Hey EN, a quick note before the cross-country preview:
On Saturday, July 18, two statements from British Eventing were posted informing us that two serious incidents had taken place at competitions — one at Swalcliffe in Oxfordshire and one at Penrith in Cumbria. Both events were abandoned for the remainder of the weekend, and live scores were removed from the scoring platform out of respect for those affected. The full statement released by British Eventing can be found here.
Following other losses in our sport, EN has undertaken the following protocol:
These incidents represent incredibly dark days within our sport. We understand that the news cycle is cruel, particularly in cases like this. To help keep the cycle from perpetuating in the light of such loss, EN will continue to publish stories and news on an as-needed/timely basis, but we will refrain from sharing these updates on our social media platforms for the next few days. We feel as powerless as anyone in these situations and feel that the least we can do is not move on lightly. We will also not speculate on the circumstances of the incidents, nor will we allow this to take place in the comments sections.
We also know that there’s a World Championship (two of them — one this weekend at Millstreet for U25 riders and one next month at Aachen for Seniors) right at our doorstep. We’ll be covering these events to honor our commitment to our sponsors as well as to continue to provide coverage of the sport’s key competitions. However, we hope you’ll understand that we don’t feel it appropriate to approach these with our usual happy hype. Our content will be quality, but out of respect to all of those we have lost, we hope to offer this as a time of reflection.
Our thoughts are with all of those affected by these losses and we work for a safe sport in everything we do. We thank you for your understanding.
Anyone affected is encouraged to seek support through the British Eventing Support Trust Helpline, which is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, on 07780 008877.
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Fence 11: the Horseware Ireland Hobbit House.
We’re just a scant couple of hours away from the start of cross-country here at the FEI Under-25 World Championships in Millstreet, Ireland, and our 39 competitors have a big task on their hands in their pursuit of the first-ever medals at this inaugural championship.
Though the event is a CCI4*-S, it’s being held with showjumping last, and certainly, designer Mike Etherington-Smith has worked out how to pack as much as possible into 3700m of track. With an optimum time of 6:30, we’re looking at the clock as being one of the most influential factors of the day, but the terrain here at Millstreet is sure to play a part, too: the first two-thirds of the track feature plenty of uphill pulls and undulating ground, which flattens out and eases up in the final two minutes to ensure that any horses who are starting to tire can make it home comfortably.
Fence 1: the Millstreet Horseshoe.
As with any championship, it’s a course with plenty of slow alternative routes for riders and horses who are here to gain experience, rather than vie for a title, but those who want to get their paws on some metal will be looking at a top-of-the-range CCI4*-S challenge with no shortage of technicality. That technicality may play in the favour of the European nations, who are used to calculus-level courses – and Mike E-S’s own brand of question, since he’s been the course designer at Luhmühlen for a good long stint – but the let-up fences, with lots of broad tables among them, are pure Ireland.
Of course there’s an Irish bank, we’re in Ireland! This one comes up at 17ABCD.
Most fences on this course are approached on a turn, including those single fences – a savvy touch that requires riders to manage their line of approach while also helping horses to readjust their balance to their hind end, creating a safer trajectory and reducing the ability to gallop into single fences.
The leaderboard as we head to the start box is tight, tight, tight: just 15.6 time penalties cover the entire class, and a scant 6.2 spans the top twenty. That’s just over fifteen seconds of time, and doesn’t even stretch to a flag (9 penalties), a MIM activation (11), or a runout (20).
You can take a virtual walk around the (beautifully-dressed!) course via the CrossCountryApp here, and stream all the action via ClipMyHorse.Tv. Go Eventing!
Riders React to the U25 World Championships Course
Ann-Catrin Bierlein (Team Germany: 34th place with Sir Scotty on 40)
“It’s quite far from home, so we didn’t have a chance to come here before, but everyone said to me, ‘oh, it might be a bit hilly!’ I think the first part is quite intense because it’s mostly going uphill, but I like that in the last part, where they could start to get tired, it’s mostly flat. I think that suits my horse very well; he’s very fit and a fast horse, so I think I can attack the course. But it is big: it’s a lot of big fences, and so I’m really happy to be sat on this horse, because scope is not a topic I need to worry about. I can just point him and he does it. I think it’s not going to be a dressage competition, which, with my dressage performance, is something I’m really happy about! It’s a proper track.
Meg Pellegrini (Team USA: 16th place with Dondante on 33.3)
“I’m so excited – I think it’s going to be really, really fun. This horse especially is such a machine; he goes out there and he hunts everything, and he has a huge step, so I have to make sure I’m putting him in the right places. I learned that at Kentucky. I went back and watched the video, and there’s some jumps where he’s, like, moving himself out of the way because I’ve made a bit of a mistake. So I’m going to try really hard to do it all right for him this weekend. The course itself looks amazing – they’ve done such a beautiful job. Even just looking at the first jump, you know it’s going to impressive.”
