The skies had cleared on the second day of competition at the Dutch National Equestrian Centre, which plays host to this year’s FEI Para Dressage European Championship, and yesterday’s heavy rain showers showed no sign of making a comeback. Today, it was the turn of the Grade 4 and 5 athletes to ride their Grand Prix A test for individual honours, meaning it was set to be a quieter day for the British team, in partnership with Agria, with only Grade 4 pairing Nicola Naylor and Humberto L going down the centre line.
This marks the first time that a British squad has included a Grade 4 athlete since the Europeans of 2019, when Nicky Greenhill was part of the silver medal-winning team in Rotterdam. Nicola Naylor has been knocking on the door of championship selection for a number of years, have been on the reserve list at European, World and Paralympic level, and this year has finally earned her long-awaited navy and red team jacket.
Riding Humberto L, who she’s partnered with since 2021, she arrived in Ermelo determined to prove to the selectors that they’d made the right decision.
Grade 4: Nicola Naylor and Humberto L
As a visually impaired athlete, Nicola Naylor, who hails from Kent, can have time in the arena to orientate herself with the space before the judges ring the bell to start her test. In helper Julie Riches, who’s also caring for ‘Humbo’ this week, Nicola has the perfect system for navigating the around the letters which map the arena – they’re completely in tune and work as a finely oiled machine. Julie calls the letters as Nicola reaches them or increases her volume as she gets near to particular point. Today’s dry run on each rein got Nicola tuned in and she was soon ready to start.
They began with a super centre line and halt, with Humbo looking alert and honed in on his rider. The trot work which followed was in a strong, natural rhythm, with Nicola cleverly riding her shoulder-in right and left with good feel and accuracy. The medium trot was pleasing, with good ground-cover, and the judges agreeing on sevens across the board. Riding a three-loop serpentine is a real test of Nicola’s feel for the arena because she doesn’t have the boards to help her but, today, the practice with coach Sarah Millis clearly showed in her supreme accuracy. The halt and rein-back was good, with clear, regular steps.
It was then into the walk tour, where Humbo superbly kept the relaxation. Once the duo hit canter, the marks began to rise because the 13-year-old bay, who Nicola co-owns with Rosalind Emery Kay, excels in this pace and the judges found their eight buttons. Accurate 10m loops and well-produced transitions were duly rewarded, as was a bold medium canter. On the final centre line, one final tiny adjustment from Nicola just encouraged Humbo to move a leg to make the final halt four-square. It was a super championship debut test – confident, relaxed and harmonious. With the double scoring mark for paces factored in, the final score was 71.389% ,which slotted her in to second place – with two judges placing her first.
“I am really pleased. It’s our first championship and my goal was to go in there and have a really solid test where he felt really happy,” said a relieved Nicola afterwards. “I had this goal that I’d go in and go, ‘it’s fine, you’re here, enjoy it’, and so we really went in with that aim.
“He’s a really sensitive horse, so he needed to go in and have a really harmonious round, and I’m really pleased that that’s what we got.”
Asked about which aspects of the test she felt were particular highlights, Nicola was quick to pick out the canter work, which is an area where Humbo usually scores well.
“I think the other highlight was that he stayed soft and harmonious. He felt happy, he felt on side and that’s what I wanted,” she also added.
“For him, it’s his first time in that environment. It’s my first time in that environment, too – I don’t find getting about the easiest, so I just didn’t want to overstress it. I mean, there’s loads more power in the tank.
“He is super-sensitive, really intelligent and really clear about what’s okay and what’s not okay. He’s got really clear boundaries and he will tell you – he’s a real communicator and will let you know if there’s something that he’s unhappy about or unsure about, but he’ll also let you know when he’s super happy.
“It’s very nice to work with him because it is so clear, but you have to be really tuned in and know where he’s at. That makes him a really interesting horse to work with. He’s grown in confidence over the years, you know – it’s taken time to really get him that way and I think he is really growing in confidence.”
Para dressage is a sport that proves age is no barrier, to which Nicola can attest. When asked about how it feels to have her first championship selection at the age of 64, she said: “I mean, it is amazing. I think there are different chapters in life, and this is this chapter. Life is long and you need to make the most of it, and that’s how I feel about it.
“The great thing is that I’ve had a life where I’ve done other things, and then I came back to riding and now, actually, this is a place I really want to be. As long as I’m fit and healthy, which I really am, I will make the most of it.
“I think there is no reason, in this sport, where you can’t keep yourself fit and just keep going. I enjoy every day of it, every moment of it. “
Nicola was quick to praise the support of those around her, both at home and here in Ermelo.
