HISTORY was made at the world breeding championships for young event horses at Le Lion d’Angers in western France last Sunday when Germany’s Anna Lena Schaaf became the first non-French rider to complete a championship double on the same horse who, also for the first time, was a mare, Lagona OLD.

Schaaf repeated the tactics which had proven so successful 12 months previously with her Oldenburg bay by completing on her winning dressage score (18.6 penalties) in the CCI3*-L for seven-year-olds. In fact, of the top 10 following the flat work phase, the German rider and her Lavagon mare, who was bred by Theodor Sporkmann out of Ile de Cartina (by Cartani 4), were the only ones to maintain their position to the end.

Sunday’s show jumping phase proved far more influential that the cross-country on Saturday and with the scores so tight, a pole down or even time penalties had a major influence. Conversely, clear rounds also had an effect on the final leaderboard with France’s Nicolas Touzaint and Britain’s Izzy Taylor, who were in joint 10th spot after dressage on 25.5, jumping double clears to finish third and fourth respectively on the Selle Français gelding Fibonacci de Lessac HDC and the Irish Sport Horse gelding SBH Big Wall (by Puissance out of Unanibeath, by Courage II).

Silver medal for Irish-bred

The highest-placed Irish Sport Horse was the silver medal winner, Dassett Arthalent who, ridden by Britain’s Piggy March, competed on his dressage score of 22.7. By the Rosbotham family’s Dutch Warmblood stallion Valent, this bay was bred in Co Down by Catherine Abbott whose daughter Clare first produced him under Eventing Ireland rules. He was one of the top six-year-olds in the country last year and would have competed at Le Lion had he not been sold. He is out of Timpany Night, who Clare campaigned up to Advanced level. That Nigrasine mare is now in the ownership of Co Tipperary-based Vanessa Teehan and is in foal to Button Sitte.

At the start of the week, a fifth-place finish would have looked good to Ian Cassells. However, joint third after dressage, the Newcastle, Co Dublin rider lost out on the silver medal when picking up a small number of time penalties in both jumping phases with Fiona and Gerry Leahy’s Tabaco van Erpekom gelding Rosconnell Alto (25.7) who won the CCI3*-S at Millstreet in August.

Cassells also finished 18th, on his dressage score, with Pat Duffy’s home-bred Brookwood Supersable (31.1), an ISH mare by Tolan R, while, on her first phase mark, Co Cork’s Sian Coleman was two places further adrift on Caroline Colthurst’s ISH mare Blarney Monbeg Pepper (31.8), a daughter of Dignified van’t Zorgvliet.

Great experience

Of the other eight Irish combinations who started, special mention must be made of Colin Halliday and Leanne Marshall’s home-bred Van Gogh mare GHS Calexico who were one of just two combinations, from 64 starters, who were eliminated over the Pierre Michelet-designed cross-country course on Saturday.

Off the pace after dressage (39.1) but up on the clock over the fixed fences, Halliday was lucky to stay with the mare when she pecked badly on landing at the cottage at 21, pulling off her two front shoes in the process. While they jumped the first of the two angled hedges, GHS Calexico ran out at the second and, in an effort to turn her around with little steering, Halliday found himself jumping the surrounding safety ropes and was subsequently eliminated.

Despite this reversal, Halliday very much enjoyed his first ouring at Le Lion. “It was a pity things ended as they did but the whole trip was a great experience. The track walked harder than it rode but the main difference between these championships and any event at home was the size of the crowd! There was something like 40,000 there on Saturday – you’d never be able to prepare your horse for anything like that.”