Latest from Horse & Hound in Nations-cup-eventing

British four-star ‘delighted’ to be new home for eventing Nations Cup qualifier

Lucy Elder — Tue, 07 Jul 2026 15:42:14 +0000

The British leg of the FEI eventing Nations Cup series is moving north to Defender Bramham Horse Trials in West Yorkshire next year (10 to 14 June 2027).

The news was revealed in the wrap-up report from last week’s FEI Board meeting (30 June to 1 July), which took place in Switzerland.

The eventing Nations Cup is a team event run at short-format four-star level, featuring qualifiers in different countries and culminating in a long-format final at Boekelo in the Netherlands in the autumn. A team ticket for the LA28 Olympics will also be up for grabs at the 2027 eventing Nations Cup final.

The rules were rejigged ahead of this season – each of the five legs now act as qualifiers for the final (based on points collected at each leg), where teams will start on a clean slate. Previously, the series ran solely on a points system, meaning it was possible for winners to be decided before the final started.

Britain’s leg of the Nations Cup has had several homes over the years, most recently at Bicton Horse Trials, in Devon, in May. Chatsworth, in Derbyshire, held the 2023 edition, and before that, it ran at Houghton Hall in Norfolk.

Bramham Horse Trials event director Nicholas Pritchard told H&H that the fixture was “delighted to receive the news from the FEI that we’d been selected to host a qualifier”.

“Bramham is renowned for being a discovery ground for horse and rider combinations with star potential and the Nations Cup will add further impact to those credentials,” said Mr Pritchard.

“Add to that being part of a route to qualify for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games makes it incredibly exciting. France, Ireland, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, The Netherlands, Sweden and Italy are all regular visitors, and we’d love to see more flags making the trip to Bramham in 2027.”

He added: “To be chosen by the FEI is testament to the incredible group we have at Bramham who deliver a world-class event – from the home team who do the organisation, infrastructure and our showpiece cross country courses to our army of volunteers and loyal sponsors and partners, everyone plays a huge part.”

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Fresh look for eventing Nations Cup in 2026 to create more exciting finale

Lucy Elder — Sat, 22 Nov 2025 12:32:13 +0000

A major eventing series is being jazzed up for 2026 to make it more exciting for fans and competitors.

The existing four-star FEI Eventing Nations Cup series is being reworked, so each individual leg works as a qualifier and the top 10 teams (based on points collected at the qualifiers) progress to the season final – where all teams will start on a clean slate.

Currently, the series runs solely on a points system, which means it is effectively possible for winners to have been decided before the final starts.

FEI eventing committee chairman and Olympic gold medallist David O’Connor said the change offers “growth potential” to the eventing Nations Cup.

“We look forward to changing how the Nations Cup is going to work,” said Mr O’Connor.

He added that all teams starting equal at the final “should create great sport, great excitement and great passion”.

“I know riders always like to have something almost won before they get there. But for the fans, it’s great to have the competition come down to the last rail of the last person on the last day, like we did at the European Championships,” he said.

“That is great sport and something that we can all celebrate.”

The 2026 final looks set to take place at its usual home of Boekelo in the Netherlands (1 to 4 October)

In 2027, a team ticket to LA28 will be awarded to the highest-ranked team that has not already secured an Olympic place. This will be decided on a points system for the whole series, including double points at the final.

The full rules for the rejigged FEI Eventing Nations Cup have now been published on the FEI website [PDF]

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2023 eventing fixtures revealed – plus a new home for Britain’s Nations Cup

Lucy Elder — Wed, 14 Dec 2022 13:19:41 +0000

The British leg of the FEI eventing Nations Cup series moves to Chatsworth in 2023 with long-standing host venue Houghton absent from next year’s calendar.

The 2023 British Eventing (BE) calendar was released this week (12 December) at the same time as news of a new qualification route to the grassroots championships.

The CCIO4*-S Nations Cup will run at the Derbyshire venue from 13 to 14 May, with Houghton’s spring long-format CCI2*, CCI3* and young rider CCI3* classes moving to Bicton Arena in Devon (25 to 28 May). Bicton will also run a short-format CCI4* at that spring fixture.

Notable fixtures missing from the 2023 calendar include Firle, Weston Park and Isleham. Tweseldown’s March date is not running next year, owing to Esso installing a pipeline (Tweseldown’s other fixtures are in the calendar).

The young horse championships, previously held at Osberton in the autumn, will move to Cornbury (7 to 10 September). Osberton will continue to run its regular CCI2*-L and CCI3*-L classes, and also has a pony CCI3*-S and CCI* on its schedule for this year as well as novice and intermediate masters national classes.

New BE events include Chard in the southwest (29 to 30 April), with classes from BE80 to BE100 open, and Oxstalls in Gloucestershire (17 to 18 June), running at BE80 to BE105. Returning to the BE calendar in 2023 are Littleton Manor in Surrey (14 to 15 October) at BE80 to BE105, and Brightling Park in East Sussex (1 to 2 July) at BE80 to open novice.

Also new for this year is the introduction of nine new six- and seven-year-old classes, which will be spread across the regions from April to August.

In other news, The Under-18 Youth Championships will be split in 2023. Bishop Burton in East Yorkshire will host the BE100 and novice championships (27 to 30 July) and Chillington Hall in Staffordshire will run the BE80 and BE90 championships (9 to 10 September). GoBE classes and stand-alone GoBE fixtures are also expanding this season.

View the full 2023 calendar

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A lost shoe, a broken stirrup and a ticking clock: how teamwork saved the day

Lucy Elder — Fri, 04 Nov 2022 16:50:45 +0000

There’s keeping cool under pressure – and then there’s keeping Kiwi team cool with a broken stirrup and a ticking clock.

The phrase “teamwork makes the dream work” has perhaps never been quite so fitting as to how the New Zealand eventing side secured a podium finish in Boekelo last month.

Amanda Pottinger and the aptly named Good Timing were warming up for cross-country at the final leg of the FEI eventing Nations Cup series, when a tack malfunction struck.

“I was the second rider out for the team and I had already spoken to Jonelle [Price], who was our first to go, about the course when she came back,” Amanda told H&H.

“Everyone had gone in to watch the screens, so there was no-one in the warm up with me at the time.”

She added she had done about 90% of her warm-up, but there was a corner brush she particularly wanted to jump as there was a tough question involving a similar fence out on course. But as Amanda turned to it, her stirrup snapped.

“I looked down and it took me a while to realise what had happened. I looked around and there was just no-one – there were lots of other people there, but nobody I recognised as part of my team or my mum, who was grooming for me.

“I cantered back down towards where I knew our stables were, and there was a big high security fence around them. Just by chance, Dan Jocelyn was going into the yard and I yelled to him, ‘can you grab Jonelle’s stirrup?! Mine’s just broken.’ I couldn’t take anyone else’s as nobody else had gone yet.”

Dan threw Jonelle’s stirrup over the fence and Amanda, who had jumped off, tried to switch the tack as quickly as she could with her adrenaline running and the clock ticking.

“A person, who I don’t know and want to say thank you to, appeared and said, ‘look, you hold the horse, I’ll sort your tack’.

“Dan asked if I wanted Jonelle’s other stirrup, so I wasn’t riding in odd ones, but I didn’t have time.”

After making sure she was about level, Amanda whizzed back to the warm-up – arriving in the collecting ring with two minutes to go.

“I was a bit stressed,” she said, adding that she didn’t want to come straight to the corner, so popped a few other fences then jumped it – taking the flag out.

By this time, the Prices were at the collecting ring, with Tim coming to the rescue by “bolting over” to put the flag back on just in time for Amanda to have one final, ideal shot at the corner. Jonelle told her to breathe and Amanda had 30 seconds to collect her thoughts before she was off, producing a clear round inside the time.

Amanda and the 11-year-old gelding, owned by the Volunteer Syndicate, followed up on their cross-country performance with a faultless showjumping round, finishing on their dressage score and helping the New Zealand side to second place.

“It’s part of the sport – there’s pressured situations and things don’t always go to plan,” she said. “You have to learn to adapt to get the job done.”

After Amanda’s clear, the Kiwis joked that perhaps everyone should ride with Jonelle’s day-saving iron.

“When you think about it, I was very lucky as it could have happened as I was approaching the first fence. The horse also pulled a shoe off in the stable that morning, so when the stirrup broke as well, I was thinking, ‘should I be running today?!’,” she added, with a laugh.

“It’s one of those things where if you pull it off, it’s pretty cool – but it was very stressful at the time!”

One-eyed top event mare delights with sparkling performance on return from injury

Lucy Elder — Fri, 03 Jun 2022 19:57:57 +0000

Swedish Olympian Therese Viklund celebrated the “best result ever” in having her one-eyed top horse Viscera back from injury and feeling “amazing” in the Barefoot Retreats Houghton International Horse Trials.

Therese and Viscera were the highest-placed international combination in the CCIO4*, jumping double clear and adding just 1.2 cross-country time-penalties to their 29.4 dressage to finish fourth. Their performance also helped the Swedish side to team third in the FEI Nations Cup leg at the Norfolk fixture (26 to 29 May).

It was the 14-year-old mare’s first run after sustaining a leg injury in 2021 and Therese credited vet Tom Campbell, of Bourton Vale Equine Clinic, for her recovery.

“It was amazing,” Therese told H&H. “It was her first event since August last year and obviously she was very, very happy to be out again.

“Her dressage was ok, she can generally score a bit better – she likes to show off a bit when she’s fresh, especially in trot. As she’s dressage-bred, she finds passage very funny, but the eventing dressage judges don’t so much!”

She added that for this reason, she had to keep it on the conservative side and the mare did a “really good test”.

“She showjumped really well, it would be her weakest phase. There were quite a few clears, but I thought it was a quite a technical course,” she said.“Cross-country I was quite nervous. I don’t have any other horses at four-star, so I hadn’t done one since last year. I thought it was quite big and she absolutely flew round. She was amazing – it didn’t feel like she hadn’t done it in nine months.”

Therese said having Viscera back and feeling amazing is “the best result ever”.

The partnership have a string of top-10 results at four-star and competed for Sweden at the Tokyo Olympics.

Therese, who produced the Fidertanz daughter from a six-year-old, said that all being well, the plan for Viscera is to stick at Nations Cup and short-format competitions. Haras du Pin in August is pencilled in as the mare’s next event.

The Hanoverian mare had her left eye removed in 2018, having contracted uveitis three years previously, and adapted seamlessly.

“She doesn’t find any problems,” said Therese. “She just loves her job. I thought when it was removed that she wouldn’t get back to four-star, but from day one she has been just like she was before. It’s amazing.”

‘He’s my life’: 62-year-old amateur rider on winning Nations Cup team with horse who survived splintered knee and severe colic

Eleanor Jones — Sat, 21 May 2022 18:59:30 +0000

A 62-year-old one-horse amateur rider who has been eventing for 45 years was part of Switzerland’s victorious Nations Cup team this week — on a horse who has survived a splintered knee and came within hours of being put down owing to colic.

Beat Sax, a full-time chemist, and 14-year-old warmblood Secret IV topped the podium in Pratoni del Vivaro on Sunday (15 May), alongside teammates Robin Godel (Grandeur de Lully), Nadja Minder (Toblerone) and Melody Johner (Toubleu de Rueire).

Beat told H&H he took part in his first event, at novice level, when he was 16 or 17.

“I came last!” he said. “Then I went back the next year and won.”

Beat, who has only owned five horses, describes himself as “200% an amateur”, working 50+ hours a week and doing everything himself, including driving the 1,000km to Italy for the Nations Cup.

“I have a break during the day, when I do my horse, and I do everything in the stables,” he said. “It’s amazing to have that time with my horse, in the fresh air, and clearing my head for the next part of the day.”

Beat bought Secret as a four-year-old — he has produced all his horses from a young age — but with no great ambitions for the horse’s future.

“I was 52 and I thought ‘I’m too old for eventing now; I’d like a horse just for fun and for smaller competitions’, then two years later, he came 17th in the six-year-old championship at Le Lion, and that was the career for him!

“To start with, he was a bit crazy; he had his ideas about what he was doing and I had mine, and I was often sitting in the sand, but we came together and he’s the best horse I’ve ever had.”

