The Canadian Show Jumping Team earned a second place finish on home soil in the $128,400 Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup™ presented by Longines on June 3 at the CSIO 4* British Columbia Open in Langley, BC.
Four teams totaling 16 riders went head-to-head in the third and final leg of the Furusiyya FEI Nations’ Cup series for the North American, Central American and Caribbean league. Canadian course designer Peter Holmes, who holds FEI 3* credentials, had the honour of setting the course for the first-ever FEI Nations’ Cup held at Langley’s Thunderbird Show Park.
As the very first competitor of the day to test Holmes’ course, which featured 12 obstacles and 15 jumping efforts in a time allowed of 77 seconds, Tiffany Foster from North Vancouver, BC enjoyed a warm welcome from her hometown crowd. Riding her long-time partner, Victor (Elmshorn x Grandeur), a 14-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding owned by Torrey Pines Stable and Artisan Farms LLC, she kicked off her 21st nations’ cup appearance with a clear round.
Ben Asselin of Calgary, AB and Veyron (Conterno Grande x Heartbreaker), a 10-year-old Oldenburg stallion owned by Attache Stables, followed up with just a foot in the water for four faults.
Next in for Canada was Amy Millar from Perth, ON and Heros (Canadian River x Clinton), a nine-year-old Belgian Warmblood gelding owned by AMMO Investments. Although the duo had a rail and a refusal mid-course at a triple combination that would prove challenging for horse-rider combinations throughout the evening, they finished strong, keeping their score to eight jumping and five time faults.
Anchor rider, Eric Lamaze from Schomberg, ON was foot-perfect over the first 10 obstacles on course aboard Coco Bongo (Caretino x Calido), an 11-year-old Rheinlander stallion owned by Artisan Farms LLC and Torrey Pines Stable. However, a hiccup down the final line, which featured a tricky double-combination and asked the horses to jump straight toward the crowd, resulted in a final score of 10 faults.
At the end of round one, after applying the drop score, Canada was in fourth place on a team total of 14 faults. However, the team would prove to rally for a remarkable comeback in round two. Foster, Asselin and Millar thrilled the crowd with three consecutive clear rounds for a perfect team score of zero, making it unnecessary for anchor rider, Lamaze, to return for round two.
Mexico came out on top with a team score of four faults. Ireland rounded out the top three on 16 faults, while the United States finished fourth with 17 faults. The final Furusiyya FEI Nations’ Cup series standings were also announced for the North American, Central American and Caribbean league, with Mexico emerging as the 2016 winner, earning a total of 290 points over the three qualifiers. The United States took second overall with 255 points, and Canada finished third with a series total of 230 points. As the top two finishers, Mexico and the United States will receive an invite to contest the Furusiyya FEI Nations’ Cup series world final taking place in Barcelona in September 2016.
For more information on the CSIO 4* British Columbia Open, visit www.tbird.ca. Further details on the FEI Nations’ Cup series can be found at www.fei.org.
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