For the second day in a row, Canadian riders collected silver medals on the podium following their second place finish in the $10,000 Hollow Creek FEI Young Riders Nations Cup, held Saturday, March 2, during the CSIO4* FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, FL.
Competing in the International Ring earlier in the day for round one of the competition, the Canadian Team was comprised of Kara Chad of Calgary, AB, Amelia Vernon of Calgary, AB, and Nicole Walker of Aurora, ON. Walker, riding her own horse High Yummy, an 11-year-old Swedish Warmblood gelding, and Bretton Chad, with Stone Ridge Farms LLC’s Santa Caterina LS La Silla, a 12-year-old mare, posted clear opening rounds. Vernon riding Jaime Auletto’s Udolente, a 12-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare, and Kara Chad with Stone Ridge Farms LLC’s Alberto II, a 10-year-old Holsteiner gelding, both had one rail and a time fault each to finish with a score of five.
Using Nations Cup rules, only the top three scores are to count and Canada easily qualified for the second round held later in the evening under the lights. Heading into round two, Canada was tied with the United States at the top with five faults. In the evening round, Kara Chad had one time fault over the Anthony d’Ambrosio designed course, while Walker had four faults and Bretton Chad accumulated five. Vernon’s score of nine was the drop score for the second round.
With a two round total of 15, Canada claimed second place. The United States won the competition with a total of 10, while the team from Columbia rounded out the top three spots with a score of 48.
“It was an absolute pleasure to be the chef d’équipe of the Young Rider Nations Cup team,” said, Beth Underhill, of Canada’s second place finish. “Bretton, Kara and Amelia all flew from California to Florida to be part of this competition. It was really nice to have the whole country represented with riders from the east and the west of Canada.”
“They were all team players and wonderful young ladies, who came together as a team to ride really well for Canada,” added Underhill.
In the FEI Junior Nations Cup division, Canada was represented by Kaitlyn Blum of Gormley, ON, on her own Carnell, an 11-year-old Holsteiner gelding; Mikala Chesler of Orangeville, ON, on Sher-Al Farms’ Masquerade, a nine-year-old Zangersheide gelding; and Stevie Murphy of Charlottetown, PEI, on Martie Murphy’s Neathy de Riverland, a 12-year-old Selle Francais gelding; in the $2,500 Hollow Creek FEI Junior Nations Cup. The team finished in sixth place overall.
A Nations Cup is the only competition in show jumping where riders, competing in teams of four, compete against other countries for top honours. The top three scores from each team are counted towards the final result of the two-round competition.
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