La Baule, France—May 13   

The reigning World and European champions from the Netherlands showed they have lost none of their sparkle when topping the highly-charged Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup™ Jumping 2016 leg at La Baule (France).

“I have a lot of very good riders, that I am spoilt for choice. Making the right decisions can be difficult to choose who should be at which event,” said Dutch Chef d’Equipe, Rob Ehrens. “With so many good riders, they want to join the team, they want to ride for their country, so I need to make a plan for them, and know which group of riders should be in Rome, who should be in Rotterdam. There are more shows coming up, and a lot can happen. We have to be careful where to put the combinations and then there are decisions coming up to make for the Olympics.”

The Dutch team of (from left) Chef d’Equipe Rob Ehrens, Willem Greve, Leopold Van Asten, Wout Jan Van Der Schans and Jur Vriesling jumped to the top of the Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup in La Baule. Photo by Jean Phillipe Martini/FEI

And Olympic selection was high on the list for a fresh Hermès U.S. team—made up of four of the 10 riders on the U.S. Equestrian Federation’s short list for the Olympic team—that claimed an impressive second place in La Baule.

The Americans had a foot-perfect Round 1, with the first three combinations—Lauren Hough (Wellington, Fla.) and The Ohlala Group’s Ohlala, Lucy Davis (Los Angeles, Calif.) and Old Oak Farm Inc.’s Barron, and Margie Engle (Wellington, Fla.) and Elm Rock Partners, LLC’s Royce—all turning in clear rounds.

These performances put the United States forward to Round 2 in a four-way tie for the lead on 0 faults. Anchor combination of Todd Minikus (Loxahatchee, Fla.) and Jack Snyder and Two Swans Farm’s Babalou 41, put in a Round 1 performance in an effort to qualify for Sunday’s Grand Prix. The pair also produced a clear round, giving the U.S. team the only clean sheet in Round 1.

“It definitely went well today; we beat some really good teams. Going head-to-head with the best in the world is why we are here,” said U.S. chef d’equipe Robert Ridland. “To come out with four clear rounds right off the bat was impressive. It was a great effort. The course was not tricky or highly technical, but it wasn’t easy. This is a wonderful show with a great crowd; it was great to be back here at one of the best shows in the world.”

Round 2 did not start as smoothly as Round 1, with lead combination Hough and Ohlala pulling three rails. Davis and Barron got the U.S. effort back on track with a second clear round that was followed by another double-clear effort from Engle and Royce.

When the order got down to the final combinations for each nation, the competition was extremely tight. The United States and the Netherlands were on 0 faults, followed closely by Switzerland and Great Britain on 4 faults.

Going before the United States in the order, Switzerland’s anchor rider had the last fence down to add 4 faults to their score, and the Dutch came home with 1 time fault. The pressure was on Minikus and Babalou 41 as they entered the arena. The pair had a solid round over the wet ground, but an unfortunate rail at Fence 4 meant it would be the silver medal for the U.S. team.

“They all handled the pressure great,” said Ridland of his team in Round 2. “That part of it is the fun part, and they certainly all buckled down. Margie and Lucy were able to duplicate their clear Round 1 efforts and we were more than in the game when Todd went in.

“It was ours to win, and Todd came really close; the horse had a little slip in the turn and then the rail down, but that’s show jumping. With so many great teams here, we are pretty pleased with today,” Ridland continued.

“The course was straightforward, and we had a lot of clears in first round,” said Engle. “I was really pleased with how Royce jumped as he is fresh off a break. It did take him a little bit to get used to the footing because it was soft, but he handled it well. They raised the jumps a bit in Round 2, and he felt even better. He held his composure and kept his energy level up which was nice—he was super. The whole team here felt really positive; everyone has been in good spirits.”

The U.S. team will head to CSIO5* Rome, May 26-29, for the second observation event for the Short List for the 2016 U.S. Olympic Show Jumping Team.

A Tight Race

But at the end of the day, it was the Dutch team hoisting the trophy aloft, boosting them to an early lead in the Europe Division 1 series.

This should have been the second round of the Europe Division 1 series, but following the cancellation of the event at Lummen (Belgium) two weeks ago due to adverse weather conditions it was the French venue that provided the first opportunity for many of the world’s top teams to measure their strength against each other.

The heavy rainfall that has been hampering outdoor events all across Europe has not spared this part of France in recent weeks, and course designer, Frederic Cottier, tailored his 12-fence track accordingly. 

The tension throughout the competition was palpable, because even though not every nation was battling it out for Furusiyya points, every rider was keen to make a statement of their own with the Olympic team selections also in consideration.

The Brazilian side may have finished last today, but their trainer, the legendary American George Morris, was given plenty of food for thought by the double-clear performance—one of eight in the competition—of the relatively unknown Stephan de Freitas Barcha and the 14-year-old Landpeter Do Feroleto who have surely staked a claim to a possible spot on the host nation side for this summer’s Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

There is plenty of Olympic fever in the air right now, so there were a few surprised faces when the French found themselves lying fifth, the powerful German side could only manage to hold on to sixth and the defending Furusiyya champions from Belgium slotted into seventh spot ahead of Brazil at the halfway stage.

Out in front, and all sharing a 0 scoreline, were the Americans, British, Dutch and Swiss, and Team USA looked particularly formidable when all four team members were first-time foot-perfect. 

