Denmark Experience Boosts Australian Jumpers

Amy Graham & Bella Baloubet

Wendy Schaeffer and Koyuna Sun Set

Damian Guthrie and Gilmore 48

The 2011Mercedes Benz FEI Nations Cup Of Denmark held in Copenhagen provided another stepping stone in Australia's program to give our jumping team the best possible opportunity to be a competitive force at the next Olympic Games in London.

Following sound performances in Wellington, USA, Hastings, NZ and Lummen, Belgium the team delivered a near perfect first round score at Copenhagen, only to learn some hard lessons of Nations Cup jumping in the second round and finishing in a creditable sixth place, from 15 Nations.

Members of the Australian team for the Copenhagen CSIO4* consisted of Damian Guthrie, currently based in North Carolina, USA with Gilmore 48 his 13yo Westphalian gelding (Golden Game x Anjou), Wendy Schaeffer with the 12yo mare Koyuna Sun Set (Koyuna Majestic Supreme x Ophelia), and European based rider Amy Graham with her ten year old stallion Bella Baloubet (Baloubet du Rouet x Landadel). Only having three members of a team is always a disadvantage, however there were no other Australians available for this weekend.

There was a sound 1.45m warm up competition on the first day of the event allowing our team riders to get a good feel for the ground and prepare for the main event, and the class was also a qualifier for Sunday’s Grand Prix class. All three riders jumped a clear round and finished in the top 20 thereby guaranteeing a place in Sunday’s competition.

London Olympic Games Course Designer, Bob Ellis, was officiating for the weekend and this has been the first real opportunity to study his work first hand and provide some indication of his style and what we can expect over the coming year.

The 130m x 60m arena is on a slightly sloping grass surface surrounded by some wonderful tall trees and the usual European grandstand and marquees for guests and sponsors. The solid course started with a relatively straight forward vertical, eight strides to an oxer at 1.45m before a turn back to a 1.50m vertical and an 8-9 stride bending line to number four, the 3.8m open water followed immediately six strides to a solid oxer and a further forward four strides to fences 6A and B, a softish double vertical one stride oxer. Turning past the in-gate a 1.50m vertical led around to number eight, another vertical fence at 1.58m followed directly by a 1.50mx1.65m oxer and another oxer at 5 or 6 strides.  The 270 degree turnback to a 1.55m open vertical led to an 8-9 stride approach to the final treble combination of oxer-vertical-oxer all around the 1.50m.  The event was at 400m/min and the time allowed of 75 secs was quite fair.  

Click here to view the course plan.

Australia drew thirteenth to start and given we only had three riders this meant we missed the first round of riders and by the time Wendy Schaeffer stepped into the ring there were eight clear rounds.  Koyuna Sun Set produced a sound jumping round but an awkward jump at the tall vertical at number eight meant some re-adjustment between there and the final treble: all clear however a second or two over the time allowed meant one penalty – a good start.

Amy Graham was our next rider and with Bella Baloubet she produced a very good clear round.  The big grey stallion is starting to enjoy the larger tracks and apart from an occasional ‘look’ at water is showing some positive signs of maturity at this level. By the time Damian Guthrie and Gilmore came into the ring there were 19 clear rounds and if Australia was to meet the first hurdle of making the second round ‘cut’ by being in the top eight teams, they needed to deliver a four fault round or less. Again, following suit they jumped an excellent round for a clear round and a total team score of 1.

Although there were a total of 21 clears from the first round – the Course Designer was looking for around a dozen – the standard of jumping overall was quite strong. Ireland and Sweden both had a zero team score and so we were sitting in a very strong position at the half way point.

Last week it was reported that Ger Poels and James Paterson-Robinson had sold the WEG team horse Niack de l’Abbaye, leaving a dent in Australia’s preparation for London.  It was great to see James fly up from Holland to join the team for the day, and he spent the day assisting the riders to walk the course and warm up their horses – the overall team spirit being displayed through each of our Nations Cup events to date has been first class.

The second round was made more difficult with nearly half the course being raised, and of the 24 horses in the second round there were only four clears.

In the 2011 format of Nations Cup events only three riders from each team will compete in the second round and each score counts: this is very much a sudden death for the teams but very easy to understand for spectators.

The second round results were quite dramatic – Sweden and Denmark had a horse either eliminated or compile so many faults the others didn’t start the second round; Netherlands, Spain, Belgium and Australia all had an expensive round in their total leaving Ireland and Germany clearly first and second.

Wendy Schaeffer delivered another competent round, however the wheels came off for Amy Graham in the first half of the round before finishing very strongly in the second half, and Damian Guthrie had a foot in the water and a couple more rails for 12 faults. How the tables can turn; Australia finished with a total of 33 faults and in sixth position.

Damian Guthrie has now completed his 2011 tour of Europe and heads back to the United States.  Wendy Schaeffer and Amy Graham will continue to compete through the European summer. They will be joined by Julia Hargreaves and Vedor as she commences her campaign towards the London Selection Events next May. James Paterson-Robinson will be back in action in the near future on other Ger Poels horses. And Edwina Alexander continues to lead the Australian jumping effort on the international scene at the top end of the sport.

The first part of the Nations Cup competitions have proved invaluable for Australia’s Olympic preparation.  Each event has delivered a very creditable performance, each of the riders achieved an MES (capability certificate for the Olympics) and the development of team spirit has been excellent. The riders and horses are definitely benefiting from the pressure of competing for their country, however this is still taking its toll. It is clear that our horses and riders could be fitter, to be prepared for the strength required in the second round and continued access to 1.50m tracks at CSI4* and bigger is important as much for rider experience as it is for horse development.

The next Nations Cup event will be at the Gijon CSIO5* in Spain at the end of July.

Source: Equestrian Australia  Photos: Nicol Taylor