Alice Casburn (Team Great Britain: 16th place with Topspin on 33.3)
“It’s a very Mike course, and I had a very interesting walk around it. I’m really glad I went to Luhmühlen because this gave me the same sort of feel – everything’s off a bit of a turn, and considering there aren’t hundreds of combinations, you still come back and your brain feels a bit tired. I was like, ‘I need an hour’s time out!’ There’s loads to do out there, and I think the last water is very stiff; that’s going to cause trouble. And the same again for the step [at fence xxx], because they’ve got you really galloping and thinking forward before it. But I’m looking forward to getting out there on him. It’s not even a case of wanting to be on him because of what he’s done – it’s that I trust him implicitly and I know we’ll look after each other and give each other confidence. Neither of us are actually very brave people, but somehow, you take one incredibly insecure person and one incredibly insecure horse, and we make each other feel so confident. I wouldn’t want to be on any other horse.”
Calvin Böckmann (Team Germany: 1st place with Altair de la Cense on 27.6)
“Technicality wise, it’s all fine – it’s challenging enough for sure, but what stands out is that they really did use proper fences. Maybe the Brits are used to these kind of fences more, but for us Germans and many other nations, we’re not really used to having big table after big table, and so there’s not really a fence to bring back the confidence. That’s why I think it’s even more important as a rider to just be on your game and have that bond and trust and communication with your horse so you can make it really clear for them. Combination-wise, I think it’s tricky, but if you ride the lines well, the distances and fences are pretty clear for the horses.”
Nico Goldbeck (Team Germany: 9th place with Chintano 7 on 31.6)
“A big point is trust and partnership, because with my horse, when I’m not straight to a jump, he knows what to do. The track is quite big, and the hills – we don’t have these in Northern Germany, so I think they’ll be one of the biggest challenges. I think the most tricky thing is the last water, with the skinny fence in the water and the big corner at the end – it’s one of the most tricky combinations on the course.”
Godfrey Gibbons (Team Ireland: 4th place with Ballyvillane OBOS on 29.9)
“We’ve given it a few walks now already, and it’s a proper championship course. We’re not surprised, but it’s a really good course out there, and really well presented. It’s going to cause problems and it’s going to take prisoners, and we just hope it’s not us.”
Cassie Sanger (Team USA: 6th place with Fernhill Zoro on 30.2)
“I feel really good about it. I feel very happy that we’re an experienced pair together, and we know each other inside out. I don’t love to go fast, but he’s a horse that I find it very easy on, so that really settles me down because I don’t have to think about that as much on him. The track really suits him; all the distances are great for him. He’s little – just 15.2hh – but he does have a massive step when he wants to. I don’t think there’s anything out there that I’m really scratching my head about but it’s difficult enough for sure, and the last water is very difficult. I’m last out for the US, and I’ll be remembering all the things I’ve done when I go into the start box – that’s what my coach always says, because I can be pretty hard on myself.”
Matilda Piovani (Individual for Italy: 7th place with Born West on 30.2)
“It’s a challenging course, and a really big one, and I also just have one horse at this level, so it’s only the second year for me at four-star. I don’t do as many of these courses as some of the other riders might do, so it’s probably the biggest course I’ll ever have ridden, and also for my horse. I know he’ll try his best for me, and I’ll try to ride him as good as possible.”
Nicolas Müller (Individual for Hungary: 33rd place with Mandoble on 39.4)
“It’s a tough track, with big everything. I think it should suit him, though. He’s a very galloping horse, and so I hope he should be eating up the track quite well. He can sometimes be a bit spooky or go a bit spooky on me, so I’m hoping he’ll just trust me enough to get over all the big jumps and the waters and everything like that. But I think it should be a lot of fun out there.”
Olivia Dutton (Team USA: 26th place with Jewelent on 35.8)
“The course is tough, but it’s fair. I walked it and I was like, ‘I really like this course!’ I think he did a really good job designing it. It’s going to cause some problems, and you’re going to have to react quickly.”
Brooke Dougall (Individual for Australia: 28th place with My Locky on 36.3)
“The course is very tough, but I didn’t expect anything else, being a championship. I think they’ve been very kind to us with a few options out there. But honestly, I just have to trust my partnership with him and just have to ride him on the day.”
The top ten at the culmination of dressage in the FEI U25 World Championships at Millstreet.
The team leaderboard at the culmination of dressage.
FEI Under-25 World Championships at Millstreet, presented by Connolly’s Red Mills: Website | Live Stream | Entries & Scoring | EN’s Coverage
