Karin Donckers and Fletcha van’t Verahof. Photo by Jenni Autry.
With exactly one month to go until the opening ceremonies, Belgium has announced their eventing squad for the 2018 World Equestrian Games, which will be held at the Tryon International Equestrian Center in Mill Spring, North Carolina. The eventing competition will take place September 12-16.
Alec van den Abeele will serve as chef d’equipe and Marc Rigouts will be the manager for the Belgian team in Tryon.
Congratulations to the following horse and rider combinations:
- Lara de Liedekerke-Meier and Alpaga d’Arville, a 12-year-old SBS (Wunder Boy van de Zuuthoeve x Mooney Raaphorst XX, by Shamaraan XX) owned by Larga SPRL.
- Karin Donckers and Fletcha van ‘t Verahof, a 13-year-old Belgian Warmblood (Vigo d’Arsouilles x Southern Queen XX, by South Gale XX) owned by Karin, Joris De Brabander and Carl Bouckaert.
- Giel Vanhouche and Azrael, a 10-year-old Holsteiner (Armand XX x Z-Luna, by Landgraf I) owned by Stal Viktory and Giel.
- Joris Vanspringel and Imperial van de Holtakkers, a 10-year-old Dutch Warmblood (Quidam de Revel x Ava vd Holtakkers, by Argentinus) owned by Joris and Holstrust & Catharina Speerstra.
Drama has swirled in recent weeks amidst discussions that the length of Captain Mark Phillip’s cross country course may be shortened due to severe weather this summer. Many nations, including Australia, postponed final team announcements until “formal advice from the FEI and the Tryon Organising Committee of the details and distances of the cross-country course,” which they expected yesterday, August 10. Final nominated entries are due by Monday, August 13, so we can expect a flurry of finalizations next week.
To check out progress on the Tryon WEG venue, visit our gallery from July 26 here.
[Selecties World Equestrian Games Tryon.]
