EVENTING News


Powell & Lenamore tilting for London
Monday, 7 May 2012


<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><strong style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; background-color: white; ">Star Scotland based Kiwi
eventer Caroline Powell has been given the green light to have her brilliant
little grey horse Lenamore available for Olympic selection.</strong></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; "><br></span><o:p></o:p></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; ">The 19-year-old 2010
Burghley Horse Trial champion was to have his eighth consecutive start at
Badminton this weekend, but with that cancelled owners Lexi Jackson and Janie
MacKinnon moved their focus to London.<br><br></span><o:p></o:p></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; ">For Powell, who is also
a co-owner of the horse, it was welcome news.<br><br></span><o:p></o:p></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white">“<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; ">He will be a very good
athlete for London if he is selected,” said the 39-year-old. “He’s small and
nippy enough to cope with the undulations on the cross country course, and I
think he would do well.”<br><br></span><o:p></o:p></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; ">Equestrian Sports New
Zealand high performance coach Erik Duvander was delighted with the news.<br><br></span><o:p></o:p></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white">“<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; ">Lenamore has looked so
great over the whole winter preparation, we were confident things would fall
into place.”<br><br></span><o:p></o:p></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; ">Initially the owners
were going to wait until after Badminton to see how the horse was after such a
big event before any decisions were made about his availability for selection
for New Zealand for the London Olympics.<br><br></span><o:p></o:p></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; ">Powell and Lenamore were
New Zealand’s best performed individuals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics with
their 14<sup>th</sup> place. Powell was also part of the bronze medal winning
team at the 2010 World Championships aboard MacMacdonald.<br><br></span><o:p></o:p></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white">“<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; ">I think we have the
makings of a really good team for London,” says Powell. “We just need to keep
all the horses in one piece, run them in the right places and do the right
thing for them all.”<br><br></span><o:p></o:p></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; ">Powell and Lenamore will
next week head to the CIC 3* World Cup Qualifier at Chatsworth in the UK.
Powell has also qualified for London aboard Boston Two Tip.<br><br></span><o:p></o:p></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; ">The news means Lenamore
will now be added to the ESNZ eventing high performance 2012 squad. The New
Zealand eventing team is set to be announced early July.<br><br></span><o:p></o:p></p>