Bermuda 2008 Olympic show jumper, Jill Terceira, is hoping to qualify for next year's World Equestrian Games when the outdoor season resumes in the spring of 2010. And she also has her eyes firmly set on qualifying for the 2011 Pan American Games and ultimately the 2012 London Olympics. If she does make it to the 2010 WEG she will joined fellow show jumper Patrick Nesbitt who has already qualified.

Terceira, who is now competing in the indoor season across Europe, saw some of her main mounts come down with various injuries this past season but on the positive side she also witnessed the rapid maturing of her young mare, Ursula – a horse which she hopes will be able to compete in Mexico at the Pan-Am Games.

Speaking from Europe, Terceira said: "This past outdoor season went okay but there were some injuries. Chaka (who she took to the 2008 Olympics in Hong Kong) came down with a tendon injury in May and was out for a couple of months. "

"I would have liked to have done more this season with him. But at the same time it gave me the opportunity to bring along some of the young horses – especially my eight-year-old mare, Ursula. She did her first Grand Prix this season and did well in some other big classes. Getting her to a few top shows did her a lot of good even though she still is quite young for the big shows."

This past weekend Terceira rode Ursula at the Indoor Maastricht event in Austria and and finished in 13th place.

Terceira has had Ursula for a few years and had previously entered her into the young horse classes at some of Europe's bigger shows. "Those classes are for six and seven-year-olds. That is always a good experience for them but when they get to eight or nine-years-old they really have to step up to the big classes. It was a big test for her this year and at the end she was one of the best horses I have ever had – she really performed well.

"I had a lot of positive remarks from other riders who had seen her in the young classes and now watched her in the big classes – they were amazed at how she had progressed. Sometimes when you are working with a horse day in and day out you can't see the improvement yourself – you are a bit too close – so that was nice to hear."

Terceira usually rides big mounts – often stallions – so having a small mare is a little unusual for her.

She said: "She is only 15.3 hands – maybe 16 – she is not big at all. But she has kept on maturing and getting better and better. You never know how horses are going to turn out and respond. Hopefully she will continue and surprise us and perhaps be an Olympic contender in 2012. That would be very exciting.

"Also it gives me hope since the top (medal winning) horses at the Olympics in Hong Kong were all about 16 hands – they were all small horses. Everyone thinks that a small horse is not scopey, that they can't jump the height or make the distances but these little ones have more fight. Just look at MJ's (Tumbridge) Bermuda Gold which won the gold at the Pan Am Games in 1999. She was a small mare – they have a lot of heart."

Terceira acquired Ursula when she was five-years-old and she said: "She has come such a long way. I am very pleased with her. I did not dream she had this quality. I never thought she would be this good."

But the Bermudian rider doesn't want to push the young mare too hard.

She hopes to qualify for next year's World Equestrian Games but doesn't believe that Ursula will be ready for that.

"She will probably still be a little too young for Kentucky (where the WEG will be held). There is a big difference between a Grand Prix and a Championship. Right now she may be lacking a bit of experience for that. I don't think I want to push it – but the following year she could be a great Pan Am horse. The (jumps) at the Pan Am Games are big but not as big as the Olympics. But you do need a quality horse for the Pan Ams and it is at the Pan Am Games that I will have the chance to qualify for London (Olympics)."

Terceira also has another mount Trump who will be 10-years-old next year.

"Unfortunately he also had some injuries this year. Hopefully I will be able to work him a bit during the indoor season this winter. I also have Sundance who is 11-years-old next year but he has had some foot problems. He has been difficult to keep sound but he has all the qualities so hopefully I could have three good horses next year.

"So much of it depends on injuries. At the end of the day these horses are athletes like sprinters or footballers and they can be prone to injury when they are performing at the top level – jumping in competition after competition. It can be tough because there is so much pressure and you have to have healthy horses. That is why you need a few top horses so you have something to fall back on."

While Terceira wants to qualify for the World Equestrian Games and join fellow Bermudian Patrick Nesbitt who has already qualified for Kentucky, she is disappointed that an individual rider cannot qualify for the 2012 Olympics at the WEG.

"Teams from countries can qualify but not individual riders. That to me is a little unfair because the top riders in the world compete at the WEG," she said.

As far as qualifying for the 2011 Pan Am Games in Guadalajara, Mexico, Terceira said she would not know what shows she has to compete in until that year.

"We don't have any word yet for which are the qualifying shows," she said.

Her main mount over the past few years, Chaka, is now getting older and Terceira said she will have to pace him.

"Chaka is going to be 17 next year – he may be out of his prime. But if the schedule next year looks good I can pick and choose a few shows for him – some selected four-star shows."

The Bermudian will return to Bermuda over the Christmas holidays to see family and friends and then it's back to Holland and she may start her outdoor season early on the Sunshine Tour in Spain.