The first official season of FEI Nations Cup™ Dressage gets off to a flying start on Wednesday 30 March 2016 at the CDIO * in Wellington, Florida (USA) with six nations represented. The design of the series has been developed and polished throughout three successful pilot series, and it comes as little surprise that Team Germany reigned supreme in the final pilot season in 2015.
For the CDIO Wellington, the only Nations' Cup set in the Americas, the rules allow for flexibility in an effort to encourage participation and to allow horse-and-rider combinations to develop their skills and their level of experience. So countries are permitted to include Big Tour and Small Tour horses and athletes in their sides which must consist of at least three horse-and-rider combinations per team.
As the action begins in Wellington, the Small Tour combinations will tackle the Prix St Georges test while the Big Tour partnerships will take on the Grand Prix. Team medals will be awarded following the conclusion of the Intermediate I and Grand Prix Special tests on Thursday.
Opportunity
The six countries competing at this first leg are Australia, Canada, Costa Rica, Denmark, Spain and USA, while individual competitors from Argentina, Austria, Chile and Colombia are also taking the opportunity to test their levels of competence.
The Australian team consists of Kim Gentry (Leonardo), Kelly Layne (Von Primaire) and Ilse Schwarz (Cadenza), while the experienced Jacqueline Brooks (D Niro), Megan Lane (Caravella), Karen Pavicic (Don Daiquiri) and Belinda Trussell (Anton) will fly the Canadian flag.
Michelle Batalla (Westergardens Vivi Light), Anne Marie Egerstrom (Amorino) and Christer Egerstrom (Bello Oriente) make up the side from Costa Rica, while Denmark’s Mikala Munter Gundersen (My Lady), Signe Kirk Kristiansen (Roberto), Lars Petersen (Quascai Nexen) look major contenders.
The four-strong Spanish side consists of Pablo Gomez Molina (Lanzado de Ymas), Juan Antonio Jimenez Cobo (Elevado), Juan Matute Guimon (Dhannie) and Alfonso Jesus Ramirez Benitez (Legacy’s Cosmico), but the ones they may all have to beat are the US foursome of Shelly Francis (Doktor), Laura Graves (Verdades), Arlene Page (Woodstock) and Kasey Perry-Glass (Goerklintgaards Dublet).
Seven legs
The FEI Nations Cup™ Dressage 2016 series consists of seven legs of competition, with Wellington followed by the CDIO 3* in Odense (DEN) and the CDIO 5* at Compiegne (FRA) in May. The fourth leg will take place at CDIO 5* Rotterdam (NED) in June while CDO 5* Falsterbo (SWE) and CDIO 5* in Aachen (GER) each play host in July before the first ever official FEI Nations Cup™ champions will be declared after the last leg at CDIO 3* Hickstead (GBR) at the end of July.
Related Links
Denmark Fields Team for 2016 CDIO Wellington
Australian Team Selected for 2016 CDIO Wellington
American and Canadian Team Named for 2016 CDIO Wellington Nations' Cup