This past year was a strange one for U.S. show jumping, mainly because, more than a year after the completion of the 2004 Olympics in Athens, our team was proclaimed the gold medalist.The reason was the lengthy process that resulted in the disqualification of Ludger Beerbaum’s horse from the Olympic Nations Cup for a positive drug test, a disqualification that dropped the German team to fourth place and elevated our squad to first. And, of course, another drug violation disqualified individual gold medalist Cian O’Connor of Ireland from the individual gold medal, moving our Chris Kappler and the late Royal Kaliber up to the silver medal.

With the World Equestrian Games coming up in August, medals like these give us good reason to look forward to a strong showing when the games get underway in Aachen, Germany.

An even more encouraging reason for optimism came with the first win by our riders in the hotly contested Samsung Nations Cup series. After a determined effort by our riders in 2003 to qualify us to compete in the series (only the eight most successful countries worldwide are invited to contest this outdoor series of team competitions) and a middle-of-the-pack finish in 2004, our riders came out with fire in their eyes in 2005. Early wins, followed by consistent results and a spectacular win at CHIO Aachen, resulted in the USA topping the leader board when the series concluded in Barcelona (Spain) in September.

Two things played a large role in the team’s success this year. One was the naming of George Morris as the first truly full-time leader of the show jumping squad since the days of the legendary Bert de Nemethy 25 years ago. No one can instill in American riders the kind of single-minded determination to win any better than George. And riders and owners responded to his call to arms in a truly admirable fashion. Many of our top riders made the assault on the bastions of Europe a top priority, sacrificing lucrative opportunities here at home to come together in a truly unified fashion. Their new sense of team truly paid off.

But, The World Cup
The FEI World Cup Final, held for the third time in Las Vegas, was a rousing success for everyone except our riders. West Coasters in particular took pride in the fact that winner Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum hailed from Zone 10 throughout her junior career, prior to relocating to Germany, marrying Markus Beerbaum and becoming a German citizen. But among those currently holding a U.S. passport, Kim Frey’s fourth-placed finish on Marlou, daughter of Jus de Pomme, the double gold medalist at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, was the high-water mark in Las Vegas.

Nevertheless, horse sports as a whole gained so much from the first combining of the FEI World Cup Finals for both jumping and dressage. Full stands are what make organizers like Las Vegas Events happy, and this format created a truly magical atmosphere in the Thomas & Mack Center. Aficionados of each discipline had an all-too-rare opportunity to see the very best of both worlds. The format is a winner, and technical organizers Robert Ridland and Glenda McElroy deserve a big hand for making the new and complex format come off like clockwork.

The people at Horse Shows In The Sun also did a lovely job hosting the first USEF National Jumper Championships at their expansive new facility in Saugerties, N.Y. In an effort to prepare U.S. riders

for international championships like the World Cup Final, it was held in a modified championship format, with a speed leg, followed by a two-round event, before finishing up with a timed first jump-off grand prix event.

The participants enjoyed the multi-day format, but it was too bad not to have had more of our top competitors there with their No. 1 horses. Scheduling conflicts with the Spruce Meadows (Alta.) summer tour, as well as the intensity of the Super League effort, caused this as Jimmy Torano rode to victory on Marcel.

Setting An Example
The North American Young Riders Championships are the only FEI Championship held in our discipline each year, and they continue to grow in importance to the riders, as well they should.

This event for riders aged 16 to 21 is evolving into an important step for every rider with serious aspirations to international success as a senior.

Unfortunately, just as the event has grown in importance, it has simultaneously grown in complexity and the cost to host it. Thanks to the determination and ability of organizers Brian and Penny Ross, the 2005 NAYRC took place for the first time at the Virginia Horse Center with all the qualities that make it so special to so many.

The Virginia Horse Center is one of the very few venues able to accommodate the FEI disciplines of show jumping, dressage and eventing simultaneously, and it was highly impressive to see just how remarkably well it was presented in its first year there.

The show jumping was accommodated indoors for the first time, but the 150′ x 300′ coliseum didn’t require any compromise in the level of difficulty or style of course. Even open water wasn’t a problem, thanks to an excellent “in-the-ground” water jump provided by Blake Alder.

