Amsterdam selected for NZ Nations Cup Team

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Delighted with Amsterdam’s selection to represent New Zealand in the last of the 2016 Nations Cup series at Boekelo in the Netherlands.

This will be Amsterdam’s second CCI3* and for me the third time I will compete at Boekelo. I rode here last year with my dear old campaigner Kaapachino, where we were also part of the New Zealand team competing in the Nations Cup and also competing to secure New Zealand a team place at Rio, with a traveling reserve.

Two wins for the team….

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Two very good days at the office on the 8-9th August with both Lord George and Fado claiming decisive wins at Homme House. Apart VD Hoefslag Z also jumped a double clear after a very good dressage to bring home a 5th prize.

On the Monday at Smiths Lawn – Windsor, May Ryloa backed up her top placing at her first CIC1* at Chilham in late July with a 3rd place in a highly competitive class.

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‘I Spye’ Wins Major Young Event Horse Title

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Thrilled to have my super horse I Spye win this prestigious Young Event Horse event.

From a field of 50 competitors I Spye won the Dubarry Young Event horse at the Gatcombe Festival of British Eventing.

I Spye joined my team as a four year old and from day one I have rated him as a horse with outstanding talent for the future. Very gratifying to have a panel of international judges agree.

Also very pleased for Sam, my New Zealand working pupil, who I allowed ride I Spye so I could compete Gigilo VK for my wonderful owner – Jane Bell. Giggle VK went into the final phase of judging in second place, one mark from I Spye, but sadly got pipped to 9th place for the final section of judging – a top 10 place still a credible result for Jane and her promising young horse.

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THE DUBARRY BURGHLEY YOUNG EVENT HORSE 
This hugely popular competition has been integral to Burghley Horse Trials for nearly 30 years and is still acknowledged as the shop window to view potential ‘four star’ horses at an early age.
Open to four and five year olds, the aim of the Series is to encourage breeders and trainers to produce and present the type of young horse which will be considered to be the best material to make a world class three day event horse.
The judges look for an athletic, loose moving horse with a promising jumping technique and attitude which, with correct training and production, will develop physically and mentally into a strong three day eventer.
The winner is that with the highest overall marks from four sections:
SECTION MARKS
I Dressage Out of 30
II Jumping – 1.05m for 5 year olds – Out of 40
III Conformation (12 marks) & Quality (8 marks) – Out of 40
IV Suitability & Potential – 1 – 10
Dressage: each horse performs a simple dressage test to demonstrate obedience, suppleness and, correct, elastic and regular gaits. Marks are not awarded for individual movements.
Jumping: follows immediately after the dressage. Judges are looking for a bold athletic horse with good technique.A horse should not necessarily be penalised for knocking down one fence (or even a four year old having one refusal), providing he learns from his mistake.However, a fall of horse or rider or three cumulative refusals will result in elimination.
Conformation and Quality: assessed in hand. The horses’ build and type should enable them to withstand the demands of the sport in terms of soundness, speed and stamina.
SuitabilityandPotential: the top ten highest scoring horses from sections I – III are invited to come into the Ring to be assessed on potential international quality. The horses are brought into line in the order that the judge sees their potential.Ten marks will be awarded to the horse that the judge selects first, 9 to the second, 8 to the third, etc down to 1 mark to the tenth horse.These marks are added to those from the previous 3 sections to establish the winner
One horse per 15 starters at today’s event will qualify for the Dubarry Burghley Young Event Horse Finals which take place at the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials on Friday, 2 September.

Amsterdam wins ‘Fox-Hunter’

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I was delighted with Amsterdam’s win Showjumping.

We decided to open up some gears to win the ‘Fox-Hunter’ from a field of 37 experienced show jumpers – a lot of fun showing those show jumpers how we eventers handle jumping against the clock!!

My super talented five year old  I-Spye also pleased with a double clear in his class.

Amsterdam and I shortlisted for Rio

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Thrilled to be named by New Zealand and the Federation Equestrian International in the olympic short list as one of seven riders for New Zealand’s Eventing Olympic team of five riders.

To represent New Zealand at the Olympic Games has been my passion and driving goal since I was seven years old. We have an incredibly strong squad and I am delighted to be a part of it with the opportunity to learn from the worlds best.

Amsterdam has only recently made the step to 3* and has a huge future ahead of him. I thank Gary and Linda Harding for giving me the opportunity to train and compete this wonderful, world class horse.

Amsterdam stars at Dodson & Horrell Chatsworth

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The first leg of the Event Rider Masters Series at Dodson & Horrell Chatsworth was fantastic and it was great to be a part of it. It was a lot of fun and the atmosphere was superb.

Amsterdam was the first New Zealand horse home in 15th place in a class with the top 40 riders in the world, give or take a handful of absentees.

He did fantastically well in all three phases of this ERM3*, jumping a beautiful double clear. He moves with so much flair when he gets more established at this level he will really pull in the big marks in the dressage.

It was a great event and huge congratulations to the ERM and to Dodson & Horrell whom I am very fortunate to have support from. Mum, dad and I had a super lunch with the Dodson & Horrell team and it was lovely to meet them all.   Jesse

Badminton 2016

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What an incredible experience Badminton was. The result wasn’t quite what I wanted but the experience I gained over the past week will really set me up for the years to come. Thank you to everyone for the messages of support, it was really humbling. And also a big thank you to the most amazing horse ever, Kaapachino. He gave his all and I couldn’t have asked any more of my old friend, thank you Kaapy.

