Category: News

A big THANK YOU to FEI 3* Dressage Judge Mr. Omar Zayrik of Mexico for presiding over the Bahamas leg of the 2024 Caribbean Equestrian Association Dressage Challenge. Thank you also to CEA President Heidi Mello who was on hand for the successful event. The next day Judge Omar gave clinics to our dedicated Dressage riders who could only describe the experience as AMAZING!

The overall winners from each category were:
Introductory Test A – Childrens: Kennedy Albury riding Rags to Riches (69.062%)
Introductory Test B – Childrens: Isla Whylly riding Rags to Riches (66.875%)
Introductory Test C – Childrens: Gabriela Souza riding Casino Royale (69.500%)
Training Level 1 Test – Childrens: Sennen Fitzmaurice riding Lea’s Pride (69.423%)

Introductory Test B – Adults: Krystal Darville riding Vivawell (65.937%)
Training Level 1 – Adults: Amber Lleida riding Querida FSH (56.153%)
Training Level 3 – Adults: Lorrinda Maura riding Shakespeare in Paradise (69.200%)

The overall top-scoring pair (69.500%) was Gabriela Souza riding Erika Adderley’s Casino Royale.

The riders named to the Childrens Team were Gabriela Souza, Kennedy Albury and Sennen Fitzmaurice. (Due to a CEA rules technicality, insufficient competitors qualified to field an Adult Team score.)

The Caribbean Dressage Challenge takes place in Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago. Overall ranking of the teams will not be known until all the participating countries have held their 2024 Dressage Challenge competitions.

Congratulations to Ella Saidi, Emma Johnston, Alana Pyfrom and Hannah Knowles who represented The Bahamas at the Grand Caraibe Suriname competition, held at Ponderosa Stables, Paramaribo, Suriname. The team was coached by Raishun Burch of Bermuda and assisted by local trainer Erika Adderley. As in all Grand Caraibe competitions, this was a horse-borrowed competition, with the riding clubs in Suriname lending their horses for the competition to the participants, including riders from Antigua, Bahamas, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, French Guyana, Guadeloupe, Jamaica, Martinique and Suriname.

The competition was held under the rules of the Royal Dutch Equestrian Federation and took place over two days, with day 1 featuring a 2-phase competition and day 2 the more familiar format of one round against the clock, with riders achieving clear rounds proceeding to the jump off. Overall placings were based on an amalgamation of the two days’ results.

Ella Saidi riding Caesar placed 5th in Sunday’s competition and finished 10th overall out of 22 in the Elite Division while Emma Johnston riding Ruffian placed 7th in Sunday’s competition and finished 20th out of 42 overall in the Espoir.Division. Congratulations also to Alana and Hannah for riding in their first international competition in a very challenging environment!

Equestrians kicked off the 2024-2025 horse show season with a weekend of camaraderie, teamwork and spirited competition, as four teams gathered to contest the first leg of the Bahamas Interscholastic Equestrian League (BIEL). Defending champions Mariposa Gold Drops looked strong in their first start, winning convincingly with a total of 48 points. The Camperdown Equestrian Centre Blue Marlins were 2nd with 40 points, while the Mariposa Monarchs and CEC Sand Dollars finished 3rd and 4th, respectively.

The competition took place at Mariposa Stables and was judged by Mary Knowlton, USEF ‘R’ Judge and former President of the United States Hunter Jumper Association (USHJA).
Once the awards were handed out, riders lined up to confer with Judge Knowlton and receive feedback on their performances.

Founded in 2017, the BIEL competition circuit is favourite amongst Bahamian junior equestrians because of the unique format, based on collegiate competition rules, in which competitions are team-based and riders and horses are matched by random draw. BIEL competitions are subsidized by Equestrian Bahamas, the National Federation for Equestrian Sport, providing affordable competition options while also preparing athletes for college competition.

Empowering Clean Sport: Thank you to Bahamas Anti Doping Commission Executive Director Petra Haven and her education team for a spicy Q&A session on the doping control process, prohibited substances, therapeutic use exemptions and more! Riders learned of their rights and responsibilities in the Clean Sport process while the BADC team enjoyed interacting with our horses!

Tasty nibbles, positive vibes and lots and lots of questions were asked and answered at the EB Parent Mix & Mingle event held yesterday at Waterloo! Parents learned about upcoming initiatives, new competitions, opportunities through the Rider Development Pathway, and more. From disciplines and divisions to points and performance awards, there was a lot to discuss! ICYMI – informational brochures are available from your trainer.

Watch Kacy Lyn Smith and D’Angelo 6 compete for the Bahamas in the Juniors (1.40m) Division of the FEI North American Youth Jumping Championships in Traverse City, Michigan!
The competition runs from July 29-August 4.

Watch livestream on USEF.org, on Clip My Horse TV.

Team Bahamas made a triumphant statement in their debut at the 2024 FFE World Clubs Tournament, held from July 22-24 at the Parc Équestre Fédéral in Lamotte-Beuvron, France. This year’s competition marked the Tournament’s 20th anniversary and featured teams from 9 nations: Belgium, Chile, China, Czech Republic, France, Italy, Malta, The Bahamas and Türkiye.

