Selection of this year’s final three participants for The Young Eventers Programme took place on the 23rd October.
London, 6th November 2018.
After an impressive number of applications, the Windrush Equestrian Foundation shortlisted nine young riders for their assessment at William and Pippa Funnell’s yard.
The selection panel consisted of Gill Watson, William Funnell, Pippa Funnell, Eleonora Ottaviani (Young Riders Academy) and Emma Chesworth (Windrush Equestrian Foundation) who evaluated the riders based on their riding skills and personal profile. “It was an amazing day surrounded by such a group of accomplished young riders and I feel honoured to be part of the beginning of this exciting journey” says Emma Chesworth. The riders were impressive and after careful consideration by the selection panel, the following three have been selected for the programme:
- Susie Berry (IRL)
- Mary Edmundson (UK)
- Alex Kennedy (UK)
The panel, together with the Windrush Equestrian Foundation Board Members, have also decided to offer a short training period with Pippa Funnell and an education session with the Young Riders Academy to an additional rider, Amy Barlow. The programme will commence in December with the three riders undertaking their first education session with The Young Riders Academy in Geneva. “It will be a pleasure to have the three Windrush Equestrian Foundation riders joining us in Geneva for the TOP 10 and for the CHIO. It’s a great opportunity for both the show jumping young talents and the young eventers to meet and exchange opinions on the different disciplines. It will also be very interesting to have Pippa Funnell as a trainer, so we can maintain as high a level in eventing, as we have for the show jumping. The trainers we use are the likes of Franke Sloothaak, Jos Lansink, Jean Maurice Bonneau, Marco Kutscher and the Schroeder brothers” says Eleonora Ottaviani from the Young Riders Academy.
The Windrush Equestrian Foundation would like to thank the nine young riders who took part along with the selection panel for making the launch of our inaugural programme a huge success. www.windrushfoundation.org.uk
