Great Britain’s children on horses team has won silver at the FEI European Championships in Austria.
The team took second place at the youth showjumping championships in Wiener Neustadt yesterday (Thursday 13 August) following a long day of competition.
Germany won gold on a score of one penalty and Poland took Bronze.
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The British team was made up of Hallie Lunn on Brookwood Supersonic, Oliver Fletcher on Little Business, Lottie Tutt on Babylon and India Bussey on Westwinds Ego.
Coming forward into the second day of the team competition, Team GBR was on a score of zero and in joint first position with Italy and France.
After the first of yesterday’s two rounds, the British riders picked up just four faults to go into fourth place.
In the second round, India, Hallie and Oliver all jumped clear to keep GBR on a final score of four faults.
A nail-biting finish meant placings were undecided until the final rider from the 22 nations competing had jumped the 1.25m course.
Speaking yesterday (Thursday, 13 August), chef d’equipe Alan Fazakerley said that each rider contributed “brilliantly”.
“All four delivered played a major part in them winning team silver and they should all be very proud of themselves,” he said.
He added that while all played a great role, Oliver – son of H&H columnist Olympic gold medallist Graham Fletcher – deserves a mention.
“He put in a particularly big performance at the incredibly young age of just 12 with his double clear and he deserves praise for that,” he said.
“It’s been a long day and the way that each of the riders have handled the tension that comes with that when there is such a lengthy break between rounds makes me feel honoured to be representing them.”
The junior and young rider team competitions are underway today (Friday, 14 August) and the children on horses’ individual medals will be decided tomorrow (Saturday, 15 August).
