Team GB's Will Furlong was the first rider to negotiate the picnic table to double of corners at Fence 19 in good style
The CICO3* cross country at the Saracen Horse Feed Houghton International Horse Trials was hugely influential on the final day of the event with plenty of bogey fences scattered around the course.
Although the first rider on course, Oliver Townend on his team ride Arctic Mouse, came home clear and under time, it soon became obvious that this was going to be no walk in the park for many of the riders. Of the first 20 combinations only seven came home without penalties and throughout the day there were plenty of holds on course as various riders parted company from their mounts, frangible pins were replaced and some (scheduled) camel racing took place
Oliver Townend continued as he began, impressively coming home clear and under time on all four of his four horses, leaving him with three in the top ten (Note Worthy in sixth, Arctic Mouse in seventh and Cooley SRS in eighth).
Izzy Taylor is another that can usually be relied on to come home quickly which she did on Trevidden for ninth place and, although her other rides on Cadillac and Call Me Maggie May didn’t go quite so smoothly, Trevidden looked good through all three phases of this event.
Hannah Sue Burnett and Harbour Pilot
The USA’s Hannah Sue Burnett must have been cursing her 12 penalties picked up in the show jumping phase as, without them, her double clear cross country ride on Harbour Pilot would have seen her on the individual podium however she did finish in the top ten. Team USA made it onto the Nations Cup podium in third place with both Caroline Martin on The Apprentice and Katherine Coleman on Longwood also coming home clear and under time which must have been a relief for the American fans after things went a little pear shaped at Badminton earlier this month
Team GB secured second place in the Nations Cup team competition with the youngest member of the team producing their best score as Will Furlong on Collien P 2 finished on their dressage score of 45.7 for fourth place. Will has only had the ride on Collien P 2 for just over a year and he describes her as quite feisty.
“This was my first selection for a Nations Cup team and I really wanted to make a good debut – although I hadn't expected to finish best of the Brits. My goal is to make my mark in Nations Cup teams, and hopefully the series will be a good stepping stone for my career between Young Riders and Senior selection.”
But it was Germany that shone, taking the top spot on the podium in both the team competition and the individual.
Bettina Hoy and Seigneur Medicott flew around the cross country without any problems to win the individual title on their dressage score of 35.3 (listen to our interview with Bettina here), Julia Krajewski riding Samourai Du Thot finished second on 41.1 and Andreas Ostholt took fifth place on So Is Et. The least experienced team member Christoph Wahler had a problem at Fence 10, which created penalties for 10 riders, and was the team discard score
“I like coming to Houghton” said Julia “I’ve been here twice before and each time I’ve done well! Samourai Du Thot won the CIC1* here in 2013 so it’s really nice for him to come back here this year and to see how he has improved”
Julia and Samourai Du Thot through the water
Julia and Samourai Du Thot now head to Luhmuhlen with this run providing a very nice lead up to the 4* event.
Another rider who had a good lead up to Luhmuhlen here was Pippa Funnell on Billy The Biz. They finished in third place despite the fact that Pippa had some bad luck with timing this weekend, starting with a huge thunderstorm as she was warming up for the dressage on Sandman 7 and then some re-shuffles in draw order on cross country day after some lengthy delays
Sandman 7 had a run out at Fence 19, a double of corners that were the cause of grief for many, but Pippa was still pleased with his performance, blaming herself for the mistake
Pippa Funnell
Pippa and Billy The Biz
Australia’s Andrew Hoy was another one who had a problem at Fence 19 with the result being a tumble from Algebra II and Andrew being taken to hospital; happily it seems that there is no serious damage done but that Andrew incurred some severe bruising to the back.
Six combinations were eliminated or retired at this fence and plenty of riders came to take a good look as to how it was being ridden. Another area that caused problems was the hedges at Fence 14 (which had been given haircuts to make slightly easier the night before)where 13 combinations picked up penalties but many others riding the hedges on the undulating terrain made it look easy.
Ireland's Elizabeth Hayden and Loughnatousa Joey through the hedges
Nations Cup results
Germany: 122.2 (Bettina Hoy and Seigneur Medicott, Julia Krajewski on Samourai du Thot, Andreas Ostholt on So Is Et and Christoph Wahler on Green Mount Flight)
Great Britain: 142.5. (Will Furlong on Collien P 2, Oliver Townend on Arctic Mouse, Piggy French and Vanir Kamira and Georgie Strang on Cooley Earl
USA: 160.90 (Hannah Sue Burnett on Harbour Pilot, Caroline Martin on The Apprentice and Katherine Coleman on Longwood)
New Zealand: 240.8 (Tim Rusbridge on Oneforthenotebook, Jesse Campbell on Cleveland and Megan Heath on Camelot)
