Derosa Daily
On The Scene at the FEI Las Vegas World Cup for Dressage and Showjumping

On With the Show Jumpers

The show jumpers took centerstage at the end of the day starting at around 7:00 p.m. after the typical Vegas intro complete with fireworks and a harmonizing singing group and some raising of the hands. On Thursday, April 21, the 41 competitors faced a speed course but Friday’s challenge would be decided on a jump-off after the same 41 riders tried their skills at going clean over Brazilian Guilherme Jorges’ course. By the time the class started, those 41 riders had been reduced to 39 after Lauren Hough on Clasiko and Laura Kraut on Anthem withdrew from the competition. They’d both had refusals the day before and Kraut also had a fall.

The course for the second day was even more testing than the first and when the results were in a total of nine riders made it to the jump-off and the very last rider to go in the jump-off won it all. That rider was Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum, who has been doing quite well in the jumpers lately. Her mount Shutterfly was so quiet going around the course that it was quite amazing to see this Hanoverian gelding take over the lead with such finesse.

Course designer Jorges came into the World Cup knowing it would be a challenge to design courses for this high level of competitors in a rather small indoor arena, but his courses so far have been excellent. “Of course it is a lot of pressure,” he commented, “but we are lucky to have such good footing.”

In fact the footing couldn’t be better. Even the onsite veterinarian Dr. Jack Snyder felt the conditions were excellent and his wife Sharon praised the fact that the horses seemed to have no problems getting around in a setting that is so tight that quick turns are a part of the difficulty of the course. Jorges was surprised that after Thursday’s speed competition there were a lot of clear rounds and in the end he felt, “we had the best ones on top. On Friday he felt the same way and Michaels-Beerbaum proved him right.

Although, I have to admit, those of us who watched the first few riders come into the ring had to remind ourselves that they were coming in reverse order of how they placed and therefore the weakest riders were coming in first. Those first few riders made me wonder about the difficulty of the course. The first rider in was Abdullah Al Sharbatly riding Neuville and when they not only crashed through a jump but ended up with the horse sprawled on the ground it certainly made an impression. But after those first few riders had gone you could see how the skillful riders adjusted to the quick turns and the rapid succession of fences. By the end of the day, Michaels-Beerbaum truly made the course look easy.

Later in the press conference Meredith talked about the fact that she was originally from the U.S. and then married German rider Markus Beerbaum in 1998. That helped blend two styles of riding for her. “It worked very well for me to have the basis of hunters and equitation,” explained Meredith. “And then I went on to Europe for show jumping. It’s a very good way to go. I think it helps to go to Europe to see what you can learn there. I’ve taken some positive aspects of the German style and combined it with my American basics.”

Well, no doubt that basis of equitation showed in the graceful way she negotiated butterfly around the course but the skill to negotiate such a testing, technical course was surely helped along by the mileage she’s had by living in Germany and having access to all the European shows and foreign riders. Now only time will tell how things will play out for Meredith on Sunday for the World Cup Finals.

Well, it’s nearing those wee hours again and still two more days to go. Don’t forget to email me if you have questions or comments (dderosa1@optonline.net). In the meantime, we’ll be your eyes and ears here at the World Cup in Las Vegas.