INTERNATIONAL MOUNTED GAMES ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER JUNE JULY AUGUST 2015 1
~ SUMMARY ~ I. Competition results (June, July & August) (page 3) II. Upcoming competitions (September & October) (page 4) III. IMGA Programme (page 5) IV. The Interview (Mark Devitt) (page 6) V. International News (page 8) 2
Competition Results June, July & August World Open Team, Kentucky, USA (July, 6 th to 12 th ) 1 st. USA 144 pts 2 nd. Ireland 141 pts 3 rd. Canada 124 pts World Individual, Chepstow, Wales (July, 28 th to August 1 st ) OPEN 1. Widukind Moorman (Germany) 46 pts 2. Meg Ridler (England) 44 pts 3. Jack Capel (Scotland) 43 pts U14 1. Ben Hopkins (Wales) 62 pts 2. Brooke King (England) 43 pts 3. Emma Lockyer (Wales) 41 pts U17 1. Charlie Sutton (England) 54 pts 2. Katie Deas (Scotland) 48 pts 3. Colin Verdelhan (France) 47 pts U12 1. Amelia Swann (England) 47 pts 2. Sophie Grimshaw (England) 44 pt 3. Chelsie Ledger (England) 42 pts European Team and Individual, La Bonde, Saint Denis Le Ferment, France (August, 4 th to 9 th ) OPEN TEAMS 1. England 128 pts 2. Ireland 127 pts 3. France 118 pts U14 TEAMS 1. Wales 139 pts 2. England 106 pts 3. France 99 pts OPEN INDIVIDUALS 1. Jamie Reavey (Ireland) 55 pts 2. Joe Garnett (England) 53,5 pts 3. Colin Verdelhan (France) 50,5 pts U17 TEAMS 1. England 149 pts 2. Wales 134 pts 3. France 105 pts U12 TEAMS 1. England 394 pts 2. France 343 pts 3. Italy 313 pts U12 MASTER INDIVIDUALS 1. Carlotta Iglina (Italy) 63 pts 2. Chelsie Rose Ledger (England) 54 pts 3. Laurine Pigeolet (Belgium) 48 pts U14 MASTER INDIVIDUALS 1. Ben Hopkins (Wales) 71 pts 2. Dione Walters (Wales) 48 pts 3. Ellie Tutt (England) 47 pts 3
UPCOMING COMPETITIONS September & October WHEN? WHAT? WHERE? SEPTEMBER September, 3 rd, 4 th & 5 th Chatsworth Country Fair Derbyshire, England September 5 th & 6 th Individual International La Bonde, Saint Denis Le Ferment, Competition France September 5 th & 6 th New Forest Showground, Dorset Friendly Hampshire, England September 5 th & 6 th Elite Pairs Denmark September 5th & 6th September, 12th & 13 th September 13th September 19 th & 20 th September 19 th & 20 th September 26 th & 27 th Norwegian Pairs Norwegian Team Swiss Team Leg 4 Swedish Pairs & Nordic Pairs Junior and Open Tria Games Individual Northern Ireland Team Norway Fredriksborg, Norway Laconnex, Geneva, Switzerland Sweden Buisseret, Belgium Silverwood Arena, Lurgan, Northern Ireland September 26 th & 27 th Danish Team Denmark September 26 th & 27 th Swedish Team Sweden September 27 th Swiss Team Leg 5 October 3 rd & 4 th October 3 rd & 4 th October 3 rd & 4 th OCTOBER End of Season Show Challenge Grand Ouest Final Peter Dale Challenge Final October 10 th & 11 th Swiss Team Final October 17 th & 18 th Australian Individual October 17 th & 18 th BEPOCLAS International and Belgian Cup October 23th, 24 th & 25 th Paires de Bel Air Inwill, Zurich, Switzerland Shropshire and West Midlands Showground, Shrewsbury, England Centre Equestre Evetria, Saultain France Hippodrome Divonne Les Bains, France Curtilles, Lausanne, Switzerland Camden, Australia Hippodrome de Wallonie, Ghlin, Belgium Poney Club de Bel Air, Saint Gelais, France For more information on the international calendar, please check the web link http://www.mounted-games.org/imga/events/2015/allcomps.html 4
IMGA PROGRAMME WHEN? WHAT? WHERE? September, 18 th to 20 th November, 13 th to 15 th November, 23 rd to 29 th 24 th World Pairs Nations World Team U17 Newark and Nottinghamshire Showground, Newark, England Equine Lifestyle Festival, Hawkesbury Showgrounds, Clarendon, NSW, Australia HITS Showground Ocala, Florida, USA December, 5 th and 6th IMGA Annual Meeting Dublin, Ireland For more information on the international programme, please check the following web link http://www.mounted-games.org/imga/events/2015/index.html 5
THE INTERVIEW Mark Devitt In this IMGA Newsletter n 3, we've decided to interview one of the most experienced Mounted Games riders in the World. Mark Devitt, from Stradbally, Ireland, is going to tell us a bit more about himself, his famous ponies and his different experiences in MGA. Hi Mark, first of all thank you for accepting this interview after this very busy summer for you (and it's not over!!). Before we get in to the "technical part", could you tell us a bit more about yourself? I m 33 years old. My profession is painter decorator and I live in Stradbally, County Laois, Ireland. How, where and when did you start playing Mounted Games? I started playing games when I was 11 years old. Alison Cosby started training me on junior pony club games in Stradbally Hall Estate. The first games pony I rode was called Star and we won the Irish Junior on my first year. Could you tell us more about your ponies, past and present? My next pony (after Star) was Bobby and he brought me all the way through Pony Club until I was 16. He is still going today, competing at Pony Club level. My next pony was Holly, she broke her leg in 2005 but thankfully, she is still alive, retiring peacefully at home in a field. She got me on many World teams for Ireland and was also ridden by a Welsh rider, Jo Dale, on the Welsh World Team in 2004 in Saumur. I moved onto 2 other ponies after that but I especially