Team Ireland rounded up the Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup™ 2022 Europe Division 1 series with the perfect win in front of the home crowd at the Royal Dublin Society Showgrounds in Dublin (IRL) today. It was the 24th victory for the host nation in the long history of the Aga Khan Cup that dates all the way back to 1926 and which is the most coveted prize for every Irish jumping rider.

But Michael Blake’s side was pushed every inch of the way by a feisty French foursome who forced a jump-off to decide the result, and it came down to a duel between their Hickstead hero Marc Dilasser and Irish pathfinder Conor Swail who clinched it with a thrilling ride.

Extreme pressure

A total of seven nations lined out, and Team Norway were under extreme pressure as they were lying last on the Europe Division 1 leaderboard as the action began. Only the best seven of the nine countries competing in the Division 1 series are guaranteed a place at the Longines Final in Barcelona (ESP) at the end of the September, so for the Norwegians there was a great deal hanging in the balance. However it wasn’t to be their day. Tied on a 20-fault scoreline along with Team USA at the halfway stage they couldn’t recover and finished last behind the Americans who slotted into sixth place while Brazil finished fifth and The Netherlands completed in fourth.

The Swiss arrived with a strong side that included reigning Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ champion Martin Fuchs, whose father and team trainer, Thomas Fuchs, was a member of the last Swiss side to lift the Dublin honours back in 1983. However despite double-clears from both Fuchs Jnr. riding Conner Jei and 2012 Olympic champion Steve Guerdat with the exciting mare Dynamix de Belheme, Michel Sorg’s side had to settle for third place on their two-round tally of eight faults.

In the bag

The Irish looked to already have it in the bag when posting the only zero score of the first round, Max Wachman’s single error at the final fence providing the discard. But the French were close behind, counting only the foot in the open water at fence eight for Kevin Staut’s Visconti du Telman after clears from Dilasser (Arioto du Gevres) and Edward Levy (Uno de Cerisy) while Megane Moissonier (Cordial) provided their team discard when hitting both elements of the penultimate double.

As round two got underway the Irish still looked comfortable when Conor Swail’s Count Me In bounced around the track for his second clear of the day. But when Wachman’s Berlux Z clipped the last element of the triple combination and then Shane Sweetnam’s James Kaan Cruz kicked out the very last fence the home crowd were feeling nervous.

Cian O’Connor needed to jump his second clear of the day with Kilkenny if the hosts were to stay on level pegging with the French and force a jump-off. But this is a man well used to pressure. He knew what he had to do. “Kilkenny felt like he owned the ring today so it was on me not to make a mistake”, he said afterwards. And the grey, who drew gasps of delight from the crowd for his spectacular jumping over the water, returned with nothing to add so it was game-on against the French.

Dilasser set the target over Alan Wade’s jump-off course, leaving all the fences in place and breaking the beam in 31.81 seconds to throw it down to the Irishman. But Swail never looked in any doubt when shaving more than a second off that with a brilliant run from the 15-year-old horse that carried him to eighth place individually at this year’s Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Final in Leipzig (GER) and helped him rocket up the world rankings to the number four spot.

No doubt, that was, until he galloped through the finish and looked up at the scoreboard. The time said 30.31 seconds but he had the number 2 beside his name on the graphics so he thought for a moment he hadn’t been fast enough after all. But the crowd knew better and it wasn’t long until he was celebrating the best possible result with them.

Quite some week

Irish Chef d’Equipe Michael Blake has had quite some week, his team earning Olympic qualification when finishing fourth, and just pipped for bronze, at the ECCO FEI World Championships in Herning, Denmark only seven days ago. To come home and then win the precious Aga Khan trophy as winners of the Dublin leg of the Longines series was quite some bonus.

But in the aftermath of that success in Denmark Blake had a health blip, and he was only discharged from St Vincent’s Hospital, just down the road from the Dublin show venue, on Tuesday. “I almost made a deal with god for this one!”, he said this evening with a laugh. But he had been confident of victory, and his team didn’t let him down.

At just 18 years old Wachman was by far the youngest team-member. Grandson of John and Sue Magnier from the world-famous Coolmore Stud, the world’s largest breeding operation of racehorses, he hasn’t even graduated from school yet and is awaiting the results of his final-year examinations.

In 2019 he won double-gold at the FEI European Pony Championships in Strzegom (POL) and he finished fifth individually at this summer’s Young Riders Europeans in Oliva (ESP). Trained by team-mate O’Connor and riding the horse that carried French star Simon Delestre at last summer’s Tokyo Olympic Games he gave a great account of himself today. “It’s a dream come true to be on this team!”, he said tonight.

Annoyed

Shane Sweetnam was annoyed with himself for the last-fence error with James Kann Cruz second time out but he acknowledged that he is riding one of the most exciting horses to come out of Ireland for a very long time. The nine-year-old was formerly ridden by multiple Irish national champion Francis Connors, and Sweetnam said he fell in love with the grey gelding the moment he sat on him. “He’s a fantastic horse!”, he said.

