The top three teams with Artisan Farms' Carlene Ziegler and ringmaster Cliff Haines (Sportfot)
After the first round, each team dropped their highest score. In the second round, all five teams returned in order of highest to lowest total faults. The winner was determined by the lowest total of each team's top three riders from each round.
For the winning team, Wilton Porter and Paloubet had the drop score of 19 faults in round one, but redeemed themselves with the only clear trip of the competition in the second round. Catherine Pasmore and Freddy Star had eight faults in round one and four faults in round two. Eugenio Garza and Bariano had four faults in round one and the drop score of 12 in round two, and Chloe Reid and Damascus had 15 faults in round one and eight faults in round two. The team finished on 39 faults total for the win.
From the winning team, Catherine Pasmore has the most team experience with senior Nations Cup performances. Pasmore rode her horse Freddy Star, an eleven-year-old Westphalian gelding by Lancer III x Polydor. Commenting on her rounds, Pasmore noted, "I went in fairly early and I had a foot in the water and four time faults, so a total of eight. I was a little disappointed, but as the class went on, the course definitely got the better of all of us today, so I was actually pleased with my round at the end."
"For the second round they did make a few things slightly easier and they lengthened the time allowed, but I still wanted to make sure that I did not have time fault;, that's one of the worst things you can have in a Nations Cup, so I really jumped one, got right over to two, got right over to three. I really tried to make the time up a little bit early so that by the end when they got a little bit careful, I could take my time."
"Freddy Star is a fairly new ride for me," Pasmore said. "I jumped him a little bit early on and he did really well and I brought him out today basically to see what he would do with two rounds. He was really good, so I am pleased with that. I hope that he'll come along and be a nice second horse for me to some of my other horses."
Although Pasmore has had top Nations Cup experience, she counts all team experience equally. "Any Nations Cup to me is important," she declared. "It doesn't matter if its young riders or a senior team, you just really have to go in and give it 100%. Even if you have one down, you just can't let your guard down and you can't have another one."
Although Wilton Porter had a little trouble in round one, he came back to jump a clear round even with an equipment malfunction.
"After the first round we decided to change the bridle to a hackamore so that he had less interference with his mouth jumping and then the hackamore actually ended up breaking in the second round about six jumps in," Porter explained. "I did the second half of the course with a broken bridle. He is already pretty strong as it is, and I pretty much had no brakes, but I almost never have brakes anyway, so I just sort of steered him and he jumped great in the second round. It all worked out in the end."
Watch an interview with young rider Wilton Porter
His horse Paloubet is a 12-year-old Selle Francais gelding by Baloubet du Rouet x Voltaire. "I've had him for a little over a year now. Katie and Henri Prudent helped find him for me," Porter detailed. "He is a great horse and we have done some big classes. I have a great team helping me with him. John Roche is training me and I am extremely grateful to my parents and the sponsors of this class for helping me and providing us with the opportunity to do this."
"It is a great experience," Porter said of the series. "The team event helps get us ready for the young rider championships in Kentucky and the individual competition really tries to enforce consistency so that you can be right up there at the top at the end. It is a big class and an important class, so anytime you get the chance to do a class that is more important than a normal class, it helps you practice and gives you experience. I try to use those opportunities for my horses and then there is good prize money too. It is a lot of fun."
Eugenio Garza rides for Mexico and was aboard his twelve-year-old Belgian Warmblood gelding Bariano (Jetset-D x Skippy).
"He is a great horse," Garza expressed. "This is maybe my fifth month riding him. He has all the scope in the world and he is really careful. He has personality, everything. I just love him."
Garza commented on the course, stating, "When we walked the course I thought it was good, but as people started going it was obvious that it was hard and we were going to have to work to get a good score. It was a hard course actually."
Chloe Reid and her horse Damascus, an eleven-year-old KWPN mare by Cardento x Corland, have been working on their partnership since joining up last spring. Reid noted, "Right from the beginning we had a really strong connection and I really learned how to ride her well. Recently she has been really learning to become my horse and really listening. Today in the first round, the time was really tight and my trainer told me to go in and just try as best as I could. By the second round I already knew that we were going to win, but I still wanted to go in for the individual. I am happy with my round. I am disappointed that I had a few down, but I am happy."
Reid also appreciated the team experience. "Being on a team is a lot of fun," she smiled. "It is mostly an individual sport where you don't have a lot of opportunities to compete on a team. This is my second week now; I did the junior Nations Cup last week and every time it is just a lot of fun rooting with other people and just the excitement of it all."
Team 3 from Zone 2 finished second on a 47 fault total. The team included Charlotte Jacobs and Candy Tribble's Promised Land, Gabrielle Bausano and Ubico H, Mattias Tromp and Beyaert Farm, Inc.'s Casey, and Lillie Keenan riding Chansonette Farm LLC's Londinium.
Team 1 with riders from Colombia and Venezuela had 50 faults to place third. The team included Mario Gamboa and Stransky's Mission Farms' Unico, Emanuel Andrade riding Hollow Creek Farm's ZZ Top VH Schaarbroek Z, Nicolas Herrera and Concorde, and Luis Fernando Larrazabal riding Anabel Simon's G&C Sacramento.