From Trinidad & Tobago Guardian

SMILE!: Winner of the Adult Training Level, Test #3, Amy Costelloe with her horse, Out of The Blue at the Caribbean Equestrian Association and T&T Equestrian Association Dressage competition.
Following visits to the Cayman Island and Bermuda, T&T was the third stop for internationally renowned equestrian judge Sarah Geikie of the USA in this year’s Caribbean Equestrian Association Dressage Challenge held on Saturday.

Developed to promote a high standard of competition between the member islands the CEA Dressage Challenge is contested by riders and horses from Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Jamaica and T&T. Judged in each country separately, the competition allows participants the opportunity to train and compete at a high level without the expense of traveling abroad.

Geikie, who has travelled to Barbados after completing her work in T&T on the weekend, commended T&T’s junior competitors, and is pleased to see the future of equestrian sport in its development.

Among those to impress were Nicola Chatoor and Patrice Stollmeyer who both were the sole entries in the Adult third level, Test #1 and adult second level, Test #3 respectively, the two categories with the highest degree of difficulty. Chatoor amassed 184.5 points riding Takeover, while Stollmeyer chalked up 254 points on board Monte Carlo.

The adult first level Test #3, Anja Taylor on Out of The Blue topped the field with 214.5 points followed by Luisa Fernandes and Biscoito with 206.5 points and Sydney Navarro and Nobill LX with 202.5 points.

The adult training level, Test #3 was the most highly subscribed division and saw Amy Costelloe placing first with 142 points on her mount, Romeo. In second place with 140.5 points on Sinnerman was Natalie Rapier while Gia Borely and Viking Thunder was third.

The final CEA Dressage Challenge standings will only be revealed once all the island visits are completed.

The CEA Dressage Challenge was hosted in conjunction with the third leg of the T&T Equestrian Association’s Dressage League which is a fairly new initiative meant to also build capacity and participation in the sport. Many of the riders and horses which participated in the CEA Challenge also strutted in this competition including a record number of young children according to TTEA President Dr Chancy Moll. She was also happy to relate the sentiments expressed by Geikie who commended Trinidad’s junior competitors, and was pleased to see the future of equestrian sport in its development.

For the two previous legs of the TTEA League, participants were video taped performing the required tests and that footage sent to an international US based judge. The third leg however was judged live by Geikie.

IMAGE: SMILE!: Winner of the Adult Training Level, Test #3, Amy Costelloe with her horse, Out of The Blue at the Caribbean Equestrian Association and T&T Equestrian Association Dressage competition

For more on this story go to: http://www.guardian.co.tt/sports/2017-06-05/chatoor-stollmeyer-impress-judge-geikie