Australians Jump to Success in the USA

On Friday night, in Wellington, Florida USA, the campaign made a sound start to the first of many Nations Cup competitions with a ‘new-look’ development team placing equal third with Ireland and Great Britain behind a very strong USA and Canadian teams.

The team was led by a superb double clear round from James Paterson-Robinson and Ger Pols’ 11yo stallion  Niack de L’Abbaye and with Harley Brown and his 13yo Landgraf grey gelding Cassiato collecting the first MES (minimum eligibility standard) certificates for the year.

Over the past few years a collection of Australian riders have made their home in the US and have been very keen to be part of the Australian jumping effort, resulting in EA securing an invitation to start a team in the 2011 Nations Cup event. The National Selectors have been keen to see what horsepower could be available to Australia over the coming year and what better place to find out, mixing it with some of the top nations.

The additional members of the Australian team were Damain Guthrie, based in North Carolina with Gilmore 48  his 12yo Westphalian gelding and, former Armidale rider Thaisa Erwin now living with her German husband Matthias Hollberg in Florida riding an 8yo grey gelding Wadisson.

The magnificent Palm Beach Equestrian Centre boasts no less than eleven jumping rings highlighted by the 120x90m sand ring which is completely surrounded by spectator and VIP facilities. The Course Designer for the Nations Cup was American Steve Stephens ably assisted by Leopoldo Palacios. Between them they created a perfect competition for the eight Nations including the host Nation USA, Canada from the north and Mexico, Venezuela and Columbia from the south, Great Britain and Ireland from Europe and Australia.

The 1.50m 12 fence course provided a kind start with an oxer rolling 7 stride line to a vertical, turning to a triple bar 2 stride oxer double followed by 4 strides to another vertical and, a long run to a 1.70m wide oxer before turning back to a line of a very airy double oxer one stride vertical and 6 strides to a 1.50m narrow gate and 7 or 8 stride past the in gate to a Swedish oxer. The course then took a turn towards the very difficult with a 4.0m open water and a decision of 5 or 6 strides (22.2m) to the number 10 fence, a 1.50 plank very short (7.5m) oxer double – this line was responsible for 75% of the faults on course. The track then did a 270 degree turn over an innovative wall to finish over a long run to the last big oxer. The original time allowed was extended after the first 3 riders from 78sec to a more generous 83secs – the majority of horses completed the course between 78-83 secs.

Harley Brown and Cassiato were first out for Australia and despite a less than auspicious warm up event they came out to jump and only incurred a foot in the water for a very solid 4 fault start to the team score. In the first round McLain Ward and his brilliant mare Sapphire and Nick Skelton with Carlo posted clear rounds and Canada and Australia with 4 faults each.

Our second rider Thaisa Erwin was riding the inexperienced Waddison. They has a very bad experience in the warm up and came in to the ring on the back foot.  Despite a good start to the course, he showed a deal of greenness turning to the first double combination and had both 3B and 4 down, the round progressed well from there until he looked down over the water jump (under lights) and collected an additional 4 faults as well as being penalised coming out of the double before finishing with a total score of 29 faults – not the best start to a Nations Cup career. The horse is only 8yo and shows plenty of scope and ability, however his recent performances indicate he has a bright future and the experience jumping under the lights will not condemn him at all.

Damian Guthrie and Gilmore 48 showed us that they are a solid combination and again despite having 12 faults including a foot in the water and the following combination down, acquitted themselves more than adequately in this round. Up to this point at the end of the 3^rd rider for each team there were only the 3 clear rounds, demonstrating the degree of difficulty set by Steve Stephens.

It is worth a mention that the third rider for the USA Margie Engle was riding her recent acquisition Indigo, purchased from David Dobson of Western Australia at the end of 2010 – Indigo delivered an excellent clear round and I would expect to see this combination be yet another former Australian horse to compete at the London Olympics – as well as Ashleigh Drossel Dan and Vivant!

Our last rider, James Paterson-Robinson was concerned that Niack has been jumping indoors for the European winter and may have difficulty adapting to the outdoor ring – not at all, they jumped a perfect round and allowed Australia to discard the 29 fault round to finish on a combined best 3 of 16 faults.

The fifth clear round for the first round came from Canadian Olympic champion Eric Lamaze.

At the end of the first round the USA were well in front with 4 faults, Canada second on 8 followed by Australia in third spot on 16, Columbia and Great Britain on 20, Ireland and Mexico just behind on 21 faults and Venezuela on 24 penalties.

The identical second round course started with high expectations with the first riders posting scores of 4 faults, and then Harley Brown came into the ring full of confidence after his first round only to ‘miss’ at the second fence, nearly losing the sit, did lose his stirrups and his valuable time. He recovered well and set off to regain the time, however he again had a foot in the water, and a part of the double down to finish with 12 jumping faults and the dreaded time fault.

The second round only takes 3 riders with all scores to count and so Australia’s score ballooned to 29 faults and seemingly putting us out of contention. Thaisa Erwin sat out this round and our next rider Damian Guthrie came out to jump and looked right on the job before again posting a foot in the water and the back rail of the oxer following to finish with 8 faults and leaving Australia sitting on 37 faults. By this time we were relegated to equal 6^th place.

Up to now Sapphire was the only double clear round and James, who had clearly stated he was determined to have a double clear,  was full of confidence as he came into the ring. Niack delivered and along with McLain Ward, James Paterson-Robinson were the only double clears for the Nations Cup. The complexion of the placing changed with each rider and by holding the score at 37 faults we were now equal with Ireland and Great Britain.

The battle between the USA and Canada was over when Beezie Madden posted her clear second round and for the first time in over 5 years the host nations won the event and started on the road to restore pride after their less than auspicious result form Kentucky.  Make no mistake, the USA will be a major force when we head to London.

The value of riding in Nations Cup events was so evident here – the difference in pressure added to individuals as their score impacts on everyone, not just their own result, the building of shared ownership of the whole effort including the warm up, the health and fitness of every team member, the value of the whole support team and remembering that the class isn’t over until it’s over!

The support crew for this team included USA rider Richard Spooner, good friend and supported for Harley Brown, Matt Williams assisted every rider in the warm up ring and his advice and experience at both Olympic and World Equestrian Games is highly valued and Niack de L’Abbaye owner Ger Pols is also an experienced campaigner.

Fortunately, at the last hour we were able to find the USET website was covering the event live and after some frantic phone calls, regular Chef d’Equipe Stephen Lamb and co selectors Rod Brown and Graeme Watts were able to be part of the action.

Our next steps will be the Horse of the Year competition in New Zealand on 16-20 March where 10 Australian combinations will travel across the water to compete against the host nation

Competing in the teams event at the NZL Horse of the Year show, Hastings are the following riders:

• Brook Dobbin and Advisor
• Julia Hargreaves and Vedor
• Cathy Graham and Da Vinci's Pride
• George Sanna and CP Aprilla
• Paul Athanasoff and Wirragulla Nicklaus (reserve)

CLICK HERE to read more about the Nations Cup Competition in Florida and view photos on the Equestrian Australia website.