Secret has overcome huge issues; when he was seven, part of his kneecap splintered off when he got stuck on an oxer. An operation was successful and X-rays looked good but he was still lame. Thanks to osteopath and biomechanics expert Stefen Stammer, the horse eventually came right.

“It’s a wonder; no one thought it was possible that he could come back to how he was but he’s better,” said Beat. “It’s amazing.”

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The combination enjoyed more success but in 2019, Secret suffered from a severe bout of colic and needed surgery. This was a success but afterwards, when attempts were made to feed the horse, his intestines were not functioning. For 10 days, vets struggled to get Secret’s bowels to function and Beat was told it was time to say goodbye.

“He’d lost 100kg and his stomach wasn’t working,” Beat said. “It really was a day before he was going.”

But Olivia Rudolf, a vet experienced in alternative medicine, helped save Beat’s “heart horse”. She massaged his spine and gradually, the intestines started working again. After a long period of rehab, they were back out, and catching the eye of the Swiss team coach.

“Pratoni was absolutely amazing,” Beat said. “In March, I won a CCI4*-L, which was the biggest thing I’d done in my life, my first four-star win. But this, with a team, some 30 or even 40 years younger than me as I’m the old guy, was absolutely great. My heart was overflowing.”

Beat now has hopes of returning to Pratoni to represent his country at the eventing World Championships, in September, for which he has qualified.

“It would be a dream come true,” he said. “As an amateur and at my age, it would be amazing; I can’t explain. But for me, every event is a dream. I go and have fun and have a good time with my horse, and for me, that’s the important thing. This is my life and Secret is my life too.”

William Fox-Pitt and Little Fire blaze to Houghton victory while Brits top eventing Nations Cup opener H&H Plus

Lucy Elder — Tue, 01 Jun 2021 13:03:44 +0000

WILLIAM FOX-PITT and Little Fire made short work of the Saracen Horse Feeds Houghton International CCIO4*-S to seal their win with a deceptively quick cross-country round.

The 12-year-old gelding, with whom William was ninth at Badminton 2019, breezed around Alec Lochore’s track to come home a comfortable four seconds inside the time.

William, who co-owns the horse with Jennifer Dowling, said to win was “a nice surprise”.

“I haven’t really ridden him fast since Badminton 2019, so today was quite a surprise,” said William.

“I thought I would be quick enough to win — he was in a good position and I was at the end of the class, but I thought I would fully use up all my points [in hand]. He is a quick horse and it was lovely ground and a nice course. We rather enjoyed ourselves!”

Selina Milnes and the 13-year-old Iron IV, owned by William Rucker, rose from 10th after dressage to claim the runner-up spot on their first phase score of 30.

“I thought with being up there after dressage, that I had to go for it. It rode really well, it was open, galloping and he is a big-striding horse — I just kept coming and it all happened nicely, I didn’t have one bad moment,” said Selina, adding she decided she “had to go for it”.

“I walked the line over and over again at the corners [8ab] and originally I was going to go on five [strides], but actually the horse is so much better if you don’t take a pull and he was really awesome through there.”

Those blue Howes Percival corners in front of the house proved the most influential fence on course, with seven combinations picking up 20 penalties here and one elimination.

The consistent combination of Bubby Upton and Magic Roundabout IV finished third on their dressage score of 30.7, with time penalties dropping overnight leader Alex Hua Tian and Jilsonne Van Bareelhof into fourth.

Eventing Nations Cup

Houghton was the opening leg of this year’s FEI Nations Cup series and was won by the home side, made up of Mollie Summerland (Charly Van Ter Heiden), Tom McEwen (Class Affair) and Georgie Spence (Halltown Harley), who all finished on their dressage scores.

Britain, Ireland and Australia all competed with teams of three, meaning the final result went right to the wire.

There was some drama as 2021, not satisfied with a pandemic, Brexit and challenging weather, had a few more surprises up its sleeve.

A withdrawal by Australia’s Sammi Birch meant Sophie Adams (Ridire Dorcha) had to be swapped in as a late substitution to ensure the competition could run.

Gemma Tattersall also withdrew Jalapeno III ahead of the dressage, with British chef d’equipe Philip Surl explaining the horse had knocked a splint.

Philip added he was “very pleased” with the Brits’ performances.

“It’s always nice to finish on what you started with after dressage. It’s been a little bit of a testing week,” he said.

“I know it wasn’t the strongest of fields from the point of view of numbers, but it’s just great to have a team competition. It’s been a while, but hopefully we can all move on from here.

“There was enough to do out there, there were plenty of places just to have a silly 20 and they had to keep their brains on, so I’m very pleased.”

Full report from Houghton International, including the CCI3*-L sections, is also available to read in Horse & Hound magazine, on sale Thursday 3 June 2021

Zara Tindall’s Tokyo hopeful selected for first Nations Cup of the season

Becky Murray — Fri, 07 Aug 2020 16:35:37 +0000

Former World champion Zara Tindall has been selected for her first British team appearance with her Tokyo-hopeful Class Affair.

Zara joins World Equestrian Games team gold medal-winner Tom McEwen, young rider European team gold medal-winner Richard Coney and five-star rider Laura Collett on the British squad selected for the first leg of the 2020 FEI eventing Nations Cup (12-16 August) at Le Pin au Haras, France.

The selected combinations are:

Zara Tindall on Gleadhill House Stud Ltd’s 11-year-old gelding Class Affair
Laura Collett with Mr and Mrs M. Smedley, C. Taylor, Gillian Morris-Adams and Diana Chappell’s 11-year-old gelding Dacapo
Richard Coney on his own and Wendy Coney’s 12-year-old gelding Kananaskis
Tom McEwen and Barbara Cooper’s 15-year-old gelding Figaro van het Broekxhof

Zara and Class Affair picked up top-10 finishes at Bramham and Boekelo last year, while Tom and Figaro van het Broekxhof were runners up at the 2019 five-star Luhmühlen.

Richard made his senior team debut at the Houghton Hall Nations Cup leg last year, before helping the British young rider squad to gold at the Europeans in Maarsbergen, The Netherlands.

Laura and Dacapo were runner up at last year’s Bramham and made a team Nations Cup appearance at the final leg in Boekelo. Following eventing’s restart last month, the pair enjoyed a win at Cholmondeley Castle.

This year’s Nations Cup series, which had been due to begin in April but was postponed owing to the pandemic, will run with a reduced calendar of four legs instead of six meaning it will not feature a UK event after Houghton Hall was among those to be cancelled.

The scheduled dates and venues will now take place:

12-16 August: Le Pin au Haras, France
27-30 August Strzegom, Poland
24-27 September, Ireland
22-25 Montelibretti, Italy

Article continued below…

(Image credit: trevor-meeks-photography.co.uk)

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Dickie Waygood, British Equestrian’s performance director and eventing performance manager, said the organisation is excited to see the series get underway, albeit in a shortened format.

“The current Covid-19 situation does add additional challenges to sending a team to compete abroad, but we have factored these into our plans,” he said.

“We continue to closely monitor changes and updates to guidance and protocols in relation to travel – the safety of our riders, their support team and horses is our top priority and I’m confident everything has been done to minimise the risk during travel and the competition itself.”

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Young Brits shine as Germany bags fifth Houghton Nations Cup win in a row

Lucy Elder — Mon, 27 May 2019 11:03:43 +0000

Germany proved unstoppable yet again to take their fifth British eventing Nations Cup title on the trot.

To say the Saracen Horse Feeds Houghton International Horse Trials (23-26 May) is a happy hunting ground for the German side would be an understatement, with the team making it five wins in five years.

The youthful team led from the start, with Ingrid Klimke and the exciting young mare Asha P in pole position after the dressage on 23.2 and team-mate Christoph Walher and Carjatan S in second.

Two rolled poles for Ingrid gave other nations a glimmer of hope that they could be caught. Clear showjumping rounds from all four of the Brits resulted in the team moving up from sixth to fourth ahead of cross-country.

Christoph, 25, and Carjatan S produced a masterclass in how to ride Alec Lochore’s influential track, coming home five seconds inside the time to win individually and secure Germany’s victory.

But the result was close, with just 0.6 of a penalty separating Germany (90.6) and second-placed Sweden (91.2), who are chasing Olympic qualification this year.

The Swedes showed their team’s consistency, with three riders inside the top 10, headed by second-placed Louise Romeike and Waikiki 207.

The British side, made up of three senior team debutants and Badminton winner Piggy French, continued their strong performances to record four clear jumping cross-country rounds and finish third on 99.2.

“We like it here!” laughed German chef d’equipe Hans Melzer.

“Every time we have come with a different team and everybody is so motivated to compete here.

“I thought in the beginning that the course was more twisty than in the past, but once we had walked it two or three times you could see it and in the end it was good to ride so I think Alec did a super job.”

Ingrid, 11th individually, added it is “always a pleasure” to win as a part of a team.

“It was really worth coming as it was a wonderful competition and I had two really lovely cross-country rounds with my two young mares,” she said, adding her horses “learned a lot” from the design of the course. “They showed me their quality and were a pleasure to ride.”

Jerome Robine (Quaddeldou R), who finished seventh, and Felix Etzel (Bandit 436), 19th, completed the winning side.

British team anchors Piggy French and Cooley Monsoon enjoyed a beautiful cross-country round, with the 10-year-old gelding’s ears pricked the whole way. The pair added nothing to their dressage score of 29.2 to finish fourth.

Civil engineering student Richard Coney was among the trio making their first British team appearance. The 20-year-old and his junior horse Kananaskis gave a confident performance to finish ninth individually.

“A huge amount of people put their names forwards, so to get picked is very nice, especially considering the calibre of the people here,” said Richard.

“You can never be sure how they are going to perform on the day, but he is pretty consistent across country, so he had it in him to go fast and clear, which is what he did. He was really on form.”

Bubby Upton, 20, added it was “a real honour” to be selected with Fernhill Rock Star.

“I said at the beginning of the week that I wanted a run that was fault free in every phase and that’s exactly what he did,” she said.

“He was quite feisty at the start of the cross-country and I was thinking, ‘come on, let’s concentrate on the fences here’, but he knows his job so well and really helped me out, especially in the water when I lost a rein. He just said, ‘I’ve got it, Mum’. He knows exactly what he is doing and I love him so much.”

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Eliza Stoddart was “absolutely thrilled” with the consistently improving Dick O Malley and said being part of the team was “an amazing experience”.

“It’s my first team appeareance and it was a huge honour to be selected,” she said.

“I’ve had the horse for just over two seasons now, so this is amazing for his owners [the Flint Syndicate]. This was brilliant preparation for Luhmühlen, where he heads next, I hope I can build on this in the future.

“He is an unbelievable jumping horse and he really travels and gallops. His dressage is improving all the time. When he came to me he didn’t know anything on the flat, so there was a lot of work to do there and I’m sure there’s still lots to come from him.”

For the full report from Houghton, plus all the latest news analysis, competition reports, interviews, features and much more, don’t miss this week’s Horse & Hound magazine, on sale Thursday, 30 May

Olympic champion back on British team after 10-year absence

Pippa Roome — Fri, 08 Jun 2018 10:37:36 +0000

Leslie Law, the 2004 Olympic eventing individual gold medallist, will ride on the British team again, more than a decade since his last squad appearance.

Leslie moved to the USA in the winter of 2005 and has not ridden on a British team since, his last cap being the 2005 Blenheim European Championships, when he was a team gold medallist with his Athens Olympic champion Shear L’Eau. Before the move he won three European team gold medals, two Olympic team silvers, an individual Olympic gold and a world team bronze, all on the full brothers Shear H2O and Shear L’Eau.

The rider has now been called up to compete on the Nations Cup team at The Plains in Virginia, USA (6-8 July), the fourth leg of the 2018 FEI Eventing Nations Cup. Leslie’s ride will be Tre’ Book’s nine-year-old Voltaire De Tre’.

“It’s exciting and it’ll be fun — I’m looking forward to it,” said Leslie. “It’s great for the horse’s owners too.”