And Irish breeders have plenty to celebrate tonight because O’Connor’s ride, Kilkenny, was also bred on the Emerald Isle. The bronze medallist from the London 2012 Olympic Games is a real Nations Cup veteran with almost 140 caps under his belt and this was his sixteenth appearance in a team at Dublin Horse Show and the fourth Dublin victory of his career. “I’m thrilled for Kilkenny, this was a big day for him!”, O’Connor said.

Meanwhile the man of the moment, Conor Swail, reflected on the fact that he has competed at the Royal Dublin Society showgrounds since he was a very small child. “The first time I rode here was in the 128cms ponies and I fell off at the third fence!”, he said with a giggle. It was a very different story today.

“This was amazing for me, my third time to compete for the Aga Khan Cup and it’s fantastic - it’s a lifetime goal and it’s an incredible achievement to be Irish and to win the Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup of Ireland”, he said. But he wasn’t surprised when the appropriately-named Count Me in helped clinched it for him. “He’s a really special horse and he’s so fast - I knew him long before I got him and always thought he was wonderful”, he pointed out.

Course designer Alan Wade said “the French and Swiss pushed Ireland to do their best today and we saw good sport - no, we saw top sport!”, and nobody was arguing with that.

Show Director Pat Hanly agreed. “We couldn’t have imagined a better result and it was so fantastic to have such an enthusiastic crowd.  It was a super day with an amazing winning team who are great ambassadors for the sport!”

Result

Standings 

Jack D. Pemberton, well-known and greatly respected member of the Driving community, sadly passed away on 16 August 2022, at the age of 99.

© Horse Network

Throughout his career, Pemberton was an influential character who dedicated his time and energy to the development of equestrian sport in Canada, especially when it comes to Driving, where one of his first endeavours was the creation of the Carriage Association of America in 1960. Since 1968 he has been actively involved with of the FEI in various different roles such as Driving Judge and Chair of the FEI Driving Committee from 1995-2004. He was also a very much appreciated FEI Bureau member during the administration of former FEI President H.R.H. the Infanta Doña Pilar de Borbòn, and honorary member of the FEI Board since 2004.

Pemberton was awarded the prestigious Equine Canada Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007 for his exceptional contribution and commitment to the Canadian Equestrian industry.

"The FEI Driving community lost a real Friend and horseman. Jack was an iconic person, not only for Driving, but for the whole equestrian sport. We will sadly miss him", Chair of the FEI Driving Committee Karoly Fugly said.

The FEI expresses its sincere condolences to Jack D. Pemberton’s family and friends, the Canadian Equestrian Federation (EC) and the global equestrian and driving communities.

The FEI Tribunal has issued its Final Decision in the matter of FEI Official Veterinarian Mr Marc Juul H. Schelkens (FEI ID 10050129/BEL).

In November 2021, it was brought to the attention of the FEI that Mr Schelkens failed to implement the biosecurity measures as required by the FEI Veterinary Regulations and the EHV-1 By-Laws while officiating in his capacity as Veterinary Delegate at the Bonheiden and Lier (BEL) Events in the second half of 2021. Among others, at the Lier Event in November 2021, no rectal temperature check was performed on the horses at the Examination on Arrival and falsified rectal temperature data was inserted into the HorseApp by Mr Schelkens. At the Bonheiden Events, the temperature check was not performed rectally as required and was conducted during the Horse Inspection, enabling non-examined horses mixing with already examined horses, thus in breach of the FEI Veterinary Regulations and the EHV-1 By-Laws.  

Following the outbreak of the neurological form of EHV-1 in February 2021, to ensure a safe return to competition, the FEI Veterinary Regulations and the EHV-1 By-Laws require that at the start of an FEI Event, all participating horses must be examined upon arrival in a designated Examination on Arrival Area with registration of horses’ rectal temperatures via the FEI HorseApp.

In its Final decision, the FEI Tribunal suspended Mr Schelkens for a period of three years. The period of provisional suspension, which came into effect on 11 November 2021, is credited against this period of suspension, meaning he is ineligible to officiate until 10 November 2024. Mr Schelkens is also fined CHF 2,000 and asked to pay costs of CHF 1,000.

The parties can appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) within 21 days of receipt of the decision.

The full Decision is available here.  

For some, it was about retaining the title, for others it was about reclaiming it and for a select few, it was a whole new experience with the added bonus of their home nation cheering them on.

Retaining the title…

Sanne Voets (NED) and Sara Morganti (ITA) both retained their Para Dressage Freestyle World titles in Grades I and IV respectively for the third successive time at the Orifarm Healthcare FEI Para Dressage World Championship 2022, in Herning (DEN) today. They did so in the same venue at which they both won their first major international titles nine years ago, at the FEI European Championships of 2013, at which Voets won the silver in the Individual test, and gold in the Freestyle, while Morganti secured the bronze medals in both those tests.

On Royal Delight, Italy’s Freestyle queen Sara Morganti danced to a score of 80.653% to take gold in Grade I ahead of Latvia’s Rihards Snikus with 78.400% on King of the Dance. Just a whisker away from that, by 0.013%, was Ireland’s Michael Murphy, who was able to finally put the lid on a disappointing Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games with another bronze in Herning, on Cleverboy, with 78.387%.

Just after her score was announced, Sara said: “I can’t believe it, it’s just too beautiful to be true. I am delighted for three times in a row with Royal Delight. It really felt good with the music for the whole of the time. I couldn’t have wanted more from this performance in this moment.

