While bronze medal Youth Olympic Games winner, Polly Serpell, was training hard for the YOG show jumping competition in Nanjing, China this past summer, other Cayman Islands Equestrian Federation (“CIEF”) riders traveled to the USA to participate in the Children of the Americas Dressage Invitational 2014 (“CADI”).

Hannah Fowler was one of them and won her spot on the Cayman delegation to be sent to CADI earlier in the year at the Federation Equestre Internationale’s World Dressage Challenge held in Cayman in March.

For CADI, the athletes have to ride two dressage tests: the FEI Children’s Preliminary, which consists of specific elements in a predetermined order and the Freestyle Test, which is set to music and designed by the rider, the only requirement being the specific elements that must be performed.

CADI is run by Jane Karol, a US Dressage Federation Gold Medalist, at her barn, Bear Spot Farm located in Concord, Massachusetts. CADI is a fundraising benefit for the Bear Spot Foundation which supports equine assisted psychotherapy programs . The competition is divided into two divisions; one for riders who ride their own horses and the other for those who ride borrowed horses.   International participants this year came from Puerto Rico, Barbados, Guatemala, Ecuador, Trinidad and Tobago and the Cayman Islands.

Riders in the Borrowed Horse Division are allocated a horse by random draw and have just two coaching sessions on that horse before the start of the competition. The coaching sessions are given by leading coaches from the dressage world who donate their time for the event. It is a chance for riders to be coached by some of the best in the US and Europe!

The event itself is not all about winning the coveted first place ribbon but about the whole experience of caring for the horse, operating in a team, fostering international friendships and interacting in a sportsmanlike way with the other competitors during the course of the event.

The first day of competition was the prescribed FEI Preliminary Test. Hannah Fowler, coached by Dutch coach Gerrit-Claes Bierenbroodspot, was the first competitor of the competition to go and posted a score of 69% on her mount, a 16.2hh Dutch Warmblood named Saffron. Fowler’s score led the borrowed horse division for the day and after the last score was posted, Fowler remained in pole position.

“I was delighted with this win,” said Cayman-born Fowler . “I had trained really hard all summer so it was a great feeling to stand on top of the podium while they played the Cayman National Anthem. I was so pleased for myself, Coach Claes and my Cayman coach, and so proud to bring this win home to Cayman.”

On the second day, riders had to ride their Freestyle Tests.

This time Fowler was almost the last rider to go and was chasing high scores posted by the riders from Puerto Rico and Trinidad. Her freestyle music was a compilation of modern music played by military bands and whilst she had been anxious about fitting the music to her drawn horse, she executed the test extremely well and came in second, posting a score of 75.95 %.

The scores from each day were added and at the prize giving ceremony later that day, Fowler was delighted to be awarded Reserve Champion overall.

President of the CIEF, Sharon Hinds, said “We are delighted that Hannah went to CADI to represent Cayman and did so well. We as a Federation have a recent history of performing well in this competition overseas and we are extremely pleased that a new rider has had the chance to experience this competition. We are especially delighted for Hannah Fowler, that she was Reserve Champion at CADI. It is always a great achievement to win a spot on the podium in an international competition! When put together with our YOG success this year, the Federation has had a very successful summer and this in turn reflects the many many hours of practice our riders put in every week to practice the sport they love.

For further information please contact Sharon Hinds at [email protected]

IMAGES:

Hannah Fowler Day 1 (First Place, Borrowed Horse Division)

Hannah Fowler Day 1 (First Place, Borrowed Horse Division)

Hannah Fowler and borrowed horse, Saffron, Day 2