The Land Rover U.S. Eventing Team has announced a combination substitution for the FEI Eventing Nations Cup The Netherlands hosted at the Military Boekelo, CCIO4*-L in Enschede, the Netherlands, from October 10-13.
Frankie Thieriot Stutes (Occidental, California) and Chatwin have withdrawn their entry and will be replaced by Tamie Smith (Murrieta, California) and Mai Baum, Alexandra Ahearn, Ellen Ahearn, and Eric Markel’s 13-year-old German Sport Horse gelding.
They will be joined by:
Jennie Brannigan (West Grove, Pennsylvania) and Stella Artois, the Stella Artois Syndicate’s 11-year-old Holsteiner-Thoroughbred mare.
Liz Halliday-Sharp (Ocala, Florida) and Cooley Quicksilver, the Monster Partnership’s eight-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding.
The following combination has been named as the traveling reserve:
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Matt Flynn (Reddick, Florida) and Wizzerd, A. Patrick Flynn, Kathleen Flynn, and Merry Go Round Farm’s 10-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding.
The following combination has been named as first alternate:
Caroline Martin (Miami Beach, Florida) and Danger Mouse, her and Sherrie Martin’s 11-year-old warmblood gelding.
Due to an untimely bout with enteritis, Chatwin’s fitness and competition schedule leading up to Boekelo were interrupted, and while the horse is fully recovered, it was decided in conjunction with U.S. Team Vet Dr. Susan Johns and Chef d’Equipe Erik Duvander that it would not be in the combination’s best interest to travel and compete at Boekelo.
“The opportunity to represent my country on the international stage is not something I take lightly,” said Stutes. ” In addition to always advocating for Chatwin’s well-being as my first priority, it is incredibly important to me that the U.S. Eventing Team always be represented by the very best possible performances. At this time, Chatwin is not as fit as he needs to be after recovering from enteritis, and we would not be contributing our very best performance on behalf of our country and teammates. I look forward to still attending Boekelo to cheer on the team.”
Boekelo is testing out a version of the new Olympic format for Tokyo 2020. The traveling reserve in Tokyo will step in should one of the three team horses not complete a phase. At Boekelo, the traveling reserve will complete the whole event, and their score can be substituted in if one of the three team members fails to complete.
