Henselwood Begins Successful European Tour
Canadian Equestrian Team member, Jill Henselwood (Oxford Mills, ON), began a five week European tour this past weekend with two top ten finishes at the Indoor Brabant CSIW in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands.
Riding the eleven year old Oldenburg gelding Special Ed, Henselwood competed in a star-studded field in Friday’s $40,000 Indoor Brabant Prix. A mandatory qualifying class for Sundays World Cup Qualifier, Henselwood earned her spot to move on with a solid clear round that had the Canadian finish in ninth position.
Sunday featured the prestigious $160,000 VDL Groep World Cup Qualifier. Thirty-eight top horse and rider combinations participated in the feature event that would see only four competitors master German course designer Frank Rothenberger’s challenging test.
Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum (GER) and her talented partner Shutterfly were the eventual winners with Gerco Schroder (NED) and Eurocommerce Monaco holding onto second position. Third place went to the number one ranked rider in the world, Ludger Beerbaum (GER) and Angelique Hoorn (NED) finished fourth.
Henselwood, had a light rub at the third to last jump in the first round suffering an unfortunate four faults and finished tied for seventh place in the class. “Special Ed was very focused and jumped well this week. I’m disappointed that I had a jump down, but I am pleased with how well he handled the level of difficulty here. It was definitely the biggest indoor track he’s seen,” commented Henselwood.
Henselwood is competing at premier indoor competitions in Europe for the next month preparing for the World Cup Finals that are being hosted in Las Vegas, Nevada. Often referred to as the “indoor Olympics”, the finals will be held at the Thomas and Mack arena in late April. “Historically North Americans compete at the World Cup Finals fresh off our outdoor winter jumping tours…we get little or no indoor preparation” noted Henselwood. “The Europeans have a distinct advantage as they compete indoors all winter long. I’m here competing in Europe in the hopes that I can take advantage of that fact, and arrive at the finals ready to perform at my best.”
Henselwood’s next stop is a major world ranked competition in Sweden next week, the historical Goteborg Horse Show.
(photo © TetleyPhoto.com)