Ballinger Equine Ambassador, Charlotte Silcott-Niles and her GB Horseball Squad teammates leave today for the Fédération Internationale de Horseball (FIHB) World Cup in Saint-Lô. The FIHB World Cup is held every four years. Britain is this year fielding U16, Ladies and Pro-Elite teams.
An interview with Charlotte Silcott-Niles
Ballinger Equine Ambassador and international horseball player, Charlotte Silcott-Niles, today sets off with her teamates and horses for the Fédération Internationale de Horseball (FIHB) World Cup in Saint-Lô. Before Charlotte left, Andrew Hillier sat down with Charlotte for a talk about the GB Squad’s prospects at the upcoming Championships.
“So Charlotte, first of all congratulations to you and your teammates for qualifying for the Championships. Tell us a bit about the tournament…”
“The FIHB (Fédération Internationale de Horseball) Horseball World Cup is in Saint-Lô and the tournament is held every four years. There are five categories at the competition: Pro-Elite (predominantly men, but women can also play in this category), Ladies, U21, U16 and U10.
There are eleven countries taking part across all the categories with seven nations competing in the ladies category. Great Britain is sending teams in the U16, Ladies and Pro-Elite categories. You can find out more about the FIHB, world rankings and other international tournaments at http://www.fihb.net
“How many players in the GB Ladies squad, and how many horses are you taking?”
“There are eight player/horse combinations in the GB Ladies Squad with each player taking the one horse that they have been selected on. Even if a player has multiple horses competing at the same level and the horse they were selected on goes lame, their place is forfeited to a reserve horse and rider combination. There are 2 reserves that have trained with us in the run up to the competition but they do not travel with us unless something happens to a horse or player before we have departed the UK.
In addition to myself on Borawind, the players in our team are: Kathryn Harborough on Melphos; Emily Lingard on Diablerets; Maya Carter-Birch on Robyx Du Desert; Rebecca Edwards on Saariselka; Annabelle Tobin on Choupa Choupe; Leah Fenton on Exclusive Paddy and Bethany Lambley on Moving Picture. We have retired our number 2 jersey in tribute to late fellow GB player Victoria Percy who tragically lost her life in a riding accident earlier this year.
“When are you setting of for the Championships?”
“The horses are loaded early afternoon tomorrow (Friday 12th August) and will arrive in Saint-Lô around midday the following day. They will be travelling in a transporter via road and crossing the English Channel by ferry. The players are leaving early Saturday morning and travelling together the same way as the horses.
“What date is your first match and how can we keep up to date with your progress?”
“Our first game is on Monday 15th August at 13:15hrs UK time. The games should be live-streamed on the FIHB Youtube channel. You will also be able to keep up with the teams via the British Horseball Instagram page and my personal progress on my own instagram page.
To be continued…
Everybody at Ballinger Equine wishes Charlotte and the team every success for the tournament and we will be following their progress closely online and via social media. Look out for a follow-up to this interview where will find out more about horseball, what makes a great horseball player/horse combination and how you can get involved in this fast, exciting sport.
