Hadley Rahael and Jordanne Brown defeated host country Barbados to win gold for T&T at the Caribbean Equestrian Association Junior Jumping Competition on February 7 and 8.
Finishing behind T&T and Barbados were Cayman Islands (third) and Jamaica (fourth).
Rahael, 14, riding in the 16 and under age group, had 12 faults over four jumping rounds.
Brown, riding in the 14 and under level, had one knockdown for four faults over her four jumping rounds. Team T&T finished with a total of 16 faults, while Barbados accumulated 22 faults, the Cayman Islands 33 faults, and Jamaica 58 faults.
The 16 and under riders were the first to ride on February 7, with Rahael getting a refusal on the quarter horse, Haze, for four faults. The Barbadian rider on the huge warmblood Destino, had two knockdowns and time faults for ten faults. The Caymanian had four faults on the grey thoroughbred, Essien, but the Jamaican got a clear round on the small thoroughbred, Super Trooper.
In the 14 and under first round, all the riders had clear rounds, except for the Caymanian rider on Emmanuel, a tall thoroughbred, who was eliminated for two refusals, accumulating 25 faults.
In the 14 and under second round, once again all riders achieved clear rounds, except for the Jamaican rider on Emmanuel.
In the 16 and under, all the riders received four faults except for Rahael who had a successful clear round on Super Trooper.
On February 8, Rahael was the first to ride and had two knockdowns for eight faults on Essien. The other riders at that level had clear rounds, except the Jamaican on Destino.
It was then Brown's turn in the 14 and under to ride Emmanuel, who had eliminated both his riders the day before. Brown understood how to ride him and achieved a clear round which gave T&T a huge advantage. All the other riders in the 14 and under level had clear rounds as well.
In the final round for the 14 and under riders, Barbados was represented by a 10-year-old girl in the 14 and under level, and she also managed to get Emmanuel around the course with only one knockdown.
Brown was doing well on the pony Reina, until the last jump when the pony tipped off a rail for four faults, Brown's only penalty for the entire competition.
The competition was very close at this stage, with T&T on 16 faults and Barbados on 18 faults. The pressure eased when the Barbadian rider had a knockdown for a total of 22 faults. At this time Rahael was scheduled to ride Destino, who was yet to go clear for any rider. Rahael kept her composure and rode the huge warmblood to perfection for a clear round to seal the title.
Brown is trained by Patrice Stollmeyer at Saddle Valley Stables and Rahael is trained by Margaret Auerbach and Sara Mc Cartney at Goodwin Heights Stables.
Brown and Rahael will represent T&T next in the Cayman Islands in April.