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Amelia White rounded out the opening day of Para-Equestrian by qualifying for the Individual Freestyle Test after placing 8th in the Grade V Dressage Individual Test.
White and her horse Genius, a stunning 10 year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding scored 69.238% in their Paralympic debut.
White said it was their first major championship together and Genius gave her more than she could have asked for.
While disappointed she didn’t claim a spot on the podium in the Individual Test, White knew she was up against some very experienced combinations.
“I was up against strong competition, those who have been in the game for some time,” White said.
White describes her Paralympic journey as surreal.
“It’s been a dream for a long time, and you never quite let yourself believe it could happen as you don’t want to be disappointed and then it’s here,” White said.
“It’s gone so quickly, when I was riding down the final centreline, I was like ‘This can’t possibly be over’. It was the longest and shortest five minutes of my life.”
Victoria Davies, 37, and her horse Celere were the first Aussie duo to enter the arena and placed 9th in the extremely competitive Grade II Dressage Individual Test with a score of 65.618%.
Davies, who was making her Paralympic debut, said it was unfortunately not their best performance.
“With horses you can never, really tell what they’re going to be like. He felt brilliant in warm up, he was so relaxed, but as soon as we went out there, he just froze a bit – he got a bit of stage fright,” said Davies.
“It was an experience, the horse had some internal stress and we didn’t produce what we had in training, but he kept me safe.”
Celere who is labelled the ‘quiet stallion’ has been with Davies for seven years and she says he has the perfect temperament.
“Temperament is so important as you need to be able to trust each other. I’m really happy with how we prepared for today, mentally and physically I think we did everything we could have,” said Davies.
Three-time Paralympian Sharon Jarvis and her horse Romanos finished 10th in her Dressage Individual Championship Grade IV competition with a score of 68.366%.
The veteran rider said Romanos tried his heart out for her in today’s competition.
“We’ve had two years together, he was brave and he listened to me. I’m just so lucky and grateful to be on a horse like him,” Jarvis said.
When asked about being the only Aussie Para-Equestrian to make three Summer Games, Jarvis said was both incredible and emotional.
“I thought I was really lucky to get to one Games but to make three is just unbelievable,” said Jarvis.
Tomorrow (27 August, 20:14 AEST) Emma Booth, 30, will line up for the Dressage Individual Test, Grade III.
The world No. 6 is considered a medal contender and placed 5th in Rio 2016.
By: Amanda Scott, Paralympics Australia
Posted: 26 August 2021
