Belgium’s Emilie Conter and her quick-footed stallion, Clochard, raced against the clock on Thursday morning during WEF 5 in the international Arena to win the CSI2* CHF6,000 Griffis Residential 1.45m. An exciting speed round designed by Frank Rothenberger (GER) proved to be difficult and left only seven pairs penalty free from a field of twenty-six horses and riders.
While Jad Dana (LBN) had two horses jump clear and fast early on to set the pace, Conter could not be caught with Clochard, a 2008 SBS (Kashmir Van Schuttershof x Cascadeur) stallion owned by Stephex Stables, clocking in at 58.78 seconds. Coming in second was Victoria Heurtematte (PAN) aboard Scarlett Du Sart Z with a time of 61.50 seconds, and third went to Amy Millar (CAN) with GCS Athena finishing in a time of 62.08 seconds.
Conter was thrilled with her small stallion’s massive effort, stating, “from the beginning I tried to start with his rhythm; because he’s my speed horse he knows what to do and when to go. I just tried to keep one speed all along. In one line, I did one less stride which was not my plan, but he’s such a good boy and he tries so hard. I thought he was really good today.”
Conter’s winning round surely didn’t look like it was all luck, but rather years of dedication and a strong relationship built over a long period of time.
“I have had him for four years now, so quite a long time,” she explained. “It’s actually a funny story, I had him when he was seven and then we sent him here to be sold and Carly Anthony rode him for a long time. Then I showed him here and since then we have been a great team together. We decided he couldn’t be sold, instead he was going to be with me.”
While Jad Dana (LBN) had two horses jump clear and fast early on to set the pace, Conter could not be caught with Clochard, a 2008 SBS (Kashmir Van Schuttershof x Cascadeur) stallion owned by Stephex Stables, clocking in at 58.78 seconds. Coming in second was Victoria Heurtematte (PAN) aboard Scarlett Du Sart Z with a time of 61.50 seconds, and third went to Amy Millar (CAN) with GCS Athena finishing in a time of 62.08 seconds.
Conter was thrilled with her small stallion’s massive effort, stating, “from the beginning I tried to start with his rhythm; because he’s my speed horse he knows what to do and when to go. I just tried to keep one speed all along. In one line, I did one less stride which was not my plan, but he’s such a good boy and he tries so hard. I thought he was really good today.”
Conter’s winning round surely didn’t look like it was all luck, but rather years of dedication and a strong relationship built over a long period of time.
“I have had him for four years now, so quite a long time,” she explained. “It’s actually a funny story, I had him when he was seven and then we sent him here to be sold and Carly Anthony rode him for a long time. Then I showed him here and since then we have been a great team together. We decided he couldn’t be sold, instead he was going to be with me.”