Right direction for PH equestrian

EQUESTRIAN in the country is taking the right direction but sorry it is not Peping Cojuangco of the Equestrian Association of the Philippines who is spearheading the program.

Instead it is another group headed by Carissa Coscoluella who in the past challenged Peping for the leadership position in the sport but did not make head against the incumbent.

Now Carissa took another path and formed the Equestrian Philippines Inc. (EPI) with her as president, another equestrienne and Olympian Toni Leviste as vice-president, Joker Arroyo as sports director, Victoria Camcam, mother of up and coming rider Nicole, as finance director, and Alfredo Barreto as communications director. Except for Victoria, all are riders with unquestioned love for the sport.

The first event undertaken by the group is the inaugural Equestrian Philippines Riders’ Tour, a showjumping competition featuring a team competition between young Philippine and Malaysian riders scheduled this weekend at the Manila Polo Club in Makati and I plan on being there to cover the event.

As far as Carissa and her team is concerned, the past success of Filipino riders in international competitions was due to the fact that they were participating regularly in the Southeast Asian region using borrowed horses with the host countries providing these mounts. This kind of exposure, just like in other sports, is a critical factor in the success of any athlete.

Using the extensive network of equestrian friends all over the region, EPI plans on hosting one competition per year of this nature, inviting riders from another country with the hope that a reciprocal invitation will be extended to Filipino riders. The event will see six riders each from the two countries competing head to head in different height categories, generating team scores and event champions, with the competition open to other local individual entries who are qualified.

Named to the team which will be handled by Joker were Minxie Romualdez, Alex Ynares-Villalon, Nicole Camcam, whom I have interviewed in the past, Lara Zobel, Paola Lorenzo, and Manila-based Egyptian expat Mohamed El Akkad as guest rider. This is a young team as Romualdez is only 11 but has been riding since the age of 6, Ynares-Villalon is only 17 and aside from being a rider is also into soccer. Camcam, who is based partially in the United States is 14 and is currently the MPC junior jumping rider of the year and junior dressage rider of the year. Zobel and Lorenzo like the other riders are all on the young side but veterans already in international tournaments.

Carissa’s program is an integrated one that includes consistent training for riders, providing for training clinics by renowned jumping and dressage trainers in the world, a maintenance program for horses, and if I may say, I have not seen in the past nor have I heard in the past as far as Peping’s association is concerned.

That is why I was happy to know about this event and immediately got in touch with Carissa to wangle an invitation to cover the event, so I will pretend to be rich and enjoy Manila Polo Club. I just hope my friend Toni is in town as I have not seen her for some time, the last one when she arranged my interview with Nicole whom she also trains.