want to talk about the one that got me to the top, Indiana Jones. I bought Indiana Jones in Sweden in 2006. Thanks to Indy, I ve won all titles apart from World Individual title, that shows you how special and amazing this pony is and I wish April Wilson, his new owner, the best of luck in the future. And finally, my present pony is called Flash, he s 8 years old. As a novice, he won the European Team in Belgium, made the final of the World Pairs, was reserve for the Irish World Team in France and made the semi-final of the World Individuals, all in his first year (2014). Every final that he competed in in Britain, he made every A final. I feel very lucky and privileged to have another top pony. You've trained many MGA ponies until now. In your opinion, what is a good Games pony? A good games pony is one that has to have a brain, extremely fast, can stop and have an amazing turn. Well, that is the definition of a perfect games pony but they are very hard to come by (Laughing). How was your season with the Irish team and Monmouthshire (club team)? I have to be honest, this season was very frustrating It started off with the Irish Team at the World Team in Kentucky, we were reserve World Champions by a small margin. We felt we should have won the competition but America took us on the post and I would like to congratulate them for their sportsmanship. The next big competition we went to were the European in France. We were once again reserve champions by one point, which was very frustrating once again as it was one of the best team I d ever competed on. For Monmouthshire, this year was a successful year. We came third at the Intercounties (British Team ). I was very proud of the team as we fought all the way to the end. 6
It s true that all of this doesn t look to bad (laughing) but when you have the feeling that you can come first and miss it by such a small margin, it s hard to digest. You've been to so many competitions around the World that it would be difficult to mention them all. So if you had to list the three best moments in your Games career until today, which one would they be? Without hesitation, the first one would be winning the World Team in Geneva, Switzerland in 2010. It was the first time that Ireland had ever won a World Team Title and I was very proud to be on that team with my team mates. The second one would be winning the European Individual in Italy in 2012, especially with the high temperatures at the time, not easy for an Irishman!!! For the Semi Finals and Finals, there was a storm, and I was so happy (laughing)!!! The third one is winning the World Pairs in England in 2012. I was riding with Danny Spencer at the time (on Trigger) and we won the competition by 23 points, we felt very confident and I ll never forget that moment and would like to thank Danny, who was an awesome partner A lot of medals and rosettes are on your wall, is there a title you are missing? As I said before, I ve never won the World Individual and although I m getting older, I haven t given up hope so younger riders, watch out! I m still fighting for it! ;) When you are not playing games, what do you? It s very simple, I like to hang out with friends. Either in my home town (Stradbally) or in different countries with all my good MGA friends. I also train novice games ponies. But, as many of you know, MGA and competitions take a lot of your time so it s not always easy to find a moment to do anything else!!! ;) I would finally like to thank Iain Hopkins, my Monmouthshire trainer, who has been very influential in my games career and Jerome O Connor, my Irish trainer, for my international career. Thanks very much Mark, congratulations for your Reserve World Team Champion and Reserve European Team Champion titles and best of luck for the rest of the season! Sean Bource 7
INTERNATIONAL NEWS LUXEMBOURG Luxembourg MGA held a pairs and individuals competition on July, 19 th Septfontaines, Luxembourg and here are the results: 2015 in Luxembourg Champions 2015 Open Individual : Lisa Patat -17 Individual: Lizzy Franck Open Pairs: Laura Patat & Alex Hogne -17 Pairs : Lizzy Franck & Alex Hogne BELGIUM The Belgian Mounted-Games Association BEPOCLAS are hosting an international team competition at the Wallonie Racecourse in Ghlin, Belgium on October, 17 th and 18 th 2015. Geotextile Arena 160 x 80 Age Groups: U12 / U14 / U17 / Open Entree fee: 200 per team including dinner and party on the Saturday night Stables and Dormitories available For further information and entrees: e-mail: contact@bepoclas.be Fabian Pigeolet : 0032 496842482 Pierre Marsille: 0032 476504486 8
You would like more information on the International Mounted Games Association or you have a question for an IMGA Officer? It s very simple! All you need to do is to send your questions to the following e-mail adresses: For general enquires and information: http://www.mounted-games.org/imga/site/contact.html IMGA Help Line: http://www.mounted-games.org/imga/site/helpline.html Thank you for reading this Newsletter! We would like to remind you that this document s purpose is to facilitate the transmission of information throughout the World of Mounted Games. The IMGA Newsletter n 4 will be published in November. The IMGA Committee 9