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Sophie Leube takes a well-deserved victory in her second-ever CCI4*-L. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Some things, and some wins, just feel meant to be — and that’s certainly the case for Germany’s Sophie Leube, who produced three foot-perfect phases to lead Boekelo CCIO4*-L from pillar to post this week with Jadore Moi in just their second-ever start at the level. For the last year or so, Sophie has excelled herself on the world stage, taking the win in the Seven-Year-Old World Championship last year with the stallion Sweetwater Ziethen and taking a decisive dressage lead at CHIO Aachen last month with Jadore Moi, an eleven-year-old German Sporthorse by Conthargos. But although such significant leaps into the spotlight can feel like sudden and remarkable trajectories, for Sophie, the newfound recognition has come as the result of an awful lot of hard work — and more than a little bit of love for the horse with whom she’s risen through the levels.

Sophie Leube and Jadore Moi. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

But first of all, let’s talk about today. Boekelo is known for producing a tough final phase, helped along by the incomparable atmosphere and the fact that the surfaced arena — a relatively new addition to the venue — allows the team to ask trickier questions of horses and riders than they might be able to on grass, where the slip factor could quickly become an issue. And so everyone flocked to the ringside for this morning’s first session, which saw the first 18 of 43 competitors come forward to jump. What they witnessed can’t have filled anyone with bucketloads of confidence: just three of those 18 produced clear rounds, and none of those three managed to catch the tight time. The top twenty-five knew they’d need to find inside lines and take some risks in order to attempt to produce a completely penalty-free round — and with a rail covering the top nine, there wasn’t any wiggle room to allow for anything less.

Perhaps, if you’d looked at numbers alone, you wouldn’t have put Sophie and Jadore Moi up as your eventual winners — after all, they average a rail at four-star, and riding under this amount of pressure is still a reasonably new experience for Sophie. But in their only previous CCI4*-L, at Italy’s Pratoni del Vivaro in November, where they finished third — they jumped a clear round, and Sophie had produced the goods so competently when winning the Seven-Year-Old title, too. In every way, Jadore Moi has stepped up a notch this year, swapping her former circa-30 scores for mid-25s, and shaving down the seconds across the country to the point where she added nothing yesterday. That trend continued on today, and the pair left their two rails at Aachen firmly behind them to attack the track in fine style, adding a further 0.4 time and securing themselves the biggest win of their career together.

Sophie reacts in delight after clearing the final fence. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

…and heaps praise and gratitude on her super mare Jadore Moi. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

“It will take a while until I will realise everything,” says Sophie, beaming at the mare she owns in conjunction with a four-woman syndicate. She originally took the ride on the mare as a five-year-old for breeder and then-owner Victoire von Schoen, who wanted Jadore Moi to contest the German Bundeschampionate for young horses. Though Jadore Moi would have won with her final score of 9.5, she was technically disqualified because her sire wasn’t a licensed stallion — but such was her obvious quality and will to win that Sophie decided to buy a half share in the horse with her husband. Top twenty finishes at the Six- and Seven-Year-Old World Championships followed, and more and more people began to see what she’d felt — include the group of loyal owners who are now at the helm of the other half share.

“They all loved the story with the horse, and they also saw the chance I had with her,” says Sophie. If that was a gamble, it was only in keeping with the calculated risk Sophie had taken just a couple of years previously: after a working student placement with Ingrid Klimke, she spent a year working for the incoming German chef d’equipe and former championship rider Peter Thomsen, before returning to Ingrid for a two-year formal training period. After that finished in 2013, she made a big decision.

Sophie shares the podium with William Fox-Pitt and Sidney Dufresne. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

“I took the risk to start my own business directly after that two years, and Ingrid said, ‘yeah, try to do it, you can do it!’,” she recalls. That positivity and supportive relationship has carried on through Sophie’s years as a professional, in which she and her husband have worked together to help her climb the levels. “She’s a great support to me and I still owe her so much.”

Sophie celebrates with team trainers Marcus Döhring and Hans Melzer. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Sophie, who’s a well-liked character on the European circuit for her easy smile and unassuming nature, looked as icy-veined as her mentor as she entered the ring, even after watching the chaos unfold earlier in the day.

“I’m always a little bit excited, and I try to focus on the horse the whole time,” she says. “I’m not watching the others while I warm up; I just do my thing, and today we had a very good plan with Marcus [Döhring, German jumping trainer]. Somehow, you get the confidence, because the trainers say you can do it — and I know I have a great horse, the very best I could wish for. She’s a good jumping horse and if I do most of the things right, then she’s doing everything right.”

