The heated battle for the Samsung Super League title staged its third competition in as many weeks on June 1-4 at the Lucerne CSIO in Switzerland. Even though the heavily favored Germans continued to hold the lead as they have from the first outing in La Baule (France), the Americans are still hot on their heels, less than 2 points away.

France, winners here in 2005 and coming off their victory in Rome, felt a renewed spirit, while Great Britain was riding high on their improved second place tie. With inclement weather and heavy footing in Lucerne, concern centered on what would be done to make the class a fair competition for all against difficult jumping conditions in a ring saturated by rain, on ground giving way on take-off and landing.

Show management did the best they could, canceling classes to preserve the footing, and running the second round of the Nations Cup over an entirely different course. They also moved the lines in the Nations Cup halfway through each round, so that riders at the end of the round wouldn’t be jumping out of pits. Even with these measures, the dicey footing was “still no walk in the park,” according to George Morris, the U.S. chef d’equipe.

The Americans put together an all-female team for Lucerne–Christine McCrea and Promised Land, Candice King and Tarco, Molly Ashe on Neuville and Laura Kraut with Miss Independent.

Setting The Stage
Irish luck did not prevail as Ireland got the first draw for the second week in a row. Showing the way over the Swiss-designers Rolf L�di and Heiner Fischer’s course, Shane Breen aboard World Cruise collected 12 faults, not an auspicious beginning for the team sitting in last position in the League standings.

The U.S. started with McCrea on Promised Land, the self-dubbed “sacrificial lamb,” as this was her second time in the first slot. She made it look easy and produced the first clear round. Two horses later, Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum with Shutterfly shaved corners and showed again why they’re such a winning duo for Germany. Jumping fault free, she was eventually one of only three double clears on the day.

Nick Skelton on the gray stallion Russel notched up a clear for Great Britain, and the hometown Swiss, posted to jump last, led off with Christina Liebherr on L.B. No Mercy. The enthusiastic crowd that ringed the stadium gasped as she went wide and then left quite long to the water, the penultimate effort. Clearing the tape, they held their breath before cheering her clear round, setting them off on the right track.

After the first round, the Germans and the Swiss were tied atop the leader board with 0, Markus Kutscher on Montender and Christian Ahlmann with C�ster having followed Michaels-Beerbaum’s clear performance with two of their own. Markus Fuchs rode La Toya III and Beat M�ndli on Principal kept their loyal fans happy with faultless rounds, enabling the Swiss clean-up rider Pius Schwizer to sit out the first round alongside Germany’s Marcus Ehning and Gitania who, in Rome, never jumped a fence in the Nation’s Cup and still shared top-of-the-podium status.

Headed to the second round, the U.S. team sat in a good position, sharing third place with Great Britain at 4 faults; the French, Netherlands and Sweden occupied fifth, each carrying 8 faults and Ireland trailed the pack with 9.

With the new course set and walked, the water jump not included in this round, Breen started it off once again and improved his score, dropping only one rail. Giles Bertran de Balanda on his veteran Crocus Graverie duplicated his eight-fault score, beginning to seal France’s fate. They had not found the winning recipe as they had a week earlier in Rome.

The U.S. team spirit was visibly shaken when Promised Land and McCrea started Round 2 with four rails down for the eventual drop score, putting pressure on her three fellow teammates. It was hoped that they might stay third, as it soon grew clear that it was going to be a battle between Germany and Switzerland this day.

Bad luck wasn’t just in the American camp in Round 2. Great Britain’s first rider, the experienced Nick Skelton, had trouble almost from the onset with Russel, who stopped at fence No. 2, the FEI purple vertical set close and away from the gate. The stallion continued to stall and hang up across oxers, dropping rails, finally crossing the finish collecting 22 faults.