He has been riding the chestnut Selle Français since the spring of 2016 and recently finished fourth in the CCI3* at Jersey Fresh with him. The pair were also second in the national advanced class at The Fork, held at Tryon as part of the World Equestrian Games test event in April.

“Dickie [Waygood, British eventing performance manager] sent me an email at the beginning of the year asking if there was the possibility I’d have anything for the Nations Cup and I said I’d got a horse who was going up through the grades and doing his first advanced in February, so we’d have to see how he goes,” said Leslie.

“He’s gone from strength to strength this year and is turning into an exciting horse. To handle, he’s full of himself and keeps the girls on their toes. To ride, he feels like he’s really starting to grow up and there’s a lot more to come from him. As a seven- and eight-year-old he was a big, leggy horse so I took time to allow him to mature.”

Leslie is based in Ocala, Florida, with his Canadian wife Lesley Grant-Law, who also events. The couple have a son, Liam.

Leslie’s team-mates will all travel from Britain to compete at the Plains. They are:

Ben Hobday and his own and Jane Chambers’ eight-year-old gelding Shadow Man II, with Rachael Foster’s 11-year-old gelding Ciletto H in direct reserve
Will Rawlin and Andrew and Miranda Rawlin’s 10-year-old gelding VIP Vinnie
Georgie Spence with her own and Suzanne Doggett’s 12-year-old gelding Halltown Harley

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Four-star horse retires: ‘To ride at the pinnacle of the sport as an amateur is special’

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High jinks from William Fox-Pitt’s Luxury FH at trot-up as Bramham gets underway

Big names are lining up for the coveted Bramham titles as Nicola Wilson and Julia Krajewski take early leads in

The Plains will be Britain’s third Nations Cup this year after Houghton last month and Strzegom, Poland (29 June-1 July).

With two legs complete in the nine-leg series, Sweden lead the way on 150 points with Britain in ninth place on 55 points.

For all the latest news analysis, competition reports, interviews, features and much more, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, on sale every Thursday.

Ben Hobday and Mulrys Error ruled out of planned British team debut

Pippa Roome — Fri, 23 Jun 2017 10:04:19 +0000

A “minor injury” to Sallie Rylie’s Mulrys Error has ruled the popular horse and his equally popular rider Ben Hobday out of travelling to the USA, where they were due to make their British Nations Cup debut at The Plains on 8-9 July.

Ben’s team-mate James Sommerville will not make the trip either as his own and his mother Jennifer’s horse Talent has also incurred a minor injury.

“It is anticipated that both horses will soon be out competing again in the not too distant future. We thank both riders and their owners for making the horses available,” said a statement from British Eventing.

USA-based Brit Justine Dutton has been boosted up from the reserve spot and will now join the team on Jak My Style. Emily Llewellyn has been called up and will make the trip to the USA with Emirati Nightsky. She said on Facebook that her whole team is “super excited”.

The other two team members, Matthew Heath and his own and Hazel Livesey’s One Of A Kind II and Nicky Roncoroni with her mother Janey and Lorna McWilliam’s Watts Burn, are unchanged.

Continued below…

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Ben Hobday and Mulrys Error make British team debut with a trip to the USA

The popular rider will fly to Virginia to represent Team GB with his equally loved equine partner, Mulrys Error

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This is the second year the USA has hosted a leg of the Nations Cup at The Plains. Britain finished third of the three teams competing last year, represented by Jodie Amos (Wise Crack, third), Ben Way (Willows Tipster, 26th), Justine Dutton (Huck Finn, 36th) and Ros Canter (Zenshera, eliminated for a fall across country). The USA won, with Canada second.

Britain currently holds first place in the 2017 Nations Cup overall standings, after finishing second at all three competitions so far (Strzegom, Houghton and Tattersalls). The next fixture on the calendar is Wiener Neustadt in Austria (30 June-2 July), followed by The Plains, Aachen in Germany (19-23 July), Haras du Pin (10-13 August), Waregem in Belgium (22-24 September) and Boekelo in the Netherlands (5-8 October).

Ben Hobday and Mulrys Error make British team debut with a trip to the USA

Pippa Roome — Tue, 13 Jun 2017 11:34:16 +0000

Ben Hobday has received his first British Nations Cup call-up and will ride on the team at the US leg of the eventing FEI Nations Cup at The Plains, Virginia (8-9 July).

Ben will partner Sallie Ryle’s popular 15-year-old gelding Mulrys Error, with whom he recently finished 27th in the CCI3* at Bramham. The pair also jumped a double clear at Badminton last year and finished 29th at Burghley in 2014.

Two other riders also make their British team debuts at The Plains — Matthew Heath, who will ride his own and Hazel Livesey’s One Of A Kind II, and James Sommerville with Talent, owned by James and his mother Jennifer.

Nicky Roncoroni and Watts Burn, who helped the Brits to second in the Nations Cup at Tattersalls, Ireland, last month, complete the squad. Watts Burn belongs to Lorna McWilliam and the rider’s mother Janey.

American-based Brit Justine Dutton is the reserve with Jak My Style.

Continued below…

24 accepted from Badminton wait-list; Ben Hobday not among them

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The British Nations Cup teams are supported by the National Lottery-funded equestrian World Class Programme, a portfolio within the British Equestrian Federation.

Britain wins final 2016 eventing Nations Cup at Boekelo; Oliver Townend third individually

Pippa Roome — Sun, 09 Oct 2016 14:26:38 +0000

Britain won the final eventing Nations Cup of the series at Boekelo, the Netherlands, this afternoon (Sunday, 9 October) and took second in the series behind Germany. Oliver Townend also achieved an individual podium finish with third place.

“I couldn’t be happier — it’s a long series and we’ve been all over the world; this is a great way to finish,” said British chef d’equipe Philip Surl.

Team GBR entered the final showjumping nearly 30 penalties ahead of their competitors and widened their lead in this phase.

Laura Collett was the first British team rider to jump and went clear on eight-year-old Mr Bass to move up four places to fifth individually. The eight-year-old, who surely has a bright future, belongs to his rider as well as Keith and Louise Scott and Nick and Lyn How.

Izzy Taylor was next in the ring and just had fence four down on Dr Patricia Turner’s Trevidden to slip one spot to individual seventh.

Oliver Townend finished up the British team effort with a fault-free performance on Angela Hislop’s Cooley SRS. This confirmed Britain’s team victory and earnt the pair an individual podium finish in third.

Oliver, who also had just one down today on Ballaghmor Class (40th), said: “I’m absolutely thrilled with both of them — they’ve gone up two leagues.”

The Netherlands went into today’s showjumping in second, but one fence down for Tim Lips (Keyflow) and 14 faults for Elaine Pen with Dostowjeski dropped the home side to third. Alice Naber-Lozeman went clear with Coral Estate Harry Belafonte to provide the best team score in eighth and win the Dutch national championship.

Jocelyn’s near miss

New Zealand moved up to second with a clear from Blyth Tait and Xanthus III, plus four faults apiece for Dan Jocelyn (Beaucatcher) and Mark Todd (Kiltubrid Rhapsody, sixth). Dan was nearly thrown from the saddle at the last fence and crossed the line hanging on and leaning down his horse’s shoulder, although he did manage to get back in the plate rather than falling off.

Young German rider Stephanie Böhe kept a clean sheet today to confirm her individual victory with Insa Kristina Weddige’s Haytom.

“I felt confident but I wasn’t sure how he’d jump today as yesterday was a long course and it was his first CCI this year,” she said. “But he wasn’t tired — he wanted to go round the cross-country again!”

Continued below…

One horse spun at final trot-up at Boekelo, plus outcome of British team appeal

Team GBR heads Boekelo Nations Cup after cross-country, but young British leader drops out of top 10

Young Brit leads dressage at Boekelo: ‘I feel like I’m in a dream and have to wake up soon’

Her compatriot Andreas Dibowski also recorded a clear to take second on his experienced campaigner FRH Butts Avedon.

The USA’s Lauren Kieffer was second overnight with Meadowbrook’s Scarlett, but the upright at fence nine came down and this dropped the pair to fourth.

Britain had a fourth top-10 individual finisher in Sarah Bullimore and Lilly Corinne, who moved up one place to ninth when they just had fence eight down today.

Full report from Boekelo in H&H next week, out Thursday, 13 October.

One horse spun at final trot-up at Boekelo, plus outcome of British team appeal

Pippa Roome — Sun, 09 Oct 2016 08:28:57 +0000

Ireland’s hopes of recording a good finish in the final eventing Nations Cup of the season faded this morning at Boekelo when Jim Newsam’s ride Magennis was eliminated at the trot-up.

The 14-year-old gelding by Limmerick jumped clear across country yesterday with 12.8 time-faults for 24th overnight. But this morning the ground jury — Wayne Quarles, Ciska van Meggelen-Peek and Sándor Fülöp — sent the horse to the holding box. Jim re-presented him, but Magennis was spun.

Ireland now only has Padraig McCarthy (Bernadette Utopia, 18th) and Tegan White (Texan Style, 49th) in the competition as James O’Haire did not present China Doll this morning. Having been sixth overnight in the Nations Cup, they will now drop down the order to ninth.

One British individual horse, Charlotte Bacon’s ride Last Touch, was sent to the holding box, but he was accepted when he was re-presented. Sweden’s Christoffer Forsberg withdrew Wanskjaers Carlsson from the holding box.

Two other individual horses were withdrawn overnight — Tourmaline Du Fief, ridden by France’s Nicolas Mabire, and Phoenix D’Amigny, ridden by Italy’s Umberto Riva.

Outcome of British appeal

There was good news for Britain last night as an appeal against the time-faults given to Nations Cup rider Laura Collett was successful. Laura was recorded as having 3.6 time-penalties when she finished the cross-country on Mr Bass, but she and team officials Philip Surl and Yogi Breisner believed there had been a timing error.

“I knew I was about five seconds inside the time so I was easing off as I finished,” she said. “Yogi had the same time for me, but when Philip looked at the results I’d be given 3.6 time-faults.

“We appealed and the officials looked into it, but to start with they didn’t find anything and it looked like the penalties would stand. That was a bit gutting as he didn’t deserve time-penalties. But when they went through it again they found what had gone wrong.”

Laura has now been given a time of 10 minutes 47 seconds, which puts her three seconds inside the optimum. She lies ninth individually (instead of 13th with the faults). Her score combined with that of Oliver Townend (Cooley SRS) and Izzy Taylor (Trevidden) puts Britain 29.6 penalties in the lead in the Nations Cup before today’s showjumping.

Continued below…

Team GBR heads Boekelo Nations Cup after cross-country, but young British leader drops out of top 10

Young Brit leads dressage at Boekelo: ‘I feel like I’m in a dream and have to wake up soon’

Watch Laura Collett jumping bareback [VIDEO]

The time of Italian rider Umberto Riva, who went out six competitors before Laura, was also amended from nine minutes 15 seconds to 10 minutes 15 seconds.

Full report of Boekelo in H&H next week, out Thursday 13 October.

Team GBR heads Boekelo Nations Cup after cross-country, but young British leader drops out of top 10

Pippa Roome — Sat, 08 Oct 2016 15:53:23 +0000

Britain leads the Nations Cup at Boekelo, the Netherlands, after today’s cross-country (Saturday, 8 October) shook up the leaderboard.

Team GBR held third after dressage, but Sue Benson’s cross-country track proved influential and it was all change at the top.

Oliver Townend got Britain off to a good start with a clear and just 2.4 time-faults with Cooley SRS. This performance left him fifth individually and best of the Brits at the end of the day.

Second team rider Flora Harris had a fall at fence 5ab, two tables on a 90-degree turn, with her 2015 Bramham CCI3* winner. This put the pressure on the last two British competitors, but both delivered.

Laura Collett had 3.6 time-penalties on the inexperienced Mr Bass, but was appealing her time-faults as she and British chef d’equipe Philip Surl believed she was five seconds inside the 10 minute 50 second optimum, as did performance manager Yogi Breisner. However, the penalties remain on the leaderboard at present, which puts Laura 13th individually — should they be removed, she will move up to ninth. (Read about the outcome of this appeal)

Only eight pairs went inside the time today and Izzy Taylor had the equal fastest round on Trevidden, moving up from 22nd after dressage to sixth.

