Sverige, an 11yr old Hanoverian mare, bought from Germany in late December 2018 for my working rider Molly Mooney, to progress her dressage riding and career. A simple mare with reasonable results from Germany who together with Molly have achieved more in the season of 2019 then I could have ever dreamed and hoped they would have.
While competing on our early trip around the UK in 2019, the combination easily picked up the Area Festival Qualifications for both Novice and Elementary. They continued to impress on Irish soil also, proving that being a cat 2 rider was not an issue for the pair who notched up an impressive string of high 60% and low 70% results in both Novice and Elementar
y tests throughout the summer.
The end of August, the heroics began! The Area Festivals in Sparsholt College proved to be a huge moment for this pairs career. First up was the Elementary and naturally at the young age of 15, nerves took a hold in the ring, as they bigger atmosphere also made the mare just a little tense of the occasion. A very well presented if a little cautious test resulted in them missing out on the top 10 by less than a mark. However a good night’s sleep and a better understanding as they both knew now what it was like, they both produced a stunning test, which proved to be too much for the entire field and they came away with the crown, Novice Silver Area Festival Champions 2019.
The following month at the Irish National Championships the pair contested the Novice Cat 2 Championship, and over the two tests produced consistent performances of the highest level and came out on top, crowned Irish National Novice Cat 2 Champion for 2019. Two weeks later the pair headed to the Area Festival Finals in Scotland, at this point pressure seems to be something they don’t feel and the pair rocked out two incredible performances showing huge maturity to be crowned Novice U21’s Area Festival Champion and Elementary U21s Area Festival Reserve Champion.
Hugely proud as their coach of what they have achieved, and delighted to be a part of their journey and guide them on their way to such success. The pair are hard in training as they prepare for the Area Festival Championships in Hartpury in April 2020 where they will contest the Novice and Elementary U21’s Championships.
