So, late last night as we were all getting ready to go to sleep, Nick's groom, Claire, called to inform all the riders that the meter 1.35 speed class start time was moved from 10:00 am to 8:00. This was very unwelcome news to everyone, and it was physically painful to set our alarm clocks for the incredibly cruel hour of 6:00 am yet again. However, we persevered and managed to wake up with the help of the screeching Nokia and some instant coffee. No laziness allowed on Nation's Cup day!
Upon arriving at the barn, Jen, Taylor, and Nick flatted their second horses before the meter 1.35. Nick competed first aboard his young mare, who he and Claire have nicknamed "Belly Button" (but pronounced with a French accent) because she has a noticeable bump on the bottom of her belly. Buttons has continued to improve through the weekend and today she had just a singly unlucky rail at the plank. Taylor showed Tusker next, and she rode smooth and fast but made a mistake into a combination, resulting in a score of four faults. Jen was team U.S.A's last hope in the meter 1.35 and she almost pulled out a spectacular finish, but Shakira decided to keep the four fault trend going and had a rail.
Despite the disappointment of the morning, we were determined our luck would improve for the Nations Cup. The course of twelve jumps looked imposing during the walk. Some of the most difficult elements proved to be the second jump, a big, square oxer just a few strides out of the corner; 6abc, a tight vertical-vertical-oxer triple combination; a bending eight strides from jump 7 to 8ab, a big two stride oxer-vertical combination that rode very tight; the open water jump; and the final two fences, both of which were large oxers in a long bending line. The course was quite challenging, but the field of riders and horses proved to be very strong and many jumped with perfect or nearly perfect scores. The time allowed also proved to be a factor and, despite increasing the set time by three seconds after the first three horses showed, many competitors still had time faults.
Nick was the third rider to test his skills over the course and, although he incurred a single time fault, this penalty was dropped when the time allowed was adjusted and his final result was a faultless round. Taylor was the next American rider to show and was not quite able to match Nick's perfect score. Karonda jumped wonderfully, but she dropped a single rail at the second to last fence, resulting in four faults. However, we did not lose heart! Jen rode next and Venturo was also very good but had two unfortunate rails at oxers (one occurring at the second jump, which proved to be the U.S. team's least favorite obstacle of the day). Karl was the team's anchor rider and, although Uno jumped all but the second fence cleanly, he also stepped on the tape at the water jump, resulting in an eight fault score. Despite falling short of a truly spectacular first round, the American team sat in third place at the genesis of the second and final round, just behind the British and Dutch teams.
Nick started off the second round, which was merely a repeat attempt over the same course of jumps, almost as well as the first by earning a score of four faults (the second jump was really out to get us). Taylor had the same jump down in the second round as she had in the first, and also rode the water a bit nonchalantly which caused Karonda to step on the tape, giving her a four fault score. Jen had a single rail in the triple combination, giving the team another four fault score. Karl came through for the other riders in the second round and added no faults to the overall score. Although all the horses jumped very well and had good rounds, our single rails here and there gave the team a total score of twenty faults (each team had one drop score for each round). This placed us behind the British, Dutch, and Italian teams and we finished in fourth place. The British and Dutch had equal scores after the first two rounds and jumped off for the gold. The British won by only four faults.
The U.S. riders were all a bit disappointed by the outcome of our first international Nation's Cup, but the horses are jumping so well and being so good that we know our performance will improve after this weekend. Upon returning to the barn, we were all feeling a little down, but Claire's kind French parents gave everyone champagne and our Chef D'Equipe, Ralph, was very positive about the team's riding and reminded us that the day was not quite over. Michael still had two horses to compete in the individual class! The whole group began discussing our last chance to hear the Star Spangled Banner and we all went to the ring to watch Michael show. The pressure of being the only person with the ability to redeem the Americans proved to be intense, and Michael did not perform his best. However, his horses were both good and no catastrophes occurred, so we rendered the weekend a success!
All the horses are feeling great, no one has any broken bones, and we are ready to move on to the next show. Tomorrow we drive to Henk Noren's farm just outside of Leige on the other side of Belgium where we will ride for a week before going to compete in Reims, France. The Americans will not give the European competition such an easy win next time!
- Jen and Taylor
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