Sophie might be processing the exciting reality of her big win for a little while to come, but to the industry around here, she’s already a confirmed superstar — and her 2022 goal of getting onto the German team at some bigger events looks a very reasonable one indeed, even in what could still be considered the fledgling stages of her career.

“It’s really unbelievably extraordinary,” she laughs. “I did my first three-star on her, and my first four-star on her, and she’s my only four-star horse — and in my second four-star long, it’s really crazy to stand next to William Fox-Pitt on the podium!”

William Fox-Pitt and Grafennacht. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Though a record third Boekelo win would have been an undoubtedly cool story for the event’s big fiftieth birthday, William Fox-Pitt was delighted to maintain his second place after cross-country with the nine-year-old mare Grafennacht, who jumped an economical clear to add 1.2 time penalties, giving Sophie a slight time buffer but securing his own spot on the podium. His joy was, perhaps, paired with some surprise: yesterday, after his clear round inside the time, he told EN with some certainty that, although the clear rounds would come in time from the talented mare, she wouldn’t jump a clear today.

“I was just enjoying the moment,” he laughs. “I know she wants to jump a clear, but she doesn’t always give them quite enough space. It might not have been the prettiest round — not like our winner’s! — but at the end of the day, that doesn’t matter. She didn’t do anything wrong, and I certainly can’t complain about that — she’s a good horse and I came here positively, thinking she could come here and do well.”

William was gracious in defeat — though a clear round and second place isn’t much of a defeat, as far as we’re concerned — praising Sophie’s riding and remarking how great it is to see the next generation of riders coming through the ranks. In hindsight, though, he might have misjudged Sophie’s youthful visage: “William thought I was 21,” she laughs. “I’m 34! He said, ‘oh! Well I’m glad you’re not like, a spoiled kid with a very good horse!'”

Sidney Dufresne and Tresor Mail. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

France’s Sidney Dufresne jumped a gutsy clear aboard his 2018 WEG mount Tresor Mail to remain in third place, adding 0.8 time penalties to his 26.2 dressage and faultless cross-country round, while British team rider and European Champion Nicola Wilson was able to secure fourth place with her Blenheim eight- and nine-year-olds winner Coolparks Sarco despite a frustrating rail and 0.4 time penalties.

Nicola Wilson and Coolparks Sarco. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

“He’ll have learned so much today, and it was just an unfortunate fence down — but he jumped a beautiful round and I was over the moon with him all week,” says Nicola, who rides the horse for the Lamberts, who also co-own her European Champion JL Dublin.

Though the nine-year-old gelding experienced crowds at Blenheim, they’re not a patch on Boekelo’s loud and enthusiastic swarms of spectators, which served to give the horse an education in championship-style atmosphere — a challenge he rose to with his characteristic positivity.

“He hadn’t experienced anything like this, but now he has, and he coped fantastically,” she says. “He came into the week smiling and he’s come out of it smiling as well, and I’m just delighted for Jamie and Jo Lambert, who have been amazing supporters of ours. It’s so exciting to think that they have another lovely horse in the waiting. We’re really excited about the future, and I’m feeling incredibly humbled and excited to have a horse like him.”

Sydney Elliott and QC Diamantaire. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Plenty of work and a serious commitment to ongoing education paid dividends for Sydney Elliott and QC Diamantaire, who finished best of the Americans in fifth place after toppling the first element of the double. But such was the drama delivered by the course that this result actually saw them step up a place on the leaderboard, bringing their European adventure to its conclusion in the finest of styles.

“I am ecstatic,” says Sydney, who made her European debut at CHIO Aachen last month with the rangy eleven-year-old gelding. “I’m so proud of this horse — he’s had such an upward swing all year long, and I’m just thrilled. We have the easy part, I think — they tote us around and they don’t have to do that, so I think it’s just very incredible that we get to sit up here and enjoy it!”

Sydney has one more competition to head to before she hops on a plane back home — she’ll tackle Poland’s Strzegom Horse Trials next week with a young horse, giving her one more golden opportunity to soak up everything she can on the continent and apply it to her training system. Like her fellow US riders, the experience has made her hungry to continue to show up and deliver results on the world stage.

“I think the takeaway for the whole team is that when we go home, we’re going to try harder and every single day, our training needs to step up,” she says. “I think with Aachen and Boekelo, our team has been very close — everyone from Erik Duvander, Peter Wylde, Jenni Autry, everyone who’s helping us is huge and we’re really coming together.”