Two Aussie falls

Australia were the dressage leaders, but falls for both Paul Tapner (Bonza King Of Rouges) and Sammi Birch (Hunter Valley II) put paid to their team chances. The only Australian who remains in the top echelons is Sam Griffiths, now 10th on Beaurepaire Nemo. Emma Dougall, fifth after dressage, dropped out of contention after a run-out at fence 11b on Fernhill Tabasco.

“It’s disappointing because it was my error not his — he was very good and didn’t deserve it,” she said.

The German team, second after dressage, had a mixed day and slipped down to fourth in the Nations Cup after pathfinder Anna Siemer had a fall at fence 7b with Chloe 21 and Ben Leuwer (NZB Port Royal) incurred two run-outs at skinnies, including at 7c. Fence 7abc, which consisted of three triple brush arrowheads on an S-bend with no alternatives, proved extremely influential.

However, Germany’s other two riders hold two of the top three spots individually. Stephanie Böhe, seventh after dressage, now sits in first place with her recent Waregem CIC3* winner Haytom after stopping the clock at 10 minutes 33 seconds, the same time as Izzy Taylor.

“I had respect for the course, but I wasn’t nervous,” said 23-year-old Stephanie, who was the penultimate rider on course. “He’s a big character and really motivated — he loves cross-country so much.”

Andreas Dibowski was also fault-free today and moved up from 10th to third with the experienced FRH Butts Avedon.

The USA’s Lauren Kieffer is sandwiched between the two Germans in second, her 2.4 time-faults on Rio reserve horse Meadowbrook’s Scarlett costing her the lead.

“I’ve had her since she was four and we have quite a partnership — I really trust her,” said Lauren, the last rider to go. “Going last gave me the opportunity to see what was and wasn’t working.”

Mark Todd holds fourth for New Zealand with the grey Kiltubrid Rhapsody, who had 4.4 time-penalties today.

“He’s quite a new ride to me — I’ve not had him that long,” said Mark. “It’s his first long format three-star and he’s not thoroughbred so I was a bit unsure how he’d cope. The twisty course didn’t suit him — he’s too slow to turn and too slow to get away from fences — but he was very good and kept galloping all the way to the finish.”

Toddy is also spearheading the New Zealand team effort — they are in third, with the Netherlands in second place. Britain has a 26-penalty lead ahead of tomorrow’s showjumping, but there is only 2.6 penalties between the home side and the Kiwis.

Continued below…

Young Brit leads dressage at Boekelo: ‘I feel like I’m in a dream and have to wake up soon’

Oliver Townend crowned Event Rider Master to win £30,000 series first prize

Oliver Townend wins ERM at Blair: ‘Hopefully we’ve turned a corner and figured him out’

Britain’s dressage leader Bella Innes Ker had a smooth round with Carolyn at the pair’s first CCI3* together, but they incurred 14.4 time-faults to drop to 16th.

Three riders were taken off course in ambulances today. Germany’s Anna Siemer remains in hospital for observation, while Dutch rider Jordy Wilken was taken to hospital after his fall at the rolltop at fence 20, but then discharged. Italy’s Pietro Sandei, who fell on landing at fence three in the arena near the end of the day, was taken off course in the ambulance but did not need to go to hospital. There were no serious horse injuries.

Full report from Boekelo in H&H next week, out Thursday, 13 October.

Young Brit leads dressage at Boekelo: ‘I feel like I’m in a dream and have to wake up soon’

Pippa Roome — Fri, 07 Oct 2016 14:51:47 +0000

Young British rider Bella Innes Ker leads the dressage in the CCI3* at Boekelo after two days of action.

The Dutch CCI3* is always popular and this year 94 horses came before the ground jury. Bella, 22, performed her test yesterday morning with Carolyn, but the pair’s mark of 42 could not be bettered. Their closest challenge came from the very last competitor when the USA’s Lauren Kieffer (Marie Le Menestrel’s Meadowbrook’s Scarlett) wound up her test just 0.1 of a penalty behind Bella.

“I feel like I’m in a dream and have to wake up soon,” said Bella earlier today. “Carolyn didn’t put a foot wrong. I’m really pleased — normally she has a few quirky moments when she gets distracted.”

The rider was given some advice by British eventing team dressage trainer Tracie Robinson before her test.

“I’ve never had a lessson with Tracie, but she gave me a couple of tips about the arena and also said the judge at H [Ciska van Meggelen-Peek] was marking quite harshly so to concentrate on straightness and not give any marks away,” said Bella.

The 12-year-old bay mare Carolyn belongs to Bella’s mother, the Duchess of Roxburghe, and has been with the rider five years. The pair were on the British gold medal-winning young rider team last year.

Aussies lead Nations Cup

Australia have the upper hand in the Nations Cup, the final leg of the 2016 series. Paul Tapner leads the way in third individually on a mark of 42.2 riding Angela Scott, Jenny Waller and his own Bonza King Of Rouges. He is backed up by Emma Dougall in fifth on Fernhill Tabasco and Sam Griffiths, who holds sixth on Beaurepaire Nemo.

Emma said: “I’m really pleased — he’s been going really well, but I expected him to light up more in the atmosphere. He kept his head down and stayed focused.”

Australia has all her team riders in the top 12 as Sammi Birch is 11th with her Rio travelling reserve Hunter Valley II.

Britain sits in third place in the team competition, 3.5 penalties behind Germany in second but just 0.2 of a mark ahead of the fourth-placed Kiwis — led by Mark Todd, third individually on Niki Ryan and Dr Elizabeth Donald’s Kiltubrid Rhapsody.

Oliver Townend heads the charge for the British team in individual ninth on Angela Hislop’s Cooley SRS. Team GBR’s other riders are Flora Harris (Bayano, 12th), Izzy Taylor (Trevidden, 22nd), Laura Collett (Mr Bass, 33rd).

Continued below…

Britain’s young event riders claim two golds and a silver

Oliver Townend crowned Event Rider Master to win £30,000 series first prize

Which cross-country fences caught riders out at Houghton’s Nations Cup CIC3*?

Oliver also holds eighth place individually on MHS King Joules, as well as 36th on Ballaghmor Class.

“I’m excited about the future of all three of these horses — they are not by any means established, but talent-wise they are as good as I’ve had for a long time,” said Oliver.

Individual results

Team results

Full report from Boekelo in H&H next week, out Thursday, 13 October.

Zara Tindall among Brits aiming for Nations Cup glory in Aachen

Pippa Roome — Thu, 07 Jul 2016 11:27:37 +0000

Zara Tindall (née Phillips) is among the British riders heading to the prestigious CIC3* at Aachen (14-17 July), the venue where she won team and individual gold medals at the 2006 World Equestrian Games on Toytown.

Zara will be competing as an individual on Gleadhill House Stud Ltd’s High Kingdom, her 2012 Olympic and 2014 world team silver medallist.

The British team for Aachen’s Nations Cup competition consists of:

Tina Cook, 45, on Pip Wates, Ailsa Wates and Equine Aqua Trading’s Calvino II
Laura Collett, 26, on David and Diana Chappell’s Grand Manoeuvre
Franky Reid-Warrilow, 26, and her own Dolley Whisper
Nicola Wilson, 39, with Gerry and Mary Kemp and Janine Shewan’s One Two Many

Franky made her Nations Cup debut at Ballindenisk, finishing third individually and contributing to a win for the British team. Laura Collett is a regular representing Britain in Nations Cups and was third individually at Aachen in 2012 on Rayef.

Tina and Nicola are both experienced championship competitors and were long-listed for the British team for Rio with the horses they take to Aachen. Tina was fifth at Aachen in 2013 with Miners Frolic, while Nicola has ridden there several times, her best result being seventh in 2008 on Opposition Buzz.

The British team has won two of the four legs of the Nations Cup so far this year and carry a 55-point advantage over Germany in the nine-event series.

Continued below…

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‘They absolutely nailed it’: British eventers win Polish Nations Cup leg

The Nations Cup at Aachen is generally considered the most prestigious of the series and many riders use it as final preparation for championships. The brilliant German team will be running there this year ahead of Rio. Britain often fields several more experienced riders in its Aachen team, while using up-and-coming stars for the other Nations Cups in the season.

This weekend (8-10 July) Jodie Amos, Rosalind Canter, Justine Dutton and Ben Way will be representing Britain at the first eventing Nations Cup outside Europe at The Plains in Virginia, USA.

The British teams are supported by the lottery-funded World Class programme.

Full report from The Plains in next week’s H&H (out 14 July); full report from Aachen the following week (issue dated 21 July).

‘They absolutely nailed it’: British eventers win Polish Nations Cup leg

Lucy Elder — Tue, 28 Jun 2016 06:02:29 +0000

A win at the Polish leg of the FEI Nations Cup has secured Britain’s lead at the top of the series leaderboard.

The team of Izzy Taylor (KBIS Briarlands Matilda), Rosalind Canter (Allstar B), Laura Collett (Cooley Again) and Holly Woodhead (Fernhill Facetime) rose from fourth after dressage to secure the win at Strzegom (24-26 June). In second was Italy, with Belgium third.

Sweden’s Ludwig Svennerstal took the individual title with King Bob on a score of 40.5 — 0.1 ahead of second-placed Michael Jung on fishcerTakinou.

Rosalind and Allstar B were the highest-placed British combination, adding nothing to their dressage score of 46.2 to finish third.

British team manager Philip Surl said the team “absolutely nailed” the cross-country.

“The cross-country is as technical a three-star track as you will get and had been tweaked up from last year,” he said.

“It was very well-built and the footing was excellent. I was immensely proud of the cross-country rounds all four of my riders produced — they absolutely nailed it.”

Eight teams contested this leg of the series at the Polish venue, which will host the 2017 FEI European Eventing Championships.

Germany led after dressage, with Sweden in second and Italy in third, but Marcin Konarski’s influential cross-country track resulted in a shake-up of the scoreboard.

Izzy and Rosalind both finished clear inside the time — two of only six riders to do so — with Laura collecting just 3.6 time penalties to help Great Britain take over the lead.

In the showjumping, Izzy and Rosalind again jumped fault-free rounds while Holly and Laura each picked up four faults.

None of the Italian riders jumped clear, allowing the Brits to win with a 13.3 penalty margin on a score of 160.6.

The result means Britain moves up from second place to take the lead in the nine-part series.

Related articles:

The next leg will take place in The Plains, USA, on 8-10 July — the first time a FEI Nations Cup competition has taken place outside Europe.

Philip added that Strzegom was a “happy hunting ground” for the British team.

“We needed a bit of a boost in the series after Houghton and this was a great result,” he said.

“Ros Canter has been away from FEI Nations Cup eventing teams for two years, so for her to put in a performance like that is brilliant.”

Brits dominate at Irish leg of eventing Nations Cup

Lucy Elder — Tue, 26 Apr 2016 10:09:29 +0000

British eventers made it a hat-trick with their third win in a row in the Ballindenisk leg of the FEI Nations Cup (22-25 April).

The team of Oliver Townend (Cooley SRS), Franky Reid-Warrilow (Dolley Whisper), Wills Oakden (Merikano) and Izzy Taylor (Briarlands Birdsong), finished on a score of 162.8 — almost 20 penalties ahead of second-placed home nation Ireland (182.5). Close behind in third place was France on 184.4.

Brits also filled the top three individual placings, with Pippa Funnell and Mirage D’Elle winning the title and Oliver and Franky in second and third respectively.

This was the second leg of the 2016 series and Britain is now in third place behind joint leaders Ireland and France.

Pathfinder Oliver — the highest-placed British team member — had eight showjumping faults to add to his dressage score of 40.7, which cost him the win.

Meanwhile, Nations Cup debutantes Franky and her own Dolley Whisper climbed from 10th after the dressage to take third on a score of 51.3.

Franky’s result follows success at last year’s CIC2* European Championships in Holland, where the partnership won both individual gold and team silver.

The Irish leg was also the first Nations Cup for Wills Oakden, who finished 15th individually after adding 12 showjumping faults to his dressage of 50.8.

Related articles:

Izzy Taylor was the drop score after incurring 11 cross-country penalties for breaking a frangible pin.