A Battle To The End
As the third rotation of riders came to a close, Ireland’s time at bat did as well. Their fourth rider, Edward Doyle’s horse Effective could not go, having caught itself badly with a caulk in its initial four-fault round. Thus counting all three of their riders’ scores, they had to contend with a 22-fault total to finish.

The French team couldn’t seem to find their way clear in the heavy going and had collected 20 as their third rider completed his ride. Sweden added 0 and 4 respectively to their team’s score to sit tied at 12 with the U.S., who’d had another eight-fault round from King on Tarco. Ashe on her chestnut Neuville to keep them in the hunt produced a good clear.

The German war machine had finally shown that they have faults in their armor as Kutscher and Alhmann each had a rail. Switzerland’s Fuchs had but one rail, and his teammate M�ndli’s gray horse, Principal, jumped lofty and well, making the crowd ‘ah’ as he put pressure on the Germans by jumping a clear round. With the two teams tied at 4, Marcus Ehning would have to actually suit up and ride this week in the Nation’s Cup.

The final rotation showed once again how quickly placement could change in a Nation’s Cup format. The French added another 4 faults to their tally, dropping below the Irish, ending in a disappointing seventh place. Sweden, whose chef d’equipe Henk Nooren freely admitted the lack of depth in horses and riders at this high level in his country at the press conference, held on well however, with just one rail down from Svante Johansson on Nostra-damus for a third-place podium position.

The pressure was on Kraut and Miss Independent, sitting in the shotgun position. Having jumped beautifully and producing a clear round on her initial effort with the mare, a clear or no more than a single rail could be afforded to hold onto third place alone or tie Sweden with 16. Laura galloped the mare around, slowing down to tackle the tall FEI vertical at fence No. 2 and the tight double, vertical-oxer, at 4AB.

Morris was muttering “get over, get over,” urging Kraut to be aware that the clock was ticking away. Jumping an oxer which had already notched four victims and only three jumps from the end, the distance came a little deep and the mare, shifting right a bit in the air, just touched the back rail, dropping it. Measuring and not taking the last big Samsung oxer for granted, Kraut broke the timers at 74.68, fractions over the time allowed. The U.S. would have to settle for a tie for fourth with the Netherlands at 17.

But the battle for first sat poised for a possible jump-off if the German Ehning and Gitania and Switzerland’s Pius Schwizer with Unique X CH, both starting for the first time, could each produce a clear round.

Ehning, with his familiar smooth and impeccably accurate ride, guided Gitania around faultlessly, well within the time. The crowd was eager for their rider to do the same. But, a sigh of dismay went through the crowd as Unique punched the front rail of the first jump out of his way and then repeated that same mistake at the next two jumps before Schwizer finally retired, accepting that the Swiss must end the day second behind the Germans with 8.

Lucerne marks the midway point to the Super League Final in Barcelona in September. The German team extended their lead in the Samsung Super League race to 31.6 points, having won three of the four Nation’s Cups since May 6. The U.S. still sits second with 23.5, followed by France (18), Switzerland (16.1), Great Britain (13.5), Sweden (10.1), the Netherlands (9.1) and finally Ireland (8), trailing the Tour and threatened with replacement at year’s end if their performances don’t improve.

German riders have been quoted in the French press saying that they could send their third string team to a Samsung Cup event and still win. Such bragging did not hold true with their last place results in Rome. Surely, however, their depth is greater than most countries. Morris said, “We have the ammunition, but the Germans have the real weapons of mass destruction.”

Lucerne was the final show of consideration before a definite team was selected for the World Equestrian Games in Aachen, Germany, in August. Eric Hasbrouck, alternate selector for Frank Chapot, was on hand at the show as well to watch the riders’ performances.

In the week after Lucerne, the selectors and the USEF announced that the WEG team would be: Beezie Madden/Authentic, McLain Ward/Sapphire, Margie Engle/Quervo Gold, and Kraut/Miss Independent. Jeffery Welles, on Armani, and Ashe, on Neuville, are the two alternates.