2000
European Pony Championships
German Pony Dames Rock the House in Mother Country
Land
For the eleventh time Germany secured the gold team
medal in dressage at the European Pony Championships.
Even more shocking was the way in which Germany captured
all three individual medals and place four at the 2000
European Pony Championships in Hagen, Germany, from
25th to 29th July 2000
That Germany would win gold was no surprise, but that
Great Britain is coming up with a stronger team each
year raises concern in the German camp, which seems
to have a life-time subscription to gold. German Chef
d'Equipe Cornelia Endres considers Great Britain as
the strongest competitors at this years pony derby,
and she was right. The English team won silver and Denmark
grabbed bronze as leading rider Lisbeth Pedersen scored
above 70% with her Cha Cha.
Top scorer for Britain was Maria Eilberg with the Westphalian
pony Manitu M. The bay gelding already built up a career
in Germany by becoming reserve champion under Wiebke
Stommel at the 1997 German Young Horse Championships.
Sally Makin on Nurejew and Victoria Molloy on Victoria
backed up Eilberg by scoring above 67%. Drop-out score
for Britain came from Laura Bechtolsheimer who is leasing
Golden Dancer, the 1996 European Dressage Pony Champion
(under Jana Kun) and the 1999 golden team member (under
Marie Jaeger). "This is a perfect example that a top
class pony can not excel without a quality rider who
rides with feeling. I have the impression that Golden
Dancer has lost his fun in work. Pony stallions have
a special personality and they have to be treated on
an individual basis," Conny Endres explained.
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