Switzerland claimed the top three places in the second leg of the Longines FEI World Cup Jumping, with Olympic champion Steve Guerdat winning the class.
Ice rink
The new venue in Helsinki, Finland – a former ice rink – posed a few problems for the competitors, due to the compact arena. But the lack of space proved no problem for Steve and Nino des Buissonnet, the horse on whom he won individual gold at London 2012.
“The arena is quite tight, the length is ok but if it was three or four metres wider then it would be easier,” said Steve. “The fences came up really quickly for the horses and riders.”
Fifteen made it through to the jump-off out of 40 starters, nine of which jumped a double clear. But none could beat Steve’s fast time of 34.96sec.
Ran into trouble
Martin Fuch was last to go riding PSG Future and the pair came close to beating their Swiss compatriots, but had to settle for second place (35.10sec). Pius Schwizer was third with Sixtine de Vains (35.33sec).
H&C bloggerYasmin Pinchen was the only Brit to jump clear in the first round, though she ran into trouble in the jump-off with her bay mare Ashkari, to finish in 15th place.
The Longines FEI World Cup Jumping Western European League takes place over 12 rounds, with riders counting their best six results. They need aminimum of 40 points to qualify for thefinal in Las Vegas, on 15-19 April 2015.