The Canadian Show Jumping Team took sixth place in the Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup™ presented by Longines on May 27 at the prestigious CSIO 5* Rome in Rome, ITA.
One of the top equestrian venues in the world, the CSIO 5* Rome took place at the Piazza Di Siena, which is located in the centre of the city and surrounded by private gardens. A total of eight teams from renowned show jumping nations, including 15 of the top-20 ranked show jumping athletes in the world, gathered to contest the nations’ cup—which featured two rounds over a course built by FEI 4* course designer Uliano Vezzani from Italy.
Kicking off both rounds for the Canadian Show Jumping Team was Yann Candele from Caledon, ON aboard First Choice 15 (For Keeps x Angard), a 13-year-old Hanoverian gelding owned by the Watermark Group. The very first entry into the ring, they had a rail fall at fence 3, the ‘a’ element of a double combination (which would prove to be the most commonly knocked rail of the day), and a rail at the final jump on course for a total of eight faults. They returned to the second round to improve on their performance, only lowering the wide oxer at jump nine for four faults.
Canada’s second rider in both rounds was Kara Chad of Calgary, AB, partnered with Bellinda (Namelus R x Hors la Loi II), a 10-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare owned by Stone Ridge Farms Ltd. Just 20 years old and relatively new to the senior nations’ cup level, Chad tackled the challenging course with just three rails over the two rounds, two of which proved to be the tricky 3a obstacle, and finished just over the 75 second time allowed for scores of five faults and nine faults, respectively.
Tiffany Foster from North Vancouver, BC, and her renowned mount, Tripple X III (Namelus R x Cantango), a 14-year-old Anglo European stallion owned by Artisan Farms LLC and Torrey Pines Stable put the first clear on the board for Canada in round one, but incurred some challenges in round two, finishing on 13 faults.
Anchor rider, Eric Lamaze of Schomberg, ON put in two impressive rounds aboard his recently acquired mount, Chacco Kid (Chacco Blue x Come ON), a 10-year-old Oldenburg gelding owned by the Chacco Kid Group. Although they were also victim to fence 8a in the first round for four faults, they returned to nail down one of very few clears produced in the second round.
After applying the drop score to each round, the Canadian Show Jumping Team’s final team score was 22 faults for sixth place. Great Britain secured the win on four faults, while the United States and France tied for second with 12 faults.
“We were right in the game through the first round,” said Chef d’Équipe, Mark Laskin, who supported the team on the ground in Rome, along with Equine Canada Manager of Jumping, Karen Hendry-Ouellette. “Kara rode beautifully under big pressure in the first round and got us on track, and Tiffany followed with a very important zero after a flawless ride. It wasn’t easy today, as many of the teams were using their Olympic riders.”
Laskin continued, “Eric and Yann both had improved second round performance. Chacco Kid, in particular, was impressive and with a little more seasoning should be a super horse for the future.”
For more information on the CSIO 5* Rome, visit http://piazzadisiena.it/en. Further details on the FEI Nations’ Cup series can be found at www.fei.org.
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