The level of both horses and riders continues to rise at this event, which makes the utter domination by Zone 2 even more impressive. Brianne Goutal, riding Onira (by Nimmerdor, and a graduate of the Young Jumper Championships), has been racking up spectacular results, and by winning the individual gold medal again they went into the record books as the first horse-rider combination to successfully defend their NAYRC title.

Zone 2’s triumph was no surprise to most since the team members were well mounted and very determined. The seriousness with which these riders approach this event is largely due to the inspired leadership of Ralph Caristo, their chef d’equipe. Ralph saw the experience his own daughter, Heather, gleaned from this sort of international team com-petition, and, luckily for the riders from Zone 2, he’s continued to provide dedication and enthusiasm to the team each year since Heather’s graduation from the young riders ranks. His efforts are so widely applauded that he was the first recipient of a new award to the chef d’equipe who best exemplifies the quality of leadership that Ralph has displayed.

The Even Younger Riders
Held at the Pennsylvania National each fall, this USEF National Jumper Championship for Junior Riders is a goal for every serious junior jumper rider. The Zone 5 team members–Joshua Vanderveen, Henry Pfeiffer, Alex Parrish and Haylie Jayne– posted a two-round total of 13 faults to take the blue ribbon in the USEF Prix de States Team Championship. Brianne Goutal and Onira again proved unbeatable in the individual championship, posting a faultless score over the three-round final.

The National Pony Jumper Championships, newest of the national jumper championships for the younger set, just keeps getting stronger and stronger. It returned to the indoor stadium at the Kentucky Horse Park in 2005, and no one seemed surprised that the jumps measured up to the levels advertised. While many were obviously more comfortable at the level 1 height that started the event, the New Zealand-bred pony NZ My Mini Milton (the sole representative of Zone 10) jumped superbly throughout the three days of competition to win it all for rider Annie Cook and owner Signe Ostby.

It’s worth noting that the leaders of the U.S. Pony Clubs are making a radical new adaptation in their testing for advanced ratings. Riders will soon be able to select a specific discipline (jumping, dressage or eventing) in which to advance. The riding tests will focus on the particular discipline and complement what a rider would be doing in competition within that discipline while continuing to emphasize thorough horsemanship skills, ability to start and train younger horses, and principles of correct teaching. This change will make it possible for riders to combine the complete education that Pony Club fosters with specific work in show jumping.

Young Jumper Championships Graduates Move Up
Record numbers of young horses filled the ranks of both the Young Jumper Championships and the International Jumper Futurity in 2005. On the West Coast, IJF graduate Apache (by Mezcalero) defended his title by winning the YJC 6-Year-Old Finals at Showpark (Calif.) and earned his second IJF bonus check. Richard Spooner has developed Apache, bred and owned by Doug White, throughout his career.

On the East Coast, at the Hampton Classic (N.Y.), hot young show jumper Kent Farrington topped the 6-year-old division aboard Alexa Weeks’ Rowan (by Indoctro). Weeks is the owner of Farrington’s top grand prix mount, Madison–who was also a YJC graduate.

The inaugural Young Jumper Invitational at the National Horse Show (Fla.) really showcased the young horses on the international stage just prior to the AGA Championship class. Another American-bred IJF graduate was in the spotlight as Darragh Kerins piloted Tatra Farms’ homebred Blue Danube (by Hamar) to victory.

This year, the Young Jumper Championships will offer a third regional final at the Kentucky National in September, making the YJC series one of the show jumping world’s richest young horse programs.

Three rising stars of the jumper divisions–all Young Jumper Championship graduates–battled for the top spot in the USEF grand prix jumper rankings. Rich Fellers and Harry and Mollie Chapman’s McGuinness (by Cavalier Royale) emerged the winner over Kent Farrington and Alexa Weeks’ Madison (by Liberato) and Laura Chapot’s Little Big Man (by Topas).

McGuinness’ victories included the $100,000 HBO Grand Prix of Del Mar (Calif.), while Farrington and Madison, who won the American Grandprix Association’s Horse of the Year title, took the Grand Prix of Devon (Pa.) and the President’s Cup (Washington, D.C.). Little Big Man began the season with a win in the Zada Enterprises Masters Cup (Fla.) and closed with the Grand Prix de Penn National at Harrisburg, Pa.