Britain’s Jemima Green and Fantabulous have made a dream championship debut, winning individual bronze on day one of the European Para Dressage Championships, in Ermelo, the Netherlands.
The competition opened today (3 September) with the grade II grand prix A test for individual medals. Veteran rider Hediemarie Dresing, 70, won gold on Poesie 143 with 77.28% for Germany and Denmark’s Katrine Kristensen posted 74.59% on Georklintgaards Quater for silver.
Jemima and her seven-year-old gelding Fantabulous were last to go in the grade II and scored 73% for the bronze position.
“I’m feeling a lot of joy. I’m very overwhelmed and surprised,” said Jemima.
“I wasn’t expecting this at our first championship. He is only seven so it was such a big ask for him, and he really tried for me. It’s a bit of a shock, you hope for these kinds of outcomes.”
Jemima and “Fanta” started strong, scoring 8s for their first medium walk. Their test remained fluent and Jemima kept Fanta’s confidence up, averaging 7s and 7.5s, and more 8s for their final centre line.
“He felt nervous, but he worked with me. It was the first time he’s ever heard applause and I thought ‘I hope he’s ok’,” said Jemima, who cited her medium trot work as a highlight of the test.
“We’ve struggled sometimes with the medium trot; for me it’s quite a hard movement to get him together and balanced. I felt like for the first time in a ring, especially where he’s a little bit shy today, he produced a really decent medium trot for me.”
“I hope I can show him off”
Jemima believes there’s plenty still to come from Fanta over the next few days.
“I think in the free walk we can show a better stretch, but in that atmosphere today, I still could let go and relax. He never felt like he was really unsettled, we had moments where it felt a bit ‘Oh’, but then he would come back into it,” said Jemima.
“That shows our partnership where I can trust him and he can trust me to go, ‘We’re a little bit nervous, but we’re ok’, and then continue back into our zone.
“I hope now he’s been in there and taken in the atmosphere, we can have a bit more relaxation and come into a few of the transitions a bit smoother. I hope I can just show him off that little bit more, but we’ll see. Every day is going to be a new day and a new challenge. The tests are different, and he’s got to keep his stamina up for it all as well.”
Jemima thanked her team, trainer/rider Georgie Nicholls and groom Maisie Hodge, for helping them on their journey.
“Georgie loves Fanta just as much as me. She really has an understanding of how he needs to go for me, she’s so invested and really thinks out of the box,” said Jemima.
“Maisie comes to all the shows and makes sure Fanta is priority number one. She looks after us and just takes the best care of Fanta, we have a really good girl bond.”
“We are here, we’ve made it”
Jemima said she was “very surprised” and “very privileged” to be selected for her first championships.
“I am trying to take every step and enjoy every moment of it, from the opening ceremony to just seeing all the other riders,” she said.
“I’m trying hard to think ‘We are here, we’ve made it’. I wouldn’t have wanted it to be on any other horse.”
European Para Dressage Championships Grade IV and V individual medals
Grades IV and V will be in action tomorrow (4 September) for individual medals. Britain’s grade IV rider Nicola Naylor (Humberto L) will ride at 9.27am UK time (10.27am local time).
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