A return trip in 2022 to keep the good times — and the good results — coming is already firmly on Sydney’s radar.

“As long as he’s feeling healthy and happy, we’ll hopefully come back for Luhmühlen,” she says. “That’s our plan — and maybe to come over a little earlier and spend some time over here.”

Hallie Coon and Global Ex. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Just three riders managed completely penalty-free rounds through the day, and two of those were able to climb into the top ten as a result: Japanese Olympians Yoshiaki Oiwa and Calle 44 moved from 12th to sixth, while US individuals Hallie Coon and Global Ex climbed from 13th to seventh. They were the only combination to finish on their dressage score in the entire field, giving them a weeklong climb of 26 placings and proving that the mighty little mare, who is in just her first season at four-star, is the real deal.

“She was unbelievable,” says Hallie of the 12-year-old Dutch-bred mare, who was initially produced by Brian Morrison of Global Event Horses and latterly Katherine Coleman, before Hallie took the ride in November of last year. Then, the mare was green but capable at three-star, and Hallie piloted her around Portugal’s Barocca d’Alva as their debut. Since then, she’s worked on improving the mare’s strength and musculature, producing a series of exciting results along the way and earning, in return, the kind of feeling she’s never encountered from a horse before.

“I don’t even know how to describe her,” she says. “You can just trust her, and just do the turns and have the right place. As long as you keep her in the right balance she’s right there for you, and it’s the best feeling in the world. I just never had a doubt in my mind that she could do it, and I don’t think she did either.”

Hallie Coon directs the applause to her mare after a super clear round. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

After watching the entirety of the first session of jumping, Hallie and US team jumping coach Peter Wylde decided to slightly revise the plan of attack for her round, which made best use of the mare’s surprisingly ground-covering stride: “I only changed one thing, and that was that I was initially going to do eight to the triple bar. And then Peter came back and said one of the horses walked it in seven, and he was like, ‘your horse can absolutely get there in seven’. And so I just kept coming, and it was right there.”

Now, Hallie is looking ahead to the future with her superstar mare, who she plans to debut at five-star next year and who, she says with no small measure of awe, would be equally capable of running around a course like Burghley’s or Pau’s: “She’s the ultimate — it’s all really exciting.”

Izzy Taylor and Hartacker. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Great Britain’s Izzy Taylor took eighth place with the nine-year-old Hartacker, who has overcome some green, educational moments in his career to become a serious young talent for the British team. He jumped around inside the tough-to-catch time today, and though he took a pole along the way in the treble, the pair were able to climb from eleventh into the top ten.

“He’s definitely stepped up, even just through this week,” she says. “Going into the arena today, he was much more of a man than when he went in on Thursday — then, he was a little bit scared by it all and a bit embarrassed to be there.”

The pair were one of eleven to add nothing to their dressage score yesterday, where Izzy explains that he gave her a green but exciting trip across the country: “He was green, but he was always going to be green,” she says. “But he never deviated off his line; he asked me what was going on occasionally, and I said, ‘you’re going that way!’ and he just said, ‘oh, okay! That’s fine! If that’s what you want!’ The further around we went, the better he got.”

Hartacker was a late starter, only beginning his eventing career as a seven-year-old in 2019, and so this week provided him with his first-ever experience of ‘pre-pandemic’ eventing.

“He’s very inexperienced to be here, and like all the nine-year-olds after COVID, for them to come out on Saturday and see that number of people that close to you has been amazing; it’s been so good for them.”

Tamie Smith and Danito. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Like Izzy before him, Ireland’s Padraig McCarthy had a pole down with the homebred MGH Tokyo Phil but still climbed two places to finish ninth, while the top ten was rounded out by Tamie Smith and Danito, who had two late rails to slip from third place — but nevertheless, a super week with the relatively inexperienced gelding and an excellent clear from the very green Solaguayre California for nineteenth gave her plenty to get excited about for the seasons to come.

“He had a rail, and then I had a rail, but he’s getting better and better, and that’s good,” she says. “And Solaguayre California is such a superb athlete; she just went in there and it was just beautiful, just wonderful. I’m so lucky to be riding her. It’s so fun when they jump like that — I’m really excited about her.”

