All the major league action was overseas Friday, with a storybook American winner at an Olympic dressage observation competition in Germany, and a less happy ending for the U.S. show jumping team at the League of Nations in Rotterdam.
Marcus Orlob, who began riding Alice Tarjan’s Jane only in February, won the Grand Prix for the Special at the Schafhofs Dressage Festival with a lovely test between good halts, featuring smooth transitions, classic pirouettes and a tension-free performance throughout. He finished on a personal best of 73.913 percent ahead of Adrienne Lyle and Helix (72.739), another new combination owned by Zen Elite Equestrian. A third new U.S. pairing, Endel Ots and Zen Elite’s Bohemian, tied for fourth on 72.587. All three are contenders for a spot on the Olympic team.
Marcus Orlob and Jane.
“That was a phenomenal ride today,” said Adrienne of the performance by Marcus.
“It was so exciting to see. It’s been fun watching them develop that mare throughout the season, how smart and slowly they’ve brought her along. Today she was in the right place to be able to turn it up. That’s really exciting for our country.”
For her part, Adrienne was delighted with Helix.
“It’s definitely our best test,” noted the Olympic veteran, who will ride Helix in the Special on Saturday, and her other Zen Elite mount, Lars van de Hoenderheide, in the Grand Prix for the Freestyle.
Adrienne Lyle and Helix.
According to Adrienne, Helix, “was the most trusting and the most sensitive. I was able to ride him with really quiet aids, which I really like, and the balance stayed good throughout.
“I couldn’t ask for more. There’s still so much more power in there, so much more in the tank, but we’re just sticking with our plan as being very methodical in developing him mentally and physically, step by step. The more judges see him go like that, the more the scores will go up, even with him going the same (type of) ride,” she continued.
In Rotterdam, the U.S. team’s two highest-ranked show jumping riders, Laura Kraut (Baloutinue) and McLain Ward (Callas) each had a rail, which kept the squad out of the second round, limited to eight of the 10 countries participating. The U.S. finished last, as the American dressage team had on Thursday in that discipline’s Nations Cup at the Dutch venue. Germany also did not qualify for the second round in the Rotterdam show jumping contest.
However, the U.S. did make the cut on overall points earned during the League’s three-show series to qualify for October’s final in Barcelona. Callie Schott, the least experienced rider on the squad, was fault-free on Garant in the first round, as was Jessica Springsteen with Don Juan van de Donkehoeve.
Click here to see final League of Nations standings
The winning French contingent, guided by Chef D’Equipe Henk Nooren, had seven clear rounds in seven tries (only three riders compete in the second round under the League of Nations format.) Henk indicated that the Rotterdam team–Julien Epaillard, Simon Delestre, Kevin Staut and Olivier Perreaux, will be France’s Olympic team.
“Our biggest goal is the Olympics, especially because it is a home Olympics, but we also wanted to qualify for Barcelona Final at the same time,” Henk said.
Kevin Staut, who had been injured in April 2023, hadn’t jumped in a Nations Cup since 2022, unquestionably proved his worth.Henk pointed out Kevin was under “enormous pressure to prove himself again, that he has a horse to go perhaps to Paris with in a couple of weeks.”
Kevin said, “it’s been a really long way to come back to this level, so it’s really emotional. Some clears don’t have the same value as others for this reason. We have had tough days, tough weeks, tough shows and a few weeks ago I was not really sure that we could come here and be ready — but here we are! I’m proud of my horse and all the team around us.”
Julien Epaillard and Donatello D’Auge clinched victory for the French. (FEI photo)
Robert Ridland, the U.S. chef d’equipe, felt the course designed by Quintin Maertens, Louis Konickx and Peter Grant, was too easy. He cited the fact that there were 37 trips without jumping faults across two rounds among a total of 63 trips for the two rounds. Four rounds that otherwise would have been fault-free involved penalties for exceeding the 73-second time allowed.
The League of Nations course in Rotterdam.
“The course didn’t do its job. It appeared too easy when we walked the course,” Robert contended.
But he noted, “All of our team horses jumped very well, and it was a very competitive class today, so while we had wanted to finish higher in the standings, I’m still pleased with how our horses jumped, especially Callie and Garant and Jessie and Don delivering the ever-important clear rounds for the team.”
The winning French team: Kevin Staut, Julien Epaillard, Chef d’Equipe Henk Nooren, Simon Delestre, Olivier Perreau.
For Schfhofs results, cllick here.
For Rotterdam League of Nations results, click on this link.