Swings Of Fortune

But as so often happens with the Nations Cup format there were big swings of fortune, and the Swiss began to lose their grip when Janika Sprunger’s second effort with Bonne Chance was spoiled by a mistake in the middle of the triple combination. Paul Estermann steadied the situation with an exceptional clear from Lord Pepsi who overcame his first-round fear of the open water to cruise home this time around, but when Martin Fuchs ran into steering problems with Clooney, then an additional 8 faults left them looking vulnerable again.

Meanwhile the Dutch were only counting a single time fault from Leopold van Asten and VDL Groep Zidane after a second clear from Wout-Jan van der Schans and Aquila and a faultless effort from Jur Vrieling and VDL Glasgow VH Merelsnest.

Jur Vrieling and VDL Glasgow VH Merelsnest helped the Dutch team claim victory. Photo by Jean Phillipe Martini/FEI

When Nick Skelton secured the second part of his double-clear with Big Star the British looked dangerous, but Joe Clee’s stallion Utamaro d‘Ecaussines clipped the vertical three from home and Ben Maher left two on the floor with Diva to change their outlook dramatically. 

Began To Threaten

Everything hung on the last-line riders for these four leading teams, but the French began to threaten when rallying from a four-fault first effort to add just a single time fault from Roger Yves Bost and Sydney Une Prince for a two-round total of 5, and that became the target-score in the closing stages.

Double-clears from Penelope Leprevost and Flora di Mariposa and world No. 1, Simon Delestre with the diminutive Hermes Ryan meant the French could discount Kevin Staut’s second four-fault result of the day with Reveur de Hurtebise HDC.

The last Dutch duo of Willem Greve and Carambole were clear again, but there was a gasp when a single time fault went up on the board. If American anchor Minikus, could stay clear with Babalou then Hough’s 12 faults would be dropped and the USA would win it with a 0 score. 

But Minikus’ lovely 11-year-old mare clipped the oxer at Fence 4 however, while any chance of the British joining them on a four-fault final scoreline were dashed when Michael Whitaker’s Cassionato hit the last two fences.

Despite that, the British still had plenty to cheer about today, as Skelton’s return to top sport with Big Star is a real shot in the arm. The horse has been beset by injury since helping clinch that memorable team gold at the London 2012 Olympic Games but both he, and his much-admired 58-year-old rider, are looking fitter than ever now and must be major contenders for Rio.

All About The Dutch

At the end of the day however, it was all about the Dutch.

“It was Wout’s [van der Schan’s] birthday yesterday and he turned 55, so I thought for his birthday present he could lead the team and go first. It turned out to be a great strategy!” said Chef d’Equipe Rob Ehrens afterwards.

And the birthday boy himself was pretty pleased with his double-clear performance. “[Aquila] has done that before in Dublin, so it was very good to do it again. He gave me the feeling that he could jump easily today and we came out with a very good result,” van der Schans pointed out.

Willem Greve’s anchor effort proved pivotal, but he wasn’t prepared to steal any limelight—“we all won this today,” he said. Talking about the intensity of the closing stages he said, “there was actually a bit more pressure in the first round because there were so many clears and I had to go clear to keep us up with the rest of the teams.

“In the second round I knew if I was clear and Todd [Minikus] was clear there was a chance of a jump-off, and I have to admit I mis-judged the time allowed, but I was really pleased with my second round. This was a real team victory—Wout-Jan had two super clears, Leopold also and Jur had a new horse doing his first Nations Cup. It makes you really proud because winning a Nations Cup is one of the nicest and most special things in our sport,” he added.

Result: 

1.    Netherlands 1 fault: Aquila SFN (Wout-Jan van der Schans) 0/0, VDL Groep Zidane NOP (Leopold van Asten) 0/1, VDL Glasgow VH Merelsnest (Jur Vrieling) 8/0, Carambole NOP (Willem Greve) 0/1.

2.    USA 4 faults: Ohlala (Lauren Hough) 0/12, Barron (Lucy Davis) 0/0, Royce (Margie Goldstein-Engle) 0/0, Babalou 41 (Todd Minikus) 0/4.

3.    France 5 faults: Flora De Mariposa (Penelope Leprevost) 0/0, Hermes Ryan (Simon Delestre) 0/0, Reveur de Hurtebise HDC (Kevin Staut) 4/4, Sydney Une Prince (Roger Yves Bost) 4/1.

4.    Switzerland 8 faults: Bonne Chance CW (Janika Sprunger) 0/4, Lord Pepsi (Paul Estermann) 12/0, Clooney 51 (Martin Fuchs) 0/8, Corbinian (Steve Guerdat) 0/4.

4.    Germany 8 faults: Fibonacci 17 (Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum) 8/0, Epleaser van’t Heike (Christian Ahlmann) 0/5, First Class van Eeckelghem (Daniel Deusser) 0/0, Chiara 222 (Ludger Beerbaum) 12/0.

6.    Great Britain 12 faults: Big Star (Nick Skelton) 0/0, Utamaro d’Ecaussines (Joe Clee) 0/4, Diva ll (Ben Maher) 4/8, Cassionato (Michael Whitaker) 0/8.

7.    Belgium 18 faults: As Cold as Ice Z (Judy Ann Melchior) 5/8, Sea Coast Pebbles Z (Gudrun Pateet) 4/0, Caracas (Jos Verlooy) 0/1, Papillon Z (Jerome Guery) 8/9.

8.    Brazil 22 faults: Premiere Carthoes BZ (Felipe Amaral) 5/5, Fape Fox Trot VD Padenborre (Fabio Leivas da Costa) 8/8, Landpeter Do Feroleto (Stephan de Freitas Barcha) 0/0, Rock ’n Roll Semilly (Marlon Modolo Zanotelli) 8/4.