Boekelo, The Netherlands - They had some adverse conditions to deal with Saturday, but the members of the Land Rover U.S. Eventing Team were able to maintain their place in the standings after navigating a soggy cross country course at the Military Boekelo CCIO3*. Leading the Nations Cup team were Jennie Brannigan and Nina Gardner's Cambalda. The pair jumped clean over the course while adding 10 time faults and rising in the standings to 52nd overall.
"It was quite muddy and heavy by the time I went," said Brannigan of her ride, and though it was good day for her, she says it was better than it looked. "The scoreboard does not reflect it, but [Cambalda] was super and had a lovely ride. I'm very excited about both of our futures and appreciate the funding to be here."
All four U.S. team members are competing at Boekelo as part of the Land Rover Competition and Training Grants program. The experience that they, and their horses, are gaining through the program is invaluable.
Land Rover U.S. Eventing Team member Jon Holling (Ocala, FL) also jumped a clear round Saturday. With Constance Ann Holling's Downtown Harrison he added 14.8 time penalties and sits on an overall score of 64.40, good for 56th place.
Entering the day Clark Montgomery was leading the team with Holly Becker and Kathryn Kraft's Loughan Glen, but after losing a shoe at fence 10 Loughan Glen ran into a trouble at fence 22. The slip led to a 26.40 fault round, 20 jumping and 6.4 time, and left the pair in 71st place. Clark (Kennett Square, PA) fared better on his second mount. He and Wife Jessica Montgomery's Universe took only 7.6 time faults and are currently in 33rd. They are the highest placing American pair going into Sunday's Show Jumping.
Phillip Dutton (West Grove, PA) was the first American on the course today, but the veteran rider and Tom Tierney's Atlas were eliminated after a fall at fence 15. Neither Phillip nor Atlas was hurt.
111 international competitors took to the course Saturday and only 12 managed double clear rounds, but at the end of the day there was little change atop the leaderboards. Germany, New Zealand, and France remained in that order to lead the Nations Cup standings and Germany's Michael Jung held onto the top individual placing. Jung managed one of those 12 double clear rounds Saturday with Halunke FBW and goes into Sunday with a 32.00 score. That gives him more than a rail to spare over 2nd place pair Andrew Nicholson and Quimbo.
For full cross country results and live scoring go to http://janssen.sportcg.net/2012/boekelo/leaderboard01.html
For more information about the Boekelo CCIO3* visit; http://www.military-boekelo.nl/
Follow the 2012 Land Rover U.S. Eventing Team here.