Cayman Riders Best in the Region

The Cayman Islands Equestrian Team has proved its strength by winning First (Adults) and Second (Children) in the 2017 Caribbean Equestrian Association (CEA) Caribbean Dressage Challenge.

The competition, in its 13^th year, enables riders from CEA member countries to compete without having to travel. Instead, a single judge travels to each island nation. Riders are ranked individually and by country team. The country team consists of the top three adult and top three junior riders, based on the difficulty of the test they ride and the scores they receive. Of the 63 competitors from Barbados, Bermuda, The Cayman Islands and Trinidad, Cayman had a total of 14 riders enter the competition.

Finishing in first place, ahead of Barbados, Bermuda and Trinidad, was the Cayman Islands adult team, comprised of riders Stephanie Lloyd, Tracey Surrey and Jessica McTaggart-Giuzio. The Cayman children’s team, Megan Swartz, Anja Van Genderen, and Abby Swartz, won second place, ahead of Barbados and Trinidad.

“On behalf of the Cayman Islands Equestrian Federation, congratulations to our riders. We are incredibly proud of their efforts and their hard work is clearly paying off. This is the first year that our adult team has won this event, and they won with a sizeable lead ahead of Bermuda. Our junior team also produced outstanding results, especially given that they are a relatively young group”, comments Eve van den Bol, the organization’s president.

Individually, Cayman riders fared especially well this year against their Caribbean counterparts. Highlights include winning 3 of the top 5 places in Adult First Level, 1st, 2nd and 3rd places in the Adult Training Level and 4 of the top 7 places in the Children’s Training Level.

Cayman’s individual results in the competition are listed below:

Adult Fourth Level Test 1

1st – Jodie McTaggart on Ray of Light

Adult Third Level Test 1

2nd – Jessica McTaggart-Giuzio on Loris 7

Adult Second Level Test 3

2nd – Jessica McTaggart-Giuzio on Relation T

Adult First Level Test 3

1st – Tracey Surrey on Dusty

4th – Sydney Crowley on Calidad

5th – Charlotte Hinds on Sunday’s Edition

Adult Training Level Test 3

1st – Stephanie Lloyd on Lilly

2nd – Jessica McTaggart-Giuzio on Moon Lady

3rd – Sydney Crowley on Calidad

8th – Eve van den Bol on Whindlass

Children’s Second Level Test 3

2nd – Anja van Genderen on Joey

Children’s First Level Test 3

5th – Anja van Genderen on Joey

6th – Abby Swartz on Blue Ridge Dream On

Children’s Training Level Test 3

3rd – Megan Swartz on Zeus

5th – Lara Humphries on Storm

6th – Eva Muspratt on Oscar

7th – Kayla Mannisto on Pony Up

9th – Leah Alberga on Fly By Me

High point for the overall competition went to Tracey Surrey on Dusty in the Adult First Level Test 3 with a score of 72.265%. Also to note is Jodie McTaggart who won first place at the Fourth Level. Her mount, Ray of Light, is a veteran to competition having participated in the Central American and Caribbean Games in 2010 and the Pan Am Games in 2011.

The CIEF wishes to congratulate all it riders, membership, volunteers, friends and family on a successful show season. The annual awards gala will be held at the Holiday Inn on Saturday, 24 June 2017.

Please visit the CIEF website at www.ciefcay.com for complete results.

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