Having first won the title at the FEI World Equestrian Games^TM in Caen (FRA) in 2014, Voets rode Demantur RS2 N.O.P. to score 82.485% in this year’s Grade IV competition.

The silver medal went to a delighted Kate Shoemaker (USA), on Quiana with 80.275% while Brazil’s Rodolpho Riskalla edged the bronze medal on Don Henrico, with 78.385%. His medal had extra emotion being his last ride on the soon to retire Don Henrico after a partnership which saw them pick up two World and a Paralympic silver medal, and two further bronzes here.

“Usually I think of something to say when I get off the horse and come here but I’m pretty much speechless today,” Sanne said.

“There are a few moments in your career where you just enter the arena and raise your hand and from that moment on you are just in another dimension and don’t really experience what’s going on in that moment. Today was one of those days.”

Denmark celebrates home successes

Katrine Kristensen and Tobias Thorning Joergensen (DEN) delighted their home fans by taking the Freestyle titles in Grades II and III, prompting a sea of red and white Danish flags to be waved around the arena in celebration.

Katrine set the ball rolling by winning the Grade II Freestyle riding Goerklintgaards Quater to music dominated by Queen songs, and scoring 80.354%. Great Britain’s Lee Pearson and Breezer took the silver with 77.860%, while his teammate Georgia Wilson won a delightful but surprise bronze medal with Sakura, and 75.834%.

Speaking after her win was confirmed, Katrine said:

“It’s very exciting and I’m so, so happy with my second gold medal. It’s fantastic. It has been an amazing experience for me with this new horse and he has developed through the days of the championships. I’m so, so proud.”

In the Grade III contest, a world record 86.513%, on Joline Hill, put Tobias nearly 10 points clear of the silver medal, which went to The Netherlands’ Lotte Krijnsen, on Rosenstolz with 76.673%. And breaking her World Freestyle jinx, Great Britain’s Natasha Baker took the bronze, on Keystone Dawn Chorus, with 76.620%

“It was amazing,” Tobias said.

“Pretty much everything just worked out as it should and I’m just so happy. It was a personal best by two points and it was amazing to do that. Everything worked as I wanted.”

George seals third world title to round off magical day

Belgium’s Michèle George reclaimed the Grade V Freestyle title she last won at the FEI World Equestrian Games™ in 2014. On her amazing mare, Best of 8, she scored 82.860% for gold. Frank Hosmar (NED) once again performed to a medley of 80s pop classics to take the silver, on Alphaville N.O.P. with 80.775% - his best score at a World, European, or Paralympic competition - while Great Britain’s Sophie Wells was third, on Don Cara with 79.255%.

“I think it’s a personal best with the mare. I am so proud of her,” said Michèle.

“She behaved like a queen and it was very difficult to ride but I managed it and it was really dancing. And that’s why we ride horses, to become two in one and to feel the harmony, and I tried to convince the judges and apparently it worked.”

This was her ninth World or Paralympic title. “I’m so happy I can do this again with another horse,” she added, “because it’s not always easy. It’s not easy to get to the top, and it’s more difficult to stay there. But I’m back, and this is only the start.”

Denmark tops the Para Dressage medals table!

At the end of a brilliant World Championship week for Para Dressage, Denmark has topped the medal’s table with four golds and a silver. The Netherlands are second, with three golds, three silvers and a bronze, with Belgium in third place securing two golds.

Bettina De Rham, the FEI’s Director of Dressage, Para Dressage and Vaulting summed up the week and said:

“I think it’s been a very special event. Some athletes said the Team medal ceremony in the main stadium was the best moment of their Para Dressage life, so we’re very happy about that. And today we saw some amazing Freestyles, the level is really going up and we can be very proud of our athletes and look forward to the future.”

Results here

Last Friday night they helped Team Sweden to victory in the Team event, and today Henrik von Eckermann and his brilliant chestnut gelding King Edward added Individual gold to their haul of loot with another extraordinary performance at the Agria FEI Jumping World Championship 2022 in Herning, Denmark.

The dynamic duo were under the ultimate pressure, out in front on the final day with two rounds of jumping still to do and less than a fence separating them from the four combinations chasing them on the Individual leaderboard.

But this is a horse whose belief in himself and in his rider is second to none. The pair never dropped a pole on the way to helping clinch the Olympic Team title in Tokyo  last summer. And this week they did it all again, flawless from start to finish.

Belgium’s Jérôme Guery took the Individual silver medal and The Netherlands’ Maikel van der Vleuten claimed the bronze.

Different story

A total of 21 combinations tackled the first round and 14 jumped clear, but it was a very different story second time out. Course designer, Dutchman Louis Konickx, explained his thinking about how to let a champion shine. “The first course was fluent and big enough but not too complicated. For the second round we built it up and it was more technical. The time (87 seconds) was short. It was great to see King Edward win, he was clear every day and he has so much scope. I think we have seen wonderful sport!”, he said.

Just 12 came back in the second round and this time only four left all the poles in place. Germany’s Marcus Ehning and Stargold kept themselves in the running with a clear when first into the ring this time out, but another five faulted before van der Vleuten and his individual Olympic bronze medal winning ride Beauville Z NOP followed suit.

