www.eventingetc.com

The USA show jumping team pulled off a heart stopper to finish in second place behind the Dutch team in the World Championships. McLain Ward and Sapphire went clean as did Beezie Madden on Authentic with Margie Engle and Hidden Creek's Quervo Gold finishing with 4 faults and dropping Laura Kraut's 8
faults with Miss Independence. GO USA!!!!

GOLD: Netherlands - 11.01
SILVER: USA - 18.85
BRONZE: Germany - 19.16
4th - Ukraine - 17.17
5th - Switzerland - 25.89
6th - Ireland - 29.08

SHOW JUMPING - Individual

Beezie Madden continues to show the way in the individual race by completing a clear round in today's competition to maintain her perfect 0 score. McClain Ward and Sapphire are not far behind, sitting 5th at this point with 4.87. They take a break tomorrow and the top 25 riders return on Saturday for the next round. On Sunday the top four riders will switch horses and ride each of the other rider's horses over the course to crown the Individual World Champion. Should be exciting!

1. Beezie Madden (USA), Authentic - 0.00
2. Gerco Schroder (NED), Eurocommerce Berlin - 0.43
3. Ludger Beeerbaum (GER), L'Espoir - 2.70
4. Jeroen Dubbledam (NED), BMC Up And Down - 4.10
5. McLain Ward (USA), Sapphire - 4.87
6. Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum (GER) - 4.92

All best,

Bonnie

Bonnie B. Jenkins
Executive Director
United States Equestrian Team Foundation
908-234-1251 ext. 215
908-234-0670 (fax)
bjenkins@uset.org

* * * * *

Let’s toast the winners … with fresh Orange juice, of course!

Gerco Schröder (NED) and Eurocommerce Berlin,a t the end of what can only be described as the most exciting, electrifying, exhilarating, in one word truly unforgettable Team Jumping Final, The Netherlands seize the gold medal finishing on the impressive score of 11.01. The silver goes to the USA (18.85) and the bronze to Germany, the home team, with 19.16.

As a rule, the two rounds of the Nations Cup competition are held on the same day over the same course, but Aachen is special in every way. As the second round was held at night under floodlights, the water had to be removed. Also, the 13-obstacle 16-jumping effort course had gained 5 cm in height and 10 to 20 cm in width with the night’s dew. A wall in the shape of a postage stamp – which would have a dramatic effect on the German team - had been placed at six. On one side is depicted a stamp of Aachen, issued by the German Federal Post in 1973; on the other appears the stamp commemorating the 2006 FEI World Equestrian Games. It is the first time that a fence of such a design has been used.

In a true Nations Cup manner, the teams were going in reverse order of merit so by the time the first Dutch rider, Piet Raymakers, entered the arena on Van Schijndel Curtis performances ranged anywhere between 12 faults by Ireland’s Shane Breen aboard World Cruise and clear rounds from Christina Liebherr (SUI) on L.B. No Mercy and, much to the delight of the crowded stadium, Ludger Beerbaum on L’Espoir With a refusal at obstacle six (the stamp), three other fences down and two time penalties, Raymakers finished on 18 disastrous points. What helps in such moments are a sense of humour – “things got all the more exciting after that,” – solid nerves and team spirit. Sydney Olympic Champion Jeroen Dubbeldam on BMC Up and Down was the second Dutch to go. “I tried to stay with my horse as much as possible; this is what I had to do to restore the faith for the team,” he said. By the time Albert Zoer’s turn on Okidoki had come spirits were up and it was time for some excitement. He had the very first fence down but more interestingly he lost his stirrup and was able to recover it only two fences later to finish on 4 penalty points. Gerco Schröder, the last rider for the evening, who at 28 is the team’s youngest member, gave all he had to finish on a fantastic double clear. The Dutch team were understandably pleased with their performance, but the individual competition is still ongoing and is very much on everybody’s mind. “And let’s not forget that we still have to fight and stay in the Samsung Super League,” chef d’équipe Rob Ehren reminded everyone.

The performance of the USA is just as remarkable especially given the outstanding achievement of Beezie Madden, who on Authentic, is the only rider without a single penalty.

For Germany, things had got off to a winning note after the clear rounds of Ludger Beerbaum and Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum on Shutterfly and the four faults of Christian Ahlmann on Cöster. Marcus Ehning and his 9-year old bay mare Noltes Küchengirl entered confidently the arena. Despite her brilliant performances at La Baule and here in Aachen in May this year, Küchengirl is still young and was frightened by a first fence down. The pair crashed in the postage stamp fence and were eliminated to leave the German team on a final score of 19.16 points and a bronze medal. “The Netherlands and USA weren’t just lucky, they fully deserve their medals,” German chef d’équipe said. “We are happy to have a medal.”

Team Ukraine, composed of two Belgian and two German riders, who recently have changed their nationality to become Ukrainians, finish in fourth place only 0.01 points behind Germany. The team’s third rider Gregory Wathelet and Loriot had a clear round, which was followed by another clear by Katharina Offel and Atlanta, who picked up one time penalty on the way. What if…

The team medals are now in the pockets but the competition is far from finished. The best 25 individual riders after the three days of competition will proceed to a fourth round on Saturday. Big fences and difficult questions are clearly ahead and whoever the final four are on Sunday, they will clearly have earned their spot through a tough selection.

