Bratislava: German victory in the Nations Cup

The competition at the CSIO3* in Bratislava once again showed how exciting Nations Cups can be. The Nations Cup series of the European Equestrian Sports Federation EEF (European Equestrian Federation) made a stop in the Slovakian capital. After the kick-off event at the CSIO in Mannheim at the beginning of May, where the German team had achieved second place behind Switzerland in the jump-off, victory has now been achieved. And again it was 24-year-old Sophie Hinners who had to make the decision with the Holsteiner Verband stallion Million Dollar (son of Plot Blue/Marcus Ehning). Although this pair also made a mistake, the Irish opponent Alexander Butler, in the saddle of the KWPN gelding Eindhoven, left the jump-off course with nine penalties - that was the victory for Germany. Equipe boss Marcus Döring, who has been Germany's co-coach since the beginning of the year, was of course very satisfied with his team's performance: "Great fighting spirit, great team effort."

Eleven teams competed in the Nations Cup, a very mixed field of riders from Eastern Europe who were relatively unknown in this country, as well as young riders and horses from the west and north of the continent. In the first round, the best teams emerged. Germany came up with three clear rounds: Sven Schlüsselburg with the gelding Bad Spencer, Kendra Claricia Brinkop with the only nine-year-old Belgian gelding Narcos vd Smidshoeve and Sophie Hinners with Million Dollar. The team started the second round without any penalty points. This time, Cedric Wolf and DSP Chicitito stayed clear, as did Sven Schlüsselburg again. Kendra Claricia Brinkop surprisingly made eight penalties, so that Sophie Hinners, as the last rider, was under enormous pressure. If she shoots clean, Germany could have won, but it wasn't to be. A knockdown meant that the winner had to be determined in a jump-off, see above.

Behind the second-placed Irish, the Swiss lined up with eight penalties. Two weeks earlier they had won the Nations Cup in Mannheim. Fourth came Belgium (12), followed by the Netherlands (16) and Austria (20). The rest of the field had 24 and more points on the account.

Like the stage in Mannheim, the show jumping competition at the CSIO3* in Bratislava does not belong to the Nations Cup series of the World Equestrian Federation FEI, which is held in Europe Division I at five-star level. Rather, the European association EEF had launched its own series, which is somewhat reduced in the requirements (3*). The aim is to give more nations and less experienced riders and horses the opportunity to gain experience in Nations Cups. hen