On Friday 17th April 2015, the Trinidad and Tobago Equestrian Association’s delegates and their coach, Mrs. Patrice Stollmeyer, travelled to the Cayman Islands to represent the twin isles at the Caribbean Equestrian Association Junior Jumping Competition. The representatives were Ms. Amber Thompson, 16 years old and Ms. Jordanne Browne, 14 years old. The Caribbean Equestrian Association was formed in 1997 and annually brings together the islands of Barbados, Cayman Islands, Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago in competition on borrowed horses.
Click here to see gallery – scroll for photos of competition
The competition got off to an early start on Saturday 18th April 2015. Amber Thompson rode a clear first round in the 16 and under category mounted on a 17 hand warm blood, Ed. The pair however incurred a time fault. In round two, she rode a smaller horse, Storm, but was still unable to decrease the time incurring yet another time fault. Jordanne Brown also received time faults in her two rounds in the 14 and under category. Ms. Brown rode a clear first round on a 24 year old pony called Rambo, however they were too slow. In the second round, mounted on another pony, Amerillis, Jordanne ended with four faults in addition to her slow timing. The time allotted for riders to finish the course was 48 seconds. All countries incurred time faults except Barbados. At the end of the first day of the competition, Trinidad and Tobago was in third position with the Cayman Islands leading and Barbados second.
On the final day of the competition, Sunday 19th April 2015, Ms. Amber Thompson rode a warm blood called Sunday Edition in the first round. Whilst Amber did encounter some challenges, she managed to ride a clear round within the time frame of 52 seconds. In round two, she was mounted on a smaller horse that needed to be ridden forward with light hands. Being conscious of that, Ms. Thompson had a clear round again with no time faults. Ms. Jordanne Brown also had two clear rounds. In round 1, she rode a large pony called Shirley Temple and in Round 2, a thoroughbred, Katarina, which meant that team T&T had a good day 2 with absolutely no faults. In the end, Barbados emerged victorious with a total of 10 faults and Trinidad and Tobago was in second place with 12 faults. The Cayman Islands (13 faults) and Jamaica (37 faults) were in third and fourth positions respectively.
Ms. Amber Thompson and Ms. Jordanne Brown will be reserve champions in their age categories. For the year 2015, thus far, Trinidad & Tobago and Barbados have equal faults, with both countries earning a first and second place each. The Caribbean Equestrian Association Junior Jumping Competition will continue in September in Trinidad & Tobago and the final leg will take place in Jamaica in December at a date to be announced.