Youth Tour winner enjoys the Ashford Training Program

Late January the winner of the Youth Tour that was held last year at Peelbergen Equestrian Centre and Sentower Park was welcomed to the Ashford Farm Training Program. Estonian rider Grete Veske was the best performing junior rider during the Tour and hence earned a full week of training at the farm in Eksel. We asked the 18-year-old student about her experience training with our coaches and her aspirations for the future.

How did you come to enter the Youth Tour at Peelbergen and Sentower?
“I always look for the shows where I can jump the classes for the juniors and young riders too. I think it’s really important to jump against the riders the same age as you so we decided to go there and I jumped the junior classes and U25 classes two weeks in a row. It was a perfect with both venues located so close to each other. The facilities at both these shows are fantastic, for the horses and for us riders, we can really focus on improvement. 2025 is my first year as a young rider, so it was actually a perfect way to end my junior years in 2024 winning the Juniors category.”

‘It was a dream come true’
“I was already planning to compete in the Tour, but when I saw on Instagram that the best junior rider would win a full week of training at Ashford Farm, I really wanted to go for it. Training for a week at such a stable was like a dream come true. I took my main horse, Jabiola and the timing worked well, as she had a break over the Christmas. It was a great way to prepare for the new season”.

‘It is all in the details’
“Angelica focused on details with me, explaining things I already knew but in a way that made them much clearer. This helped me understand them better. Overall, it was an incredibly interesting experience, we were always working on different exercises, which I really loved. The team at the stables in Eksel is quite big, but everyone makes you feel at home.”

With the training week over, what so you have planned for the outdoor season?
“Our next competition will be at the Sunshine Tour in Spain, where we will start the outdoor season. I am bringing all my four horses, which is very exciting. I am really looking forward to gain more experience and grow in, in the bigger classes!”