Team Taylor are off to Blair

Posted & filed under General News.

British Eventing senior selectors have announced the squad of twelve that will compete on home soil at the Longines FEI European Eventing Championships in Blair Castle, Scotland (10-13 September 2015).

Part of UK Sport’s National Lottery funded #EveryRoadtoRio series, supporting British athletes’ preparation and qualification for Rio 2016, this summer’s event is the last major Championship before the Olympic Games, where GBR will be represented having already qualified a team spot after the World Equestrian Games last year.

The selected squad has been named as (in alphabetical order):

Laura Collett (25) from West Berkshire with Mrs Diana Chappell’s Grand Manoeuvre
Dani Evans (23) from Bristol with Mrs Luana Edge’s Smart Time
William Fox-Pitt (46) from Sturminster Newton, Dorset with Mrs Catherine Witt’s Bay My Hero
Pippa Funnell MBE (46) from Dorking, Surrey with Mrs Jennifer A Nolan, Miss Ruth McMullen and her ownSandman 7
Flora Harris (27) from Hungerford, Berkshire with Mrs Caroline Harris and Ms Rebecca Salt’s Bayano
Kitty King (32) from Chippenham, Wiltshire with Jane and Frank Inns Persimmon
Gemma Tattersall (30) from Horsham, West Sussex with The Soul Syndicate’s Arctic Soul
Izzy Taylor (32) from Banbury, Oxfordshire with Miss Susan Holroyd and Ms Frances Carter’s British Bred Allercombe Ellie
Oliver Townend (32) from Ellesmere, Shropshire with Mr P J Hegarty’s Fenyas Elegance
Francis Whittington (37) from Crowborough, East Sussex with Mrs Catherine Witt’s Easy Target
Nicola Wilson (38) from Northallerton, North Yorkshire with Mary & Gerry Kemp and Mrs Janine Shewan’s One Two Many
Holly Woodhead (21) from Marlborough, Wiltshire with Ian and Heidi Woodhead’s DHI Lupison
Four of the selected athletes have also been named with direct reserve horses; William Fox-Pitt is selected with Miss Carol Gee and Mrs Catherine Witt’s Fernhill Pimms and Mrs Catherine Witt’s Luxury F H. Pippa Funnell is selected with Mr Marek Sebestak and her own Second Supreme; Izzy Taylor has KBIS Briarlands Matilda, owned by Mr Guy Avis as a direct reserve, whilst Nicola Wilson is also named with WEG ride, Mary and Barry Tweddle’s Annie Clover.

Yogi Breisner, Chef d’Equipe for the Eventing team commented; “I am really looking forward to going to Blair for a home European Championships. We are taking a very good and exciting squad with a lot of riders gaining their first senior Championship experience; we have also got some promising young horses making their Championship debut.”