Two Caithness riders selected to represent Scotland at the prestigious BE International Youth Championships
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Fourteen-year-old Emily Campbell and Rowan Lee (13) are both delighted to be part of the under 18 Scottish BE90 team taking part in the championships at Bishop Burton College, Yorkshire, in August.
They are the first young riders from the county to represent their nation in British Eventing for a good number of years. Both are members of the local Pony Club branch as well as Caithness Riding Club.
Their results at under 18 events throughout Scotland were being watched by the selectors who felt it was a highly competitive season this year. Input on who should receive a call up for the teams was also received from coaches.
Emily, who will be riding her eight-year-old grey Connemara, Corclough Randel (Scotty), had not been expecting to be chosen for the team as she is fairly new to the eventing scene. Commenting on how she felt on receiving the selectors email, Emily said: "It was a shock."
She brought on her pony herself having got it as a four-year-old when her feet barely cleared the saddle flaps and they embarked on their eventing career together.
Emily and Scotty had a win recently at Burgie, the final BE competition to be staged at the popular north venue, where they finished on their dressage score of 31 in the BE90 – a great warm up for Bishop Burton.
Rowan is riding 16-year-old Durran Pedro and is delighted to be flying the flag for Caithness. "At the start of the season, I set out to try and get a place in the under 18's Scottish team to compete at Bishop Burton at BE90," she said. "I am delighted to have achieved that and am looking forward to going with my Caithness bred pony Durran Pedro."
Rowan is hoping to get a good run at the Pony Club Area 1 qualifiers at Burgie this weekend before she goes to the championships. Emily is also taking part at the Area 1 qualifiers.
Both riders are really excited about the call up and have already benefited from pre-competition training at Lindores Equestrian, Fife, official sponsors of the under 18 teams. The sponsors have been incredibly generous supplying the young riders with items such as jodhpurs, jackets and gilets, as well as rugs for the horses.
Facilities at Lindores proved excellent for the coaching sessions, which included instruction from David Gatherer and Sue Hendry.
The championships at Bishop Burton College will showcase the talent of the very best youth athletes from across the UK at BE90, BE100 and CCI-L YR2* level.
Things get off to a start with the trot up on Wednesday, August 3, while dressage will take place on the Thursday and Friday, cross country on Saturday, finishing with the showjumping on Sunday.
