Ten Broeck Farm

Canadian Jr/Sr Handling Competition Results 2015

In June 2015, Phil Silva was invited to give a handling clinic in Alberta, CAN for young members of the CWHBA (Canadian Warmblood Horse Breeders Association) to prepare them to compete in the WBFSH (World Breeding Federation for Sport Horses) International Young Breeders World Championships to be held August 6-8, 2015 at Hartpury College, Gloucester, Great Britain. The young breeders had an event-filled day with Phil, who enhanced their handling and showmanship skills to ready them for competition.

The WBFSH International Young Breeders World Championships, held bi-annually, invites young people from a variety of stud books around the world to compete in five categories: Presentation a horse on the triangle (showmanship); Judging horses on the triangle; Judging loose gaits; Free jumping; and a written exam.

The CWHBA sent seven young women to represent Canada at the junior (ages 16-20) and senior levels (21-25).The junior team consisted of Isis Landsbergen, Grace Arnburg, and Kiki Landsbergen all from Alberta. The senior team included Tara Landsbergen and Laura Iversen from Alberta, Heather Gardiner of Ontario, and Nicole Berthelot of British Columbia.

Over 20 stud books from 10 different countries were represented at the Championships, nearly 150 participants. While the German stud books put in their usual strong showing, Canada's participants had outstanding scores. (See results.)

Isis Landsbergen and Kiki Landsbergen: top 15 judging overall Junior chute jumping

Grace Arnburg: highest Canadian Junior Team score for judging conformation

Heather Gardiner: top 15 judging overall Senior chute jumping.

Tara Landsbergen: scored 100% on the written exam; top 30 overall judging chute jumping.

Nicole Berthelot placed 23rd senior, 25th individual overall.

Laura Iversen put in Canada's best showmanship round.

"I loved representing Canada as well as our Canadian Warmbloods. Being in this program, I have learned a lot. About handling horses, looking for the best qualities in a horse's conformation, and general horse basics. This was my first year competing, and being a part of the young breeders team has given me an experience that I will never forget!" - Grace Arnburg, age 16, Alberta

First time participant Kiki Landsbergen explains the value of the opportunity which the CWHBA provides to its youth through this program:

"This program exposes us to high quality horses and breeding around the world. This exposure and new knowledge we gain, prepares us for future experiences as competitors or breeders and gives us a glimpse of the quality of breeding we want to strive for in Canada. From the experience we get, it sets expectations and goals for what we can accomplish in our future breeding. Compiling our own knowledge with the European competitions and their ways of handling that we see, we improve our chances of success in the equestrian world. I love the chance I get to travel around the world gaining extremely useful knowledge."

It was decided during the International Young Breeders general meeting -held during each championships - that Alberta, Canada and the CWHBA will be the host country and stud book for the Young Breeders World Championships in 2017.

Phil was ecstatic to be able to help prepare the young Canadians for their competition, and hopes to be present to assist them again in preparation for 2017!

 

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