Lying fifth in the closing stages, Great Britain’s Ben Maher dropped out of contention when Faltic HB clipped the 1.65m vertical at fence seven, and when Austria’s Max Kuhner and Elektric Blue P kicked out the second element of the spooky water-tray double at fence ten, and added two time faults, there were only three left to go and van der Vleuten was moving rapidly up the scoreboard.

Didn’t buckle

Lying in bronze medal spot Belgium’s Jerome Guery and Quel Homme de Hus didn’t buckle under the pressure however, and when the 16-year-old stallion and his 42-year-old rider raced through the finish there were already ecstatic scenes in the Kiss and Cry because the pair were now definitely destined for a place on the podium.

Second-last to go however, von Eckermann’s team-mate Jens Fredricson saw silver slip from his grasp when Markan Cosmopolit left three fences on the floor and the only question now left was whether von Eckermann could hold his nerve. He said this evening that he was very grateful to the many Swedish supporters for not going wild when he entered the ring because King Edward is such a sensitive horse.

And setting off with complete focus the pair delivered a copybook tour of this final 12-fence track to put the result beyond doubt. He could hardly believe he had precious gold in his grasp. In the 69-year history of the Jumping World Championship no Swedish rider had ever taken an Individual medal, and to make the first one a golden one was all the more special.

Talking about King Edward, he said, “he has jumped so many clear rounds and done so many good things, it’s just a privilege to ride him. I knew Jerome was clear so I could have no mistakes….I had a really good feeling from the first round so that gave me confidence and the horse felt as fresh as he was the first day.

I knew before I went in a fence down can happen so easily, but if I ride well and have a fault I can live with it. But I didn’t want to go in there and not go by my plan, so I stuck to it and it worked!”, said the 41-year-old Swede.

Mistake

Van der Vleuten jumped clear on the first two days of competition this week but dropped from seventh to ninth place with a mistake on Friday. “So I tried to keep my focus, I knew Beauville was in the right shape to do it, and I tried to believe in it and follow my own plan. I knew I needed two clear rounds today, but King Edward is unbeatable at the moment, he’s on a whole other level and all credit to Henrik to make it come true and to Jerome too!”, he said this evening.

Meanwhile Guery reflected on his silver medal. “It’s like a victory for us, not only for me but all my team and supporters, my owner, my country and of course for my horse - he deserves this medal! He’s been so good for the last three years and in Tokyo he was amazing. When I ride him well he always does the job, when you are here it’s not just because you are a good rider, it’s because you have a fantastic horse! I’m so lucky to have the chance to ride him”, he said with emotion in his voice.

That is because he owes so much to his friend and the horse’s former rider, Gaetan Decroix, who gave Jérôme the opportunity to compete the stallion when he became ill some years ago. The new partnership simply blossomed, and now both of Quel Homme’s riders share in the joy of his success.

Von Eckermann admitted he feels nervous before a big competition. ’It’s always the same with me, two hours before I’m really nervous, can’t eat or anything, but when I get up on my horse that turns somehow into focus and concentration and just trying to stay focused and to do the best round for my horse”, he explained.

And how does it feel to be the new world champion? It’s clearly taking some time to process that…

“For the moment I’m empty - you try to keep emotion pushed down so you can focus, and when it’s done it’s like pulling the plug out a bit. But it’s just happiness I think, and this is a day to remember!”, he said with a big smile.

Result 

A German team made up of fresh talent, dominated the French edition of the FEI Eventing Nations Cup™. This was the fifth leg of this popular series which took place at Le Pin au Haras, in Normandy from 11-14 August. Their overall score of 94.4 put them ahead of home nation France who completed on 98.5. Third place went to Great Britain who finished on 100.5. 

Impressive dressage and cross-country performances from the German team put them in a strong position going into the final jumping phase. It was Alina Dibowski’s fabulous clear on Barbados 26, finishing on her dressage score, that secured the victory and also helped her achieve individual third place. The 22 year old rider was competing in her very first Nations Cup and is the daughter of Andreas Dibowski, who won a gold medal in team eventing for Germany at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. 

Speaking after her clear jumping round, Alina said: 

“My horse gives me the most confident feeling because I have had him since he was five (years old) and we grew up together and now at this level together. Also my parents who have supported me at every moment of my career. The Europeans is a goal for me now, especially after this event but every year it is getting tougher (to make the team) so we will just hope for the best.”

Malin Hansen-Hotopp describes herself as a ‘semi-professional rider. “I was on the Young rider teams and was champion in 1996 and 1997 and afterwards we became farmers and I got three kids so we build up a farm and I rode young horses. Now the kids have grown up and I have trained young horses and now I have two 4 star horses. The Germans have a second team and we are that today. We are really pleased that the second team could do a good job as three of us were on the long-list for the World Championships. In Germany it is really hard to get on the team, we have really strong riders.”

Discussing the cross-country track, riders were full of praise. Hansen-Hotopp summed it up: 

“This is a really great place- I loved the cross-country, it is up and down hill and with the castle in the background, it was a great view. The cross-country was tough but good and the ground was fabulous.”

