Britain relegated after Hickstead Nations Cup leg

Britain has been relegated from Europe Division One League of the FEI Furusiyya Nations Cup after a disappointing performance in the final leg at Hickstead.

Close battle

It was a closely fought battle at Hickstead’s All England Jumping Course with an unprecedented 26 clear rounds. Going into round two there was just one fence between the top six teams.

However, Germany led from the start, with Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum (Fibonacci 17) and Janne Friederike Meyer (Goja 27) both jumping a double clear, while Patrick Stuhlmeyer (Lacan 2) had just one down.

This meant Ludger Beerbuam didn’t even make it out of the warm-up, as his score wasn’t needed, and they finished on a winning score of four faults.

‘Great team’

“Fibonacci 17 jumped beautifully today,” said Meredith, who was the pathfinder. “We had a great team here – it’s not often the last rider doesn’t have to jump in both rounds.”

Janne was also thrilled with her horse, Goja, who was just back from a long break due to an injury.

“We had a bad start to the season with a leg injury, so I’m really proud of him,” she said. “He took a long time to recover, and it was hard to take so much time off in an Olympic year, but it’s paid off.”

Ireland was joint second with Belgium on eight faults while an all-female US team came third with 12.

Poles apart

Britain finished in sixth place, although the team started out strong when Jessica Mendoza (Spirit T) and Tim Stockdale (Fleur de L’Aube) both jumped superb clears.

The two riders are poles apart when it comes to experience, with Tim riding in more than 50 Nations Cup competitions, while Jessica made her team debut just last year. But both looked very at home in the imposing international arena.

Ben Maher (Diva II) and Scott Brash (Hello Guv’Nor) had an unlucky four faults each. Scott seemed to miss his stride at the gate, which saw the 11-year-old gelding plough through it, but otherwise it was a foot perfect round.

Disappointing

This put Britain in joint second place with Ireland, Belgium and the Netherlands, going into the final round, and meant they were still in the running for winning their first Furusiyya Nations Cup on hometurf.

However, the faults kept coming – despite all four horses jumping well. Second time out Tim, Scott and Ben had one down, while Jessica hit both parts of the double, when she fought to bring Spirit T back after the water. This meant their final score was a disappointing 20 faults.

This result has left Britain in eighth place on the Furusiyya Nations Cup leaderboard, which means they miss out on a place at the final in Barcelona, and have been relegated to the Second Division for 2017.

Final leaderboard

Here’s how the leaderboard looks at the end of this 2016 season:

1 Netherlands 330

2 Ireland 323.33

3 Germany 313.33

4 Switzerland 310

5 Sweden 305

6 France 265

7 Italy 259.17

8 Great Britain 255

9 Belgium 246.67

10 Czech Republic 180

The final in Barcelona is on 22-25 September, when the top seven teams in Europe Division One will start on a zero score. As the host team, Spain automatically qualifies for the final.