The U.S. show jumpers heading to Las Vegas on April 15-19 for the Longines FEI Show Jumping World Cup Final have been confirmed and they include two former World Cup Final winners—Beezie Madden, who won in 2013, and Rich Fellers, who was victorious in 2012.
Todd Minikus won the North American East Coast League and will be joined six other riders from that league—Laura Kraut, Madden, Hardin Towell, Kirsten Coe, McLain Ward and Katie Dinan. Dinan moved up from the reserve spot because Leslie Howard, who won the World Cup Final in 1986 and qualified for this year’s final in the seventh spot of the rankings, had hip replacement surgery in January. While she hopes to be showing in April, the World Cup Final wasn’t quite possible.
From the West Coast, Fellers will lead the charge of the three qualified riders on his Energizer bunny of a horse, the 19-year-old phenom and 2012 World Cup Final winner Flexible. He’s joined by Final first-timer Susan Artes and Karl Cook, who competed in his first Final in 2013.
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Lucy Davis will join the U.S. contingent on her Barron, as she qualified for the Final in the Western European League.
The April 13 issue of The Chronicle of the Horse will be the World Cup Preview issue, and we’ll have expert commentary from three-time World Cup Final winner Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum about the field—her favorites to win and who might surprise everyone.