France, the home nation finished a close second. Gaspard Maksud, who finished best of the French quartet summed up the cross-country and his performance:

“The cross-country was a proper 4* track. It was big enough and technical enough and the time was tight enough but not impossible. My horse was just super, she tried so hard for me. She is only nine years old and she is already competitive and she just wants to please. All week everything was so good.”

It was one of the most hotly contested legs of the FEI Eventing Nations Cup™ so far, with 12 teams coming forwards. There were a number of leading riders, including New Zealand’s team stalwarts Tim and Jonelle Price, as well as Mollie Summerland on her 2021 Luhmuhlen 5* winner, Charley Van Ter Heiden. In addition there were a number of promising young and lesser known riders, looking to gain experience and make their mark on Senior teams, which this 4* Series is perfect for. The event was also a final run for several combinations heading for the FEI Eventing World Championship 2022, which takes place in Pratoni del Vivaro (ITA) from 15-18 September.

Le Pin au Haras is a venue of great significance in French equestrian sport, and hosted the eventing competition for FEI World Equestrian Games 2014 in Caen. It will also be host to the next FEI Eventing European Championships which take place in 2023.  

The FEI Eventing Nations Cup™ action moves to Belgium and Canada next, with the sixth and seventh legs of the series taking place simultaneously in Arville and Bromont respectively from 18-21 August. That leaves just Ballindenisk (IRL) in September prior to the ninth and final leg of the series in Boekelo (NED) from 6-9 October. 

Full results can be found here

The FEI standings so far can be found here

 

In a thrilling finale to the Orifarm Healthcare FEI World Para Dressage Team Championship in Herning (DEN) today, The Netherlands successfully defended the world title they won four years ago in Tryon (USA).

The gold clinching team of Sanne Voets (Grade IV), Demi Haerkens (Grade IV), Lotte Krijnsen (Grade III) and Frank Hosmar (Grade V) scored 230.225%, just 0.464% ahead of Denmark with 229.751%. And in a repeat of their Tokyo 2020 Paralympics breakthrough, The USA took the bronze with 225.355%.

In doing so, all three teams have secured qualification for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.

How it works

In the Team test, each Grade competes separately, and each combination of horse and athlete performs a series of pre-determined movements. The best three scores from each team are then combined, and the team with the highest score wins the gold.

Sizzling heat, sizzling competition

Held over two days, the first day of the competition had left The Netherlands and Denmark in a strong position following high scores from Sanne Voets and Demi Haerkens (NED) in Grade IV and Katrine Kristensen (DEN) in Grade II.

Day two began with the Grade III team test, which featured the home team’s Individual test winner Tobias Thorning Joergensen, riding Jolene Hill. He was expected to deliver a big score and did, with 79.265%.

Rebecca Hart (USA), secured her country’s medal with an impressive 74.706% (though not after a tense wait to see what some other country’s riders could produce) on El Corona Texel.

Great Britain’s Natasha Baker, on Keystone Dawn Chorus, scored 73.676, leaving her teammate Sophie Wells with a big, but not impossible, task of scoring 78.400% or thereabouts to get on the podium.

At the end of Grade III, it was clear that the final medal positions would be decided in the Grade V test.

First up among the medal winners was Denmark’s Nicole Johnsen on Moromax. She scored 73.310%, leaving Frank Hosmar with a target of 75.297% to take the gold. Entering the arena a handful of riders later, he pulled out a stunning performance on Alphaville N.O.P. to score 75.786%, and retain the gold.

The top three positions were then confirmed when both Sophie Wells’ (GBR), and Michele George’s valiant efforts fell just short of the scores needed to edge the USA off the podium.

Speaking after his gold clinching ride, Frank said: “It was really fun. At some points I thought ‘a little bit more,’ but then I thought ‘no, no, no, I don’t want any mistakes.

“We thought when we came here maybe a medal would be nice but every day with the training it got better and better and we thought maybe there’s a little bit more. We didn’t expect gold when we left Holland but when we were here we were thinking it was possible.”

As the Dutch score was announced, team trainer and coach Joyce van-Rooijen-Heuitink let out a scream of joy which was heard around the arena. “I have never screamed so loud in my whole life,” she laughed. “They must have heard back in the stables that it was me. I just cannot describe it, I’m on cloud 26. We have two new riders and you never know what they do at a championships.

“I knew Sanne and Frank would deliver but the other two did as well. How cool is that?”

At the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, Denmark had come agonisingly close to the bronze medal, finishing a horse’s hair’s breadth away from the USA. Speaking after the medal presentation, the team’s Chef d’Equipe Anette Bruun said: “I am feeling so glad. They were so sterling the riders today. It was such a fantastic event and we got the silver medal, it’s fantastic.

“It was so close we could taste the gold medal, but no we’re here and we’ll go for gold next time.”

Speaking for the USA, Grade IV rider Kate Shoemaker, said: ”Talk about being on cloud nine.

“We came with a very different team of horses than the one we took to Tokyo and our expectation was not for a medal, it was to qualify for Paris and then have a building year. But this shows our programme is going in the right direction. To be bronze with this young team is an amazing feeling. There’s something about when you strive for something that is just out of reach and then you grab it and hold tight.”

