During the Central European Championships for Icelandic Horses in Kaufungen, Hesse — the MEM — a group of children and young people from the local club selected through a club-wide writing competition on the subject presented an honorary award to a young rider from Switzerland for her fair and harmonious partnership with her horse. The award was donated by the Personal Members of the German Equestrian Federation (FN).
The “Fair Comes First” project of the Personal Members of the FN (PM) was publicly announced nationwide. The local Icelandic horse club Islandpferdefreunde Söhre-Kaufunger Wald e.V., initiated by Youth Officer Carina Wagner, applied for the project and was selected to participate.
In order to enable the young jury to make an objective and impartial decision, free from personal bias or relationships, the MEM was chosen as the setting for the project. The championships took place from 6 to 9 August at Gestüt Ellenbach. More than 200 competitors from over ten nations took part, with a particular focus on the “Young Riders”, namely riders between 16 and 21 years of age.
The task was therefore to select, from approximately 40 Young Riders, a competitor who demonstrated an especially fair and harmonious partnership with their horse and who showed an above-average commitment to the horse’s welfare, both on and off the competition arena.
The project placed particular emphasis on highlighting exclusively the positive aspects of the partnership between horse and rider. With the support and guidance of IPZV sport judge A Vanessa Greitemeier, the young people gained an in-depth insight into the daily routines of a competition, including the preparation and follow-up of the individual horse-and-rider combinations in the paddock and warm-up areas, as well as the riding of the tests and the awarding of marks in Icelandic horse sport.
This aspect was also important in helping the young jury differentiate between the performances. It enabled them to assess objectively whether a rider’s presentation had been fair and harmonious. The jury demonstrated a keen sense for recognising whether a horse showed enjoyment and willingness to cooperate both during the test and in its preparation. They were also able to confidently identify which riders should be considered for the final selection.
The children and young people paid close attention to every detail. Throughout all competition days, the jury carefully observed all participating Young Riders in the warm-up area, the paddock area, the stables and during their actual performances.
Following these observations, three riders were shortlisted.
Lena Gut from Switzerland ultimately received the highest number of points, ahead of Gloria Koller from Germany and Lina-Marie Neuber, also from Switzerland.