Britain hosts the third leg of the nine-part series at Houghton International Horse Trials next month (26-29 May).

The last time Brits won on home turf was in 2013, with Germany taking the crown last year and New Zealand in 2014.

Brits beat Germany to eventing Nations Cup title

Lucy Elder — Mon, 12 Oct 2015 12:46:57 +0000

Britain has won the 2015 FEI Nations Cup Eventing series following the last leg at Boekelo (8-11 October).

The Brits finished fifth at the event, but their performance at the previous six legs gave them a seven-point lead over Germany in the overall series. Australia finished third.

Nicola Wilson took individual honours on her non-team ride, Bulana, finishing on 47.1 — less than three penalties ahead of second-placed Blyth Tate on Xanthus III (49.2). Tina Cook and Billy The Red came a close third on 50.5.

Ireland posted their first ever win in the series at the Netherlands’ event. The USA came second and New Zealand secured their Rio 2016 Olympic qualification with third.

Japan — the Kiwis’ only rival at this Asia-Pacific Olympic qualifier for a Rio team spot — finished in ninth.

“We came here with the team we believed would be good enough to qualify and we have, so now we can fully focus on our Olympic preparation,” said Equestrian Sports New Zealand high performance eventing coach Erik Duvander.

Jonty Evans, riding Cooley Rorkes Drift, was the highest-placed individual rider for the Irish team in eighth on a score of 54.5.

His teammates Joseph Murphy, riding Westwinds Hercules, and 19-year-old Cathal Daniels, riding Riogham Rua, finished 16th and 17th respectively. Padraig McCarthy riding Simon Porloe made up the team.

Their final score of 174.9 left them more than 21 penalties ahead of the USA.

Ireland’s team manager Nick Turner said he was “absolutely delighted” for his team.

“Each [member] showed great resolve and a determination to win the final leg of the Nations Cup here in Boekelo,” he said.

“The win is a result of great teamwork and focusing on delivering the best individual performances in each phase.

“With areas that we can still improve on over the next 300 days in the build up to Rio, the goal of a podium finish at next years Olympic Games is looking very much within our sights.”

Although Britain had four riders in the top 10, only two were team members.

Team riders Dani Evans finished fifth on Smart Time and Izzy Taylor came seventh on Briarlands Birdsong.

Nicola Wilson fell off her team horse — Kiltealy Brief — at fence 11 on Sue Benson’s influential cross-country course, and Emily Parker withdrew Diamond Sundance after the dressage.

“On Saturday morning, Emily unfortunately had to withdraw her horse [due to a minor corn infection] which put us on the back foot,” said British Nations Cup team manager Philip Surl.

“Then Nicola had an unlucky tip coming off at fence 11, so from a team perspective, that rather took the wind out of our sales but Izzy and Dani were just fantastic and really held their own.”

This year, Great Britain was the only country to contest all seven legs of the eventing Nations Cup series.

They won the Ballindenisk and Strzegom legs, came second on home ground at Houghton Hall, picked up third at Fontainebleau and fourth at Waregem.

Last minute changes to British team at Boekelo Nations Cup

Lucy Elder — Thu, 08 Oct 2015 14:48:52 +0000

Nicola Wilson was the first British team member into the arena this morning (Thursday, 8 October) at the final leg of the 2015 FEI Nations Cup Eventing series.

Nicola, riding Ramscove Ltd’s Kiltealy Brief, was today revealed as the fourth member of the team competing at the event in Boekelo, The Netherlands (8-11 October).

Her dressage mark of 49.8 has leaves her in 22nd place at the end of the first day.

Izzy Taylor has also had to withdraw her original team ride, KBIS Starburst, due to a minor knock while travelling to the event.

She will now be riding Briarlands Birdsong, owned by Bridget Lyne, and is due to ride her dressage test just after 11am tomorrow morning (Friday, 9 October).

Joining the pair on the team is Emily Parker with Cindy Onslow’s Diamond Sundance and Dani Evans riding Smart Time, owned by Luana Edge.

“The primary purpose of campaigning the Nations Cup series is to give riders who have not been regular members of Senior Championship teams experience of working and competing within a team environment and to get them out competing against the best continental riders,” said Team GBR’s eventing performance manager Yogi Breisner.

Emily is currently the highest-placed British team rider in 12th on a score of 46.5. Dani will be last to go for the team at 3.13pm tomorrow afternoon (Friday, 9 October).

Britain is in first place in the series going into this final event — nine points ahead of second-placed Germany with Australia in third.

The results from Boekelo will also be the decider of this year’s Fairfax Britannia League.

This league is for riders that are competing at British CIC3* and CCI3* competitions, as well as Nations Cups, who have not represented Team GBR at Olympic, European or World Equestrian Games.

British event riders selected for final leg of Nations Cup

Rachael Turner — Tue, 06 Oct 2015 10:51:12 +0000

Three members of the British team have been selected for the final leg of the eventing Nations Cup series.

Britain is currently in the lead ahead of the last stage of the competition series, which takes place at Military Boekelo-Enschede in the Netherlands (8-11 October).

British Nations Cup team manager Philip Surl has confirmed that the team will include Dani Evans with Luana Edge’s Smart Time, Izzy Taylor with KBIS Starburst and Emily Parker with Cindy Onslow’s Diamond Sundance.

A fourth rider will be announced when all horses registered to compete for Britain have arrived at the competition.

“We are in a strong position going into final leg of the cup with both Dani and Izzy who are experienced members of the Nations Cup squad,” said Mr Surl.

“I am really pleased to give Emily Parker, who is a former GB young rider gold medal winner, the opportunity to ride on the team following her very consistent form across the board this year.”

The British team has been at the top of the Nations Cup leader board for much of the season. They have had wins at Ballindenisk and Strzegom as well as high placings throughout the year giving them a lead of 49 points.

Germany stand in second place with 40 points and Australia are in third with 35.

Britannia League

The results from Boekelo will also be the decider of this year’s Britannia League winner.

The league is for riders competing at British three-star competitions as well as the Nations Cup, who have not ridden under the British flag at Olympic, FEI European or World Equestrian Games.

The league was launched by British Eventing (BE) last year and the 2014 winner was Jodie Amos.

For the full list of entires for Boekelo, including the British riders, click here.

Don’t miss the 15 October edition of Horse & Hound magazine for a full report of the final leg of the eventing Nations Cup

Coral Keen’s eventing blog: We’re off to Waregem!

Coral Keen — Sat, 19 Sep 2015 08:07:45 +0000

I am thrilled, delighted, over the moon that next week I will be riding for Great Britain for the first ever time on the Nations Cup team at Waregem CICO3* in Belgium with Derby (Wellshead Fare Opposition).

I am a great believer in fate, and although it was incredibly disappointing to part company with Derby at the Cottesmore Leap at Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials, up until that point he was going beautifully. I think this wasn’t lost on the selectors who were on the phone as soon as we were home, inviting us on to the team.

We had a cross-country training session with Yogi Breisner on Thursday, just to check Derby hadn’t lost any confidence, but he’s feeling as full of himself as ever which gave us the green light. I am so pleased and so looking forward to it.

Derby had a week off after Burghley, much to his dismay. He’s obsessed with going on the horse walker and became quite hysterical when he missed out on the merry-go-round every morning with the others.

I will have a jumping lesson with Corinne Bracken on Monday and then we will set off very early on Tuesday morning.

Lola (Cascadelle) and Jake (Highmead Proposition) are coming to Belgium too. They had been due to go to South of England, but we’ve been able to re-route them and they will both contest the CIC* so it will be a busy week. It will be a great experience for them both.

Lily, my head girl, is coming with us, which will be a great experience for her as she will be working alongside Alex Van Tuyll, who is just brilliant. I feel very lucky and proud to heading off to Belgium next week. Chocolates all round I think!

Back to normality and Lola was absolutely super at Gatcombe where she won the CIC*. She’s normally a bit of a diva, but was very chilled this time. I decided to lunge her before the dressage test and I think that made a huge amount of difference, as she was very settled. She jumped a beautiful clear and then popped around cross-country, giving me a lovely ride.

I’m hoping she can compete at the six-year-old championships at Osberton, where she is currently on the wait list, when we get back from Waregem.

Pluto (Aphrodisiac) was feeling very fresh and excited to be doing a very simple dressage test, relatively speaking, in the Open Novice. He’s an advanced level horse, but I’ve been bringing him back slowly so he felt the open novice was perfect for having a bit of a prance – he definitely needs more to think about in his tests. After he’d let off steam in the dressage, he then produced a beautiful double clear. It’s lovely having him back as I absolutely adore him.

The prizes at Gatcombe were wonderful and included a one night stay, dinner and spa at Whatley Manor, which is a gorgeous place in the heart of the Cotswolds. That’s a huge treat I am really looking forward to when the season is over.

This weekend we go to Monmouth with Jake and April (Total Belief). Jake was super at Gatcombe where we just had a misunderstanding on the cross-country. He spooked himself at a wall that came up a bit quick, but he’s really developing and I am very happy with him. After Monmouth he also heads to Waregem.

April’s final aim for the season is the five-year-old championships at Osberton.

Coral

App to bring Europeans action straight to your fingertips

Lucy Elder — Thu, 06 Aug 2015 12:55:32 +0000

A few taps on a touch screen is all that is needed to keep horse sport fans in touch with the action at the Europeans.

A mobile app will bring facts, statistics and real-time information about the FEI European Championships in Aachen this month (11-23 August) straight to your fingertips.

The free smartphone app – Aachen 2015 – features rider biographies, a site plan, the current programme and information on how to get there.

It will also have results, a public judging feature for the dressage and vaulting competitions and even a game.

The public judging feature will allow fans to rate competitors during the championships, creating an audience ranking list.

The “Karli’s Horseshoes” game, set in a virtual Aachen main stadium, will test who can throw Karli’s horseshoes closest to the target.

(Image credit: creditUnknown)

Users will also have access to photo and video galleries and background information on the competition.

It will also have further features added ready for the eventing Nations Cup competition also running at the German venue during the championships from 11-14 August.

Information from the cross-country phase will be displayed on the app in real-time.

As well as this, the technology also allows Europeans followers to “walk” the cross-country course, seeing photos and information about each fence.

This pilot project is being launched by the Aachen-Laurensberger Rennverein e. V. (ALRV) and SAP in collaboration with NetAachen.

Frank Kemperman, chairman of the ALRV, said: “The app is super for finding one’s way around the showgrounds, it always offers up-to-date news and results.

“The audience judge is a particular highlight as it allows the visitors to assess the performance of the participants in the dressage and vaulting competitions in real-time.”

(Image credit: creditUnknown)

The app was jointly developed by the championships and software developers SAP.

There will be an option to rate the 300-plus shops on offer at the Aachen venue, which spans more than 20,000 square meters.

Medal tables, facts and figures will also be available on the general information page of the app.

Visit iTunes or the Google Play store to dowload the app for iPhone and android.

British eventing squad riders to compete at Aachen ahead of Europeans

Pippa Roome — Wed, 05 Aug 2015 13:55:01 +0000

Britain’s pairs for the eventing Nations Cup at Aachen next week (13-14 August) have been selected.

This is the highest-profile event in the Nations Cup calendar and always a strong competition, with plenty of countries using it as a final trial or practice for the annual championship.

There will be an added cachet to the fixture this year as the FEI European Championships in dressage, showjumping, driving, reining and vaulting are also running at Aachen during this two-week period.

All five British riders are on the squad for the Longines FEI European Eventing Championships (10-13 September) and four of them are riding the horses they will also compete at Blair.

The selected pairs are:

Flora Harris on her mother Caroline and Rebecca Salt’s Bayano
Gemma Tattersall on The Pebbles Syndicate’s Quicklook V
Izzy Taylor on Frances Carter and Susan Holroyd’s Allercombe Ellie
Francis Whittington on Catherine Witt’s Easy Target
Holly Woodhead on her father Ian and stepmother Heidi’s DHI Lupison

Four of these combinations will compete as a team and one as an individual.

The Germans are fielding their top horses and riders at Aachen and are expected to make a team announcement for the Europeans after the competition.

