James Paterson-Robinson and Qulander Z at the Linz CSIO4* Nations Cup
Photograph:Nicol Taylor
Story by Peter Cooke, courtesy Equestrian Australia
Following last weekend’s rain drenched grass arena in Lummen, the next group of Australian jumping riders were faced with a hot and dry sand arena for the Linz CSIO4* in Austria. The selectors are assessing the riders over the first round of the Nations’ Cup class and the first round of the Grand Prix on Sunday. Six combinations were assessed at the Lummen CSIO4* in Belgium last weekend.
The warm up day on Thursday 10 May provided our riders with a good 1.45m track to get the feel of the sand and fibre arena, and at the end of a massive class of 81 horses Matt Williams on his back up horse of Bolero Van’t Heike ended up in 2nd place and earning himself a spot in the Grand Prix class on Sunday. Danielle Butcher and Twins Big Higgs made an impressive start with a clear round and just 1 time penalty for a top 20 finish. Wendy Schaeffer and her mare Koyuna Sun Set had a good warm up with one rail down and will need to qualify for the Grand Prix later in the weekend. James Paterson Robinson rode his stallion Qulander Z in the earlier 1.40m class for a comfortable start to the weekend.
Unfortunately, Harley Brown and Cassiato were unable to join the team in Linz due to the big grey gelding contracting a viral infection and under veterinary advice was unable to travel for fear of adding further complications. In addition, Mark Lindh and Coolio were also non-starters due to Coolio not travelling too well to Linz and stepped off the truck with a sore front leg, and despite some rapid attention from the team vet Dr David Johnson, was unable to present to the trot up on Day One.
This means under the Olympic Games Jumping Nomination Policy that both combinations have requested and received an exemption to participate in the Phase 1 of the selection, however under separate direction one or both may be invited to the final competitions in Borg-en Bresse, France at the end of May. The consequence is that neither combination can automatically win their way onto the team and will have to rely on their performances over one weekend and the views of the National Selection Panel to earn a spot on the team.
Nations Cup day is always a tense build up as 15 Nations look to prove their wares and compete as a team as opposed to the normal individual competitions – a very different atmosphere and pressure for all concerned as the event unfolds. Australian riders have a twofold purpose – to compete in the Nations Cup for the team but in this instance to put a sound performance on the board for their own future selection prospects.
The team consisted of Wendy Schaeffer and Koyuna Sun Set, Danielle Butcher and Twins Big Higgs, Matt Williams with Watch me vd Mangelaar, and James Paterson Robinson with Qulander Z.
Austrian Course Designer Franz Madl put together a very well-crafted but solid 12 fence course which from the onset was going to test all nations to the limit. The 120x100m arena has been re-modelled during the past year and now is a bowl shape with a small lake in the middle serving as a drain or sump in the event of heavy rain and the well balanced new sand and fibre surface has to be watered and dressed every 30 horses.
The track had 2 key lines with number 3 a 1.52x2.00m triple bar 23metres to a 7.8m double of 1.55m verticals. This was a very definite 6 strides for 90 per cent of the class but the few who tried the 5 strides were not necessarily disadvantaged – the line was responsible for many errors during the afternoon.
The next line to really sort out the class was turning after the 3.8m water jump directly away from the in-gate to a 1.60m wall followed 26.2m or six strides to the treble of a 1.50m square oxer, 7.80m to a 1.55m vertical and 11.00m to a 1.50x1.70m oxer – the back rail was a long way for many combinations. At the end of the arena following the treble was a 1.60 rail vertical.
There was a significant difference between the Lummen and Linz events due to the rain and nature of the going, however both course designers achieved the best results with their adaptation to the conditions resulting in a very fair comparison for our Nomination process.
Australia had drawn 8th of the 15 nations and so Wendy Schaeffer and Koyuna Sun Set were our first combination. They jumped very positively and clearly benefited from participating in the Nomination process in the lead up to the Kentucky WEG as they made the majority of the track look quite easy and apart from rolling the top rail of the 1.60m vertical after the treble completed a first rate 4 fault round.
Danielle Butcher and Twins Big Higgs were competing for their country for the first time and apart from some nerves on the first day, looked very at home in the main ring. Inexperience for both horse and rider accounted for a rail at the first of the tall double of verticals after the triple bar and then again both the B and C elements of the treble. The speed at 400m/min also took its toll and added a further 2 penalties to her 12 jumping faults for a total of 14.
Matt Williams at 27 years is now a very experienced campaigner for Australia and although aboard a relatively inexperienced Watch Me was not able to meet his own lofty standards and had four rails down for a total score of 16. They were at the high faulting double and treble fences and the 1.80m wide last fence oxer. Matt has decided that his horse needs some treatment for a sore back and will not compete with Watch Me again at this show.
James Paterson-Robinson did not have the best of weekends at Lummen, and was looking to make up ground at Linz with his and Ger Poels’ stallion Qulander Z. When this pair entered the ring, there had only been 7 clear rounds from over 50 horses and only 10 horses earlier we had to sit and endure probably the best round of the afternoon from Niack De L’Abbaye who was James’ ride in Kentucky and now competing for Ukraine. Under significant pressure to perform James and Qulander delivered a faultless round earning an automatic spot in the Grand Prix and a certificate of capability for the Olympic Games.
Australia finished the teams event on 18 faults, the same as Spain and Italy and in front of Belgium and Austria, however did not accept the invitation to return for the second round. The eventual winners on the afternoon were Ukraine followed by Brazil and Canada. View the full results here
All riders were well supported by National Coach Gilbert Boeckmann and will continue to benefit from participation at this level.
The Linz CSIO4* Grand Prix class starts at 2pm Sunday 13 May European summer time or 12:00am AEST Monday 14 May.
Catch all the action online on FEI TV as they broadcast from Linz – visit
For full event information visit http://www.linzerpferdefestival.at/
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