Dream come true for Young Namibian Riders

Three young Namibian Endurance riders will be leaving for Valeggio sul Mincio in Italy to compete at the 2017 Fei Meyden World Endurance Championships for Young Riders from 22 – 24 September. The Namibian riders will be competing with a total of 159 other riders from 34 countries. The distance is a 120 km ride.

This is a dream come true for the riders, their parents and the team manager Lientjie de Wit. The Namibian riders are not in the elite class and therefore need to qualify for the World Endurance Championships. The riders had 24 month to qualify for the World Endurance Championships and they had to ride 3 x CEI2* (120 km) of which one must be on the horse that they will ride at the World Championships
This means that riders in Namibia and South Africa need to participate at a 2 FEI 2* 120 km rides and they need to participate and finish the rides successfully. A part of the qualifier is riders had to go to Italy and participate in an event with the horses that they will ride at the World Championships.
The Namibian riders had to rent horses in Italy and Portugal for the World Championships. The cost to rent one horse is 7000 Euros.
It is an expensive exercise for these riders to qualify and participate at the World Championships. Most of the expenses are covered by their parents, as there are no financial contributions from the Government. Sponsorship are also in short supply.
This year, for the first time in quite a few years Namibian riders will be competing at the World Championships. The riders that will compete at the World Championships are; Maja Janbey with Aigoual Elias, a horse from Italy, Jinel Coetzee with Quello Che Vuoi a horse from Italy and Bianca Jacobs with Doha, a horse from Portugal.

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