The audience in Barcelona was treated to the first competition of the Nations Cup Final! Fifteen countries participated, but only eight of them will compete again in the final on Sunday.
The first clear round came from Jana Wargers. The German rider was riding the fourteen-year-old Dorette (Dollar du Murier).
At the beginning of the fourth and final round for each country, only Germany and Great Britain remained with a clean score at the top. Following them were Brazil, the United States, Belgium, Spain, Mexico, and Switzerland, each with four penalty points.
Gregory Wathelet was the last to go for Belgium, riding Bond Jamesbond de Hay (Diamant de Semilly), unusually not his faithful partner Nevados S. The pair flawlessly navigated the triple combination towards the water. Just after the water, there seemed to be a moment of miscommunication, but they managed to recover. Unfortunately, they had a mishap at the penultimate obstacle, leaving the Belgian team to conclude their first day with a total of eight penalty points.
The American team also ended with eight penalty points due to a jumping error by Laura Kraut and Dorado 212 (Tailormade Diarado’s Boy). The fate of Great Britain rested in the hands of the 24-year-old Harry Charles and Aralyn Blue (Chacco-Blue). A controlled round resulted in a faultless performance, making Great Britain the only country to finish with a clean score. For Germany, Richard Vogel decided not to participate with United Touch S (Untouched), which meant the German team was still charged with the jumping fault of Christian Kukuk and Checker 47 (Comme il Faut).
Qualified teams for the Final on Sunday
- Great Britain
- Brasil
- Germany
- Switzerland
- Belgium
- United States of America
- Ireland
- France