(Lexington, KY) – George Morris, Chef d’Equipe for the United States Show Jumping Team, has good reason to be both happy and frustrated after Hickstead and Dublin. “We won four classes in Hickstead and were second in the Super League Nation’s Cup, and won 3 classes in Dublin and were 3rd in the Nation’s Cup. I’d say those are very, very good shows but we didn’t win the Super League Nation’s Cup classes. I want to win. That’s just how I am.” In Dublin, the U.S Team finished third behind Great Britain and Germany, and is now third in the overall Samsung Super League standings.
Morris’ frustration began when McLain Ward of Brewster, New York was injured in the first round of the Super League competition in Hickstead on July 29th suffering a broken collar bone thus forcing the team to proceed to Dublin without him, one rider short. “It was a devastating blow to lose McClain, it definitely cost us at Hickstead and didn’t help at Dublin, but the English team was hard to beat in Dublin. Collectively they have several Olympics and maybe 400 Nations Cup between them.” His frustration continued when Kim Prince’s Marlou refused during the first round at Dublin automatically becoming that round’s throw-out score and putting the pressure on the team in the second round. She then led the charge in round two by going clean. “We should have been second in Dublin,” said Morris. “But again, with Beezie winning two nice classes, and Jeffrey winning the Power and Speed class, it was a good show.”
Beezie Madden of Cazenovia, New York, rode Abigail Wexner’s Authentic to win the Irish Sports Council Classic, Laura Kraut of Oconomowoc, Wisconsin was 5th in that class on Anthem. Jeffrey Welles, of Ridgefield, Connecticut, rode Armani, owned by Kimmel Yeager Equine, LLC and Triton Ventures in the Power and Speed class; and Madden rode Judgement, owned by Iron Spring Farm, to win the Irish Six Bar.
The team now has two weeks off to freshen their horses before heading to Aachen, Germany where Morris hopes Ward will rejoin the team. “We have a very good team, the nucleus is there. We’re hopeful we can get McLain back for Aachen, he says he feels quite well. However, Schuyler Riley, who is competing in Holland, is teed up and ready to go if we need her.”
Morris was reflective about this summer’s European show jumping success, “There’s still a lot of work to be done. Even though we’re close to the pack among the leaders right now we need to build depth at this top level with both horses and riders. After the top layer we are very shallow. Every country except Germany is like that and they get so much government funding. We really should have no excuse because we have the talented riders and our country has the assets to do it. I think our success this summer should awaken America to the possibilities.”
ENDS
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~~~For more information, please contact Sarah Lane, Public Relations Manager at (859) 225-6974 or via email at [email protected]. USEF press releases are available on our web site – www.usef.org.