Bahamian rider Reine Pagliaro qualified for the 2021 Young Rider World Endurance Championships in Ermelo, The Netherlands, when she finished her second 120km/75 mile Endurance race at the Fun in the Sun Endurance competition held at Williston, FL, from March 13-15, 2020.
Reine and her mount, Beautiful Knightmare, a 10-year old Arabian gelding owned by Mary Kathryn and Peggy Clark of Eatonton, Georgia, added a First FEI Young Rider 2* level competition to their list of accomplishments. In November 2019, the pair swept the Young Rider division by winning the 2019 North American Endurance Championship event and the overall 2019 USEF North American Endurance Championship title. In 2018, Reine rode the Clarks’ Gaila Whisper and their JG Btash in two 80km/50 mile events, finishing as the highest-placed FEI Young Rider in both races.
Endurance is one of eight Equestrian Disciplines contested on the international level. It is a long-distance competition against the clock, testing the speed and endurance of a horse and challenging the rider over their effective use of pace, thorough knowledge of their horse’s capabilities and ability to cross all kinds of terrain. An Endurance course is divided into phases, with a compulsory halt for a veterinary inspection after each.
Pagliaro, who is 16 years old, is Bahamian but lives and trains in the USA. Her successful qualification for the Young Rider World Championships means that The Bahamas will be represented in this event for the first time ever.