Tamie Smith and Solaguayre California. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Tamie now comes to the end of a few months of back-and-forth between the US and Europe — after training in Aachen for Olympic pre-export quarantine and then flying on to Tokyo as travelling reserve, she opted to make the most of the opportunity to compete on this side of the pond and embrace the unique and valuable foundation that competing in the beating heart of the sport offers.

“Every time you come over here it just takes you to another level. Riding is such a learning game, and if you’re open to always wanting to be better then you get better. I just feel like every time I come over here, it takes me a notch or two higher. I’m really proud of the horses and proud of how I rode, and proud of the weekend we’ve had; I’m obviously disappointed because you’d like a little luck here and there, but it is what it is and they have such a huge future.”

Jennie Brannigan and FE Lifestyle. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

US team anchor Jennie Brannigan and the quirky but talented FE Lifestyle finished fifteenth after knocking fence three, giving them a weeklong leap of seventeen places up the leaderboard and providing longtime owners and supporters Tim and Nina Gardner with another reason to get excited about their resident redhead.

“I came here knowing that individually, it probably wasn’t going to be my week, but for me, yesterday meant everything because mentally, to pull through and do a good job for our country meant the world to me,” she says. “Erik’s put a lot of time into me, and I’m very grateful — so to do that proud means a lot. The horse is a good horse for the future, too; he did pretty alright today, and the Gardners are great people. This horse has always been a bit of a question mark — he doesn’t always make things easy in some regards, but he made being the anchor and pulling that off easy. He’s just a ginger, so you’ve got to work with that!”

Tim Lips is joined on the Dutch National Championship programme by his daughter, Isa, who helps accept the congratulations bestowed upon her dad. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

The Dutch National Championship went to Tim Lips, who has now won it five times on four different horses — an impressive feat in itself that’s made more so by the fact that his ride this week, Lady Chin van’t Moerven Z, is a catch-ride that he’s never competed before. He’ll now hand the reins back to his student, China’s Huadong Sun, with extra insight and experience that they can use to plan a 2022 WEG campaign and some more exciting results along the way.

The final top ten of Boekelo’s action-packed 50th anniversary edition.

The Brits are victorious again! Photo by Tilly Berendt.

The team competition went the way of Great Britain, who proved unbeatable in all three phases despite their team full of inexperienced mounts. All four riders were on nine-year-olds, and among the huge team experience of William Fox-Pitt, Izzy Taylor, and European champion Nicola Wilson was a new face in British team debutant James Rushbrooke, who finished 20th with Milchem Eclipse after delivering just the third clear round of the day.

James Rushbrooke and Milchem Eclipse. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

“It’s been amazing being on the team, and especially being on it with who I’m with,” says James, who has produced the ‘slightly weird’ Milchem Eclipse from a five-year-old, and finished sixth in Bicton’s tough under-25 CCI4*-L with him earlier this year. “When I got the call [to join the team] I was a bit like, ‘oh god, that’s a lot of pressure’ — but they’ve been amazing, and they’ve given me loads of help, and we get to walk away as good friends which is the best thing.”

Nicola echoed his sentiments and expressed her positivity in the continued strength and depth of the British squad: “It’s been a lovely week, and to be with Izzy and William and to have the first time for James Rushbrooke — it’s been an amazing experience for him. It’s been a lovely team effort, and obviously everybody else that has done the hard work before this week in the Nations Cup means that we’re in this position now, which is lovely. It’s great to be on a team with these guys and to come away with the win.”

Team USA lines up after a successful week in the Netherlands. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Though they gave the Brits a seriously good fight through the week, Team USA’s riders were delighted with their final silver position — the second in a row scored by the team after an excellent showing at Aachen last month. Each was quick to praise the direction that chef d’equipe Erik Duvander and Managing Director Jenni Autry are taking the team in, citing a renewed team spirit and a huge amount of trust and time as the defining forces that are heralding a new, winning era for Team USA.

It’s all about team spirit: Jennie Brannigan and Tamie Smith celebrate in the lap of honour. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

“I think Erik and Jenni deserve a lot of credit for America doing better,” says Jennie Brannigan. “I think at the Olympics everyone was like, ‘we should have done better’ — but we did the best we’ve done in a long time. And then Aachen happened, and that was the best we’d done in a long time — and then this happened. I think that’s a really important thing to understand: it takes more than four years to make a team great, and we’re on the way. They’re doing a great job, and we should keep on this path — and we don’t have any better people to believe in us than them.”

Tamie Smith agrees, noting how special it felt — and how powerful — to unite the squad in such a positive way.