Congratulations to our talented riders -Sienna Tinker, Emma Johnston, Ella Saidi and Katerina Coello –who came out strong and never wavered through three days of competition. The team rode super horses leased from the French trainer Sophie Ducoligny and her stable Haras de la Corbiniere: Sienna on Crabbswood Sebastian, Emma on Rapido du Bosquet, Ella on Un de Plus de Palamie and Katerina on Gadget du Peley. They were supported by Chef d’Equipe Heidi Mello and Coach Raishun Burch.

With just one time fault and one rail down over three days of competition Team China proved hard to beat and were the clear winners finishing with only 5 faults across the whole team. Competition for the remaining podium spots was stiff, with Czech Republic, The Bahamas and Italy all finishing on 12 faults. In the end, it came down to the tiebreaker with the cumulative speeds of the final round deciding the final placings, with just 96/100 of a second making the difference: the Czech Republic’s overall time of 146.68 seconds proved good enough for 2nd place, just edging out The Bahamas who finished on 147.64 for the bronze medal.

Equestrian Bahamas would like to thank the private donors, corporate sponsors and other supporters who made our success at the World Clubs Tournament possible, including Capital Union Bank; Equity Bank Bahamas Ltd.; Lighthouse Security Services; VLK Directors; the Formigé family; ea-St Equestrian apparel; and the Bahamas Olympic Committee.

Participation in the World Clubs Tournament was the last of several regional and international competitions in which The Bahamas participated this competition year. We look forward to participating in more this year – stay tuned to learn about eligibility, opportunities for training, tryouts, selection criteria and more as we continue our mission to bring 242 Equestrian to the world!

Congratulations to all End of Year Award winners! Especially… Madison Miller – High Point Rider Sennen Fitzmaurice and Arielle Arthur – Junior Sportsmanship Award Winners Mariposa Gold Drops – BIEL Champions Flight of the Phoenix/Starbucks – Dr. Francis Adderley Jumper Trophy Winners Thank you for a great year!”

Bahamian equestrian athletes Katerina Coello, Sienna Tinker and Erika Adderley made a strong showing in the final leg of the 2024 Grand Caraibe Tour at Les Ecuries de la Coulisse in Trois-Rivières, Guadeloupe. They were coached by European-based Grand Prix rider and trainer Rai Burch of Bermuda. Like all the riders visiting from other countries, they rode horses donated by riders from stables across the island of Guadeloupe.

The competition featured 52 riders from 8 countries (Antigua, The Bahamas, Bermuda, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, St. Martin and Suriname) competing in three height categories: Espoir (obstacles 0.85 – 0.90m); Elite, (obstacles 0.95 – 1.0m), and Grand Prix (obstacles 1.05-1.10m). Day 1 of the competition was a speed class while Day 2 was held in a two-round format, with the first round against the clock and a jump-off in the event of first-round ties. All courses were designed by FEI Course Designer Joseph Martin of France.

Results were as follows:

Espoir Division:

Katerina Coello aboard Victoria St. Pierre: Day 1 – 6th place; Day 2 – 5th place; Overall 4th/34.

Elite Division:

Sienna Tinker aboard Titeuf: Day 1 – 4th place; Day 2 – 14th place; Overall 8th/18

Grand Prix Division

Erika Adderley aboard Dixit du Cap: Day 1 – 10th place; Day 2 – 6th place; Overall 8th/10

Katerina was also named “Most Elegant Rider” of the competition.

Thank you to Coach Rai and to Chef d’Equipe Heidi Mello (BER) for their assistance, the organizers at Les Ecuries de la Coulisse, and the equestrian community of Guadeloupe for their warm hospitality!

Congratulations to all riders and we look forward to participating fully in the Grand Caraibe Tour in the coming season!

Congratulations to Kacy Lyn Smith and her 14-yr old Oldenburg gelding D’Angelo 6 for being in the ribbons and in the money in their first FEI Grand Prix together! Kacy and ‘Angel’ were one 30 combinations who took the field in the FEI CSI 1* $5,000 Manestream Logistics Grand Prix at Live Oak International in Ocala, Florida, last weekend. Thousands of jumping fans were on hand to watch the athletes tackle German course designer Olaf Petersen Jr.’s deceptively trickly course of 17 obstacles in the grass Grand Prix field. Several duos picked up time penalties for being over the time allowed, while many more saw their rides unravel as rails hit the ground. In the end only 5 riders advanced to the jump off.

Kacy and Angel rode a bold track right up to the pace, with the pair’s only error coming at the big Ariat oxer at fence 9. This was one of the trickiest jumps on course, that proved to be the undoing of several duos. The winner of the class was the USA’s Abigal McArdle aboard Samuel Parot’s I&H Boogy Woogy, one of only two pairs on the day to ride a double clear. In the end, Kacy and Angel were fast enough, even with 4 faults, to finish in 10th place! See more pics and watch their round here!