Britain test drives new team for Nations Cup

Britain fielded a fledgling team at the opening leg of the Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup in Lummen Europe Division 1 – with two of the four horses competing making their team debut.

Team building

As Lummenwasn’t one of Britain’s four allocated venues in the FEI Nations Cup series, the team weren’t competing for points. This provided a good opportunity for team manager Rob Hoesktra to give less experiencedhorses and riders a chance to compete at this level.

As Rob told H&C last year, when the series new format was announced: “The Nations Cup is for giving the younger generation and up-and-coming riders the opportunity to show what they can do at this level. It will also help us work towards building a bigger first team.”

Disappointing result

It was the most experienced pair that produced the most disappointing result, with European team gold medallists Will Funnell and Billy Congo gaining eight faults in the first round and 11 in the second.

Guy Williams put in the best performance riding Zaire, a ride he took over from Mark Williams(no relation) in August 2013.While Guy has ridden for Britain a number of times, this was the 10-year-old’s first competing at this level. Watch his round here.

“Very pleased with Zaire in his first Nations Cup today in Lummen,” said Mark. “Slightly green in the first round for eight faults and then a great clear in the second round. Looking forward to the rest of the season. Well done Guy Williams.”

Bottom of leaderboard

It was also Catwalk’s inaugural Nations Cup, ridden by Robert Whitaker. The 11-year-old gelding, which is owned by Robert’s parents John and Clare, had one down in the first round and knocked another two in the second, as well as accruing one time fault.

Robert’s cousin William Whitaker and Fandango, who rode on their first Nations Cup last June, had eight faults in the first round and nine in the second.The total score of 33 faults put Britain right down the bottom of the leaderboard.

Switzerland won the competition with an impressive all-round performance that saw them finish on a zero score, while France in second place had just four faults. Belgium and Ireland were joint third with 19 faults,The Netherlands was fourth (16), Spain was sixth (21), and Sweden seventh (21).

Going global

This is the second year of the all-new Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup – which gives other Nations the opportunity to compete at the very top levels. Previously there were eight teams from Europe and the US competing, but the new format encompasses six ‘regions’ from around the world.

These are: Europe (division one and two), North and Central America, South America, Middle East, Asia/Australia and Africa. Each region holds qualifying competitions and the top teams at the end of the series, compete against each another at the final in Barcelona (date).

Britain are part of Europe Division One, along with France, Belgium, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ireland, The Netherlands, Germany and Ukraine. Each nation can only gain points at their four allocated events, but are allowed to compete in other legs.

Format

While the new format has brought showjumping to a wider global audience, it also means there are now 20 qualifying competitions, held within six different groups, with a complex points system that sees some competitions ‘count’ more than others. Some followers of the sport have argued this makes the event hard to follow.

However, the culmination of the series in one final, held in Barcelona, does make the Nations Cup go out on a high – with last year’s final providing an exciting climax to the series.

Stick with H&C and we will guide you through the 2014 Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup series – keeping you up-to-date with the latest news and key performances.