After all three Canadian athletes crossed the finish line of the challenging CICO 3* Aachen cross-country course on August 14, Canada successfully completed the German leg of the FEI Nations Cup™ Eventing Series as a team for the first time ever, finishing in seventh place overall.
Held during the prestigious Aachen 2015 FEI European Championships, running August 11-23 and featuring five FEI disciplines, the CICO 3* Eventing Nations’ Cup added a sixth FEI division by invite only and attracted some of the top horse-rider combinations in the world. 2015 marked the first time the Canadian Eventing Team participated.
Eventing kicked off on August 13, with dressage taking place in the morning, and the jumping phase following in the afternoon.
The top placed Canadian after dressage proved to be Kathryn Robinson of Kettering, GRB and Let It Bee, who were stepping back into the ring for the first time since their major games debut as part of the Canadian Eventing Team at the TORONTO 2015 Pan Am Games in July. A score of 45.10 put Robinson into 23rd position with her 14-year-old German-bred gelding.
Rebecca Howard, a current resident of Marlborough, GBR, followed in 30th place on a score of 48.50 aboard her 2012 London Olympics mount, Riddle Master (Rodero x Eyes to Rule), a 14-year-old Canadian Sport Horse gelding owned by Blithe Hill Farm.
Holly Jacks-Smither of Orangeville, ON, who was making her Canadian Eventing Team debut, scored 54.50 for 41st place with her 10-year-old Thoroughbred gelding, More Inspiration, sired by Inspired Prospect.
Howard returned to the jumping phase in the afternoon, lowering one early rail at fence four on the course set by FEI 4* Jumping Course Designer, Frank Rothenberger of Germany, which featured 12 jumps and 15 jumping efforts including double and triple combinations. After piloting Riddle Master through the finish line under the tight time allowed of 96 seconds (which caused 13 of the entries to tack on time faults), Howard moved up to 29th place on a two-phase total score of 52.50.
Robinson and Let It Bee had two rails come down in the triple combination, and tacked on two time penalties, putting them in 33rd place on a two-phase total of 55.10. Jacks and More Inspiration had just one rail at fence four, but added nine time penalties to finish the jumping phase in 40th position with 67.50 penalties.
With just three team members, meaning no drop score, the pressure was on for Canada to finish as a team by having all three riders complete the cross-country course on August 14.
Despite a cross-country course that was reported to ride far tougher than it walked and created upsets among top contenders favourited to finish at the top of the leaderboard, all three Canadians completed the course, allowing the Canadian Eventing Team to record their final placing of seventh. At the end of the day, the course saw just five clear rounds, with 29 riders incurring time faults, 12 adding jumping faults, one retiring, and six being eliminated.
Howard proved to be the top Canadian finisher after expertly navigating Riddle Master around the course with no jumping faults and just 2.40 time faults. This allowed her to crack the top 20 by finishing 18th overall with a final score of 54.90.
“Rupert, of course, was amazing cross-country for a fast go over a course that caused more trouble than anticipated,” said Howard. “What an amazing competition and venue it is here in Aachen. And, Caroline Bazley, Rupert’s owner, was able to come watch and support, so it was great to share the week with her.”
Next in the final standings were Jacks-Smither and More Inspiration, who incurred time and jumping penalties at a tricky combination, to finish in 30th place.
Robinson and Let It Bee encountered a similar challenge to Jacks-Smither at fence 22a, and had additional jumping faults at 16a, which demanded a sharp angled approach, adding jumping and time faults to their final score, but moving up significantly to finish in 33rd place.
Jacks-Smither was thrilled with her overall experience at Aachen, commenting, “This has been an amazing opportunity. My horse and I had the chance to compete against the best in the world, and he truly stepped up to the plate.”
“The learning experience itself has been unreal, and I am coming home hungry to improve and come back to Europe,” continued Jacks-Smither. “I can’t say thank you enough to my teammates, amazing supporters, and groom who made this happen, not to mention my husband for holding down the farm.”
The CICO 3* Aachen Nations’ Cup was won by Germany, with New Zealand taking second, and the United States following in third place. Originally Great Britain held the third place position, but was later disqualified after a review of video footage found team rider, Holly Woodhead had jumped the wrong side of a flag at a corner jump in a water complex.
For more information and full results from the CICO 3* Aachen, visit www.aachen2015.de/en.
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