Those competing include Ingrid Klimke on her Badminton runner-up Horseware Hale Bob and Luhmühlen winner FRH Escada JS, Michael Jung on the eight-year-old rising star FischerTakinou and the 2013 European champion Halunke FBW and Sandra Auffarth with reigning world champion Opgun Louvo.

The USA is also making a rare appearance in a European eventing Nations Cup with a three-man team.

Their riders are Phillip Dutton (Fernhill Cubalawn), Lynn Symansky — who then heads to Burghley with Donner — and Lauren Kieffer. Lauren is basing herself in Britain for the autumn season and was seventh at Bramham CCI3* in June with her Aachen ride Veronica.

Eleven nations have riders entered for Aachen, with Australia, Canada, Britain, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden and the USA running a team. Italy and Belgium have one individual rider each listed.

Full Aachen eventing entries

British eventers win Poland’s Nations Cup leg

Lucy Elder — Mon, 29 Jun 2015 11:09:26 +0000

British riders came out on top in the latest leg of the 2015 FEI eventing Nations Cup.

The team — made up of Izzy Taylor, Sarah Bullimore, Emily Llewellyn and Jodie Amos — finished on a total score of 150.3 at the CICO3* in Strzegom, Poland (25-28 June).

In second place was Australia with a team score of 168.7 and in third was Belgium with a total of 1,108.3.

All the British combinations also finished within the top 12 places individually.

Belgium’s Karin Donkers claimed the individual title with Fletcha Van’t Verahof, adding just 6.8 cross-country time-faults to her dressage score of 37.40.

Izzy and KBIS and Guy Prest’s KBIS Starburst claimed the runner-up spot on a final score of 48.2 and Sarah and her own and Christopher Gillespie’s Valentino V finished in third place on 49.9.

Emily and Greenlawn Sky High — owned by her mother Cindy Llewellyn and Nicolette Gidley Wright — jumped a double clear to finish sixth on a score of 52.2.

Jodie Amos and Barbara Cooper’s Figaro Von Het Broekxhof, finished 12th.

Speaking yesterday (Sunday 28 June) British team manager Philip Surl said: “Across the board we are really pleased with all of the team performances this week.

“Their dressage marks were all very close. We then had stand-out performances across country from all of the team then three clears today to win what was a hard fought competition against some very strong nations.

“The cross-country course was much more technical than last year and caused a lot more trouble so for all of them to have put on such impressive rounds was great.”

This weekend’s result secures Great Britain’s place at the top of the leaderboard at the half-way point in this eight event series.

The team’s results so far include a win at Ballendenisk, Ireland (23-26 April), a second place at Houghton Hall (28-31 May) and third at Fontainbleau, France (20-23 March).

The next leg is at Aachen (11-14 August).

Britain takes second in eventing Nations Cup at Houghton

Pippa Roome — Sun, 31 May 2015 19:32:10 +0000

Britain took second place in the eventing Nations Cup at the EQ Life Houghton Horse Trials yesterday (30 May).

The team consisted of Pippa Funnell (Billy The Biz, third), Sarah Bullimore (Conpierre, 10th), Francis Whittington (West Side, 12th) and Georgie Strang (Ascot H, 16th).

“Coming into the event we were lacking a bit of choice,” admitted Nations Cup team manager Philip Surl, explaining that many of the usual Nations Cup riders were at the big Irish event at Tattersalls this weekend. “But the young horses came out and did a great job.”

Germany took top spot, fielding a much more experienced team consisting of Andreas Ostholt (So Is Et, second), Niklas Bschorer (Tom Tom Go, fourth), Dirk Schrade (Hop And Skip, fifth) and Sandra Auffarth (Ispo, 20th).

Three of the four German riders have championship mileage — Pippa Funnell is the only one of the British quartet who does — and all their horses have contested four-stars. Three of the British horses have not even done a CCI3*, with West Side being the only one with a four-star run under his belt.

“To be second to a team like that is no mean feat,” said Francis, who added: “The track [designed by Alec Lochore] had great questions and rode very nicely. And all the work the team put into the ground gave perfect conditions.”

Pippa Funnell is not usually a member of the Lottery-funded World Class Nations Cup squad, as it consists of up-and-coming riders, but she was called in this time as there was a gap in the team due to the clash with Tattersalls. She lay second after dressage with her own and Carol Toliver’s Billy The Biz and finished third after 1.6 time-faults across country.

“When horses are coming up to this level you have to nail some of those lines, while with an old pro you can take a bit more of a liberty,” she said of her four seconds over the time. “I’m chuffed with him — he’s never run that fast in his life.”

Full report of Houghton in H&H this Thursday (4 June issue).

British eventing team on top in Ballindenisk

Rachael Turner — Mon, 27 Apr 2015 14:54:56 +0000

The British eventing team triumphed in the second leg of the FEI Nations Cup in Ballindenisk, Ireland, at the weekend (24-26 April).

The host nation took second place ahead of the French team, who won the first Nations Cup competition of the season on home soil in Fontainebleau last month (19-22 March).

The British team led France after the dressage and all four Brits went clear in the showjumping. The Irish team also secured four clears and overtook France when Luc Chateau (Propriano de L’Ebat) and Francois Lemiere (Ogustin du Terroir) both had a fence down.

Britain’s Izzy Taylor, who had been in first position after the first two phases, collected 20 penalties when KBIS Starchaser was distracted by another horse on the cross-country and glanced off a narrow fence.

However, Georgie Strang (Cooley Business Time) and Nicky Roncoroni (Stonedge), who were second and third to go in the team, both went clear inside the optimum time. Louise Harwood and Whitsun only added two time penalties to the overall team score.

“Izzy usually finishes best of the team and everyone gets very used to her just going out and doing the business, so this was a good experience for the others,” said team manager Philip Surl.

“Having put in such solid dressage and showjumping performances, it would have been a pity to lose it on the cross-country, so it was a pleasing result and good to get a win in at this early stage of the season.”

Britain’s Emilie Chandler took individual honours riding Gino Royale, with Ireland’s Sarah Ennis (Horseware Stellor Rebound) second and Nicky Roncoroni third.

The next FEI eventing Nations Cup leg is at Houghton International (28-31 May), where last year the British team were beaten by New Zealand and Germany.

Results

1. Great Britain, 143.4

Nicky Roncoroni/Stonedge, 43.3; Louise Harwood/Whitson, 47.8; Georgie Strang/Cooley Business Time, 52.3; (Izzy Taylor/KBIS Starchaser, 70.1)

2. Ireland, 152.3

Sarah Ennis/Horseware Stellor Rebound, 43.2; Joseph Murphy/Westwinds Hercules, 54.3; Sam Watson/Horseware Lukeswell, 54.8; (Aoife Clark/Arco BB, 62.3)

3. France, 159.3

Luc Chateau/Propiano de L’Ebat, 49.1; Francois Lemiere/Ogustin du Terroir, 54.2; Gilles Bordes/Orion de Cavalhac; (Christophe Guillemet/Mach de la Barre, 84.8)

FEI Nations Cup 2015 leaderboard

1= France 19 points

1= Great Britain 19

3= Australia 9

3= Ireland 9

5 Netherlands 7

Kiwi team pip Brits to eventing victory

Sophia Heath — Tue, 14 Oct 2014 15:30:29 +0000

An all-female British eventing team just missed out on victory in the final leg of the FEI Nations Cup series in Boekelo, Netherlands, at the weekend (8-12 October)

The team of Laura Collett, Gemma Tattersall, Sarah Bullimore and Emilie Chandler finished just 1.6pen behind a strong New Zealand line-up.

The Brits led after dressage and jumped four clear rounds cross-country, but time penalties allowed the Kiwis (pictured) to slip into the lead by 0.7pen.

Gemma piled on the pressure on the final day by jumping a clear round with Dinky Inky, but New Zealand’s Lucy Jackson also jumped clear to secure the win and finish second individually.

The class was won by France’s Thomas Carlile with Sirocco du Gers.

“I have a fantastic horse,” he said. “He’s only eight and this was his first CCI3*. They don’t come much braver and more honest than him. My main aim was to give him confidence.”

Emilie Chandler finished best of the British team for 11th in the CCI3* first-timer Coopers Law.

“This is one of the most amazing events I’ve had the privilege to be part of,” Emilie said.

“The course rode really well, the presentation was immaculate and everyone has worked very hard on the ground, considering the weather turned it into a bog last year.”

Fifteen nations took part in this year’s series which was held over nine legs across Europe with the top seven results counting towards the overall placings.

Team GB finished in second place in the series just four-points behind the Germany.

“This has been a brilliant finale to what has been a very exciting and successful FEI Nations Cup™ Eventing season,” Catrin Norinder, FEI director of eventing, said.

“It’s particularly pleasing that so many nations contested the final.”

British eventing team chosen for Nations Cup final

Sophia Heath — Wed, 08 Oct 2014 16:55:34 +0000

The team that will represent Britain in the final leg of the FEI Nations Cup Series at Military Boekelo-Enschede, Netherlands this weekend (9-12 October) will be.

Sarah Bullimore riding her own and Brett Bullimore’s Lilly Corinne
Emilie Chandler riding Sally Williams and Nicola Dickson’s Coopers Law
Laura Collett riding Diana Chappell’s Grand Manoevre
Gemma Tattersall riding her own and Marcelle Tattersall’s Dinky Inky

The series is run over nine events with the best seven results counting towards the final total.

Heading into the final Team GB is lying in second place 10 points adrift of Germany. With 11 points being awarded to the winning team and points being awarded down to ninth place, Britain look unlikely to recover the deficit. However, a strong performance is still crucial as France is just four points behind in third.

Last year Britain won the series despite fielding a relatively inexperienced squad and Yogi Breisner has stuck to the same strategy this year.

Yogi said: “The primary purpose of campaigning the CICO Nations Cup series is to give riders who have not been regular members of senior championship teams experience of working and competing within a team environment and to get them out competing against the best continental riders.”

Laura Collett, who broke her foot last month, tweeted: “Super excited to have been put on Team GB Nations Cup team.”

Ninety combinations will contest the CCIO3* with dressage starting tomorrow morning (9 October).

Watch the event’s live stream

Germany wins the Eventing Nations Cup in Aachen: Great Britain second

Horse & Hound — Sat, 19 Jul 2014 15:43:16 +0000

Sandra Auffarth and Opgun Louvo pulled off the fastest cross-country clear to win the Aachen CICO*** earlier today (Saturday 19 July).

The duo spearheaded Germany’s convincing win in the Nations Cup while Great Britain held on to second place. France finished third.

Izzy Taylor was best of the British quartet in fourth with Orlando.

“He was super. It was very hot but he kept on going,” said Izzy.

(Image credit: creditUnknown)

William Fox-Pitt and Chilli Morning picked up 7.2 time faults to slot into ninth.

“It walked like a championship three-star course and it lived up to expectation,” said William.

Piggy French’s smooth round aboard Jakata earned them 13^th place while Zara Phillips and High Kingdom made amends for yesterday’s below par performance with a confident clear marred only by 8 time faults. This left them outside the top 20 along with Harry Meade and Wild Lone who also jumped clear but were slow.

Just three riders achieved the 7min optimum time around Rudiger Schwarz’s twisty track and they were all German — Sandra, Ingrid Klimke (FRH Escada JS, second) and Michael Jung (La Biosthetique Sam FBW, third).

Three riders in the top five overnight disappeared from the reckoning. Tim Price, lying second, trotted Wesko off the course after clearing the SOCCX Stairs (14).

“The horse is fine but I’m saving him for WEG,” explained Tim.

France’s Thomas Carlile and Quiro Hoy, on target for fourth place, ran out at a skinny triple brush coming out of the second water (DHL Complex, 17) while American Clark Montgomery, lying fifth, retired one fence from home at the CHIO Pond (23/24) when Loughan Glen refused.

Belgium’s Karin Donckers brought Fletcha Van’t Verahof home 10sec adrift of the optimum, a feat that earned her a four-place rise through the leaderboard to fifth.