“It is a massive thing and it’s something that we’ve really worked hard for – me, the team, Humberto. We have an amazing support team, we really do. There’s my closer team, which is Julie [Riches], who calls the letters in the arena, and my trainer Sarah [Millis].
“But also, the whole British Equestrian support team is massive and hugely supportive, but actually not pressurising. Their message was very much ‘go and enjoy it’ and that’s what I did. I went into the arena and I thought, ‘okay, take a moment to just smile and know you’re here’. Whatever happens, you know, even if it’s been a disaster, it’s that moment of going, actually we’re here and we need to enjoy this because not everybody gets this moment – it’s special. But it was lovely to know that they were all behind me, I have felt very cared for.
Nicola now has a day off to relax before she rides her Grand Prix B test as part of the team competition on Saturday 6 September. Looking ahead, she said: “I’m feeling really positive, actually, because I think that was a really good start for him and I think hopefully he’s got confidence and I’ve got confidence.
“I hate new spaces, but once I’ve been in a new space, I then get quite good, quite quickly at feeling more confident in the space, so I’m hoping for more confidence as we go ahead during the week.”
An anxious wait
With her test falling in the first half of the draw, Nicola now had a long wait to see whether she’d hold onto a podium position. With several experienced combinations still to ride, it would by no means be a guarantee.
The first likely contender and one of the favourites for gold was Sweden’s Louise Etzner Jakobsson with her experienced campaigner Goldstrike B.J. – the pair have two Paralympic Games and a number of European Championships under their belt, so were predicted to do well in Ermelo. They produced a polished test, which put them just ahead of early leaders Pia Wulff Jelstrup and Zafia on a score of 72.917% and dropping Nicola and Humbo into third place. Several more came and went, unaffecting the top placings, before it was the turn of France’s Vladimir Vinchon and Pegase Mayenne. The final pair down the centre line, they’re another with multiple championships on their record and showed potential for a late leaderboard upset. With the scores trending at around the 70% marks for most of their test, the British camp waited on baited breath to see if they’d pip Nicola to the bronze. However, the final score flashed up as 70.556%, putting them into fifth behind compatriots Alexia Pittier and Sultan 768.
And so, it would be another individual bronze for the British tally for this week. Not expecting to be on the podium on her debut, Nicola had been relaxing in her lorry with her coach, Sarah Millis, when the final result came in.
“I’m stunned, shellshocked and super-pleased,” she said. “I can’t see the scores on my phone or on the board, but I knew the rest of the team were over by the arena and I was just thinking that the good thing was that my heartrate and health will be very good because I can’t score-watch! I just had to wait patiently and then Sarah told me. She gave me the most enormous hug. We were ecstatic and jumped up and hugged each other.
“Obviously, it gives you confidence to know that you’re right up there and you are competitive. We were the newcomers, you know – everyone else who was getting high scores had competed in championships before, so we were the newbies. It gives you that little bit more confidence that we did do okay and we did it right. I was so focused on Humberto feeling happy about what he was doing, so to have everyone say it looked good is really affirming.”
Medallists for Grade 4 and 5
With many nations fielding new combinations at this year’s championship, this second day of individual competition once again saw some fresh faces on the podium – an exciting development in the sport as we head towards the LA 2028 Paralympic Games.
Grade 4
- Gold = Louise Etzner Jakobsson and Goldstrike B.J. (SWE), 72.917%
- Silver = Pia Wulff Jelstrup and Zafia (DEN), 72.222%
- Bronze = Nicola Naylor and Humberto L (GBR), 71.389%
Grade 5
- Gold = Regine Mispelkamp and Pramwaldof’s Bayala (GER), 73.179%
- Silver = Britney de Jong and Caramba N.O.P. (NED), 73.154%
- Bronze = Lena Malmström and Fabulous Fidelie (SWE), 71.641%
Coming up
The start of the battle of team honours gets underway tomorrow, where the top three percentages from each nations are combined to give an overall score. The Grade 1, 2 and 3 combinations return to the spotlight as they look to give their teams a solid foundation for the higher grades to capitalise on come Saturday. The British riders are on:
- Grade 2 Jemima Green and Fantabulous – 12.53 CET / 11.53 BST
- Grade 1 Gabby Blake and Strong Beau – 15.18 CET / 14.18 BST
- Grade 1 Mari Duward-Akhurst and Athene Lindebjerg – 15.42 CET \ 14.42 BST
You can watch all the action live on FEI.TV, powered by ClipMyHorse.TV, with a subscription or via the FEI YouTube channel. All the start lists and results are available via the Equipe platform and everything you need to know about the British squad and how the competition will progress on our online Para Dressage Hub.