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An evening at NZ High Commission

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I had a great evening recently at the New Zealand High Commission in London:

A great evening for Eventing Team New Zealand! Thanks to Kea New Zealand for hosting, and to our other High Performance squad riders for sharing their experiences and stories with a great crowd.

It was an honour to have our High Commissioner Rt Hon Sir Lockwood Smith KNZM, PhD to welcome everyone to the stunning NZ High Commission Penthouse. Sir Mark Todd was the key speaker and as always was very engaging and funny, with lots of laughs to be had. It was great to see so much support from fellow Kiwis and to share in a few tales of what it means to be a part of Eventing Team New Zealand in the build up to Rio”

Thanks to Little Beauty for wonderful wines and NZ Beer Collective for a range of “Kiwi” beers.

NZ Qualify for Rio Olympics

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Jesse and Kaapachino help qualify NZ for Rio Olympic Games

Jesse and Kaapachino help qualify NZ for Rio Olympic Games at Boekelo

NZ poised for Rio: Jesse & Kaapachino 2nd at Boekelo after XC

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NZ Poised for Rio

PUBLISHED 11 OCTOBER 2015

New Zealand looks well on track to secure the team spot at the 2016 Rio Olympics after some brilliant efforts in the cross country overnight in the CCI3* at the Military Boekelo Horse Trials in The Netherlands.

But tonight’s showjumping is going to be critical – New Zealand must have three of the four team riders complete to secure the berth.

Young gun Jesse Campbell and his former racehorse Kaapachino rode a beautiful clear round, adding just .4 time penalties to his dressage score for finishing just outside of the time allowed. They sit on 43.5, just behind leader Chris Burton (AUS) and Monarchs Exclusive on 41.3.

For 26-year-old Campbell it was “a good day at the office”. “We had a great discussion around how to approach the (cross country) track and a good plan of attack,” he said. “Pretty much, it all came up as hoped. I was lucky to have two seriously experienced people to go out before me.”

He had every confidence in his horse too. “Kaapachino is a pretty experienced cross country horse – not only is he quick but extremely easy to turn too, which is what this course is all about.”

The two competed at Boekelo three years ago.

“I was confident this would suit him, but it was a course you really had to ride.” Campbell says the team Olympic qualification is the big focus for the showjumping tonight, but Kaapachino is capable of a clear round.

Jonelle Price and Cloud Dancer II were also clear but added 14.8 time penalties to their dressage score to finish in seventh place on 48.9.

Individual Blyth Tait and Xanthus III were in searing form to also come home clear but added six to their dressage score to sit on 49.2 in eighth place. Dan Jocelyn and Beaucatcher, who are competing as an individual combination, were clear and added 2.4 in time to their score. Lizzie Brown and her individual mount Princeton rode well to just add 3.6 time faults to sit in 34th place on 61.9. She retired Henton Attorney General during the cross country.

Team-members Jocelyn on Dassett Cool Touch and Tim Price on Xavier sit in 37th and 38th respectively. Jocelyn was clear with 9.2 time and Price added 20 faults for a run-out but incredibly still came home inside the time allowed.

The showjumping is going to call for perfection from many – there is a single rail (four penalties) between the top three, and two between the top eight.

ESNZ eventing coach Erik Duvander was very pleased with the team. “Today was a very good performance from all of them,” he said.

“They rode to team orders and delivered what was expected. The aim for tomorrow is four clears – we want as fine a result as possible. It is not just about qualifying but also being competitive.”

He had plenty of praise for Campbell, but was also very pleased to see Jonelle Price’s young horse Cloud Dancer II do so well.

“It looks as though that horse could be a real prospect for the future,” he said.

As expected the time was tight on the course, with just four coming home clear and on the right side of the clock. Six retired, seven were eliminated and five withdrawn before the cross country in the 84-strong field.

In the Nations Cup competition, New Zealand sit .3 of a penalty point behind Ireland. Just four teams remain – Ireland, New Zealand, United States and France. The other six failed to complete a full team.

The Japanese are out of the team’s race for Rio after Toshiyuki Tanaka and Ballastar Bay were eliminated during the cross country. Yoshiaki Oiwa and The Duke of Cavan sit in 28th place on 58.1 penalty points and Ryuzo Kitajima and Just Chocolate are in 47th on 76.6.

Results in the Nations Cup: Ireland 157.7, New Zealand 158, United States 170.1, France 200.3.

Approximately 60'000 people visited on the day of CROSS COUNTRY: 2015 NED-Military Boekelo-Enschede CCIO3* (Saturday 10 October) CREDIT: Libby Law COPYRIGHT: LIBBY LAW PHOTOGRAPHY

Approximately 60’000 people visited on the day of CROSS COUNTRY: 2015 NED-Military Boekelo-Enschede CCIO3* (Saturday 10 October) CREDIT: Libby Law COPYRIGHT: LIBBY LAW PHOTOGRAPHY

Click here for full results from Boekelo

The New Zealand riders, horses and owners:

  • Jonelle Price on Cloud Dancer II (owned by The Marley and Me Syndicate)
  • Jesse Campbell and Kaapachino (owned by Jesse and Dr Craig Campbell)
  • Tim Price and Xavier Faer (owned by Trisha Rickards)
  • Blyth Tait and Xanthus III (owned by Jane Lovell-Smith and Tait)
  • Dan Jocelyn and Dassett Cool Touch (owned by Therese Miller)
  • Lizzie Brown and Henton Attorney General (owned by Tessa Grant and Brown)
  • Dan Jocelyn on Beaucatcher (owned by Jocelyn)
  • Lizzie Brown on Princeton II (owned by Brown)

By Diana Dobson – HP Media Liaison

Photos by Libby Law/ESNZ