Diary of a Showjumper: competing in Hong Kong
"The 2017 Asian Equestrian Federation Junior Jumping Championships was an exciting show to be a part of. It was sanctioned by the FEI this year as a Regional Championship and the Federation hopes to grow it into a bigger and better event every year, including Young Riders in 2018. The aim is to give young riders in our region an opportunity to compete internationally. The Hong Kong event was hosted beautifully. Angela Kong, who was the Secretary organising the Beijing Olympics, left no stone unturned in the planning of the event. The welcome dinner at the Hong Kong Jockey Club was second to none, the horse quality was fantastic and the venue, Beas River Equestrian Club, was perfect for the event. The lunchtime entertainment was really great with Chinese Kung Fu and other Chinese demonstrations. All the competitors, families and coaches were there in the same spirit, to enjoy the event and meet each other. Conversations were about horses, Jumping and life in 18 different countries like Iran, Qatar, Kyrgyzstan, Cambodia, Japan, India and Malaysia.
We drew from a pool of ‘off the track’ thoroughbreds for the first two qualifiers and I rode ‘Friend Support’, a kind (Australian bred) school horse mostly used for Eventing. He did his job well and I won the first qualifier and was 5th in the second one, with a couple of ‘eventer’ rails due to the bigger track. This got me into the top eight riders and an opportunity to draw from a pool of mostly imported Warmbloods. I drew a beautiful mare, the best quality horse I have ever ridden, so it was an exciting opportunity to just be on her. She had only been in Hong Kong for a month and it was very kind of her owner to lend her for the event. She was ‘super scopey’, and spectacular in the warm-up, but a little green in the atmosphere on course, and the best we could manage was a 5th place in the final.
I would certainly recommend this event to any Junior rider in the future. Experiencing the Chinese culture and meeting riders from countries very different to our own was fantastic. Having just six warm-up jumps allowed, in a time limit of 20 minutes, then riding into a 1.20m course is a great learning experience. I have been lucky enough to represent Australia in Korea, New Zealand and Hong Kong in the past two years and I hope to travel again in 2018. "
Madi Sinderberry
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