U.S. Jumpers Set for Sweden

By Staff Report April 22, 2013

Eleven of the United States’ best show jumping riders are heading to Gothenburg, Sweden in hopes of being named the 2013 Rolex/FEI World Cup Final champion. Included in the U.S. contingent is reigning champion Rich Fellers.

In addition to Fellers, riding under the supervision of the newly installed U.S. show jumping team chef d’equipe Robert Ridland at the April 24-28 event at the Gothenburg Horse Show in Sweden’s

Scandinavum Arena will be 10 riders, three of them from the West Coast.

Representing the left states will be two-time World Cup finalist Ashlee Bond, of Hidden Valley, CA, as well as rising stars Lucy Davis of Beverly Hills and Karl Cook of Woodside, CA. Fellers, who hails from Sherwood, OR, and chef Ridland, whose home base of operation is San Juan Capistrano, are also from the West Coast.

Fellers’ Olympic teammates Beezie Madden (Cazenovia, NY), McLain Ward (Brewster, NY), Reed Kessler (Lexington, KY) and Charlie Jayne (Elgin, IL) will also be competing for the World Championship title. The winner of the 2011 Pan American Games Individual Gold medal, Christine McCrea (East Windsor, CT), has also made the cut, as did Kent Farrington (Wellington, FL), who also represented the nation at the Pan Ams.

Rounding out the U.S. entries is newcomer Katie Dinan (New York, NY), the Individual Gold medalist from the 2011 Adequan/FEI North American Junior and Young Rider Championships presented by Gotham North.

“This is a particularly exciting year to be going back to Gothenburg since, for the first time in 25 years, an American rider will be returning as the defending World Cup Final Champion,” said chef d’equipe Robert Ridland of Fellers’ 2012 performance with the Irish Sport Horse stallion Flexible, owned by Harry and Mollie Chapman. “Over the years, the Scandinavium Arena has been the site of many American triumphs,” Ridland added.

Fellers and Flexible had a remarkable 2012 season that included victories in North America and Europe as well as an eighth place individual finish at the Olympic Games in London. The other U.S. riders also have records to be proud of. Madden was the top-earning rider at the Spruce Meadows Masters in 2012

“This year’s contingent of American riders is the strongest in years, a group that includes the top-ranked U.S. riders, Olympians, and the 2011 Pan American Games Individual Gold Medalist,” said Ridland. “Equally as exciting however, is the incredibly talented group of under-30 riders who will be representing the U.S., because through their performances on the world stage we will be getting an early glimpse of what the future holds for us.”

Dinan was the Individual Gold medalist at the 2011 Adequan/FEI North American Junior and Young Rider Championships presented by Gotham North and has spent the past 12 months earning top finishes both stateside and abroad. She rides Grant Road Partners LLC’s Nougat Du Vallet.

Cook, another debutante, has been making a name for himself jumping on the West Coast with Signe Ostby’s Jonkheer Z. Davis and Old Oak Farm’s Nemo 119 will look to showcase the form that has consistently earned them top finishes in the U.S. and abroad. Bond, making her third appearance at the World Cup Finals, will saddle up on Little Valley Farms’ Wistful.

McCrea participated with Madden and Ward at the U.S. Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico, ultimately surging past them to win Individual Gold with Romantovich Take One. She travels to Sweden with Romanovitch, owned by Candy Tribble, and the Tribble/ Windsor Show Stables-owned Wannick WH. Farrington, another Pan Am Games alumn, flies with R.C.G. Farm’s Uceko in their second appearance at the Final.

Madden is one the most decorated riders in America, with two Olympic Team Gold medals (2004 and 2008), Olympic Individual Bronze (2008), and Team and Individual Silver medals from the FEI World Equestrian Games (2006). She travels to Sweden with Abigail Wexner’s talented geldings Simon and Cortes C.

Ward, who was also on those same Olympic medal-winning teams, was the runner-up at the 2009 Rolex/FEI World Cup Final. He pairs with his 2012 Olympic mount, Grant Road Partners LLC’s Antares F and that group’s Super Trooper De Ness.

Kessler was the youngest rider in history to be a member of a U.S. Equestrian Olympic team when she competed in London last year at age 18. She makes her Final debut with her Olympic partner Cylana and the versatile Ligist. Jayne, the reserve rider in London, is making his third consecutive Finals appearance. He will ride Alex Jayne and Maura Thatcher’s Chill R Z in Sweden.

The first leg of the 2013 Rolex/FEI World Cup Final, which plays out in classes on three separate days as part of the Gothenburg Horse Show, April 24-28, is the speed class on Thursday, April 25.

Short URL: https://theequestriannews.com/?p=14800