Swiss hits equestrian jackpot

Keystone

Swiss rider Beat Mändli and his mount, Ideo du Thot, have won the world showjumping championship at the Rolex Equestrian World Cup Final in Las Vegas.

The 38-year-old horseman and his horse jumped all 12 obstacles perfectly in their final ride on Sunday to finish the three-phase competition with a score of five penalties. Switzerland’s Steve Guerdat finished joint-third.

Mändli and his French-born horse Ideo placed ninth in Thursday’s speed jumping event and second in Friday’s jump-off test to enter Sunday’s two-round finale in third place with one penalty point.

Ideo pulled the top rail from the 13th and final fence in the first ride to incur four additional penalties.

Mändli was jubilant at his greatest performance to date. “I’ve never had this feeling before. I’ve never won a championship and I don’t think I am taking it in just yet but I’m very happy for my horse and me,” he said.

“Ideo du Thot has extraordinary qualities. He is careful and seems to have an almost unlimited ability to jump. The only mistake was because I didn’t take the ideal line before the two final jumps.”

Daniel Deusser of Germany and his 12-year-old stallion, Air Jordan Z, finished second.

Deusser started Sunday with 11 penalties. The World Cup rookie and dark bay stallion jumped both courses without fault to hold their score.

Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum, the world’s top-ranked rider, started Sunday tied with Deusser with a zero score. She was eliminated when she was unseated from her horse, Shutterfly, at the 11th fence in the early round costing her any chance to reclaim the title she won here in 2005.

Swiss pride

Michaels-Beerbaum’s woes left Steve Guerdat and his 11-year-old stallion Tresor in a stronger position but things did not go perfectly for him either.

“He jumped the first round really well, it was probably his best jumping all week,” 24- year-old Guerdat said. “But from the first fence in the second round the power was gone and it was a long round – he was getting very tired and he kind of gave up a little bit during the second half of the round.”

Mändli he said he was very proud to record this win for Switzerland – “I am only the second rider ever to win this trophy for my country”. Markus Fuchs won at Gothenburg with Tinka’s Boy in 2001.

Mändli could also be proud of the fact that he trains Guerdat, whose admiration for his mentor was undeniable.

Talking about how difficult it is for a country like Switzerland to battle with giants like Germany, Guerdat insisted that Swiss riders are equally talented: “Beat Mändli is as good as any German, in fact he’s better!” Guerdat said.

swissinfo with agencies

Show jumping

Rider and horse must jump a course of roughly 15 obstacles up to 1.50 in height and 1.80 in width with no penalties.

Penalties or faults are incurred if a horse knocks down, refuses to jump or falls at an obstacle or jump.

Each course has a “time allowed”. In addition to jumping faults, penalties can also accumulate if riders fail to complete the course at a certain speed or “within the time allowed”.

All jumper classes are subject to the same scoring systems. Horse and rider must take the course in a designated sequence. All obstacles are numbered.

Frequently, several horses complete the course without penalty and advance to a jump-off over a shortened course. In the jump-off, the same scoring rules apply, except that in the case of equal faults, the horse with the fastest time will be declared the winner.