Don’t miss our full report from Aachen in Horse & Hound magazine (24 July, 2014)

Experienced eventing squad announced for Aachen Nations Cup

Sophia Heath — Mon, 30 Jun 2014 14:59:40 +0000

An experienced squad has been announced to represent Britain in the 5th leg of the FEI Nations Cup series in Aachen, Germany later this month (17-19 July). 4 of the riders are among the squad selected for the World Equestrian Games this summer.

The squad has been named as:

Tina Cook riding De Novo News (owned by Tina and Jim Chromiak)
William Fox-Pitt riding Chilli Morning (owned by Christopher Stone)
Piggy French riding Jakata aged (owned by her father Wally French and Michael Underwood)
Izzy Taylor riding Orlando (owned by Di Davies, Irene Graham and Anita Dalton)
Zara Phillips riding High Kingdom (owned by Gleadhill House Studs Ltd)

World Class eventing performance manager Yogi Breisner said: “We primarily use the series to give riders experience of competing in a team environment.

“The exception to this is Aachen, which is always popular with our riders.

“We hope that we will be competitive at Aachen, which is always a hard fought competition that takes place in one of equestrian’s iconic venues.”

A less experienced squad finished 2nd behind a strong German team —including reigning world and Olympic Champion Michael Jung — in Strzegom, Poland last weekend (26-29 June).

Britain is currently leading the series on 36 points, with France in 2nd on 27 and Germany in 3rd on 20.

British riders named for Nations Cup 3rd leg

Ellie Hughes — Wed, 30 Apr 2014 15:21:03 +0000

The squad that will represent Britain in the 3rd leg of the FEI Nations Cup Series, which is taking place on home soil at Houghton Hall, Norfolk (22-25 May), has been selected.

The 4 team members have been named as:

Ros Canter (Zenshera)
David Doel (Koyuna Sun Magic, owned by the rider, Maggie Doel and Jane James)
Dani Evans (Smart Time, owned by Luana Edge)
Emily Llewellyn (Junior II, owned by Cindy Llewellyn)

Britain currently lies in 2^nd place in the overall Nations Cup rankings after the first 2 competitions this year with a total of 19 points. France leads with 20 points.

All 4 members have received call-ups before, although David Doel has yet to compete in the series after the Polish leg, in which he was due ride last year, was cancelled.

Team manager Philip Surl said of the team: “We were all thrilled with Ros Canter and Zenshera’s first result as part of the Nations Cup squad at Ballindenisk (team pictured top) where they finished in a very respectable 5^th place.

“David Doel and Koyuna Sun Magic have been a strong partnership for some time and Dani Evans showed a lot of promise on the Nations Cup squad last year where she and [her other horse] Raphael II came 7th in Montelibretti.

“Emily Llewellyn and Junior II return to Houghton for their 2^nd successive Nations Cup with good recent form, having taken 13th place in the CIC3* at Belton.”

See pictures of the full British squad from which riders are being selected for each leg of the FEI Nations Cup Series.

Suzanna Hext’s road to recovery: a trip to Ireland for Ballindenisk Horse Trials

Suzanna Hext — Fri, 25 Apr 2014 14:00:05 +0000

Suzanna Hext was competing at 2-star level eventing before an accident while riding a young horse at home in 2012 changed her life. After 177 days in hospital and 7 operations, Suzanna has recently swapped her wheelchair for crutches and is looking forwards to getting back on a horse as well as eventually learning to walk again

I’ve had a fantastic couple of weeks and have been putting the next imminent operation to the back of my mind for the time being. The trip out to Ballindenisk International Horse Trials with Lucy Wiegersma, Gemma (Tiggy) Fuller, Padraig McCarthy and of course Mr Chunky was definitely well timed.

I made the most of having the freedom of being up on my crutches. I covered miles on them, including negotiating banks and mastering the steps up into the lorry. My theory was that my shoulder is going to be fixed soon and I am going to be back in a wheelchair and bored, so I went “hell for leather”.

I must admit I was pretty envious of everyone doing the sport I love, I felt frustrated at the useless body I have now. Why can’t I have my old body back? Why has this been taken away from me? — I guess this was inevitable. I had to remind myself how well I had done to get upright and be getting around the event.

I also met some truly incredible people who reiterated something I know deep down — that it’s by no means the end of the road in terms of my riding career. I met Will Connell (World Class performance director) out in Ireland and he was extremely helpful and gave me an insight into the para dressage circuit. He has very kindly invited me to come up to a para training day to meet the riders and see how it works.

The journey begins..

We left the depths of Devon at 8.30pm on Wednesday, in order to catch the ferry at 2.45am on Thursday. Tiggy and I had a lot of catching up to do, so we chatted away the majority of the time, until I detected a slight tension in her voice as we were driving through deepest Wales. It soon became clear we were running a tad late… (You are meant to get to the port an hour before the departure time). Road works and traffic lights were not on our side — we got there at 2.15am with 30 minutes to spare, or not to spare! They very kindly let us on. We were the last lorry on and the last one off! Fashionably late? Not so sure!

Lucy with Chunky (Image credit: creditUnknown)

Once we got to Ballindenisk, we got Chunky settled in and the lorry sorted. Lucy went for a hack in the afternoon, Irish-styley!! (Wellie boots, the works). Having 1 horse at an event is very unusual for both Lucy and head groom Tiggy, so we found ourselves watching a lot of DVD’s over the days that we were away.

The first night was entertaining as I was catapulted forward as I went to lie down on the camp bed. I soon mastered this procedure and realised that you make sure that all legs are in the correct position before I take the dive into bed. I slept the best I have slept since my accident whist I was out in Ireland. I am pretty sure it was because I was so shattered, that my head hit the pillow and I slept like a log or maybe it was because I was so content with the smell of horses all around me in the back of the lorry!

On the Friday Lucy had a lesson with Tracy Robertson and Chunky looked like a pro. I crutched up the field to watch and soon realised that I would need to get quicker and up my game on the crutches pretty dam quick.

On Friday evening the Ballindenisk team put on a great meal for everyone. It was such a fantastic atmosphere, the whole event was very organised and friendly.

The Nations Cup competition begun on the Saturday. The British team was made up of Lucy Wiegersma, Izzy Taylor, Nicky Roncoronic and Rosalind Canter.

The team did extremely well in the dressage and took the lead, unfortunately there were a couple of rails rolled in the showjumping, which put them just behind the French. The Sunday cross-country day didn’t bring any problems for the British. Sadly for the French their last rider to go had a run out. This meant that the British were Ballindenisk Nations Cup champions!

The winning British team (Image credit: creditUnknown)

We managed to get to the ferry with plenty of time on the way back, I think we had learnt our lesson! I definitely achieved my aim of being covered in the perfume of “eau du cheval” that ever horse rider never forgets. It was a breath of fresh air for me after such a long time. 24/7 horses- bliss!

To follow…

Next time I will have had my operation and I will report back from my exciting afternoon being a film star for BBC Spotlight South West. I will also introduce you to my neuro-physiotherapist, Gemma, who is playing an integral role in my recovery.

British team wins eventing Nations Cup leg

Sophia Heath — Mon, 14 Apr 2014 12:59:53 +0000

British eventers claimed a narrow victory over France in the 2nd leg of the FEI Nations Cup in Ballindenisk, Ireland at the weekend (11-13 April).

4 clear rounds cross-country helped Team GB finish on 138.4pen ahead of France on 141.9.

Izzy Taylor led the team, finishing in 2nd place by adding just 0.4 time-penalties to her dressage score with Allercombe Ellie (pictured top).

The other 3 members of the British team were Rosalind Canter, 5th with Zenshera, 8th-placed Lucy Wiegersma and Mr Chunky and Nicky Roncoroni with Stonedge, 19th.

Team manager Philip Surl said: “Izzy as ever was a total professional and is fast becoming a team stalwart and Ros Canter had a really great first Nations Cup team outing finishing in 5th place.

“Lucy’s Mr Chunky did a strong test, but sadly had a couple down, while Nicky’s very young but talented ride was excellent cross-country. Despite being the most inexperienced of the bunch, he is off to a really great start.”

The win leaves Britain in 2nd place overall in the series on 19 points with France just leading the way on 20. The Netherlands are in 3rd place with 9 points.

The 3rd leg of the series will be on home ground at Houghton Hall next month (22 – 25 May).

The CICO Nations Cup squad is supported by the Equestrian World Class Programme which has been funded through Exchequer and National Lottery funds, via UK Sport since 1998; visit http://www.equestrianteamgbr.co.uk/ for more information.

A full report from Ballindenisk in this week’s magazine — out this Thursday (17 April).

British team announced for next Nations Cup

Sophia Heath — Tue, 01 Apr 2014 16:00:51 +0000

The eventing squad that will represent Britain in the second leg of the FEI Nations Cup Series in Ballindenisk, Ireland (10-14 April) has been selected.

The 4 team members have been named as:

Rosalind Canter (Zenshera, owned by Rosalind)
Nicky Roncoroni (Stonedge, owned by Janey Barclay Roncoroni)
Izzy Taylor (Allercombe Ellie, owned by Frances Carter and Susan Holyroyd)
Lucy Wiegersma (Mr Chunky, owned by Lucy with Huw Lloyd, Mr Christopher and Sarita Perkins)

Team manager Philip Surl said: “We have an exciting mix of new and established riders on the team for Ballindenisk, who are on a selection of very promising looking horses.

“It will be great to see Ros Canter in action at her first Nations Cup competition.”

Last year Britain won the series despite fielding a relatively inexperienced squad.

After the 1st leg of the competition in Fontainebleau (20-23 March 2014), Britain are currently in 3rd place with 8 points. The Netherlands are on 9 and France lead with 11.

The British CICO squad are supported by the UK Sport lottery funded World Class Programme.

Look through our gallery to find out more about the selected riders and other members of the 18 man squad that are tasked with defending Britain’s title at this year’s FEI Nations Cup Series.

British squad announced for Nations Cup first leg in Fontainebleau

Sophia Heath — Tue, 25 Feb 2014 12:37:20 +0000

The squad that will represent Britain in the first leg of the FEI Nations Cup Series in Fontainebleau, France (20-23 March) has been selected.

The 4 team members have been named as:

Nick Gauntlett (Grand Manouvre, owned by Diana Chappell)
Emily Llewellyn (Greenlawn Sky High, owned by Cindy Llewellyn and Nicolette Gidley Wright or Junior II, owned by Cindy Llewellyn)
Gemma Tattersall (Chico Bella P, owned by Christopher Stone)
Izzy Taylor (KBIS Starlet, owned by Jo Meyer and KBIS British Equestrian or KBIS Starchaser, owned by Jo Meyer and KBIS).

The 2 reserves who will also compete at Fontainebleau are:

David Doel (Koyuna Sun Magic, owned by David along with Maggie Doel and Jane James)
Lucy Wiegersma (Mr Chunky, owned by Lucy with Huw Lloyd, Mr Christopher and Sarita Perkins)

Last year Britain used the series to try and give up and coming riders team experience. The strategy paid off and Britain won the series.

Yogi Breisner said: “The primary purpose of campaigning the CICO Nations Cup series is to give riders who have not been regular members of senior championship teams experience of working and competing within a team environment and to get them out competing against the best continental riders”.

Look through our gallery to find out more about the selected riders and other members of the 18 man squad that are tasked with defending Britain’s title at this year’s FEI Nations Cup Series.

A full report from Fontainebleau will be in Horse & Hound magazine (27 March)

Britain wins 2 eventing Nations Cups in a row

Sophia Heath — Tue, 01 Oct 2013 09:17:01 +0000

An all-female British team dominated the FEI Nations Cup at Waregem, Belgium (26-29 September) to give the eventers a 2nd win in a row in the series.

Britain is now ahead of Germany by 1 point heading into this month’s final event at Boekelo, Netherlands (9-12 October).

Lucy Wiegersma, Laura Collett, Izzy Taylor and Sarah Bullimore led from the beginning, beating Belgium by more than 50pen.

A relatively inexperienced German team was a close 3rd, ahead of France and the Netherlands.

Izzy Taylor won the event on Orlando as well as finishing 8th on her individual ride Dax Van Ternieuwbeke BWP.

Lucy Wiegersma had 3 horses in the top 6 and finished 4th for the team on Simon Porloe.

