THE FEI WBFSH World Breeding Championships for Young Event Horses was held at Le Lion d’Angers last week when, due to Covid-19 restrictions, the large crowds who usually descend on the popular French venue each year were absent.

However, the entire event was livestreamed free of charge which was mentioned, and praised, by The Netherlands’ Merel Blom when, on behalf of the riders, she spoke, in English, during the CCI2*-L prize-giving ceremony. She thanked the organisers for all their efforts in ensuring these important championships went ahead while France’s Nicolas Touzaint did likewise, in his native tongue, following the seven-year-old division.

At a socially distanced welcome reception, it was the organisers who thanked the local Council for not only their assistance in hosting the championships once again at Le Lion but also for providing the funds to put in the new large sand arena in which this year’s dressage and show jumping phases were staged.

“While it was sad to see the grass gone, the new arena is a huge improvement, especially after last year; a bad horse would jump well off it,” said HSI’s young event horse chef d’equipe, Janet Murray. “And, unlike other venues, the warm-up area has the same surface.

“It was very eerie with no spectators present but it was still atmospheric for the horses. The three members of the ground jury in both classes wrote a lot of comments which, hopefully, the riders will take on board. In particular, they mentioned the lack of rider accuracy and that transitions weren’t being shown when required.

“Our three six-year-olds went well, with LEB Empress (Cathal Daniels) and Designer Fernhill (Fraser Duffy, who was making his Le Lion debut) being two of just half a dozen to complete on their dressage scores. Steven (Smith) was unlucky to have the last show jump down with Mike Of Mourne – otherwise he would have done likewise.

“Things didn’t go so well in the seven-year-old division where, overall, there were just 10 clears across the country inside the time and only nine show jumping clears.

“Shannondale Mari was our highest-rated horse going into the championships but Cathal (Daniels) retired her after two run-outs in combination fences while Global DHI ran green before ejecting Brian Morrison four from home. It was good to see some of our combinations move right up the leaderboard following the jumping phases and, it they were slow across the country, they managed to finish while others failed to do so. You’ve got to remember that, while other countries were back into action earlier, our national season didn’t start until July so horses, and riders, were lacking match practice,” said Murray. “However, it was important that we travelled to the championships as these age classes are vital to a horse’s career.”

Surprisingly, and most disappointingly, there was no studbook championship this year but a quick perusal of the results showed that the Irish Sport Horse studbook would have finished a narrow second to the 2019 winner, the Selle Français. Hopefully, this competition will return to the schedule next October.