Some bright spots in Aussie
Sunday, 22 September 2013

Some bright spots in Aussie
22/09/2013 - New Zealand’s young rider team may be out of the running, but Bridget Hansen and Olivia Robertson will this afternoon contest the individual final at the Australian Showjumping Championships at Werribee. The team finished a rather distant second to their hosts – Australia on 12 faults and New Zealand 32.

However, the score line didn’t tell the whole story – 24 of those faults came from the first round. In the opening round, 16-year-old Rebekah van Tiel (Karaka) and Adeaze picked up 24 faults, Robertson (Queenstown) and Ngawhiwi Cisco rode a fantastic round for four and Hansen (Ocean Beach) aboard Shakespear NZPH were unlucky to have the last fence down. Rosie Commons (Auckland) and Glendara Chandon were eliminated.

In the second, Hansen and 18-year-old Robertson both went clear, with van Tiel adding just four faults over the shortened course. Twenty-year-old Hansen now sits in third place going into today’s final, with Robertson 14th out of the 56 combinations.

Chef d’equipe John Cottle said yesterday’s course was enormous. “Just three of those 56 starters went clear and all the Aussie experts around her are saying it is the biggest track they’ve ever seen for a young rider,” he said. “The ground is also pretty soft..”

The team had struggled with a few things out of their control – Adeaze was clearly uncomfortable, having picked up a skin infection on her back legs, while Glenara Chandon simply hasn’t settled at all on the tour and failed to get around a single course. “Rebekah’s second round was great,” said Cottle.

“They jumped well at Sydney and the horse is uncomfortable due to that skin infection. It’s unlucky.” The combination will start in the consolation class today. “While it has been a frustrating time, there are certainly some bright spots there for the future.”

Just Ross Smith (Canterbury) aboard Quite Cassini and Samantha McIntosh (Cambridge) on Estina will ride in the senior final today. The Australian senior team took the honours in their round of the Oceania Championships on Friday evening.

Full results can be found athttp://www.asjc.equestrian.org.au .