Once again, Aachen witnessed a fantastic competition. The riders were talented, the horses brave, the public cheerful, but first and foremost, these were no games, this was sport.

01/09/2006 - 2008 Olympic Games Qualifications

According to the qualification procedure for the Team Jumping event at the 2008 Olympic Games, the teams to qualify for Hong Kong after the 2006 FEI World Equestrian Games are:

- 5 best placed teams: The Netherlands, USA, Germany, Ukraine, Switzerland.
- the best placed team from FEI Olympic Group G (South East Asia, Oceania) – Australia

The full procedure for the three disciplines in available in English and French on the FEI website www.horsesport.org (homepage, 2008 Olympic Games, OG 2008 Documents) in pdf format.

* * * * *

Jeroen Dubbeldam, who posted a clear round on Thursday riding BMC Up and Down to help the Dutch claim Gold and move into fourth place individually, commented on the challenging course, saying, "We are in the world championships so the whole course was difficult. From the first to last fence you have to be concentrated. The course is very long, the oxers are very wide, and it took a lot of strength out of the horses. Our course builder did a very good job, not killing our horses but getting enough faults."

In the Individual rankings, 2004 Olympic Team Gold Medalist American Beezie Madden of Cazenovia, NY, delivered a third clear round in as many days riding Authentic to remain at the top of the leader board while Gerco Schroder of the Netherlands was again faultless riding Eurocommerce Berlin to take over second position. Germany's legendary Ludger Beerbaum guided L'Espoir to a clear round to move into third position.

The Following Quotes are from Jennifer Ward's Jump Canada e-mail

Jeroen Dubbeldam, who posted a clear round on Thursday riding BMC Up and Down to help the Dutch claim Gold and move into fourth place individually, commented on the challenging course, saying, "We are in the world championships so the whole course was difficult. From the first to last fence you have to be concentrated. The course is very long, the oxers are very wide, and it took a lot of strength out of the horses. Our course builder did a very good job, not killing our horses but getting enough faults."

"We still have a lot of jumping to go, probably the hardest yet on Saturday," forecasted Madden, the current leader. "My horse feels good and I hope to make it in on Sunday."

Driving Competition

31/08/2006 - Dress and Drive

After the first phase of the Driving competition, which began yesterday and continued today, Chester C. Weber (USA) is in the lead with 75.8% (38.78 points). Ysbrand Chardon (NED) is second (41.22 points – 74.2%) and Germany’s Michael Freund is third only 0.2% behind (74% - 41.60 points).

Chester Weber was very pleased with his horses who had performed a remarkable test despite the somewhat deep footing. Ysbrand Chardon also congratulated Chester on his performance. This test had a peculiar meaning to Michael Freund, for whom this is the very last international competition. Having competed for over 30 years, 12 of which had seen him as one of the world’s most successful drivers, he had announced his resolution to withdraw a few years ago. And today, under the warm applause of a full stadium, this decision is coming into effect. “Better to leave the party when it is at its best,” Freund commented. The father may be leaving but the next generation is knocking on the door. Michael’s nine-year old son is already in the sport, driving Shetland ponies. (Christoph Sandman, a member of the German Team, is pictured at the right.)

The team classification corresponds exactly to the individual one: the USA are in the lead (82.04 points), followed by Belgium (88.07) and Germany (88.19). In Driving, a team consists of a minimum of two and a maximum of three riders. The two best scores are added together to produce the team score.

The object of the Driven Dressage Test, is to judge the freedom, regularity of paces, harmony, impulsion, suppleness, lightness, ease of movement and correct bending of the horses on the move. Competitors are also judged on style, accuracy, and general control of their horses. The dress as well as the condition of the harness and vehicle and the presentation of the whole turnout are taken into consideration. Jackets or national dress, driving aprons, hats and gloves are obligatory for competitors. Grooms must wear jackets or national dress, hats and gloves.

The second and very exciting part of the competition, the marathon will take place tomorrow. The course is very technical with eight highly imaginative and colourful fences. Preparation for the marathon was been rather complex given the fact that the land where it is built does not belong to the ALRV, organiser of the event. It is the property of local farmers and is used only under very strict conditions. Therefore, sanding, which would have been of help because of the heavy rain, was absolutely out of the question. The track, 10 m wide and 6 km long, is the same as for the Eventing Cross Country. In agreement with the landowners and the city of Aachen, the ground underwent extensive preparation to make it stable and reliable.

31/08/2006 - Did You Know?

Netherlands’ Ysbrand Chardon, 45, is the first and only driver to have been World Four-in-Hand Driving Champion three times. Chardon won the first of three individual gold medals (he also has won five team gold medals in the nations competition) at Apeldoorn (NED) in 1982 and the most recent at the last FEI World Equestrian Games in Jerez in 2002.