Valiant efforts in the last two Super League events have buoyed the U.S. show jumpers’ hopes.

Things were looking grim, indeed.

After the first five events of the Samsung Super League, the U.S. team sat at the bottom of the standings, after having a dismal season. The results were a shock after the United States had topped the world and won the 2005 Super League series, and then finished second to Germany last year.

But this year didn’t get off to a cheery start.

Seventh place in La Baule (France) in May was followed by a last-placed finish in Rome (Italy). Performances improved at St. Gallen (Switzerland) with a third place, but they were back in eighth and last in Rotterdam (the Netherlands) in June.

And at Aachen (Germany) in July, where the U.S. team had scored a resounding victory in 2005, they could only rally for sixth place.

But at the Hickstead CSIO (England), on July 27, and Dublin CSIO (Ireland), on Aug. 10, four determined U.S. riders reversed the trend.

A win at Hickstead and a second-placed finish at Dublin boosted U.S. hopes and vaulted the team from the bottom of the standings to fifth place heading into the Super League Final, to be held in Barcelona, Spain, on Sept. 13-16.

Melanie Smith Taylor took over chef d’equipe duties at the two venues for George Morris, due to scheduling conflicts.

“Melanie told us, ‘Let’s not be here just to stay in the Super League. Let’s be here to win the Nations Cup.’ So, that was everybody’s attitude—to go out and win, not just to cling on in the Super League,” said Beezie Madden, who anchored both the teams on Judgement.

“It was a little stressful because we were just anxious to do the best we could, but in the end, it was a lot of fun,” said Christine McCrea of the tour.

“I thought that the best thing I could do was to bring fresh energy and fresh enthusiasm, and that’s what I tried to do,” said Taylor. “I wanted to keep the focus on encouraging team spirit and camaraderie together, and I think we succeeded, because it was just a great group of riders.”

At Hickstead, the team of Madden on Judgement, Laura Kraut on Anthem, Christine McCrea on Vegas and Molly Ashe-Cawley on Cocu stood third after the first round, with four-fault performances from each of them. The hometown Great Britain team led.

But in Round 2, the Brits started adding to their score, while Kraut, Ashe-Cawley and Madden all jumped clean rounds. It all came down to Michael Whitaker, the last to go for Great Britain. If he jumped clear, the United States would be second. One rail, and they’d win.

“We needed to redeem ourselves today,” Kraut said wryly.

“It was an uncomfortable feeling, all day, waiting to see how the whole thing would shake out,” said McCrea. “We were all watching Michael jump, and holding our breaths.”

Whitaker and Suncal Portofino dropped a rail at a vertical and then pulled up, knowing the class results.
“It was such a relief,” McCrea said.
 
Ashe-Cawley followed up her Nations Cup performance with a thrilling second place in the Bunn Leisure Queen Elizabeth II Cup aboard Lutopia.

Georgina Bloomberg, the fifth member of the team, didn’t compete in the Nations Cup at Hickstead, but rode Cim Christo to fourth in the Queen Elizabeth II Cup.

Taylor and the jubilant five ladies headed to Dublin with their competitive fire re-ignited. They fielded the same team, except that Ashe-Cawley rode Vicomte D instead of Cocu.

At Dublin, the German team established their dominance early, with just 4 faults to their name after the first round. The U.S. team stood tied for third, with 8 faults.

In Round 2, Kraut kicked off the effort with an eight-fault round, and McCrea added 5 more faults to the scoreboard.

But Ashe-Cawley and Madden kept the pressure on the Germans with two second-round clears, leaving the U.S. team with a 13-fault total, just shy of Germany’s 9 faults.
 
“I was a bit disappointed in second at Dublin. Although it was terrific, I felt like we could have easily won that day—we were so close. I felt like they deserved to win that one too,” Taylor said.

“Having that team spirit is so crucial to the success of the team,” she continued. “Great teams are made up of great individual horse-and-rider combinations, but if you add that team spirit where the effort is for the team and the country, it makes all the difference. You ride for each other, and you fight just that little bit harder, and those girls really fought for it.”

And while pundits may note that the Germans sent less-experienced teams to Hickstead and Dublin, Taylor made it clear that a winning Nations Cup effort is all about jumping clean rounds.

“Personally, I thought the jumps at Dublin were enormous,” said McCrea, who contributed a clear round and a five-fault go. “At Hickstead, the weather had been so bad with all the rain, that I think they didn’t
build as big as usual, but the going made it challenging.”

Again, Bloomberg sat out the Nations Cup but finished as the top U.S. rider in the Longines International Grand Prix of Ireland, placing seventh on Cim Christo.

Now, heading into the final, the U.S. team is in fifth, but points at the final are doubled, and the bottom five teams lie within 10 points of each other.

It’s virtually impossible for Germany to lose, however, now that they have a 15-point lead. But the scramble to keep out of the basement—and avoid relegation to the regular Nations Cup series—will be fierce.

The United States is sending Madden and Judgement, Todd Minikus on Olinda, Kraut on Anthem, McCrea on Vegas, and Ken Berkley on Carlos Boy to Barcelona for the final.

Morris will be back at the helm, but Taylor will be there to support them.

“I felt like George has put together such a great structure for the program, and he had chosen the teams to be there, and I felt I was lucky to be a part of it,” she said of her stint as chef d’equipe.

Molly Sorge