Judy Reynolds and Vancouver K, pictured here at a previosu World Cup event.
© www.sportfotos-lafrentz.de/Stefan Lafrentz
By Equestrian Life
There were many great stories from the 2019 FEI European Championships, however none more so than the success of Irish dressage rider Judy Reynolds and her 17 year old gelding Vancouver K.
At this year’s Europeans, it was the first time Ireland had ever fielded a full team at a Championship – so it was a big effort to be there alone.
The excitement began in the Grand Prix, where Judy and Vancouver K danced their way to not only a person best score, but an Irish Grand Prix record score – 76.35%! Not just a great result individually, but enough to lead the team (Kate Dwyer, Heike Holstein and Anna Merveldt) to seventh place, booking Ireland a team ticket to Tokyo in the process. There were three spots up for grabs at Europeans; alongside Ireland, Denmark and Portugal also secured Olympic team tickets.
Judy Reynolds and Vancouver K, pictured here at a World Cup event.
© www.sportfotos-lafrentz.de/Stefan Lafrentz
However, it didn’t stop here for Judy. The Special saw another amazing performance, where the pair scored 78.252% for fifth place. It was another Irish record, the highest placing at a European Championship, that had been standing for some 26 years.
Finally, Freestyle say saw another fifth place for Judy and Vancouver, with the pair scoring an impressive 85.589%. It was another personal best by 3%. It capped a fabulous championships for Judy and Vancouver K, who is owned by her parents Joe and Kathleen Reynolds. The 17 year old (Jazz x Ferro) seems to keep getting better with age. We look forward to hopefully seeing them in action in a year’s time at Tokyo!
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