimination of Amanda Law, 17, of Whitby, ON, and Addiction (Flyinge Amiral x Head of River), Stephanie Jensen’s 20-year-old Swedish Warmblood gelding. This left all three scores to count for the remaining members of Junior Team Ontario: 15-year-olds, Anna Swackhammer of Rockwood, ON, and Kiara Williams-Brown, 15, of Navan, ON, and Logan Iwanoff, 18, of Ottawa, ON.
Swackhammer deftly stepped up to the challenge with Melissa Sinclair’s Wrazzmatazz (Jazz x Darwin). The 15-year-old and her 16-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding partner relaxed into their movements with confidence, having been previously part of Junior Team Canada Central, which captured the bronze medal at NAYC 2018.
Swackhammer and Wrazzmatazz’s experience resulted in a score of 66.788% for an individual finish of eighth, the highest Canadian placing of the day.
“I can’t really complain with how Wrazz went, he never had any spooks, was really calm in the ring and his extended trot felt really good,” said Swackhammer, who has been partnered with the dark bay since March 2018. “I was very excited to be part of Team Ontario this year and it’s good that Wrazz knows this environment. The Individual Test [on Friday] is actually my favourite test, so I’m looking forward to that, and I’m also looking forward to the Freestyle because it’s really fun to do it to music.”
Williams-Brown was also part of the 2018 podium effort from Junior Team Canada Central alongside Swackhammer. She shared her lessons learned competing for the maple leaf with a new mount for 2019, Cluseau (Concetto x Calido), Simone Williams’ 14-year-old Hanoverian gelding, resulting in a score of 62.424% for 27th place. Iwanoff added a score of 54.788% aboard Linden Ein (Lux x Wendekreis), a 15-year-old Hanoverian gelding owned by Margaret & Simone Williams, to bring the Team Ontario total to 184.000.
A final score of 203.182 secured the Junior team gold medal for US Region 4, while silver belonged to US Region 2, who scored 202.636, and US Region 9 claimed bronze on 199.637.
Kathryn Robinson, 15, of Edmonton, AB, also competed in the Junior Team Test as an individual, laying down 65.455% for her first score of the competition riding Forget-Me-Not (Valdez x Ferro), a nine-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare owned by Carol Robinson, to 18th place.
Dressage Continues and Jumping Begins Tomorrow
Aug. 1 will once again feature the Dressage Team Competition, this time challenged by Canada’s Young Riders. The jumpers will also get their first turn in the ring with the Individual Qualifier for all divisions.
For live results from NAYC 2019, click here. More information on NAYC 2019, including the full schedules for dressage and jumping, can be found at www.youngriders.org.
Top 30 Canadian Results – NAYC 2019
Dressage Junior Team Competition – Team Results
Placing / Team / Score
5th / Team Quebec/Nova Scotia / 195.424
8th / Team Ontario / 184.00
Dressage Junior Team Competition – Individual Results
Placing / Athlete / Horse / Owner / Score
8th / Anna Swackhammer / Wrazzmatazz / Melissa Sinclair / 66.788%
16th / Marilie Roy / Sam By Guert / Nicolas Guertin / 65.879%
18th / *Kathryn Robinson / Forget-Me-Not / Carol Robinson / 65.455%
20th / Chloe Vandenplas / Furst Rubilo / Bethanne Murphy / 65.121%
23rd / Lily-Rose Lemaire / World Lady / Lynda Tétreault / 64.424%
24th / Ariel Boesener / Winnipuuh / Ariel Boesener / 63.970%
27th / Kiara Williams-Brown / Cluseau / Simone Williams / 62.424%
*denotes an individual athlete
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