With a stunning win in the Samsung Super League Nations Cup at the La Baule CSI (France), May 5-8, the U.S. team declared themselves fit and ready to fight.

News that the U.S. Equestrian Federation team for La Baule would be an all-women’s squad caused many a raised eyebrow in the traditionally male dominated boys’ club of European show jumping. But when the results were in after four days of classes against many of the continent’s best, there was a well-deserved, renewed respect for Team USA.

George Morris was the positive driving force as chef d’equipe behind his “Equipe d’Amazones” that consisted of Georgina Bloomberg, Beezie Madden, Laura Kraut, Anne Kursinski and Schuyler Riley.

Three years of improvements on the beautiful grass field have made La Baule one of the nicest venues in the world. Spectators, many in the seaside resort town for Ascension, one of three French holidays in May, rose four times for the playing of the Star Spangled Banner, most notably cheering the ladies’ victory in the coveted Super League Nations Cup.

The U.S. team won a spot on the Super League tour by winning the regular Nations Cup series in 2003. The top eight nations qualify to compete in the Super League, with the last-placed team each year dropped and replaced by the winners of the regular Nations Cup series.

Last year, in their first season in the Super League ranks, the U.S. team achieved fourth place in the series but did not win an event. The best showing was the Olympic team’s second place at the Aachen CHIO (Germany). This Super League victory was the first for the U.S. team and a major accomplishment.

A Day Full Of Drama

The U.S. team was sitting pretty after round 1, tied with host country France at 4 faults for the lead. Bloomberg and Riviera, and Riley and Ilian, had both chalked up clear rounds, and Kraut had a single rail. Madden had the drop score of 8 faults with Judgement.

For the French, Laurent Goffinet with Flipper d’Elle HN and Christian Hermon and the large, dark bay stallion Ephebe For Ever*La Silla also managed fault-free performances. Other riders were not so lucky.

The Netherlands’ Angelique Hoorn on her BCO VDL Oranta, first in the ring, had a nearly rub-free ride until the turn toward home, when the gray mare first locked her jaw and went to the corner of the arena and then simply refused to continue on. To add to her bad day, the mare repeated this behavior in the second round as well, making hers the automatic drop score.

Nor was luck riding with the Irish when it was discovered that Ado Annie, with Harry Marshall aboard, had her tongue tied, which is against FEI regulations. It was initially announced that he would be disqualified and his 4-fault score would not count. But a phone call to FEI headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, ruled that the innocent mistake would be penalized with a warning and a fine rather than elimination. They returned for 8 faults in the second round, but the Irish still finished last in eighth.

The chestnut mare Ado Annie was American Will Simpson’s mount for many years, but her County Meath breeders, the Larkin family, bought her back in 2003.

In the second round, the French fortunes slipped as quickly as Great Britain’s rose. First in for the “Blues,” Flipper d’Elle and Goffinet were caught by the combination, incurring a rail and a stop. Hermon could not repeat his earlier clear round and notched up 6 penalties.

Great Britain’s veteran Nick Skelton on Russel duplicated their first round score of 4, and then Ellen Whitaker, , John and Michael’s niece, riding the bay stallion AK Locarno, posted one of only two double-clear rounds in the cup.

The U.S. riders opened with a 4-fault penalty for Judgement and Madden and two rails for Bloomberg and Riviera. With the French slipping to third, Riley and her partner of eight years, the 15-year-old Ilian, notched the second double-clear performance, putting the pressure on Britain’s John Whitaker with Exploit de Roulard.

A sigh of relief went around the American table when Whitaker’s second rail fell, giving the British team a final score of 20, as quick tallying showed that Kraut, riding in the anchor position, did not need to ride. The Americans finished with a total of 16.

Course designers Frederick Cottier and Serge Houtmanset set a technical track for the eight countries competing in the Nations Cup. Cottier said that he wanted a course “more difficult for the riders and more comfortable for the horses.” He wanted riders to accurately shape lines and determine which option worked best for his or her horse.

After the large water, rather than the traditional steady distance problem often encountered, a large oxer was set on a galloping stride toward the gate. On this open stride, riders then turned to the last line, directly in front of the crowded stands–a tight vertical-oxer combination followed by five steady or four long strides to a scopey, square oxer and finally the tall Samsung vertical.