There will be more celebrations in the stables tonight, as the top seven teams at these Championships have qualified for Paris, so alongside the top three – the Netherlands, Denmark and the USA – the teams from Great Britain, Belgium, Germany, and Italy are also now officially on the Road to Paris 2024!

Tomorrow sees the top eight riders from each grade compete for the Freestyle titles. The music will play and the horses will dance in the sunshine on what is sure to be a celebratory and fitting end to a brilliant five days of sport.

Results here

It seems Team Sweden’s time has truly come. A year ago Henrik von Eckermann, Malin Baryard-Johnsson and Peder Fredricson stood on the top step of the Olympic podium in Tokyo, and tonight, with the help of Peder’s brother Jens, they galloped away with Team gold at the Agria FEI Jumping World Championships in Herning, Denmark.

Sweden had never taken the World Championship team title before, coming very close with silver at Jerez in Spain in 2002 and then just pipped at the post at the last edition in Tryon, USA four years ago. They arrived in Denmark as firm favourites and more than lived up to their promise, finishing well clear of The Netherlands in silver medal spot and Great Britain in bronze.

And after an epic night in the Stutteri Ask Stadium they go into Sunday’s Individual Final with von Eckermann holding the lead ahead of Jens Fredricson. It’s quite some achievement.

Drama and surprises

Tonight’s competition was filled with drama and surprises. The Swedes held the lead from the outset on Wednesday, but had only a narrow advantage over the chasing French as tonight’s action began. However Dutch course designer Louis Konickx presented them with another masterful test in which finding the right rhythm, and then maintaining it around his 14-fence track, was never going to be easy.

One of the bogey fences was the penultimate triple combination, and that played a major role in dashing French chances when all four team-members faulted there. But for Germany, lying third as the action began, it was the elimination of reigning individual European champions Andre Thieme and DSP Chakaria when the mare jumped her rider out of the saddle over the oxer at fence three that spoiled their party.

Second-line rider, Jana Wargers, produced a spectacular round with Limbridge for a single time fault but the crowd were left gasping by Thieme’s early dismount, and with 13 faults to add the Germans, like the French, would drop out of medal contention.

In contrast

In contrast the Dutch added only six faults to their scoreline and that would prove plenty good enough for silver. In an otherwise foot-perfect round Sanne Thijssen’s Con Quidam RB faulted only at the triple combination while Maikel van der Vleuten and the horse he steered to individual bronze in Tokyo last summer, Beauville Z, clipped the planks at four which also proved highly influential tonight. Jur Vrieling followed with a brilliant round from the big 10-year-old Long John Silver who collected just two time faults and when Harrie Smolders and Monaco were clear they rocketed up the leaderboard.

Meanwhile the British, lying sixth overnight, were also rallying strongly. Last year’s individual Olympic champion, Ben Maher, had the first fence down with Faltic HB who then completed the course effortlessly, while Joe Stockdale and Equine America Cacherel left only the second element of the double of oxers at fence nine on the floor.

A fabulous clear from Harry Charles and Romeo 88 was followed by an eight-fault run for Scott Brash and Hello Jefferson which saw this pair plummet from second to 13th in the individual rankings. But counting the best three team scores including Charles’ all-important zero, the final British tally of 22.66 would clinch bronze ahead of Ireland who missed the podium by less than a single penalty point while Team Germany were only another penalty point further adrift in fifth place.

It was some compensation for the Irish and Germans to clinch one of the five qualifying spots on offer for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games along with the three medal-winning nations.

Electric

The Herning spectators have ensured that the atmosphere in the Stutteri Ask Arena in Herning has been nothing short of electric this week, and Sweden’s Henrik von Eckermann had his work cut out to convince King Edward that it was safe to go in the ring tonight. “When he heard the applause and everything he turned around and went the other way! But he jumped amazing again and I’m looking forward to Sunday. He’s a very sensitive horse but in a fantastic way”, the Swedish star pointed out.

Jens Fredricson talked about the course, his horse, and his critical clear. “My horse tonight was very good, he jumped easily and with confidence and he was relaxed with a lot of power…and I was a little lucky at the last fence but you always need some luck! The time was tight and you were thinking about it all the way and couldn’t do extra strides anywhere and that puts more pressure on keeping the balance at high speed and on these turns - I think it was a very good course and I’m happy!”, he said.

For Swedish Chef d’Equipe, Henrik Ankarcrona, today was ‘mission accomplished’.

“It’s been an amazing year, to follow Tokyo we had a plan because we wanted to be on top of the podium here again and we were clear about that. We knew we had the capability, the power and skills to do it. But it’s one thing to say it and a different thing to make it come through!”, he said.

Congratulated

Dutch Chef d’Equipe Jos Lansink, congratulated course designer Louis Konicks. “We had a fantastic course today, you made it difficult for the riders, they had no time to breathe in the course, from start to finish you had to move forward, that’s why we got so many mistakes I think. With my team we really wanted to qualify for Paris but it seemed very far away. And then after the round from Jur (Vrieling) with two time faults it looked better again and then after Harrie’s round we had a chance for a medal and to finish second is a nice bonus!”, he said.