“We really just all came together,” she says. “Like, Hallie wasn’t on the team but we made her a part of the team, and that’s what it’s about. It’s fun trying to make it different, and it’s not everyone’s belief, but I’ve always believed in it. You can feel the difference, and it is a huge difference when you’ve really got each other’s back and you’re all together.”

Germany rounded out the podium in third place, while France finished fourth and Ireland fifth. Sweden came into the competition almost the de facto winners of the 2021 Nations Cup series, a title they won in 2019, too, and they’re feeling positive about the future with a European bronze medal in their hands, too: “We’re consistent at four-star now,” says stalwart team member Christoffer Forsberg, “and now we’ll work to take that to the five-star, WEG, and Olympic levels.”

The final standings in the team competition of the 2021 Nations Cup finale.

That’s all for us for now from beautiful, boozy, bold and brilliant Boekelo. We’re a little emotional to be waving goodbye (and to finally accept the impending post-eventing hangover that’s been threatening to destroy us for days), so stay tuned for some more snippets over the next couple of days. We’ve never been good at walking away from the things we love.

Until next time: Go Eventing.

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Eventing Nation’s coverage of Boekelo is brought to you by Kentucky Performance Products, our go-to source for the best support your horse can get. With a full line of proven supplements designed to help your horse feel his or her best, you can have peace of mind knowing that Kentucky Performance Products has your horse’s top health in mind. Learn more about KPP by visiting kppusa.com.

Over 60,000 enthusiastic spectators packed into Boekelo for its 50th anniversary cross-country day, and they cheered local hero Merel Blom out of the box voraciously. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Just 44 combinations will come forward for tomorrow morning’s final horse inspection after an eventful day of cross-country here in the Netherlands — a significant thinning of the field from its original 61 starters. We were down by one from the get-go: Germany’s Niklas Bschorer opted to withdraw Back In Time 2 this morning, though he was riding as an individual, not a team rider, and so this had no major impact on the leaderboard.

When the competition itself got under way, it certainly did so with a bang. France’s Benjamin Massie and Climaine de Cacao blazed the trail in fine style, sailing home clear and just one second inside the time — but although very quick rounds would continue to be the defining point of the day, Adrian Ditcham’s course offered no room for complacency after that superb first round. 14 of the 58 starters ultimately failed to complete the course, while a further 12 picked up jumping penalties along the way, making this one of the most exciting Boekelo cross-country days we’ve seen in a long time.

Riders and connections were alike were effusive in their praise of course designer Adrian Ditcham, who was deemed to have perfectly balanced the difficulty of the course for this level and presented tough but fair questions that challenged horses without punishing them.

“He’s a very underrated course designer, and he’s actually quite new to designing at this level, but I think he’s got a perfect balance for this track and it was a super job done,” says Dutch chef d’equipe Andrew Heffernan. Adding to the positive feel of the track was the perfect going: though Boekelo experienced its typical seasonal deluge in the lead-up to the weekend, a couple of uncharacteristically sunny days and plenty of work put into the footing meant that for the first time in memory, the going was fast rather than holding and allowed horses to skim easily over the top without any excess strain. That meant that an impressive twelve pairs came home inside the optimum time of 10:16, and though the leaderboard was tightly packed enough that even a second over the clock would be influential, we saw plenty of inexperienced horses catch the time.

Sophie Leube and Jadore Moi retain their lead after cross-country. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Chief among those combinations is Germany’s Sophie Leube and the exciting mare Jadore Moi, who retain their first-phase lead after an easy romp home three seconds inside the time — a feat made even more impressive by the fact that it’s only their second-ever CCI4*-L.

“It’s amazing, and I have no words, actually! It’s my second CCI4*-L, and I’m so proud of my horse and what we’ve achieved now — it’s amazing,” she says. But although she made the track look easy, Sophie admits she never expected to manage a clear inside the time.

“I know we can do a good dressage, but this [level] is still big for me and a big challenge, the whole thing. To be in Boekelo is an honour.”

Sophie, who began her career training with Ingrid Klimke and actually rode her first-ever FEI event on a young SAP Hale Bob OLD, has certainly been making her presence known on the world stage as one of Germany’s most impressive rising stars, but nonetheless, she’s incredibly humble, and was quick to honour the people who had helped her reach this point.

“I’m very thankful to be able to ride the horse, and for the trainers around me,” she says. “I wouldn’t be here without them, and I’m very, very happy.”

