Great Britain finishes joint fourth in the Rome FEI Nations Cup

Today saw the second leg of the FEI Nations Cup take place in Rome, and with temperatures well into the eighties crowds flocked in to watch the top class Showjumping that was on offer.

 

Course Designer Giovanni Buussu built a fantastic course which included a very tricky line from fence three to four and a gappy upright gate which came up straight after the water. To top these difficulties off the time allowed was eighty seconds which proved very tricky for the majority of the field.

 

The first round saw Great Britain drawn eighth, and it was Warwickshire’s Nick Skelton and Beverley Widdowson’s Carlo who were the pathfinders for Great Britain. Being well aware of the time, Nick cut inside to fence ten. However the big oxer that awaited him proved too much and Carlo unfortunately had the back rail down which meant they finished on four faults.

 

Next to go for Great Britain was Hertfordshire’s Ben Maher riding the British Bred Tripple X III, a horse he jointly owns with Quainton Stud. This was Tripple X III first appearance at this level and unfortunately had a number of fences down in the first round meaning they were the drop score.

 

Peter Charles from Hampshire partnered Team Murka’s and Olga White’s Murka’s Nevada VI. Murka’s Nevada VI made his debut at this level earlier in the month at La Baule where the combination failed to disappoint. This combination showed their class and jumped calmly round the 1.60m fences. An unfortunate lowering of a rail and being slightly slow on the time meant they finished on a score of five faults.

 

Last to go for Great Britain was Warwickshire’s Robert Smith and Talan, a horse he jointly owns with Di and Pennie Cornish. This combination showed their class and jumped the first round with ease and finished on a score of zero meaning Great Britain went into the second round lying in equal fourth position with the Netherlands.

 

The second round saw Nick and Peter equaling their score from the first round. Ben came out fighting and determined to better his first round which is exactly what he did by just having one unlucky rail down and one time fault to finish on a score of five. Robert was last to go but didn’t manage to put in the same faultless performance leaving Great Britain on total score of twenty three meaning they finished joint fourth with France and Germany.

 

 

La Baule (FRA) – 12/15 May

Rome (ITA) – 26/29 May

St Gallen (SUI) – 2/5 June

Falsterbo (SWE) – 7/10 July