The U.S. team has been named for the kick-off competition in the new Longines League of Nations series, taking place Feb. 8-11 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Teams for the 10-nation competition, which is replacing the Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup circuit, have been confirmed, according to a press release from the Fédération Equestre Internationale. Representing the United States will be Alise Oken, Callie Schott, Hannah Selleck and Aaron Vale.
Team Ireland will get the best of the draw because, ranked the No. 1 nation in the world based on points accumulated by their top six athletes including one U25 athlete, they will be last into the arena when the action begins in Abu Dhabi where the host country, not vying for qualification for the Final, will be first to go.
Then running in order of merit of those team rankings, Brazil will be second into the ring followed by Sweden, Belgium, the Netherlands, Great Britain, Switzerland, Germany, France and the USA before the first rider Irish takes his turn.
One combination from each country jumps the course before moving on to the second rotation of athletes and horses and, counting the best three scores for each team, the best eight nations at the end of the first round return to jump the same course in round two, but with just three riders instead of four this time around so any mistakes will prove very costly.
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In case of a draw at the end of the second round there will be a jump-off with just one rider representing each team.
With $762,800 in prize money at each qualifier and more than $1.7 million on offer at the final, along with a range of extra bonus payments and the prestige that goes with the taking of the very first Longines League of Nations title, it’s all to play for.
After Abu Dhabi the action will move to Ocala, Florida, on March 19-23. From there, the series goes to St. Gallen, Switzerland, and Rotterdam, the Netherlands, before concluding with the big Final in Barcelona on Oct. 3-6, where the best eight teams will battle it out for the inaugural title.
Click here for a full list of entries in Abu Dhabi. The competition will be livestreamed on FEI.tv.
