Swedish Grand Prix riders and trainers Pether Markne and Per Sandgaard have given the ride on their Grand Prix horse Final Cut to up and coming Swedish junior rider Cornelia Pettersson.
The coaches' duo made this kind gesture as part of their plan to pay it forward in the sport, instead of achieving more personal success.
"I have followed Cornelia from her pony time and admired her determination and ambition," Per Sandgaard told Tidningen Ridsport. "She deserves a great future with our jewel Final Cut. It feels good to us to give back to our sport and to pass on our knowledge."
The 12-year old Hanoverian bred Final Cut (by Federweisser x Carismo) has competed at three international CDI's at Grand Prix level. Under the Danish born Swede Per Sandgaard, the chestnut competed in Malmo, Drachten, and Vestfold. At the latter show he won the Grand Prix Special with 67.176%. Final Cut was also the winner of the 2015 Lovsta Future Challenge for Developing Grand Prix Horses in 2015.
Sandgaard has been training Cornelia for many years at his yard, Arphus Gard, in Sweden. The 16-year old Pettersson has been riding ponies (Rovalds Zurfin Gun, Höjgårds Spirit) at national level in Sweden and was in search of a young horse to train up the levels as her parents could not afford a ready-made horse. Several of the youngsters they tried failed the vet check and the Pettersson's were very discouraged until they received the relieving phone call from their trainer with the news of Final Cut. Coach Per and rider Cornelia dream of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games as target.
Source: Tidningen Ridsport - Photo © Therese Hübner
Related Links
Pether Markne Returns to the Grand Prix Ring with Barbados Melody
Per Sandgaard Goes Swedish and Gets New Horse
Pether Markne and Per Sandgaard Move House
Pether Markne: "With Horses I Don’t Like it Complicated, so I Choose Equine 74 Gastric"