In the second round, when horses were tiring and letting down, many riders made the decision to whoa or go too late, resulting in dashed hopes for several teams. But our ladies showed that technical riding and thinking on one’s feet were their forte. Kraut’s horse, Miss Independent, an 8-year-old, gray mare, hung up a little in the combination and she quickly adjusted her original plan and added in five strides, keeping the stout oxer intact.

They Kept Winning

The French are speed experts, evidenced by the large number of classes against the clock offered and their across-the-board sweep of top finishes on the first day of showing. But the Americans, well-prepared to gallop quickly on grass after a winter in Wellington, Fla., quickly shifted into high gear and were not left in the dust.

Nadia and Bloomberg gave the United States its first ribbon, a third on Thursday. And in a 4’6″ power and speed class, the Americans earned third, fifth, sixth and 10th-placed prize money.

On Friday’s schedule, before the Nation’s Cup, the Americans scored a hat trick, capturing the top three ribbons. Owner Peter Wetherill, who now lives part time in Vend? France, supported his Milona and Kraut in their winning effort, followed by the consistent team of Bloomberg and Nadia and Kursinski with Roxana.

Saturday, Derby day at La Baule, opened with another 4’6″ speed class. Continuing their winning streak, this time American veteran Kursinski and Lorenzo led the victory gallop after shaving more than 2 seconds off Grandilot and Otto Becker’s time.

Bloomberg and Nadia were the only U.S. representatives in the 4’6′ meter derby. They had collected 8 faults before Nadia, with but two jumps remaining, decided that water was meant for jumping over, not galloping through, and was eliminated at the lake when she refused to get her feet wet.

Gregory Wathelet of Belgium on Hugo Gesmeray galloped around, making it look easy, and scored one of only two fault-free rides to earn the top prize. With two bank combinations, water, lake and a pair of airy verticals that caught many a pair, only 12 of the original 22 starters completed the course.

Despite that one hiccup, Bloomberg had a spectacular show at La Baule. The 22-year-old was making her second appearance on foreign soil wearing the red jacket for the U.S. team. Her 10-year-old mare Nadia (Indoctro–Wellington) won top honors as leading horse with consistent placings in three classes, including a win on Sunday morning’s 4’5″ meter prix, knocking nearly 3 seconds off France’s Stephane Lafouge’s time. The pairs of Madden and Desilvio and Kursinski on Lorenzo were fourth and fifth, respectively.

On Riviera, Bloomberg helped her fellow team members in the Nations Cup with her clear effort in the first round, and she was awarded the Longines Style Award for female riders for her classic American style. Frenchman Hervé ‡odignon, 55, won for the men.

Winning the grand prix with a score of 1 time penalty incurred in the first round was 55-year-old Gilles Bertrand de Balanda of France with his own long-time partner, the 15-year-old Crocus Graverie. The pair had won the same grand prix six years prior.

Finishing second, also with a single time fault in the initial round, was Godignon and Obelix. As the riders entered the ring, without their hunt caps as directed by show management, the top two placings’ silver hair shining in the sun was a sign that maturity ruled the day. Kursinski on Roxana 12 and Riley with Ilian finished in the 10th and 11th spots.

The team’s next stop is Rome, Italy, May 26-29, and then St. Gallen, Switzerland, on June 2-5. Their mood is undeniably positive and confident. The cohesive feeling is strong among the five riders and their supporting cast of grooms, veterinarian and physical therapist.

Olympic veteran Kursinski said that the camaraderie and team spirit was the best she had ever felt. All members echoed her sentiments and enormous credit was given to the leader, Chef D’Equipe George Morris, ideally suited to the task with his wealth of experience on the international scene. His enthusiasm and drive coupled with the respect and determination he’s created with the team stand out.

Preparation of U.S. teams that will tour the continent this summer has involved a mammoth commitment of money and resources. With the wealth of talented horses and riders, the discipline, unity, turnout and horse management that America has to offer, Morris sees La Baule as the wake-up call to the Europeans that we are once again a force to be reckoned with on the international scene.