Spanish junior rider Morgan Barbançon Mestres aims to ace the 2009 European Junior Riders Championships held in Ermelo, The Netherlands, this week. With her 10-year old Holsteiner bred Ahorn (by Alibi x Caretino) she will represent Spain at the Championships, a culmination of an already great 2009 show season.
Readiness is all and Barbançon seems to be it after a triple victory with Ahorn at the CDI-JR in Pompadour, France, two weeks ago. She also claimed numerous international victories and placings in the spring.
"Ahorn has made such great progress in short period of time," said Barbançon. "In Pompadour it went so well. He knew what he had to do." Morgan received exciting scores from the judges which earned her three trophies: 70,27% in the team test, 72.211% in the individual test and 74,167% in the Kur to Music.
It was a hard decision for Morgan to make about which horse she wanted to ride in Ermelo: Ahorn or Beaujolais, the triple European team gold medallist and the 2007 European YR Champion which her parents bought last year. Morgan and Beaujolais were the second placegetters at the 2009 CDI-JR Saumur with scores of 70% and 74,55%, two weeks after two third places at the 2009 CDI-JR in Addington. However, the recent successes with Ahorn in Vierzon and Pompadour made her choose the impressive black Holsteiner for the 2009 European Championships in Ermelo.
Morgan is based in Switzerland and is trained by Spanish team coaches Jan Nivelle and Jan Bemelmans. She has a stabled filled with high quality mounts. Mr Q (by Matcho AA x Lanthan) was the horse that helped her make the transition from FEI pony level to junior riders. In 2008 they won the Sunshine Tour and the CDI-JR Saumur and qualified for the European Championships, but Morgan was forced to withdraw before the event due to an injury. This year she is campaigning Landwind, Ahorn and the Dutch schoolmaster Beaujolais, as well as the small tour horse Cinque Cento, with which she competes in the senior small tour.
Seventeen-year old Morgan started riding at the age of four at the local pony club "La Pallanterie" in Geneva, Switzerland. She got her first pony Gourmandise at age 6, but it wasn't until she was 11 that she got really passionate about the horses. Morgan initially combined dressage and show jumping until she was fourteen but when her mother Marie-Carmen Mestres took Morgan to Germany in September 2006, she definitively fell for dressage.
Morgan got immersed in the international FEI pony dressage sport and knew an equestrian career was meant for her. She started riding FEI ponies Discus and Don't Forget and trained with German pony team trainer Connie Endres in Dulmen, Germany.
"I had a lovely experience at her place and learned many positive things and techniques," Barbançon admitted. "She trained my position and my way of riding."
The tall Morgan moved on to horses at age 15 and turned to dressage horse trainers Bemelmans and Nivelle for professional support and guidance. All the horses are now stabled at Jan Nivelle's, where she is coached on a day to day basis, though Bemelmans regularly comes in as team trainer to assist with test-riding.
"Jan Bemelmans helps me much in my way of riding. He teaches me to ride big and strong horses and to ride in a competition way," Morgan said. "It is a wonderful experience to be at Nivelle's. He is the best trainer to prepare the horses for the Junior and Young riders competitions."
Barbançon commutes between Switzerland and Germany, she feels strongly connected to her Spanish roots. The Spanish Federation proved to be very supportive of their foreign based riders and selected Nivelle as the national pony and junior team trainer. Of all shows in Europe, Morgan prefers the Spanish ones.
"Every year I compete at the Sunshine Tour in Vejer de la Frontera, Spain. It's three weeks of competition in March under the sun and it's best show of the year for me," Morgan confessed. "I invite all riders from Europe to come and try this fantastic experience."
Morgan has a clear perspective on her future and has laid out a detailed plan of where she wants to be in dressage. The 2009 European Junior Riders Championships are the goal of the year, but after that she hopes to qualify for the Young Riders World Cup Finals in Frankfurt and compete at Grand Prix level next year. With supportive parents, professional trainers, a barn full of top horses and a ton of ambition and talent backing her up, Morgan has the right cards to go all the way.
"I would like to thank my family for being there for me," said Morgan gratefully. "Especially my little sister Alexandra, who is doing a fantastic job at FEI Pony level."
Profile Morgan Barbançon
Date of Birth: 12th August 1992
Nationality: Spanish
Profession: student in International School of Geneva
Hobby: Riding, scuba diving and water skiing and in winter skiing with my family.
Your Best personal quality: my determination
A Personal defect: I want results to any challenge too quickly
Favourite book: The Lion, Kessel
Favourite film: Out of Africa and Titanic
Favourite actress: Julia Roberts
Favourite actor: Louis De Funes
Style of music: 80's Disco
Favourite singer or band: Aqua
Favourite car: Audi TT RS
An unforgettable holiday: All my holidays with my family are unforgettable, but I like traveling to Africa, to make safaries and meet the local people.
Favourite place you would like to visit: Japan
Favourite dish: Sushi
Superstition: I am very superstitious
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