It is WEG team announcement season on Eventing Nation, with the German, Australian, and Kiwi World Equestrian Game squads all being named within a few hours of each other. We will take it country by country and link to more information at the end of each listing. Let’s start with the Aussies:
The Australian team looks to improve upon their bronze medal at the 2006 WEGs:
-Christopher Burton and Holstein Park Leilani–1st time on Aus team, rider won Adelaide ’08
-Sam Griffiths and Happy Times–UK based, 3rd at Badminton and Burghley 2008
-Sonja Johnson and Ringwould Jaguar–Jag is 19 years old, the pair was 10th at ’08 Olympics
-Megan Jones and Kirby Park Irish Jester–The pair was individual 4th at ’08 Olympics
-Paul Tapner and Inonothing–Won Badminton ’10, top 10 placings in 5 four-star events
-Stuart Tinney and either Vettori, or Panamera–Vettori won the ’09 Adelaide 4*
The Australians ship out from Sydney on September 13th. Of the Australian team, only two riders are based in the UK–Paul Tapner and Sam Griffiths. This tendency to focus on the home-based riders is nothing new to the Australians, and, while it might have led to the 6 best horses getting selected this year it also has a tendency to alienate foreign based Aussie riders. The Australians always find a way to do really well at international team competitions, and I expect that 3 top 10 placings at the WEGs will be enough to give them yet another team medal.
Everything you ever wanted to know about the Aussie team is in this article from Equestrian Australia.
