Hickstead, England – The NetJets® U.S. Jumping Team took fifth place in the Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup™ of Great Britain on July 26 during the Longines Royal International Horse Show at the All England Jumping Course in Hickstead, England. Robert Ridland served as Chef d’Equipe for the team of Laura Kraut, Wilton Porter, Jessica Springsteen, and Catherine Tyree.
“Everybody had good rounds today, but you need great rounds to win a Nations Cup,” said Ridland. “It just wasn’t meant to be today. It was a young team, with the exception of Laura, and this is why we sent these teams to [the Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup Sweden in] Falsterbo and Hickstead, to gain this type of experience over these types of courses and to experience the best competition that Europe has. All the other teams here today were fighting for spots for the [Longines FEI Jumping] Nations Cup Final.”
Tyree, 25, of Chicago, Ill., turned in a clean round in round one and then a four-fault performance in round two for the team riding Bokai, Mary Tyree’s 13-year-old KWPN gelding. In the first five-star Nations Cup performance for her horse, Volage du val Henry, a 10-year-old Selle Francais mare owned by Stone Hill Farm, Springsteen(Los Angeles, Calif.) contributed two four-fault rounds.
The 25-year-old Porter (Wellington, Fla.) guided Caletto Cabana, a 12-year-old Holsteiner gelding owned by Sleepy P Ranch LLC, to a rail in round one and a foot in the water in round two. Kraut (Royal Palm Beach, Fla.) rode as the anchor on Confu, St. Bride’s Farm’s 12-year-old Holsteiner gelding, and had a rail down in each round. The U.S. team finished the two rounds on a score of 20.
“You’re never happy when you finish fourth or fifth; you’d much rather end up on the podium. That’s what we aim for and we felt like we had a team that was capable of that. We just missed, but it still was a good day,” said Ridland.
Porter and Tyree had both also ridden on the NetJets® U.S. Jumping Team at the FEI Jumping Nations Cup™ Sweden two weeks before, which placed fourth. “You have to test young riders under fire,” Ridland said. “They have to go out and perform, and they did that today. These two weeks at Falsterbo and Hickstead were a very good step in the careers of these young riders.”
The team from Sweden finished on four faults to win, while Ireland claimed second with eight faults, and Italy placed third with 10 faults.
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