Turkish Pony Power at 2017 CDI Segovia, Yagmur Ozturk Blazes Trail

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2017 CDI Segovia

Turkish pony rider Yagmur Ozturk showed some serious Turkis pony power at the 2017 CDI Segovia in Spain on 12 - 14 May 2017, blazing a trail for pony sport in Turkey by winning two out of three pony classes at this international dressage event. The 14-year old Istanbul based rider is serious about her riding and aims for the second European Pony Championships.

"Dressage isn(t very popular in Turkey but there are a few pony riders," the 14-year old Yagmur told Eurodressage. "Not many are doing dressage but more are in show jumping." In 2016 Turkey fielded an FEI pony dressage team of three to the European Pony Championships for the first time in history.

At the 2017 CDI Segovia, young Yagmur certainly did her country proud. Aboard the 13-year old Dutch Riding Pony Icarus van de Bulksehoeve (by Isarco x Elegant), she won the team championship test with 71.923%, finished second in the individual (67.967%) and won the Kur to Music with 70.042%. Ozturk

Ozturk is no new comer to the international dressage scene. She began her CDI career back in 2014 at age 11. With the Dutch FEI pony schoolmaster Theo Diabolo (by Danny Gold x Nantona) she first rode the children's tests at CDI's in Istanbul in April 2014. She also competed the palomino, who was previously owned by Suzanne Glas, at the 2015 Balkan Championships where she won team and individual gold.

In February 2016 the Ozturk family acquired the chestnut Icarus van de Bulksehoeve, who represented Belgium at the 2015 European Pony Championships under Elle Peytier. Four months later the pair made its CDI debut at the CDI-P Istanbul, winning all three FEI pony level tests. Yagmur represented her home country at the 2016 European Pony Championships in Vilhelmsborg, Denmark, where they were 46th in the individual test.

Normally based at the Kemer Golf & Country Club in Istanbul, Ozturk decided to take her riding to the next level and began working with former Spanish Grand Prix team rider Jordi Domingo in Barcelona, Spain at the beginning of 2017. Her Turkish coach Ela Açar is well acquainted with Domingo and Yagmur had ridden in a few clinics with him before, so the collaboration came smoothly. Icarus moved to Spain and high school student Yagmur is now doing the time-consuming commute between Turkey and Spain on a weekly basis.

"It is a temporary plan," Yagmur told Eurodressage. "We plan to move there next year," she said adding that Domingo's work has been instrumental for her to achieve higher scores. "We worked on the impulsion and the activity of the pony. Also we worked on throughness too, which was a very important part of my victories"

Yagmur hopes to ride at the 2017 European Pony Championships in Kaposvar, Hungary, this summer with a certain goal in mind.

"My dream is to place in the top 20 at the Europeans or maybe even higher," she admitted.