Just a Bunch of Badas* Pony Instagrams from FEI European Championships for Ponies

We’re a bit obsessed with the eventing ponies on display at this weekend’s FEI European Championships for Ponies, which were held at Strzegom in Poland and spanned dressage, eventing and show jumping.

Taken from an FEI press release:

The Eventing Championship was another thriller in which France took a strong hold from the start and never let go.

Mae Rinaldi topped the individual rankings after a brilliant dressage test for a score of 23.2 with Boston du Verdon, and she would go on to take the Individual title while also leading the French team to glorious gold.

Her team-mates Mathieu Cuomo (Celeste du Montier) and Zoe Ballot (Voltair de Lalande) were lying third and sixth after the first phase on marks of 26.4 and 28.1 respectively, so France went into cross-country day ahead of Germany in second and Ireland in third place. And the cross-country phase saw many changes to the leaderboard as the 24-fence challenge really tested rider skills from start to finish. In all there were 10 eliminations on course from a starting field of 46.

The combination fence at 11 proved particularly influential in the early stages as riders struggled to find their line to the second element. So when that news was brought back, many opted for the longer route here as the day progressed. Zoe Ballot’s tour of the track was exemplary, the addition of 4.4 time penalties still moving her up a place to fifth overnight. But compatriot Mathieu Cuomo suffered a very different fate.

Lying third with his pony, Celeste du Montier, he was still flying when coming down to the penultimate double of bush fences. But a slip on the bending line to the second element saw the little stallion unable to take off again, and the resultant 20 penalties and time may well have robbed this 14-year-old rider of his chance of an Individual medal placing.

In contrast, fourth French team-member, Valentin Quittet Eslan who was lying 35th with Winnetou as the day began, rocketed all the way up to tenth when producing a superb clear within the time of 6minutes 37seconds. The 15-year-old Dutch-bred Winnetou is a perfect example of a wonderful pony that has served many different riders over the years, in 2019 helping Team France to European silver with Lilou Ducastaing in the saddle.

So at the end of the day the French were still in the lead on 96.4 with Germany’s Ella Kreuger (Golden Grove Simon), Pita Schmid (Sietlands Catrina), Marie Hoffmann (Penny Lane WE) and May Marie Fernandez (Maruto) less than five penalty points behind. And the Irish were still still in bronze medal position when Ted O’Leary (Rockon Pedro), Caoimhe Crozier (Kildromin Banjo), Sarah Keane (Lon Mac Liomhtha) and Ben Connors (Cornafest Fred) finished with 116.3 on the board.

As the final Jumping phase began Connors and his Connemara gelding were lying in silver medal spot on their dressage score of 30.3, just 0.1 ahead of The Netherlands’ Sophie Weening and her brave and bold Hip Hop who raced around the cross-country track the previous day pulling hard all the way and clearly enjoying every moment of it. Mae Rinaldi still held the lead with her French stallion Boston du Verdon despite the addition of 5.2 cross-country time penalties, but on a score of 28.3 couldn’t afford a jumping error if she was to grab Individual gold. So when the leading trio all held firm in the Jumping arena yesterday the Individual podium places remained unchanged, and France claimed team gold on a final tally of 104.4 with Germany in silver on 114 and Ireland in bronze on 132.3.

Rinaldi was delighted with both her result and her brilliant pony. “I’m very happy with my individual victory, but also for the whole team. It’s a dream come true. Boston is a great pony, he is amazing in all three phases…and I love him!”, said the new European champion.

FEI European Championships for Ponies (Strzegom, Poland): [Website] [Results]

We couldn’t help but hit the Follow button on a ton of athletic pony Instagram accounts this weekend, so we thought we’d share a few posts with you as we know everyone loves a good pony!