Laura Collett, competing at her first major competition since being seriously injured in a fall in July, finished 9th on Allora 3 and Sarah Bullimore was 16^th on Reve de Rouet.

“They worked hard and all 4 produced solid performances,” said team manager Philip Surl.

“Izzy’s win was a great bonus, Lucy was in cracking form with her 3 horses and it will have been a great boost for Laura.”

Full report from Waregem in Horse & Hound magazine (10 October, 2013)

Britain’s eventers close in on Germany in the Nations Cup series

Horse & Hound — Tue, 24 Sep 2013 10:00:01 +0000

Team GBR closed to within two points of Germany in the FEI Nations Cup eventing series — after an impressive win in Montelibretti, Italy last weekend.

Britain finished nearly 40 penalties ahead of the Italian hosts, with a three-man German team in third.

The British riders — who were all competing in their first Nations Cup — took individual first, second, fourth and sixth places.

Nicky Roncoroni and the 10-year-old Ghareeb gelding, Trig Point, headed the leaderboard.

Nicky, Emilie Chandler (Coopers Law), Paul Sims (Calador) and Dani Evans (Raphael II) all achieved clear cross-country round within the time, the only nation to do so.

“It was a very pleasing result,” said squad manager Philip Surl. “When we walked the course we thought there were quite a few places where you could make a mistake, and also that the time would be hard to achieve.

“It was quite a logistical challenge for us to get down to Montelibretti and involved two overnight stops, but the horses all arrived well and we had a couple of personal bests in the dressage [for Nicky and Paul].”

Whereas Germany fielded their top championship combinations at Fontainebleau, Houghton Hall and Aachen, Britain has used the series to give younger riders team experience. Dani Evans has only just graduated from young rider ranks.

This weekend, Laura Collett, Lucy Wiegersma, Izzy Taylor, Sarah Bullimore and Jodie Amos will travel to Waregem in Belgium this weekend for penultimate leg of the Nations Cup.

The final event of the series takes place in Boekelo, Holland (10-13 October).

For a full report, see next week’s magazine (3 October).

Houghton Horse Trials blog: FEI Nations Cup, weird weather and dramatic moments

Pippa Roome — Tue, 28 May 2013 15:59:10 +0000

H&H eventing editor Pippa Roome started her three-day reporting stint at Houghton Horse Trials in monsoon-like conditions and ended up with a burnt and peeling nose. Enjoy her highlights of this popular event, where the British team won the Nations Cup competition...

• Most thrilling Houghton cross-country moment: watching the end of the FEI Nations Cup with the result coming down to the final rounds from riders from each of the three leading nations: Britain, Germany and Australia. Gemma Tattersall put her foot to the floor on the inexperienced Chico Bella P to seal victory for Britain with a fantastic clear in the time.

• Only in England: on Friday morning, it rained so hard I did wonder whether I could possibly fulfil my entire reporting duties without leaving the marquee. Happily, it did let up and on Saturday, I managed to get sun/windburn because it was so bright, but still so chilly I forgot the suncream (I’m paying for it now, my nose is peeling). By Sunday, the temperature was positively tropical.

• Unsung heroes: the scorers, for letting me sit in their portacabin with my laptop plugged in when it ran out of battery while I was writing on Sunday.

• Most scary cross-country moment: seeing Tim Rogers’ one-star ride Nota Bene get stuck in the Suzuki elephant trap, a big parallel two-thirds of the way round the course. The pair missed their stride and went through the rails. The frangible pins did their jobs and broke, so the poles dropped, but Nota Bene somehow ended up with his off fore on the ground on the landing side and his near fore hooked up over the back rail. Happily, he remained calm and managed to get himself back into the middle of the fence. The course-builders were then swiftly on the scene to move the rail so he could walk away.

• Horse I most wanted to take home: Alex Liddle’s Romeo Z (pictured), who was third in the CCI**. He looks like an overgrown pony — he is part-Connemara — but he’s a really careful jumper with bags of ability and looks fun to ride.

• Drink up: now, we know eventers like to enjoy themselves, but did you have to drink the bar completely out of Pimm’s?

• Bad luck story: Logan Rawlings, who had to hang on tight during an awkward leap with S Prit Coeur Volant in the CCI* showjumping. She stayed on and recorded a clear — but her efforts were in vain as she was eliminated for failing to go through the timing markers.

• We’re concentrating, honest: some members of the press were seen to be slightly distracted by an iPad during the closing stages of the CCI** showjumping — which coincided with the end of the showjumping at Saumur. I won’t name the Bill Levett fan club, but congratulations to the winning British-based Australian, and his ride, Clare Prentice’s Shannondale Titan, as well as to the Houghton winners.

• Poetic justice: in finishing second in the CCI*, James Sommerville’s ride Talent gained his qualification for the British Novice Championships at Gatcombe. He should actually have gained it in a recent novice regional final at Floors, but his dressage sheet was added up wrong, giving him 32 instead of a correct 27. By the time connections realised, it was too late to object. Happily, the seven-year-old now has his ticket.

• What a setting: Germany’s Ingrid Klimke said she “felt her heart open” walking the course in the beautiful park, with the deer. It’s easy to start to take our access to grand estates for granted in eventing, but we are always privileged to be there. From Houghton Hall providing a backdrop for the main arena, to the lovely converted stable block by the dressage arenas, to the glimpses down avenues of trees on the cross-country course, this is a real gem.

Pippa

Read a full report from Houghton in H&H this Thursday, 30 May.

New faces called up for British eventing Nations Cup squad

Horse & Hound — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 15:29:19 +0000

Five up-and-coming event riders will ride on the British senior squad for the first time in this season’s Nations Cup series, which is at three-star level.

Newcomers Gemma Tattersall, Izzy Taylor, Sarah Bullimore, Emily Llewellyn and Tom McEwen join Laura Collett, Kitty King, Francis Whittington and Lucy Wiegersma on the squad. Four riders from this group will be selected for each of the seven CICO*** competitions — with the exception of Aachen (25-30 June), which may be used to test other riders.

“The primary objective of this squad selection is to give riders who do not have a depth of senior team experience the opportunity to compete in a team environment,” said performance manager Yogi Breisner.

Tom McEwen, the youngest in the squad at 21, said his selection was “a privilege”.

“I’ve had the results I’d been hoping for, but never thought I’d be picked. It’s great to see that all the hard work at home has paid off,” said Tom.

Team manager Philip Surl and Yogi Breisner have picked Kitty King (Zidante), Emily Llewellyn (Pardon Me II), Gemma Tattersall (Arctic Soul) and Izzy Taylor (KBIS Starchaser) for the first event, Fontainebleau (21-24 March). Laura Collett (Allora 3) is reserve.

Read more about Izzy Taylor, Gemma Tattersall and Kitty King in H&H’s eventing special issue (published 7 March, 2013).

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A lost shoe, a broken stirrup and a ticking clock: how teamwork saved the day

Amanda Pottinger and the aptly named Good Timing were warming up for cross-country at the final leg of the FEI eventing Nations Cup series, when a tack malfunction struck.

“Everyone had gone in to watch the screens, so there was no-one in the warm up with me at the time.”

She added she had done about 90% of her warm-up, but there was a corner brush she particularly wanted to jump as there was a tough question involving a similar fence out on course. But as Amanda turned to it, her stirrup snapped.

“I looked down and it took me a while to realise what had happened. I looked around and there was just no-one – there were lots of other people there, but nobody I recognised as part of my team or my mum, who was grooming for me.

Dan threw Jonelle’s stirrup over the fence and Amanda, who had jumped off, tried to switch the tack as quickly as she could with her adrenaline running and the clock ticking.

“A person, who I don’t know and want to say thank you to, appeared and said, ‘look, you hold the horse, I’ll sort your tack’.

“Dan asked if I wanted Jonelle’s other stirrup, so I wasn’t riding in odd ones, but I didn’t have time.”

After making sure she was about level, Amanda whizzed back to the warm-up – arriving in the collecting ring with two minutes to go.

“I was a bit stressed,” she said, adding that she didn’t want to come straight to the corner, so popped a few other fences then jumped it – taking the flag out.

Amanda and the 11-year-old gelding, owned by the Volunteer Syndicate, followed up on their cross-country performance with a faultless showjumping round, finishing on their dressage score and helping the New Zealand side to second place.

“It’s part of the sport – there’s pressured situations and things don’t always go to plan,” she said. “You have to learn to adapt to get the job done.”

After Amanda’s clear, the Kiwis joked that perhaps everyone should ride with Jonelle’s day-saving iron.

“When you think about it, I was very lucky as it could have happened as I was approaching the first fence. The horse also pulled a shoe off in the stable that morning, so when the stirrup broke as well, I was thinking, ‘should I be running today?!’,” she added, with a laugh.

“It’s one of those things where if you pull it off, it’s pretty cool – but it was very stressful at the time!”

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It was the 14-year-old mare’s first run after sustaining a leg injury in 2021 and Therese credited vet Tom Campbell, of Bourton Vale Equine Clinic, for her recovery.

“It was amazing,” Therese told H&H. “It was her first event since August last year and obviously she was very, very happy to be out again.

“Her dressage was ok, she can generally score a bit better – she likes to show off a bit when she’s fresh, especially in trot. As she’s dressage-bred, she finds passage very funny, but the eventing dressage judges don’t so much!”

She added that for this reason, she had to keep it on the conservative side and the mare did a “really good test”.

Therese said having Viscera back and feeling amazing is “the best result ever”.

The partnership have a string of top-10 results at four-star and competed for Sweden at the Tokyo Olympics.

Therese, who produced the Fidertanz daughter from a six-year-old, said that all being well, the plan for Viscera is to stick at Nations Cup and short-format competitions. Haras du Pin in August is pencilled in as the mare’s next event.

The Hanoverian mare had her left eye removed in 2018, having contracted uveitis three years previously, and adapted seamlessly.

“She doesn’t find any problems,” said Therese. “She just loves her job. I thought when it was removed that she wouldn’t get back to four-star, but from day one she has been just like she was before. It’s amazing.”

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Beat told H&H he took part in his first event, at novice level, when he was 16 or 17.

“I came last!” he said. “Then I went back the next year and won.”

Beat, who has only owned five horses, describes himself as “200% an amateur”, working 50+ hours a week and doing everything himself, including driving the 1,000km to Italy for the Nations Cup.

“I have a break during the day, when I do my horse, and I do everything in the stables,” he said. “It’s amazing to have that time with my horse, in the fresh air, and clearing my head for the next part of the day.”

Beat bought Secret as a four-year-old — he has produced all his horses from a young age — but with no great ambitions for the horse’s future.

“I was 52 and I thought ‘I’m too old for eventing now; I’d like a horse just for fun and for smaller competitions’, then two years later, he came 17th in the six-year-old championship at Le Lion, and that was the career for him!

“To start with, he was a bit crazy; he had his ideas about what he was doing and I had mine, and I was often sitting in the sand, but we came together and he’s the best horse I’ve ever had.”

Secret has overcome huge issues; when he was seven, part of his kneecap splintered off when he got stuck on an oxer. An operation was successful and X-rays looked good but he was still lame. Thanks to osteopath and biomechanics expert Stefen Stammer, the horse eventually came right.

“It’s a wonder; no one thought it was possible that he could come back to how he was but he’s better,” said Beat. “It’s amazing.”

“He’d lost 100kg and his stomach wasn’t working,” Beat said. “It really was a day before he was going.”

But Olivia Rudolf, a vet experienced in alternative medicine, helped save Beat’s “heart horse”. She massaged his spine and gradually, the intestines started working again. After a long period of rehab, they were back out, and catching the eye of the Swiss team coach.

“Pratoni was absolutely amazing,” Beat said. “In March, I won a CCI4*-L, which was the biggest thing I’d done in my life, my first four-star win. But this, with a team, some 30 or even 40 years younger than me as I’m the old guy, was absolutely great. My heart was overflowing.”

“It would be a dream come true,” he said. “As an amateur and at my age, it would be amazing; I can’t explain. But for me, every event is a dream. I go and have fun and have a good time with my horse, and for me, that’s the important thing. This is my life and Secret is my life too.”

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