Dainer Takes Team Liberty To Top Of USEF Junior Team Championships
Reprinted from July 23, 2004 Issue of the Chronicle of the Horse
by Nicole Lever
 Team Liberty L to R: Erin Magbee, Chelsea Seburn, Jennifer Dainer and Susan Walker. Photo by Nicole Lever. |
Held at the Pebble Beach Equestrian Center, Pebble Beach, Calif., July 8-11, the top 12 qualified juniors, representing states as far flung as Kansas, Georgia and Washington, faced off in team and individual competition. Team Independence (Renna Idnani, Clare Marie Hove, Maya Dalla Valle and Eloise Aud) earned the silver medal, and Team Freedom (Ashley Schemp, Emily Mitchell, Vanessa Simon and Elizabeth Wilson) claimed the bronze.
This junior competition is one of only six junior competitions granted USA Junior Olympic status by the U.S. Olympic Committee.On her own Gable, a Hanoverian-Thoroughbred cross gelding, Dainer, riding in her second consecutive team championship, rose to the top like the proverbial cream. But she didn’t win the team gold all on her own. Teammates Susan Walker and Chelsea Seburn tied for third place individually, and even though Erin Magbee’s competitive weekend started out a little roughly, she finished strongly to place fifth in the individual test (64.10%), which moved her up to 11th individually.
To qualify for the junior championships, riders aged 14 to 18 needed five qualifying scores. Once at the championships, they were assigned to one of the three teams based on a handicapping format that tries to start the teams off on equal footing. The team and individual tests were worth 50 percent each. The competitors ride under FEI rules and in front of a panel of five international judges, and it’s often the first time many have ever ridden in front of more than one judge. They work with a chef d’equipe—this year’s chef was U.S. Olympian Charlotte Bredahl—and emphasis is placed on the team competition. "As chef d’equipe, I get the juniors to focus on sportsmanship. Before they started the competition, I gave them a letter on what it means to be a winner, and not the blue-ribbon kind of winner," said Bredahl. "I try to take the pressure off by helping them focus on the team aspect of this competition. I think it helps set the tone for the whole weekend."
Never Unmanageable
 Facet carried Susan Walker to tie for third place individually at the USEF Junior Dressage Team Championship. Photo by Nicole Lever. |
USEF rules don’t prohibit junior from riding stallions, and Susan said Facet isn’t too difficult because his temperament is so kind and steady. "He never, ever does anything that is unmanageable. He’s very sensible all the time," she said. Dutch Olympic rider Ellen Bontje trained Facet to the small tour, and Walker said Facet goes as well as she can ride him. "Whatever I can do, he can do. Knowing that he’s so well-trained does put a little extra pressure on me. I can get really mad at myself because I know if we make mistakes, that it’s pretty much my fault," she said. Walker improved her fifth-placed preliminary ride and her sixth-placed team test to finish third in the individual test, which moved her up to tie for third individually with Seburn and helped her meet the goals she set for herself. "I didn’t want to finish last, and I really wanted to try for a top-three individual placing, so I was pretty happy with the way things went," said Susan. "My teammates were great too. In just one week we bonded so well, and we’re really good friends now. I know we’ll stay in touch—once a team, always a team!"
Junior Program Comes Of Age
Almost all the junior riders who participated in this year’s USEF Junior Dressage Team Championships said they were considering moving up a level to compete in the young riders division, proof that the junior program is fulfilling its mission of both promoting dressage and encouraging youth participation."This year the juniors have really come of age. Their riding is very correct and their basics very solid," said Anne Gribbons, who judged this year’s championships and who was extremely influential in getting the junior program started. "The scores don’t just reflect better horses, they reflect better riding, and all you have to do is look at the narrow point spread from the gold-medal team to the bronze-medal team—just 3 points—to see how competitive these riders are. I know I sound like a proud, clucking mother right now, but we saw some good riding this weekend," added Gribbons.Cara Whitham, an I-rated Canadian judge, agreed whole-heartedly. She added that what she really appreciated about the junior riders was their ability and willingness to "fix" any problems they encountered in the ring. "These riders are extremely accomplished and very ring savvy. I rewarded them for really trying to make their horses stay up and stay focused, even on the third day, when it was easy to tell that everyone was a little tired," she said.
French I-rated judge Jean-Michel Roudier added his own accolades. "The quality of riding I saw equals what I see in Europe when I judge young riders there," he said. "These were very professional riders."
Photo credits to Nicole Lever.