The Equestrian Federation of Australia has announced the squad that it intends to nominate to the Australian Olympic Committee for the Beijing Games.
Three WAIS individual scholarship holders have been included in the squad of 12, with husband and wife Clayton and Lucinda Fredericks joining Sonja Johnson in the final cut.
All three will be competing in the Eventing competition. Clayton Fredericks will compete on Ben Along Time, Lucinda Fredericks will ride Headley Britannia and Sonja Johnson will be saddled on Ringwould Jaguar.
The nomination caps a bittersweet period for Clayton Fredericks after the heartbreaking recent loss of his other Champion competition horse abor, after a tragic fall in competition in Saumur, France.
Clayton and Lucinda Fredericks issued a touching tribute to abor (stable name, Neville) on their website www.teamfredericks.com commenting on the gentle nature and great talent.
“We respect and appreciate the beauty, grace and nobilityof Neville and the gifts he brought us. We gratefully acknowledge the joy and unconditional love and acceptance he gave us. Neville made our dreams possible.”
As Rudyard Kipling said “He will be our friend for always and always and always,” read the message.
The Team will be officially announced by the AOC on Friday 11 July.
