Christopher Burton at Le Pin last year - but he won't be enjoying what France has to offer this year
The dual gold medallist Michael Jung is in Normandy to check out the place for the next WEG.
The French spectators expected it, and Le Pin – the last FEI Eventing World Cup leg for 2012 – just made it! Dual gold medallist, Olympic champion Michael Jung (GER), rested from his successful British campaign, will gallop in the Norman countryside for the very first time. And he won't come alone: his teammate Dirk Schrade will join him.
Quite unhappy in London, nearly all the Australian team will have their heart set on showing what they are made of. Lucinda and Clayton Fredericks (winner of the FEI World Cup leg in 2011) and Sam Griffiths have been to Haras du Pin before, so already know the show ground and just how technical the cross-country course can be.
The other Australian rider who is running in the CIC* is Erin O’Neil riding Short Black, who was originally bought by Erin as a young green horse from Craig and Prue Barrett.
Alex Hua Tian, the only Chinese international eventing rider, will compete, this time in front of the new young Chinese teams that are actually undergoing training at the National Riding School of Saumur, France. They will be the guests of honour at the event as the People's Republic of China has the place of honour, with cultural and artistic performances.
Among the top riders coming back from London, Le Pin will also welcome Karin Donckers/BEL (individual 15th at the Olympic Games) Virginie Caulier/BEL, and the Irishmen Joseph Murphy (individual 14th) and Michael Ryan.
The committee were delighted to announce that the winner of the Olympic eventing dressage test in London, Yoshiaki Oiwa (JPN), will participate to the CIC3*-W with his Olympic mount, Noonday de Conde.
Nicolas Touzaint and Aurélien Kahn, members of the French team in London, will return to Normandy, as well as most of the pre-selected Olympic riders: Stanislas de Zuchowicz, Eddy Sans, Karim Laghouag, Cédric Lyard, Didier Dhennin and Pascal Leroy. There will be more Norman riders than ever with a total of eight.
A total of 16 countries will be represented: Australia / Belgium / Bulgaria / Canada / China / Germany / Great Britain / Ireland / Italy / Japan / Netherlands / New Zealand / Portugal / Spain / Switzerland / France.
Debbie will be jetting into France for the event so as long as she doesn’t partake of too much of the local ‘refreshments’ you can expect full coverage on our website!
Photo: PSV J.Morel
