PrintThe author believes that success in these competitions is integral to the entire U.S. horse industry.
At the time of writing, the United States has just earned second place in the Meydan FEI Nations Cup series, also known as the Super League.
Each of these eight shows ranks among the best in part because they have maintained their character. Each is a bit different, each a reflection of their national identity, and each truly excellent.
France was the series winner; they deserved it. We were second, and we deserved it. Many top riders, owners, coaches, federations and wonderful horses from the 10 competing countries were involved in this series. The amount of time, energy, blood, sweat and tears spent, spilled and cried is almost unimaginable.
I was witness to much of the series, as between Cara Raether and Beezie Madden, I was coach of at least one rider in every top league show this year. I missed La Baule but was present at all seven others.
The details of each Nations Cup have been written, the scores are all in and FEI TV covered each on their website. This commentary is not a news report. I hope you will be interested in what Nations Cups mean to me, why they are here, why they are important—and what they mean to you and the sport.
A Cascade Effect
Nations Cups are rooted in the very foundation of our sport. The first international team competition was held in 1909 at the Olympia Show in London. At that time, it was a competition amongst military officers. France prevailed, as they did 101 years later in the 2010 top-level series.
This brings me to a main point of this column—not who finished on top—but which of the 10 countries would be relegated. This year the number of teams in the Super League is being dropped to eight—therefore two teams have to go. But in the meantime teams from the promotional league have been qualifying all year to move up. The net effect is four teams move down, two teams move up.
My Dutch friends were in the unhappy position of needing an excellent performance in Dublin in order to dodge relegation, and they won there and stayed in. Let’s look for a moment at why it was so important to avoid relegation.
Once relegated, the riders of that country would not be allowed to compete at eight of the best shows in the world. They would need to field a team at the promotional league, which means asking riders and owners to go to shows in obscure places, with very low prize money and at times substandard conditions. Fielding teams for this series is not easy with the pressures of the Global Champions Tour and other good prize money competitions closer to home.
The cascade effect, though, is nearly endless. No Super League, no chance to compete at the biggest shows, no chance for good prize money. Riders get lower level experience and can’t practice at the top, and owners can’t have horses go to the best shows, so they choose to sell.
At lower-level competitions, there are fewer classes to count for the FEI Rolex world jumping rankings, therefore riders drop on the world list and hence receive fewer invitations to big five-star shows. The invitations to World Cup qualifying shows are given based on the number of riders on the world list, so fewer riders get a chance to go to the qualifiers and therefore less at the final.
