British Showjumping’s Team NAF finish fourth at CSIO4* Wellington, Florida Nations Cup
Sunday 06 March 2022
The British Team finished in fourth place in the first CSIO4* Nations Cup of the year in Wellington (USA) competing under the sponsor banner of Team NAF.
Eleven teams came forward for the Nations Cup competition where Great Britain were drawn sixth to go. The team maintained their strong position from their 4 penalty final score in the first round to complete the second round on an overall total of 16 penalties. It was Ireland who took the win, finishing on 5 penalties followed by Canada in second and USA in third, both completed on 12 penalties.
Opening for the team was Jessica Mendoza from Wiltshire aboard her own 10 year-old chestnut gelding Play. An unfortunate pole in the first round, followed by a clear in the second, gave the Brits a positive starting point in both the opening and second half.
Sam Hutton, who is based in Belgium, produced a stunning clear in the first round with the 12 year old grey gelding H&M Kirlo Van Den Bosrand owned by Quimore. The second, which was run under the arena spotlights, saw them lower three poles; two of which fell in the last line.
Matthew Boddy, who is currently based in USA, was next to come forward with the 12 year-old bay gelding Balotelli 5 owned by Purple Road, Llc. It was a debut senior British Team appearance Matthew which saw the final three fences down fall in the first round to finish on 12 penalties; a score they matched in their second. With a packed stadium, an electric atmosphere and shadows cast from the spotlights, this was a valuable experience for them as a new combination to build from..
It was current Olympic Individual Gold medal holder Ben Maher from Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire who produced the best of the Brits. Riding the 12 year-old Bay stallion Faltic HB, owned by Oakingham Stud, he produced two outstanding foot-perfect clears. Their performance was all the more impressive as Faltic has only been with Ben for a short period of time and it is only in recent months that he has stepped up to this level of competition to make his debut on a team.
The Chef d’Equipe for the team was Di Lampard, the World Class Performance Manager for Showjumping.
For further information on the show and full results visit www.pbiec.coth.com.
British Showjumping would like to thank NAF, title sponsors of the Senior Nations Cup Teams along with the Pony, Children, Junior, Young Rider and Veteran teams.
NAF’s premium range of Five Star brands include Superflex, Superflex Senior, PROFEET, Optimum, Magic, Oestress and Respirator Boost with quality at the heart of everything they do. They are a UFAS (Universal Feed Assurance Scheme), GMP+ (International Feed Assurance Scheme) and BETA NOPS (Naturally Occuring Prohibited Substances) accredited company and this enables them to guarantee full traceability on all the natural ingredients they utilise in their formulations, which are also selected in compliance with the FEI guidelines for Clean Sport. For further information, visit www.naf-equine.eu/uk/index.jsp.
The GBR showjumping teams are supported by the British Equestrian Federation’s World Class Programme, funded by UK Sport through the National Lottery. The Programme focuses on identifying talent, developing potential and maximising medal-winning performances on the world stage. The teams are further supported by LeMieux, who supply the teams with saddlepads and rugs.
