Abu Dhabi: German team in fourth place

Abu Dhabi (fn-press).
The CSIO in Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates) kicked off the year of the Show Jumping Nations Cup. The German team with David Will, Nicola Pohl (both Marburg), Jörg Naeve and Miriam Schneider (both Bovenau) took fourth place. The four riders from Ireland were outstanding winners ahead of the second-placed hosts.

It was actually not planned to send a German team to Abu Dhabi for the Nations Cup. But since four athletes were already there at the five-star tournament, the organizers decided to invite the quartet as an additional team to the Nations Cup. Seven teams competed in the first showdown of the year. The first round made it clear that the German delegation would not have it easy. Nicola Pohl, who trains with David Will at the Dagobertshausen equestrian center near Marburg, left the course with her Italian gelding Freestyle (by Caretino) with twelve penalty points. Jörg Neave fielded the horse My Boy, who was still quite inexperienced with such tests. The Mylord Carthago son from the Oldenburg International breeding association had a total of 16 fault points. In the second round, Naeve decided not to start. Miriam Schneider did very well, her gelding Fiber Fresh Popeye (by Cardento), who was bred in New Zealand, only had one jumping error in both rounds. The outstanding actor was David Will. In the saddle of the Westphalian gelding Babalou HD, son of Balous Bellini, he achieved two clear rounds. In the end, the German account was burdened with 34 fault points, which was only enough for fourth place.

The Irish were in a class of their own. The team with the two brothers Shane and Trevor Breen, Jack Ryan and David Simpson finished the Nations Cup without a penalty, Ryan and Simpson rode double clear rounds, the Breens delivered the discarded results with four penalties. The riders from the host country, the United Arab Emirates, also presented themselves surprisingly well. Only four penalties meant second place. The third-best result (21 fault points) was achieved by the British. Saudi Arabia (48) and Jordan (40) took fifth and sixth place respectively. The team from Syria was eliminated. hen