Great Britain has finished ninth behind gold medallists Sweden at the European Showjumping Championships at the San Siro racecourse in Milan, Italy (30 August-3 September).
The quartet of Ben Maher (Faltic HB), Tim Gredley (Medoc De Toxandria), championship debutant Sam Hutton (Oak Grove’s Laith) and Harry Charles on Casquo Blue managed to climb one place from their overnight position of 1oth, but there was inevitable disappointment within the British camp at finishing so far out of the medals.
“I’ll be happy to leave, this show hasn’t been great,” said Harry, who picked up eight faults in Friday’s third and final round of team jumping at the European Showjumping Championships. “The ground isn’t even good enough for a two-star show in places. It’s not been up to standard. So it’s been a bit of a disappointing championship.
“But we have a great chance in the individual medals [with Ben Maher in contention] so at least there’s a positive to take away. I have a fantastic horse and this week doesn’t reflect how good he is. He’s coming away fit and healthy.”
European Showjumping Championships: it started with a clear
British pathfinder Ben Maher jumped clear for the second day running with Pamela Wright and Charlotte Rossetter’s Faltic HB.
“We tried to come back as much as we could today and Faltic felt good coming out, not stressed at all,” said the reigning Olympic champion, who finished the day in fifth on the individual leaderboard ahead of Sunday’s final.
Great Britain’s second-line rider Tim Gredley produced a four-fault round with just one time-fault to add on his rising star Medoc De Toxandria.
“That was very annoying. That’s probably the best he’s jumped all week,” said Tim. “We just got a bit deep to the combination. He slipped around the corner to the vertical and I thought I was a bit off but I’m frustrated because the horse jumped brilliantly. He’s just been on the wrong side of a couple of fences this week. Otherwise we could have been right in there.
“I think he now knows it’s proper jumping and even working him this morning, he was more alert. I wish I had another two days to go but I don’t. Nothing will be much bigger than what he’s jumped this week, so at least we know that height is not a problem for him – we know he’s a championship horse.
“We’ll give him a good break now and try aiming him at championships every year, if we protect him. I think the experience we gained here was more for the rider than the horse to be honest! I’ve learned a lot as well. So it’s just disappointing because I knew we could have done a bit better.”
Sam Hutton: “Maybe he doesn’t like Italy!”
Belgium-based Sam Hutton came home with 16 faults on the final day of his first championship on Oak Grove’s Laith.
“I don’t know if it’s the heat or he doesn’t like Italy!” reflected Sam. “He’s been jumping so well, he’s been really consistent at every show up until here and he just doesn’t seem happy. I don’t know what it is.
“But it’s great to come here and compete against the best riders in the world. Unfortunately we haven’t performed as well as I would have liked or we were hoping this week. The whole experience has been great – apart from the result.”
Great Britain’s chef d’equipe Di Lampard summed up the championships: “It hasn’t been our week, but the aim was always to come here and give valuable championship experience to some new riders and horses ahead of Paris 2024 and I feel we’ve achieved this. There will be plenty to analyse as we move forward and make a plan for the next 12 months.
“All eyes are now on Ben Maher and Faltic HB ahead of the individual final. They’ve been on brilliant form so far and hopefully they can carry this through to Sunday.”
Horse & Hound has a team of reporters covering all the European showjumping action. To keep reading on our website after five articles, readers will need to buy a subscription. Visit horseandhound.co.uk/join to buy a Horse & Hound website unlimited subscription or, for great value, visit magazinesdirect.com for a combined magazine and website subscription. If you are already a magazine subscriber, the cost to upgrade your subscription to include full website access is minimal – call 0330 333 1113 to find out more.
You may also be interested to read…
‘It doesn’t get better than this’: Sweden make history to reign as Olympic, world and European showjumping champions
Gold medal contenders out of European Showjumping Championships after horse ‘nearly flipped over’
‘It’s incredible’: meet the top showjumper who sleeps 20 hours a day and loves bananas
From barefoot to shod and back – top showjumping stallion takes it in his stride
‘After this, I believe I can do it’: next stop for 25-year-old hero is his country’s first Olympics in 44 years
‘He’s a different animal from yesterday’: British rider reveals what transformed his performance on day two of Europeans
‘He was perfect today’: early clear round lifts British hopes at showjumping Europeans
Subscribe to Horse & Hound this spring for great savings
