Andrew Nicholson will not be a part of Equestrian Sport New Zealand’s high performance squad for at least the first half of the year, despite making himself available in December.

The country’s No. 2 rider removed himself from consideration in October after a disagreement with the treatment of his Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games (France) mount, Nereo, following cross-country. 

But after a briefing with the high performance committee in December, Nicholson changed his tune and told New Zealand’s The Press that he felt happy putting his name back in contention and felt confident his concerns had been taken to heart. 

Despite that meeting, according to Stuff.co.nz, Nicholson will not be included on the seven-rider list.

ESNZ confirmed they received an email from him about his change of heart a month ago, but they considered his initial decision to withdraw in October still standing. The website reported that the decision to not consider Nicholson was made by ESNZ, not the high performance selectors.

ESNZ interim chief executive Vicki Glynn told Stuff.co.nz, “It’s an internal matter between us and Andrew, and we won’t be discussing it publicly.”

Nicholson, the reigning Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials (Great Britain) champion, will not be involved in team training sessions for the first half of 2015 and will not be eligible for his performance enhancement grant set aside as a result of being a member of the bronze-medal winning team at the 2012 London Olympic Games.

The squad is reviewed every six months, so he could have a chance to be placed on the squad as early as June.

The current squad includes Clarke Johnstone, Mark Todd, Jock Paget, Caroline Powell, Lucy Jackson, and husband and wife team Tim and Jonelle Price.