Boring Junior europeans?

[joben]

Was the standard amazing or were the xc and sj courses simply too easy? you would have thought it would be a tough track at Necarne. Did anyone go?

Bring back the Junior Europeans to 2* level!

However must say congratulations to Laura Collett. I know she has a lot of money, support and fantastic horses but her results are impressive, and she brings most of them on herself.

 

[tigers_eye]

It has been like this since it was made 1*, and I'm afraid that it will remain largely a dressage competition whilst this is the case - you can only make 1* xc and sj tracks so difficult and the height simply isn't a factor. I did it in 2001 at Walldorf in Germany and it was all inthe woods and very twisty, yet I think over half the competitors went inside the time. The problem with changing it back to a two-star (apart from protests from Frnce and Germany - the two countries who have done very well in recent years) would be the extra qualifications needed - getting them takes time which is something that most Juniors simply don't have!

Echo your congratualtions to Laura Collet - she has made the transition well to horses, but started competing them alongside her ponies from an early age. I think this is essential if our juniors are to have a fighting chance, if most leave it until the season they are 17 to move onto horses they haven't much hope of being able to produce the performances necessary before they are out of Juniors.

 

[Fiona]

Just a quick reply as I was there all week. There were actually three courses at Necarne, a 1 star track, a two star track and the Jun Euro one which comprised bits of both. However it was actually more of the two star fences than the one star ones, and definitely a lot more technical than the standard 1 star track. You have to realise that a lot (though not all) of the horses in the junior champs have experience at 2 or perhaps even 3 star, so they can make a one and a half star track look relatively easy.
Also the SJ was on a surface (making clear rounds easier), and was bigger and more technical than the 1 star SJ earlier in the day.
Just wanted to clear up any confusion.

Fiona