Navy News
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Horse for good – CPO Amy and Clara jump to fourth place in Holland
11 April 2025
With her trusty True Cavalier – known affectionately as Clara – 846 Naval Air Squadron’s Chief Petty Officer Amy Taylor jumped to fourth place in an international competition.
The senior rating – who by day is an avionics specialist on Commando Helicopter Force Merlins at Yeovilton – was selected to represent both the RN and GB at the Peelbergen Spring Tour event hosted by the Peelbergen Equestrian Centre at Kronenberg in the Netherlands.
Amy – you may well remember her from her starring role in the King’s Coronation carrying the Jewelled Sword of Offering in the procession – has been part of the Royal Navy Equestrian Association (RNEA) for the past decade and is also the treasurer and training coordinator for the RN Team.
Despite only being partnered with Clara in December, the pair were selected to compete in the CSI 1* International Showjumping Competition run by the International Federation for Equestrian Sports by UKACC Coach and rider Mark Hallion with whom they train with at Blackwater Equestrian in Hampshire.
Amy and Clara exceeded all expectations at their debut, placing 14th on day one (with Denmark taking the win), then a ninth-spot finish on the second day (Germany were first).
That put the duo in the top 20 riders from the event – qualifying them for the final.
Calm and quick, they jumped an impressive double clear in the final, with a time of 35:59 seconds in the jump-off phase for fourth place overall, an incredible achievement.
Great Britain dominated in the final with all three qualifying riders making the top five, alongside one rider each from Germany and Poland.
This has been a dream come true for me.
Images are credit to GB Representation in Holland and purchased from of Sportfot https://www.sportfot.com/index.html
“This has been a dream come true for me,” said a delighted Amy.
“My ambition has always been to compete internationally, but I never imagined I would have the opportunity to do it so quickly given that me and Clara have only been a partnership for five months and only been competing affiliated British Showjumping since January.
“There was never any doubt that we would give it our best shot. Clara was fantastic and exceeded all my expectations - I never thought we’d make the final, let alone coming fourth.”
As well as some innate skill and a lot of training, Amy has been assisted in her showjumping endeavours by the Sports Lottery’s Talented Athlete Scheme and her squadron CO Commander James Coleman for allowing the opportunity to represent the Navy and nation in the sport she loves.
Amy and Clara now return to the UK to compete at the RAF Championships/Inter-Services competition with the rest of the squad with the dream of making the Services’ Jumping Final at London International Horse Show later in the Year.