Ireland took a splendid win at Ocala's FEI NATIONS CUP CSIO4* . The Irish team did a splendid job ... here are the quotes Cian O’Connor IRL, talking about the penultimate triple combination (vertical, vertical, wide oxer) which fell on numerous occasions during today’s class: “It was a good combination but it was at the end of the course and the colour was strange, it was a bright golden yellow, a bit of an optical illusion, and you had to get there in good balance to leave it up. Even in the second round people were getting confused about how to ride it!” Shane Sweetnam IRL: “We came here with the intention to try to win, Michael (Blake, Chef d’Equipe) did a great job keeping all the boys in line and the course designer did a fantastic job. It (the course) walked nice but it was tough in places, not a walk in park, the combination took a bit of jumping but we were quite confident coming here and Cian came up trumps in the end to really deliver it for us!” Cian O’Connor IRL: “I only got Seringat in November, he’s a bit difficult to get around the course sometimes but I was impressed how he jumped that combination today, he allowed me ride him and I’m very pleased with him.” Course designer Marina Azevedo BRA: “I’m very happy, this was my first Nations Cup and I thank you for giving me this opportunity. It was tough enough for the group, it’s very hard to build for different groups - you have very high level riders and horses and at the same time we have a middle level, so we can’t put anyone in danger so we have to think a little bit about the height and spread and we can put different distances because this is a little bit hard. I think I’m happy and I hope the riders enjoyed my course!” Thomas Struzzieri, President and CEO HITS, Inc: “It’s my second-favourite result having the Irish win, this was a terrific day for showjumping and HiTS!” Michael Blake, Irish Chef d’Equipe: “I came from (looking after) underage ranks in Ireland. I got a call from them few months ago (to become rider’s representative on the governing body) and I’m very proud to represent the best bunch of riders in the world! We are a small country but we keep doing it all the time and these are great guys to work with. We don’t need to make too many changes in the future, we have eight riders in the world’s top 50 and that’s not an accident. We just need to circle our wagons now, and we intend to do 24 Nations Cup events this year and we intend to be sitting at this winner’s table many times again!”
Ireland took a splendid win at Ocala's FEI NATIONS CUP CSIO4* . The Irish team did a splendid job ... here are the quotes Cian O’Connor IRL, talking about the penultimate triple combination (vertical, vertical, wide oxer) which fell on numerous occasions during today’s class: “It was a good combination but it was at the end of the course and the colour was strange, it was a bright golden yellow, a bit of an optical illusion, and you had to get there in good balance to leave it up. Even in the second round people were getting confused about how to ride it!” Shane Sweetnam IRL: “We came here with the intention to try to win, Michael (Blake, Chef d’Equipe) did a great job keeping all the boys in line and the course designer did a fantastic job. It (the course) walked nice but it was tough in places, not a walk in park, the combination took a bit of jumping but we were quite confident coming here and Cian came up trumps in the end to really deliver it for us!” Cian O’Connor IRL: “I only got Seringat in November, he’s a bit difficult to get around the course sometimes but I was impressed how he jumped that combination today, he allowed me ride him and I’m very pleased with him.” Course designer Marina Azevedo BRA: “I’m very happy, this was my first Nations Cup and I thank you for giving me this opportunity. It was tough enough for the group, it’s very hard to build for different groups - you have very high level riders and horses and at the same time we have a middle level, so we can’t put anyone in danger so we have to think a little bit about the height and spread and we can put different distances because this is a little bit hard. I think I’m happy and I hope the riders enjoyed my course!” Thomas Struzzieri, President and CEO HITS, Inc: “It’s my second-favourite result having the Irish win, this was a terrific day for showjumping and HiTS!” Michael Blake, Irish Chef d’Equipe: “I came from (looking after) underage ranks in Ireland. I got a call from them few months ago (to become rider’s representative on the governing body) and I’m very proud to represent the best bunch of riders in the world! We are a small country but we keep doing it all the time and these are great guys to work with. We don’t need to make too many changes in the future, we have eight riders in the world’s top 50 and that’s not an accident. We just need to circle our wagons now, and we intend to do 24 Nations Cup events this year and we intend to be sitting at this winner’s table many times again!”