Canadian Victoria Stoncius made a lively entrance on her borrowed horse Tilberi von Blumencron in the T2 test at the World Championships for Icelandic Horses yesterday. The small skewbald horse obviously enjoyed the audience’s applause during loose reins and ran even more energetically.
Victoria Stoncius on Tilberi von Blumencron. Photo: Henk Peterse.
Unfortunately their scores were not high enough to make it to the B-final. “But riding was great fun,” Stoncius stated.
She is perhaps the most unusual participant in this year’s World Cup because she cannot travel with her horse to the tournament: they live too far away.
Stoncius also borrowed a horse for the World Cup in Switzerland two years ago. This time she met the gelding Tilberi von Blumencron exactly four weeks ago and the two immediately took a liking to each other.
Her career as a rider of Icelandic horses also began on a borrowed horse, owned by Carolin Rauch, who runs an Icelandic horse farm in Canada.
The gelding Jonas from Sandloe was Stoncius’ companion of her first years of tölt-riding, before it was sold to the U.S.
There is an Iceland horse club in Canada, but, “It is hard to have meetings and receive calls with four hours’ time difference between the federal states,” said Stoncius. Joint training is almost impossible, she explained.
Alongside her studies of economics Stoncius has competed in show jumping and dressage, but Icelandic horses are her favorites.
Her plan is to soon open up her own training stable back home. And to participate at the World Cup in Denmark in two years—if there’s a good horse for her to borrow.
Dagmar Trodler reports for Iceland Review from Berlin.