Sanne Thijssen was delighted with Con Quidam. “He was unbelievable, he doesn’t really have the scope for this but he has such a big heart. When I saw the triple combination I thought it was really tough but he’s such a fighter and with one down I was quite satisfied. Of course you go for a clear, but I think it was quite a good result!”, she said modestly.

Harrie Smolders described the Dutch spirit that lifted them to silver medal spot.  “I think we came back very strong, we started in eighth place and yesterday we moved up to fourth and even halfway through today it didn’t look great for us. But we kept believing and I think this was a real team effort to go home with a medal”.

Fun

Bronze medallist Ben Maher said “it was a long way around after the first fence down, but Faltic has jumped great all week and it’s been fun. We have a new team with two younger riders and we all fought all the way to the end”.

And there was something very poignant about the fact that one of those two younger team members, 22-year-old Joe Stockdale who is still a relative rookie at this level of the sport, helped clinch team bronze for his country on the birthday of his late father, Tim Stockdale who was a stalwart of British teams throughout his successful career.

Yesterday Joe posted a 12-fault round and he wasn’t happy, but it was a very different story today. With the support of his team-mates he got right back on track.

“I made a bit of a mistake myself but I think the mare has jumped well all week and she’s come back today. I was delighted with how she jumped in the atmosphere and under the lights”, he said.

“Jumping at a World Championship has been a bit of a step up, but it’s been good having these guys alongside me, they’ve really guided me through this week. I’m lucky to have them on the team and they’ve been very helpful even when it’s gone a bit pear-shaped for me, they’ve all been behind me to help get me through it”, he explained.

Made the cut

Maher, lying eighth, and Brash, lying 13th, have both made the cut into the top-25 who will battle it out for the Individual medals on Sunday. But further up the leaderboard are a formidable collection of the world’s top riders, with Sweden’s von Eckermann and Jens Fredricson followed by Belgium’s Jerome Guery in third, Switzerland’s Martin Fuchs in fourth, Austria’s Max Kuhner in fifth, Israel’s Daniel Bluman in sixth and Brazil’s Yuri Mansur in seventh place.

The Swedes may be celebrating their Team medal triumph tonight but they will be sure to come out with all guns blazing in the race for the 20th World Jumping Championship individual title. And with less than a fence between the top five and less than two fences between the top 14 it’s going to be a right royal battle to the very end.

So don’t miss a hoofbeat…..

Results Team 

Individual Standings here 

The Netherlands and Denmark have both made the strongest of starts to the Team competition at the Orifarm Healthcare FEI Para Dressage World Championship 2022 in Herning (DEN) today. And with the seven top teams joining hosts France at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, the pressure to do well has never been greater.

Sanne Voets (NED) won the Grade IV and Katrine Kristensen (DEN) the Grade II team tests to lay strong foundations for their teammates to build on tomorrow.

Voets set the Dutch team’s marker in the Grade IV Team competition this morning, just two days after her gold medal in the Individual competition. Riding Demantur RS2 N.O.P to score an impressive 78.415%, a personal best in a team competition, she was followed later by the Grade’s Individual silver medallist and teammate, Demi Haerkens, who scored 76.024% on EHL Daula. Kate Shoemaker got the USA’s pitch for a Team medal off to a flying start too, taking third place in the test with a strong 75.415% on Quiana.

Speaking after her ride, Voets said: “We’re putting on the pressure. I feel really good. We hoped for a smooth test and this was definitely my best test of the season and better than Tokyo too. We took a little less risk and we were not 100 percent but, of course we went for it and from the moment I got on he was really fit and happy.”

The Netherlands won’t have everything their own way though, as Denmark’s Katrine Kristensen followed up on the gold she won in the Grade II Individual test with a winning 77.176% on Goerklintgaards Quarter. 

In fact the Individual podium placings were repeated today, with Austria’s Pepo Puch in second on Sailor’s Blue, with 75.441%, and Great Britain’s Lee Pearson overcoming his horse Breezer’s excited reaction to a roar from the crowd in the nearby show jumping arena to score 73.529%.

“I’m so thrilled,” Katrine said. “Today was an amazing test. Quater was much better than Tuesday and he was really with me and a bit more calm this time so I had the time to show different things in the test. I was calm myself and I really tried to do my best.

“I felt some pressure because when you have won one time you have to go in and show I am still number one.”

The highest score of the day was a stunning 80.393% by Latvia’s Rihards Snikus on King of the Dance, in the Grade I Team competition. “The test was very good and all the exercises were nice,” he said, “with some nicer than others. But I can always do it better.”

Latvia doesn’t have a full team in Herning but, thanks to Rihards’ success over the past few years, that may change soon. “We have a new rider in Grade four here, Alise Muizniece,” said Daria Tikhomirova, the Latvian Chef d’Equipe, “she’s only 17 and it was after Rihards success at the FEI World Equestrian GamesTM in Tryon (USA) that she wrote to me and said ‘I would like to do that’. And then she started and now she’s in the World Championships. So maybe some other guy or young lady will look at him and say ‘I want to do it’.”

In another repeat of the Grade’s Individual podium, second place went to Sara Morganti (ITA) on Royal Delight with 77.250% and third to Michael Murphy (IRL) on Cleverboy with 76.072%.

