Aachen, August 31, 2006 - The contest for team medals at the show jumping World Championships this week in Aachen, Germany, could hardly have been tighter. By the end of the seoond Nations’ Cup round, when all the anchors had gone for front runners The Netherlands, Ukraine, USA and Germany, less than half a penalty separated three of the four teams. Thanks to the brilliantly consistent Beezie Madden and her Athens teammate McLain Ward, along with solid performances from Margie Engle and Laura Kraut, the American team prevailed over its closest rivals to take home the silver medal. The Dutch, cheered on by thousands of supporters from just over the border, deservedly won their gold medal with nearly two rails to spare.

Under The Lights

This World Championship saw a couple of changes to the format of the Nations’ Cup that, combined with the penalties from the speed class on day one, would determine the team medals. Round one took place during the day on Wednesday, August 30th, while round two began in daylight and ended under floodlights late in the evening on Thursday, August 31st. Nation’s Cup courses are not usually changed from the first to second rounds; but WEG course designer Frank Rothenberger of Germany took to heart the lessons learned in Athens two years ago, when it was discovered that water jumps can cause problems under artificial light. Rothenberger was determined to make the playing field as level as possible, considering the changing light of an evening competition. His solution was to remove both the water jump and Liverpool in the second round, eliminating the possibility of confusion to the horses caused by reflected floodlights. The replacements for that part of the course, which resulted in one less jump in total, caused few problems; though the problem in one case, for Marcus Ehning, was for a moment quite significant to the top teams.

Of the individuals not on one of the top ten teams, 53 came back in the hopes of finishing in the top 25 and advancing to Saturday’s individual competition. The individuals preceded the teams, which helped to build excitement going into the team final. Of those 53, only one managed a clear round with no time penalties, which suggested that anything could happen once the teams got started. Team USA went into the second round in bronze medal position, just behind the Ukrainians, which meant that they were third to last in each rotation. Ludger Beerbaum put the pressure on from behind for Germany, piloting L’Espoir around in a controlled and precise clear round. Margie Engle, pathfinder for a second day on Hidden Creek’s Quervo Gold, repeated her Wednesday results with just four faults, a bit of a cheap rail at the oxer fence 2, the Warsteiner jump. Björn Nagel, one of the two Germans (and two Belgians) riding for the Ukrainian flag, had a hairy round on Pilgrim, and his five faults narrowed the gap between them and the two teams nipping at their heels. For the Netherlands, Piet Raymakers’ messy eighteen fault round on Van Shindel’s Curtis would be the drop score, and it would give the teams chasing the Dutch a chance to entertain the possibility of surpassing them.

The second rotation of team riders increased the suspense as rails came down. Christian Ahlmann and Cöster took one rail for Germany. Laura Kraut and Miss Independent had a weak start, taking down the first and fifth fences before getting into a rhythm that saw them clear around the rest of the course. Jean Claude van Geenberghe, who joined the Ukrainian team a couple of years ago when he was “pissed off at the Belgian team”, took two rails with Osta Rugs Tresor. The Netherlands started to distance itself from the field with a clear round from Jeroen Dubbeldam on BMC Up and Down. The pressure was now on all four teams to go clear with their final two riders in order to maintain or improve their positions.

Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum thrilled her adopted countrymen with a wonderfully athletic performance on Shutterfly, as well as guaranteeing a shot for herself as an individual later in the week. McLain Ward, after taking down the B element of the triple combination the day before, made no such mistake this time. “I had to force myself not to ride the line differently,” he said afterward. “I was quite happy with the way I rode it last night, and I can’t explain why I had that lazy rail.” Ward’s clear round was just what the US needed to stay in medal contention. Gregory Wathelet followed Ward with what would be the Ukraine’s only clear round that night. This time it was the Dutch who took a rail with Albert Zoer’s ride on Okidoki, but it was already becoming evident that they would be hard to catch, especially with their rising star Gerco Schröder left to go.

Germany’s hope of advancing past the US evaporated when Marcus Ehning’s nine year old mare Noltes Küchengirl betrayed her inexperience at fence six, the postage stamp. She had already taken one rail, and when she crashed into six and refused, Ehning realized that he could no longer improve on Germany’s score; he spared his horse and retired. “I tried to manage her carefully this year,” he said after the medal ceremonies. “I was very pleased yesterday but of course today I’m disappointed. Her nerves are not as well developed as other horses. The pressure on her was very big this year.” Beezie Madden had more than the pressure of riding in the anchor position for her country when she entered the stadium. If she maintained her perfect zero score, she would enter the individual competition in the enviable position of first place. Authentic loped around the stadium in his usual relaxed and comfortable style. His smooth round proved that both horse and rider have plenty more in them for the individual final. The US was now guaranteed a bronze medal at the very least.

When the Ukraine’s final expat, German Katharina Offel, rode through the finish line of a clear round, she was jubilant. Tragically for the team of riders who have been wooed into changing their nationality by Ukrainian business man Alexander Omischenko, Offel was just over the time allowed. Her single time penalty put Ukraine an agonizing 0.1 penalties below Germany, and 0.31 behind the US. The Americans stepped into the silver medal position, with Germany taking the bronze. Gerco Schröder put in a yet a third clear round in his WEG debut to secure a decisive gold medal for the Dutch team in their bright orange coats.