Horse & Hound – 08 August 2019

8 August 2019Horse& Hound 5

Pictures

by

AFP/Getty

Images,

Peter

Nixon

and

Sefano

Grasso/LGCT

USAand Brazil secure Olympic places

THEUSAhassecureditsfinal

Olympicplaceasitseventerstook

goldatthePanAmGames.

TheteamwonattheArmy

EquitationSchoolinLima,Peru,

onthefinaldayofcompetitionon

Sunday(4August).Braziltookthe

onlyotherspotonofferbytaking

silverwhileCanadatookbronze.

TheUSAalsowonindividual

goldandsilver,withBoydMartin

(Tsetserleg) and Lynn Symansky

(RFCoolPlay),whileBrazil’s

CarlosParro(QuaikinQurious)

tookbronze.

Americahadalreadyqualified

itsshowjumpinganddressage

teams,whotookgoldandsilver

respectivelyatlastyear’sWorld

EquestrianGames(WEG).

Lynndescribedtheresultas

“redemption”.

“Especiallyfromlastyearat

WEG when we came just a little

bitshortoftakingourTokyo

qualification,”shesaid.“Boydand

I wereboththere,andwe’remuch

happierwithourperformances

thisweekend.”

BrazilianCarlosFarro,who

alsotookindividualbronze,

added:“Wecameherefirstto

guaranteeourqualificationand

weachievedourgoal.Wearein

Tokyo.[This]wasa consequence

of our work.”EJ

HORSES

IN THE NEWS

CHILLISGEM

The10-year-oldeventing

marebyChilliMorning,

formerlyriddenbyGemma

Tattersall,hasjoinedDavid

Britnell.Davidsaidhewas

“thrilled”andthanked

ownerChrisStone for the

opportunity.

CUTANDRUN

ZaraTindall’shome-bred

six-year-oldracehorsewon

themaidenhurdleatBagnor-

on-DeeinWaleson2 August.

Themare,whois trainedby

Cheltenhamfestival-winner

MartinKeighley,wasridden

to victory by Leighton Aspell.

DONVHPZ NOP

The15-year-oldstallion

andDutchshowjumper

HarrieSmolderswillnot

takepartintheEuropean

Championshipsaspreviously

announced.Thestallion’s

recentformhadproved

“insuffi cient”.

TOPridersarecallingforchanges

totheFEINationsCuptosecure

itsstatusasthesport’sleading

showjumpingseries.

TheInternationalJumping

RidersClub(IJRC),which

representstheviewsofriders

acrosstheworld,hasexpressed

concernatthe“weakening”ofthe

toptwodivisionsintheseries.

Theclubwantsriders,theFEI

andorganiserstoworktogether

tomakeNationsCupsthesport’s

highlight,andfindbalancewith

otherseriesinthecalendar.

“ThesituationaroundNations

Cupsis causinggreatanxietyto

riders,owners,chefsd’equipe

andmanyfederations,”saidan

IJRCspokesman.“Decidingto

participateina NationsCup

oranalternativecompetition

is a personalchoicemadeby

individualridersandowners.

“Butit is fundamental

institutionsandorganisersdo

everythingpossibletoincreasethe

attractionofthecircuitconsidered

themostimportantinthesport.”

Thespokesmansaidtheseries

has“alwayshadgreatsporting

valueforriders”,asridingfortheir

countryis a dreamforathletes,

andis “fundamental”inpreparing

forseniorchampionships.

TheNationsCupis oneofthe

FEI’sflagshipseries,butthere

is competitionforridersfrom

othervaluableshowsandit is not

particularlyeasyforoutsidersto

followhowit works.

IJRCpresidentandOlympic

goldmedallistKevinStauttold

H&Hit is importantNations

Cups remain attractive.

Measuresaresought—andbeingtaken—tobenefitthe

showjumping Nations Cup competition series in future

“Ridersreallyfeelmotivatedto

competeintheNationsCupand

tohelpimprovetheseries.Itis an

importantcompetition,”hesaid.

“Themostimportantthing

is totrytoworkwiththeFEI,as

wellasnationalfederationsand

theorganiserstohelpsupport

thedevelopmentofCSIOsandto

puttheNationsCupasthemost

importantcompetition[series].”

Headdedthatit is notjust

abouttheCSIO5*showsthat

makeupdivisiononeofthe

NationsCup,theridersalsowant

tobuildtheseconddivision.

Kevinalsosaidtheywould

liketheinvitationsystemto

berethought,givingthebest

teamsthechancetocompetein

morelegsthanthefourtheyare

currentlyallocated.

The IJRC supports having

eightteamsinbothdivisionone

anddivisiontwo,whoareallowed

tocompeteinsixeventsandhave

fourresultstocount,ratherthan

thecurrentfoureventswithfour

scorestocount.Itwouldalsolike

toseea boosttograndprixprize

moneyatNationsCupshows.

AnFEIspokesmantold

H&H: “Thejumpingroundtable

[news, 13 June],addressedallthe

concernsraisedbytheIJRC.

“AswehaveadvisedtheIJRC,

theFEIhasbeendoingand

continuestodoitsutmostto

preservetheNationsCupandwe

stronglybelievetheroundtable

andinputofstakeholderslikethe

IJRCwillcontributetoa solution.

“Wewelcomeinputfromall

stakeholders,whichis whywe

organisedtheroundtable,with

a specialfocusontheNations

Cupandourcommongoal,to

maintainit asthestrongest series

in team jumping.”

ByLUCYELDER

Riders call for change

to secure valued series

Kevin Staut said the key is working together to make it a highlight