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Fueled for Olympic SuccessBy Kentucky Equine Research Staff · October 20, 2008
Megan Jones crystallized her Olympic dream by being the highest placed rider on the Australian Eventing Team, leading the squad to an outstanding silver medal performance at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
A precisely ridden dressage test on the first day saw Megan and her mount Kirby Park Jester hold a very handy position in third place on a score of 35.40, just behind Ingrid Klimke of Germany and fellow Australian teammate Lucinda Fredericks. A fast and clear cross-country round allowed Megan to jump one place to hold second coming into the show jumping phase the following day. After the second day of competition, the scores of the top eight horse and rider combinations were extremely close with few points separating the riders. Because of an unfortunate rail in the show jumping, Megan and Jester dropped two places in the final standings to fourth individually but still held on to lead Australia to a team silver medal.
The story of Megan and Jester is a truly inspiring one. Megan bred the gray Irish Sport Horse gelding by Irish Enough and out of Kirby Park Yellow Empress at her family property located in Hanhdorf, South Australia. An important part of Jester's preparation was ensuring that he was in excellent body condition and properly hydrated for the humid conditions of Hong Kong. Jester's diet, both while training and in competition, combines feed from Ridley AgriProducts with quality forage and electrolytes.
