Jody Fonck World Champion Young Riders

09/07/2023 – The € 15.000 added individual finals of the World Reining Championship Young Riders [16-21 years] concluded yesterday at the CS Ranch in Givrins (CH) were exciting. In the team competition scheduled for last Friday team Italy had claimed gold, team Belgium silver and team Czech Republic bronze. Leading in this team competition were both Italian Filippo Milani with the 5-year-old stallion PL What A Woman [What A Wave] and Belgian Jody Fonck with the 7-year-old stallion Mello Yello Jersey [Yellow Jersey] owned by Kay Schröder, both marking a 217,5. Especially for Jody this had been quite an achievement. Jody was supposed to enter her steady partner, the 7-year-old gelding Smart Spooky Joe [Lil Joe Cash], but prior to the team competition the horse got injured. Disappointment allover, but under such circumstances one may use a reserve horse, in this case that happened to be Mello Yello Jersey, a horse that never before had been entered by Jody.
In the individual finals the better performances came towards the end of the class. With still 4 combinations to go Czech Vladimir Cejka and the 9-year-old gelding Remy Rooster SG [Remin Whiz] took the lead, marking a 219,5. When Jody entered the arena, being the penultimate entry, 219,5 was still the score to beat. The run-in and back-up weren’t spectacular, just neat, but in the other maneuvers Jody stepped it up a notch, stayed out of the penalty box and finished her pattern with an absolute good sliding stop resulting in a 221,5 score. The very last entry, Milani and PL What A Woman, did not live up to the expectations. Marking a 214,0 the pair tied for 5th place. The title and golden medal were for Jody, Cejka claimed reserve honors and silver. The Bronze medal was for Italian Rebecca Folcia and the 7-year-old gelding LS Dun Blue Berry [Spat A Blue] marking a 218,5.

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Photo: Jody Fonck and Mello Yello Jersey. Photo: Tom Hautmann, GER