Bermuda's juniors jump against Caribbean's best
BERMUDA host the third round of the Caribbean Equestrian Association’s Junior Jumping Competition on Saturday and Sunday at Vesey Street.
She was also was awarded $2,778 earlier this year by the National Junior Athlete Sponsorship Programme to help her attend either the Manchester Summer Festival or the Manchester Classic Horse Show in July.
Bermuda’s rider in the 12 and under division will be JayLynn Hines. This is her second time representing Bermuda in the CEA competition as she went to Cayman in January, when Bermuda was second.
The CEA competition is an annual event that brings together young riders from the Cayman Islands, Trinidad and Tobago, Bermuda, Antigua, Barbados and Jamaica. One round is held in each country, with three countries visiting the host country. The total score for the six rounds decides the winning team.
In January Bermuda placed second in the Cayman Islands behind Jamaica with Cayman third and Antigua fourth. The second round was in Trinidad last month when Trinidad won followed by Barbados, Cayman and Antigua.
In this third round this weekend at Vesey Street, Bermuda will be up against the riders from Cayman, Trinidad and Jamaica. If Bermuda wins this leg they could take the lead in points as the current point standings have Trinidad and Jamaica tied for the lead with five, Cayman second with four points (but they have completed two rounds) and Bermuda and Barbados both are tied with three points each.
There are three more rounds to go — Antigua in June, Barbados in September and finally Jamaica in November.
In the last 9 years Bermuda has only won once, in 2004. Barbados has been the most successful with wins in 2001, 2002, 2005 and 2006.
The riders use four horses and four ponies lent to them from the host country.
The coach for the Bermuda team is Abby Bardgett who has trained Hines for six years. Wilkinson is coached by Nick DeCosta.
The jumping gets underway at 9 a.m. on both Saturday and Sunday and admission is free.
