Szilvásvárad, Hungary – U.S. athlete Leslie Berndl (Lexington, Ky.) became the first American driver to medal at the FEI Driving World Championship for Young Horses last week when she drove Kareltje, a KWPN gelding owned by Toorpapa Driving Team, to a silver-medal finish in the 7-year-old division.
The competition was held at Állami Ménesgazdaság, the state stud farm in Szilvásvárad, Hungary, August 25-28, and included divisions for 5-, 6-, and 7-year-old horses. FEI Young Horse competition is structured as a development opportunity based on the structure of combined driving events. In the qualifying phase, the horses and drivers complete a dressage/cones test that combines dressage figures with a flowing cones course. Scoring is based on the horse’s quality of movement, the cones penalties, and an overall impression score.
The top 50% of entries return for a second dressage/cones test followed by a combined marathon that consists of a cones course with two added marathon-style obstacles set in the arena.
Watch the combined marathon phase below:
To learn more about the FEI Driving Young Horse program, click here.
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