When his two horses turned up lame a week before his first North American Youth Championships, William Martin’s approach showed composure and maturity beyond his years. “One of my biggest priorities as a rider is looking after the wellbeing and health of my horses,” he says. “So when the bad news broke just over a week before my biggest competition, the only question on my mind was ‘how can we make this better?’.”
“My ultimate goal is to become a professional in the sport and compete in Nations Cups for Canada.” (courtesy William Martin)
It was a miraculous comeback in the eleventh hour, but the new partnership of Martin and Ricore Courcelle, a 17-year-old Selle Francais stallion (Quaprice Bois Margot x Alme), owned by Teddy Vlock, brought home the gold medal in the individual junior jumping championship. “I stayed hopeful, and with a little luck and thanks to a lot of work put in by my team, Ricore went into the week feeling great, physically and mentally. When I knew I would be walking into the ring that weekend and not letting my Canadian junior team mates down I was so relieved, and after Ricore jumped a perfect schooling class I was confident heading into the week.”
William did not let the nerves or pressure to compete with a young partnership in the first major final of his young career rattle him. He believes a naturally competitive personality helps keep the nerves at bay. “I still definitely get nervous, but I’ve learned to accept the nerves more,” he explains. “I’ve never been the type of person to carry much emotion in sport.”