Competing for Great Britain as an individual at this week’s Longines FEI European Showjumping Championships in Spain is Jessica Mendoza and the brilliantly scopey mare In The Air.
The pair produced a four-fault performance on the opening day, but returned on day two for a dazzling clear, which Jess described as “Pretty damn good!”
“She was flying!” Jess said. “My plan was of course to jump a clear round, but the course walked big and there were a lot of hard jumps for her – she shifts a little off the right lead going right and there were at least four jumps that I thought would be a bit of a trick – bogey jumps for her. But she never felt like she was going to touch a pole today, that’s for sure!”
Syndicate-owned mare gives owners plenty to cheer about at European Showjumping Championships
In The Air is a 12-year-old Dutch-bred mare looked after by groom Lina Karlsson and owned by a syndicate unofficially known as “The Moms’ Club”. It consists of Pernilla Amman, Georgia Kipp, Kristi Mitchem, Melissa Skowlund and Jess – as well as her father Paul Mendoza.
“In The Air and my other horse Summerhouse are owned by The Moms’ Club – they’re all the mums of my clients that I train, so it’s really lovely,” explained Jess. “And I own part of them both and my dad does too – he’s the only one not in the moms’ club!
“They’re all fantastic kids that I’ve been lucky enough to train and now I’m lucky enough that they want to invest in me. They’re not here in Spain, but they’re watching every round and cheering us on and they ring me as soon as we’ve jumped. It’s brilliant.”
Dutch-bred mare In The Air: why she’s more cat than dog
In The Air is quite a character.
“I describe her as a cat – I think most horses are more like a dog personality in that they want petting, they want love,” said Jess. “Whereas she’s never going to be the most loving and in your face – she’ll watch you, and she watches everything, but she’ll come to you in her own time.”
Jess, 29, describes the British team in A Coruna, who currently sit top of the leaderboard, as “one of the best teams I’ve been a part of”.
“I’ve done a lot of British teams and this one just has the camaraderie – everyone just has funny banter here and we’re all just a good group. It’s really nice to be a part of,” she said. “Even last night, we don’t have a team dinner as such, but we just go to dinner and we’ll hang out. So that’s great.”
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British rider takes the lead on day one of European Showjumping Championships: ‘I couldn’t be more proud’