The Team competition has added weight this year as the first seven teams will join France, as hosts, at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. At the end of day one the official standings put Austria in the lead with 213.755%, ahead of Spain with 188.143% and the USA, currently third, with 150.629%. Tomorrow will likely see a significant shift in the rankings though, as more of the top riders from around the world battle to secure those important tickets to Paris. 

It’s going to be unmissable.

Results here
 

A confident, self-assured young woman with a sharp sense of humour stands across the table for this interview. 

Australia’s Ginger Kennett, an international Vaulter from Picton, New South Wales, is also a student at the National Art School in Sydney. And if that’s not a busy enough schedule, Ginger is also an Eventer, who finds no problem with dividing her time between the two disciplines she loves. 

The Mustang FEI Vaulting World Championship 2022 - Individual Female was the first time that she competed at Senior World level, having won the CVI Flyinge Junior 2* in Sweden in 2019 and was selected for the Australian team for the FEI Vaulting World Championships for Juniors in Ermelo (NED) in 2015 and 2018.

So what’s the main difference between Vaulting and Eventing for her? 

“The first would be having to change from Tights to Breeches!” Ginger quips. 

The 19-year-old started in the discipline at the age of nine, when she was invited to attend a Vaulting Clinic with her friend, and she hasn’t looked back since. 
 

Ginger KENNETT (AUS) and CORAZON GRAN at the Mustang FEI Vaulting World Championship 2022 © FEI / Richard Juilliart

“The connection with the horse is different in Vaulting and Eventing,” explains Ginger. “In Eventing, you have the reins in your hands and you guide the horse using your leg and seat aids to go wherever you want it to. In Vaulting, it's the lunger’s job to keep the horse going at a consistent pace, and you have to feel the horse underneath you.

“Your lunger really needs to know your moves, and they need to know what is going to happen in your freestyle and set routines, so they can prepare the horse for the next move. If you're in a stand, they're not going to bring the horse forward, they’re going to ask the horse to maintain the canter while you're standing. The lungers have to go through some pretty intense training with the horse.”

“I feel that riding has helped me vault better and understand my horse more. And vaulting has definitely helped me as an Eventer, with sitting up tall and especially with having that posture and balance you require when riding over jumps.”

Ginger’s mum, Georgie Kennett is an FEI Level 1 Vaulting coach and a lunger.  She lunges for Ginger at their home in Picton and has lunged for her daughter at all Australian national and international events. Also an Eventer, Georgie adds to Ginger’s insights into the differences and similarities between the two disciplines. 

“Vaulting horses are special in the sense that their temperament is paramount,” Georgie said. “They still have to be ridden and trained like any other horse in that they’re listening to your aides, but in Vaulting you do most of your intricate talking with the horse through a lunge line and via the language of the whip commands.

“There is a lot more consideration given to ensuring that a Vaulting horse is able to travel on that circle. Trying to keep a horse moving on a perfect circle takes a lot of training. Any inconsistency in the horse’s stride will affect the Vaulter, whose reaction or response to that move will in turn affect the horse. So as a lunger you’re always trying to keep that harmony and make it all just so effortless.”

Adding her perspective to the conversation is Chef d’Equipe Dr Tristyn Lowe, herself a highly experienced vaulter, lunger, coach, and an icon of the sport in Australia.

“I think the level of trust a Vaulter has to have in the horse and the lunger combination is really huge. In Vaulting you have a three member team – the Vaulter, the horse and the lunger. Getting that team right can be tricky and the connection with the horse is really important. In Eventing it's really just you and your horse.
 

Ginger KENNETT (AUS) and CORAZON GRAN at the Mustang FEI Vaulting World Championship 2022 © FEI / Richard Juilliart

“A quarter of your score in Vaulting is your horse score. And if your horse isn't happy and doing well, then it's much harder to score. 

“For me, a Vaulting horse has to have the equivalent fitness to an Eventing horse. But Vaulting is also an art. And as any artist will tell you, drawing a perfect circle is not easy!”

Whatever discipline she practices, it is clear that Ginger has the admiration of both her Chef d’Equipe and her mum.

“Ginger's determination to get to the World Championship in spite of all the challenges that have happened this year reflects a lot about personality,” Tristyn said. “Everybody faces challenges, but particularly when you come from a long distance and you don't have your own horse and that connection, you have to realign everything to a new training situation and a new horse. Ginger’s capacity to adapt, has been a great thing.”

And describing her only as a mother could, Georgie, who calls her daughter a highly creative, freaky, individual said, “Ginger has very good horsemanship skills and is sensitive towards her equine partners, which is what we love about her so much!”

About Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) www.fei.org 

The FEI is the world governing body for horse sport recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and was founded in 1921. Equestrian sport has been part of the Olympic movement since the 1912 Games in Stockholm.

The FEI is the sole controlling authority for all international events in the Olympic sports of Jumping, Dressage and Eventing, as well as Driving, Endurance and Vaulting.

The FEI became one of the first international sports governing bodies to govern and regulate global para sport when Para Dressage joined its ranks in 2006. The FEI now governs all international competitions for Para Dressage and Para Driving. The number of international Para Equestrian events has almost tripled in 10 years.

FEI Media contact: 
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