<p style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0cm"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; "><strong>Top New Zealand
showjumper Katie McVean heads to Europe this weekend with her horse Dunstan
Delphi in her bid to qualify for the 2012 London Olympics.</strong></span></p><br>
<p style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0cm"><font face="Arial, sans-serif">The 24-year-old
from Mystery Creek will settle her nine-year-old Delphi (co-owned by the McVean
and Shore families) into a barn in Holland before getting back on a plane to
head home in time to defend her Bell Tea Olympic Cup NZ Showjumper of the Year
title at the Horse of the Year Show in Hastings next month..</font>
</p><br>
<p style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0cm"><font face="Arial, sans-serif">Her travel plans
made a little easier thanks to support from SPARC via their recent high
performance funding, which included $50,000 for showjumping dedicated toward the
Olympic qualifier in Aachen on July 9-10.</font>
</p><br>
<p style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0cm"><font face="Arial, sans-serif">She will fly into
New Zealand the day the show starts and leave the evening it finishes, just in
time to make the trot up of the World Cup show at s-Hertogenbosch back in
Holland.</font>
</p><br>
<p style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0cm"><font face="Arial, sans-serif">It's the lead in to
the World Cup final in Leipzig, Germany, April 27 to May 1, where McVean, who
rode at the 2010 World Equestrian Games and the 2008 Beijing Olympics, will
represent New Zealand after winning the series earlier this month in
Tauranga.</font>
</p><br>
<p style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0cm"><font face="Arial, sans-serif">She and her team of
half sisters Delphi and Dunstan Daffodil totally dominated the series, leaving
little look-in for the rest of New Zealand's top onshore combinations.</font>
</p><br>
<p style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0cm"><font face="Arial, sans-serif">McVean says she is
a little disappointed not to have Delphi for the Horse of the Year Show – which
runs in Hastings from March 15-22 – but says there was no way the mare could
compete and be in top form to compete at the very challenging world
final.</font>
</p><br>
<p style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0cm"><font face="Arial, sans-serif">Instead she will
start Daffodil at the show, where she defends both the Lady Rider of the Year
and Olympic Cup, and she's looking forward to the show.</font>
</p><br>
<p style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0cm">“<font face="Arial, sans-serif">Having just
Daffodil in the big classes is a whole new thing to look forward to,” she
says.</font>
</p><br>
<p style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0cm">“<font face="Arial, sans-serif">She can be a bit
hot but she is a really nice ride in the ring. She's probably taken a year
longer than Delphi to step up and we really only pushed her to jump bigger
because she is so brave.”</font>
</p><br>
<p style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0cm">- Diana Dobson<br>Media Liasion, ESNZ SJ</p>
