Danish junior Celine Rørbæk Silfen made a smashing international debut at junior riders level at the 2016 CDI Nieuw en St Joosland on 6 - 10 April 2016. With the safe knowledge that her 11-year old Romio Hojris was ready to take that next step, Rørbæk Silfen won all three Junior tests in a wipe out of victories.
“It was an amazing experience," 18-year old Celine told Eurodressage. “As it was my FEI debut with Romio we had decided that anything above 68% would be a success. Naturally I was hoping to go all the way to the final but I didn’t want to put my hopes up too high.”
Celine scored 72.613% in the team test, 73.553% in the individual, and 74.600% in the kur. As that the pair had never competed outside Denmark, Celine had no idea if the FEI judges would like her Danish warmblood Romio Hojris (by Romanov x Don Schufro).
“It seemed like they liked him quite a lot," she quipped. "It helped that he was in very good condition and has been for a long time. Before we went to the sand arena on the first day, I remember my trainer Cathrine Dufour saying, 'Are you crazy - he looks great Celine, he is exactly where he should be now." That was such a great feeling.”
Despite the fact that the sand arena was huge and had different boards and decorations that could’ve easily scared Romio, Celine was happy that the horse did very well and acted with a very cool head under pressure.
“This was a great feeling because I could relax and focus solely on the riding and not think of the surroundings," she added.
Celine took over the ride on Romio Hojris less than a year ago from Danish team junior rider Emilie Holm Toft and has been training with Danish Grand Prix rider Cathrine Dufour, who won the 2013 and 2014 European Junior Riders Championships. Celine is ready for what lies ahead!
"I really enjoy working with Romio. First and foremost because of his gentle nature and his willingness. Sometimes he can be a bit grumpy in the morning, but we take it with a pinch of salt and at the end of the day, this is also something that makes him interesting to work with. The thing about Romio is that he really seems to enjoy human contact. He always seems sad when we go home from competitions because he misses having company 24/7.”
Celine has worked with Dufour since 2010 and stables her horse at Cathrine’s farm Grønangergård in Roskilde.
“The week after the competition is all about giving Romio kind of a holiday. This means to go on hacks and easy training. Next week we will slowly begin to prepare him for the next competition in May which is the CDIO in Odense, Denmark. We do not have an exact plan for the next few months. We will compete in Odense in May and afterwards we’ll decide what’s next," she explained.
2016 is her last year as a junior rider and Celine hopes to continue riding, while also completing a study in Business.
“This year’s goals is to compete at the Nordic Baltic Championship or at the Europeans. As it is my last year as a junior, I have planned to start competing at young rider level in 2017. I want to thank Joosland for a great competition with a great ambiance. They have done an amazing job keeping it at a high level. Thank you for a fantastic experience - and of course for the prizes.”
by Sarah Warne - Photos © Digishots
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