Coddington equestrian wins silver medal for British Showjumping’s Veteran European Championship squad

An equestrian who represented Great Britain at a European Championship brought a silver medal home despite a 39-degree heat struggle.

Tina Canton, of Coddington, and her 12-year-old gelding Bannagh Romeo, known as George, competed at the FEI Jumping Veteran European Championships.

The duo fundraised nearly £3,000 to support the costs of transport and stay as the competition took place in San Giovanni, Marignano, Italy.

Tina said: “It’s hugely honoured, to ride with your flag on your jacket is a huge thing and I was on the young riders list about 30 years ago for eventing but I had a really bad fall and got injured.

“It is amazing that as a veteran, I now managed to go out and win my medal.”

She began her four-day drive to Italy on Thursday (July 4) and then she proceeded to take part in the competition.

On Thursday (July 11), there was a speed class, a team competition on Friday (July 12) and after a rest day, the riders progressed on to an individual competition on Sunday (July 14).

On the first day, the team got placed in the top ten, putting them in a strong position.

Tina added: “I think we were just in bronze going into the second day of the team competition and then on Friday, the team competition was two rounds and the scores get carried forward.

“We managed to get silver, which is absolutely brilliant.”

Despite a temperature of 39 degrees, which horses in England, aren’t used to, the team qualified on the top three.

“The horses coped really well, I think when you’re competing you’re in the zone and the horses did great and we worked really hard to keep them cool.

“We had loads of fans in the stables, we washed them down a lot with cold water and we ice towels around the necks, it wasn’t as bad as we thought it was going to be.”

While British Showjumping covers the squad’s entry, kit and stabling, the riders still have to fund transport to the championships themselves, which led Tina to set up a GoFundMe page to assist with the costs.

Out of a target of £5,000, she managed to raise £2,295, which she admitted to have helped hugely on her and George’s journey to get back and from Italy.

She added: “The ups were definitely the team and the people I was with, they were a fantastic team and our chef-to-keep Mandy Frost was brilliant.

“Just being there as a team was really good.

“The heat and the driving were the challenging bit, but we made it and I am very proud of us.”