Belgian Brilliance in Barcelona !

Belgian Brilliance in Barcelona !
The Belgian Show Jumpers have dominated all weekend in Barcelona for the FEI Furusiyya Nations Cup Final. They won the first round on Thursday in true style and continued their winning from this evening for the final round.

The course designer Santiago Varela really laid down the gauntlet for the riders. The course was one of the trickiest that the riders have seen all season, seeing only seven out of thirty two riders go clear. Two of which came from the Belgian team ; Judy Ann Melchior and Gregory Wathelet.

The course produced faults spread evenly throughout the track, but the bogey fence was definitely the tall vertical that came after the triple combination, where most riders saw their chances of winning come down with the fence.

The first clear came from German rider Meredith Michaels Beerbaum and the scopey grey gelding Fibonacci 17 (For Feeling x Corland). It looked as though Germany would take the lead but unfortunately both Daniel Deusser and Ludger Beerbaum had 8 faults, causing the team to eventually finish in sixth place.

The second clear round came from Belgian rider Judy Ann Melchior and the mare As Cold as Ice Z ( Artos Z x Carthago Z ). Good performances from teammates Jos Lansink (8 Faults) and Olivier Philippaerts (4 Faults) as well as a clear from Gregory Wathelet allowed the team to finish in front and take the Gold.

The team from Great Britain finished in second place after what can only be described as a rocky start whereas the World and European Champions, the Netherlands finished in third place.

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