Snyman qualifies for 2009 FEI World Champs

NAMIBIA’S Silvia Snyman was one of the riders who participated in the 2008 FEI Show Jumping Challenge, which was held last year in Windhoek.

With the remarkable result of four clear rounds in two jumping events and a time of 120,65 seconds, Snyman on her horse Midgard Gigant qualified to participate in this year FEI World Jumping Challenge Final. The tournament takes in Santiago de Chile from November 2 to 8.These qualification tournaments for development countries are divided worldwide into zones. Namibia is part of Zone 7 along with Kenya, Zimbabwe, Botswana and other countries.The winner and first runner-up of each zone has the chance to qualify for the finals, depending on achieved results. Snyman walked away with the best result in Zone 7 followed by Judy Limb of Kenya, who had 4 penalties in total. As per FEI, Snyman is ranked number 24 out of 305 riders in the 10 participating zones. In Zone 7, she is ranked first. Snyman started riding at the age of five at the Reiterverein Swakopmund (RVS). Her first instructor and friend of the family, Doris Kleemann, noticed her natural talent and soon Snyman received her first pony, Frechdachs. Thereafter, another pony followed called MacGyver, who started the success story in Snyman’s life. MacGyver is now retired and living happily on the Sphinxblick Namib Farm. In her junior days, Snyman was selected several times for the Namibian Equestrian Team, travelling to Reunion, Mauritius and several times to South Africa, participating in equitation, showjumping and dressage events. After school, she and her new horse Midgard Gigant moved to Johannesburg to start her studies as a hotelier. She started taking lessons with various professionals, including Springbok rider Dominey Alexander. After successfully completing her studies, she travelled to Switzerland to gain some practical experience in the hotel industry. Due to a snowboarding accident with severe injuries, she returned to South Africa where she successfully completed her degree at the University of Johannesburg. In November 2007, she returned to Swakopmund were she is now working in the family-owned business Hotel Schweizerhaus and Café Anton. She is active on the RVS Committee, serving as stable manager and riding instructor for children and junior riders. She is actively involved in the organisation of showjumping, dressage and equitation tournaments at the RVS. Snyman bought her horse Gigant as an inexperienced five-year-old gelding from the Midgard Stud. Today, they are one of the most experienced and most successful horse-and-rider combinations in Namibia. They are currently the only team participating in the 1,30m class in Namibian tournaments. It took Snyman six years of constant hard work to achieve this. In March this year, she received Namibian colours for her excellent achievements in showjumping. She will leave for Santiago at the end of October. Family and friends will accompany Snyman to Chile for some extra support.