EQUISTERIAN ISSUE 9
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FEI WORLD CUP JUMPING<br />
Harrie Smolders<br />
claims top honours<br />
at the Washington<br />
International horse show<br />
I think it’s super<br />
important for us to be<br />
a part of the League.<br />
Washington has such<br />
a huge history in<br />
the sport and been a<br />
World Cup qualifier<br />
for a number of years<br />
and with the League<br />
consolidating this year,<br />
it was super important<br />
to us to maintain that<br />
status. We couldn’t be<br />
happier to be part of<br />
the Longines World<br />
Cup Jumping North<br />
American League.<br />
Victoria Lowell, WIHS President:<br />
By Esther Hahn<br />
The Netherlands’<br />
Harrie<br />
Smolders<br />
expertly<br />
navigated two<br />
challenging<br />
courses to win the $125,000<br />
Longines FEI World Cup<br />
Jumping Qualifier at the CSI4*<br />
Washington International Horse<br />
Show. In his third visit to the<br />
historic competition, the Dutch<br />
rider etched his name into the<br />
President’s Cup for a second<br />
time, having won the headlining<br />
class in 2006.<br />
“This show suits me,” Smolders<br />
said. “I don’t know why,<br />
but the results are always good.<br />
And for our stable, it’s been very<br />
successful this week. My student<br />
Jos Verlooy (BEL) was fourth<br />
in tonight’s class and won the<br />
Puissance on Friday night, and is<br />
the leading rider of the show. It’s<br />
a bit busy with the classes going<br />
on and telling my students all<br />
the information that I know, but<br />
it really worked out.”<br />
Smolders drew the final<br />
position in tonight’s order of go,<br />
which allowed him the advantage<br />
of basing his strategy on the<br />
others’ performances. Only one<br />
other rider, Callan Solem (USA),<br />
rode double clear in the jump<br />
off of six horse-and-rider pairs,<br />
directly before Smolders’ turn.<br />
“I didn’t see many go in the<br />
jump off, but I heard the results,<br />
of course,” Smolders said. “So<br />
then there was no one clear<br />
until Callan put some pressure<br />
on because she had a fantastic<br />
round. She wasn’t super fast, but<br />
she put the pressure on. I was<br />
quite pleased that she was clear<br />
because that meant I had to go.<br />
I had to decide. There was no<br />
other option.”<br />
At the beginning of his final<br />
round, Smolders lost valuable<br />
time when his mount Emerald<br />
(Diamant de Semilly x Carthago)<br />
slipped in an early turn, forcing<br />
the rider to add an extra stride.<br />
“I knew I was getting close<br />
so I tried to make the turn to<br />
the last two fences quite short,”<br />
Smolders said. “I knew I was<br />
close. To be honest, I didn’t<br />
know if it was enough.”<br />
But luckily for the Dutch<br />
rider, it was just enough, winning<br />
the class by 11-hundredths<br />
of a second.<br />
“I must say Callan did a super<br />
round,” Smolders said. “She<br />
put some pressure on. I was also<br />
pleased because I knew what to<br />
do. Otherwise, if there’s no one<br />
clear, you have to decide what to<br />
do, but now I had no choice but<br />
to go.”<br />
Indoor challenge<br />
The course designed by<br />
Anthony D’Ambrosio (USA) challenged<br />
the 28 riders by utilizing<br />
the long and narrow arena.<br />
“There’s not an abundance<br />
of space, and the ring is quite<br />
narrow in relation to its length,”<br />
said D’Ambrosio, who also<br />
happens to hold the show’s Puissance<br />
record that he set in 1983.<br />
“It’s a particular type of ring,<br />
and it’s a little bit of a puzzle to<br />
get a World Cup Qualifier course<br />
in there. But for the most part,<br />
things ride fairly smooth, and<br />
we’ve had some nice competitions.<br />
I would say that it keeps<br />
me on my toes. I think it keeps<br />
the riders on their toes as well.”<br />
Nonetheless, D’Ambrosio<br />
had predicted ahead of the<br />
class’s start that six would ride<br />
clear and into the jump off,<br />
which ultimately proved to be<br />
accurate.<br />
“The first course was quite<br />
tough,” Smolders said. “When I<br />
walked it, I thought it was not<br />
too big, but my horse is quite<br />
scopey. The ring is quite long<br />
but not so wide, and the fences<br />
down the sides and right off<br />
the rail were quite tough for the<br />
horses.”<br />
D’Ambrosio purposefully set<br />
a demanding course to ensure<br />
that the right horse-and-rider<br />
combinations would earn the<br />
valuable points toward qualifying<br />
for the culminating event in<br />
the spring.<br />
“I strive to design a course<br />
that rewards the riders who are<br />
capable of going to the World<br />
Cup Final,” D’Ambrosio said.<br />
“World Cup Qualifiers have to<br />
have a standard that is somewhat<br />
similar in consistency. It’s<br />
to prepare the horses and riders<br />
to have the accuracy to jump the<br />
dimensions. That’s an important<br />
part of my job.”<br />
Solem gave some credit for<br />
her final round to fellow competitor<br />
McLain Ward (USA) who<br />
inspired her to ride for the first<br />
double clear in the jump off.<br />
“I was fortunate to have the<br />
counsel of McLain,” Solem said.<br />
“And he said, ‘Callan you have<br />
to try to win. Harrie’s going to<br />
be so fast. You have to do it.’ He<br />
encouraged me to do four in the<br />
first line, and he said, ‘You’re<br />
third a lot; try to win this class.’<br />
I really appreciated that encouragement.<br />
Going to these shows<br />
on my own, trying to find my<br />
The E.A. Equestrian ■ OCT-DEC-2015<br />
22
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