William Fox-Pitt and the keen but green Grafennacht take second place overnight. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Two-time Boekelo winner William Fox-Pitt made a solid move towards becoming the first-ever three-time winner of the event, stepping up from fourth to second place after a foot-perfect round on the nine-year-old Grafennacht. They crossed the finish line with two seconds to spare, lodging the best result of the day for the British team, who remain in first place in the Nations Cup competition as they head into the final phase. For William, who is aiming for the mare’s five-star debut next season, coming back to Boekelo after a largely spectator-free pandemic isn’t just about being competitive — it’s about exposure for young horses, who won’t have encountered anything quite like the spectacle of 60,000 drunk and enthusiastic Dutch people.

“She was fab, but I’d hoped she would be fab, because she’s a top cross-country horse,” he says — though, he continues, “she’s not a top showjumper yet, so though she can jump, I don’t expect her to jump a clear round tomorrow. But she might! I do believe she will one day; I believe she wants to. She’s really done everything I’ve asked, and she’s got some good miles for a nine-year-old.”

William, like Andy and like so many of his fellow riders, was vocal in his praise of Boekelo’s track and the effort made to return to the calendar — something that wasn’t guaranteed until the team got the government’s go ahead less than a month ago.

“I think they did an amazing job because it wasn’t a terrifying course, but I really felt they learned quite a lot,” he says. “What the team has achieved here to keep the event going through all their major trials and tribulations of the last few years is quite incredible, and I think most events in Europe would be lost after what they’ve been through. For them to carry this on, we as the riders are so grateful and so lucky to have this amazing venue.”

If William were to win Boekelo this year and set a new record for the most wins, it would be rather fitting — after all, it’s the event’s fiftieth anniversary, and although a first-ever Dutch win would have been the best way to celebrate, a returning hero is a pretty special consolation prize.

“That’s a dream, really, to win Boekelo three times,” William says with a smile. “It’s quite a thought, but realistically probably quite unlikely — we’ve got a very good leader and tomorrow will be a big part of the competition. But it’s a great honour to be sitting with some greats and to think that we’ve won wonderful Boekelo.”

Tamie Smith and Danito hold onto third place going into the final phase. Photo by Libby Law Photography.

Tamie Smith remains in third place with the exceptional Danito, who found a new turn of speed to finish just two seconds over the time — despite a watch malfunction that meant that Tamie had to judge the speed without being able to check her minute markers.

“I was like, ‘oh god, I can’t worry about that, I just have to go as fast as I can!’,” she laughs. “That’s the first time I’ve come close to making the time with him; I think he’s ready to go fast now. I’ve had a good seven to ten time at his previous four longs, and he’s a bit of a pony, so he says ‘I’m getting tired’ and I have to keep him going. But I think not having my watch helped me go faster, actually, and he read all the jumps great. It was so easy for him.”

As the first of the US riders out of the box and just the fifth starter of the day, Tamie’s round was also a valuable way to gain intel about the course, and like several of the riders before her, she discovered that the penultimate question, a wide brush spread to a triple brush at 26 and 27, had the potential to cause a problem if it wasn’t carefully managed.

“He landed from the brush in a little bit of a heap; he kind of tripped,” she says. “But he handled it so good — he just picked his head up and jumped right through there.”

Tamie Smith and Solaguayre California jump the second fence, situated directly next to what appeared to be a nightclub. Only at Boekelo. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

At the tail end of the day, Tamie’s second ride, Solaguayre California, was able to make best use of both a functioning timepiece and the intel her rider had gleaned earlier in the day, and as a result, the Argentinian Sport Horse delivered a superb run inside the time that utterly belied her inexperience. This is just her seventh ever FEI cross-country run, and she stepped up to CCI4*-S just six weeks ago, but despite a lack of mileage and a myriad of potential distractions on course, she never stopped hunting for the next question.

“She was awesome — this is just her second Advanced, and she’s unreal,” says Tamie, who debuted the mare at FEI level just last year. “It’s fast going today, unlike any Boekelo I’ve ever seen in the history of Boekelo, so I was hoping [to be inside the time] and I was going for that. She so wants to jump between the flags, even though she’s a green horse. She’s just amazing. She’s so quick, and so fast with her feet, and she’s just a phenomenal horse.”

The pair were awarded 20 penalties when Tamie opted to go long at the C element of the coffin combination, a route that requires horses to skim past the direct route to manage the tight left-handed turn, but pending a review of the penalties, Solaguayre California is set to move into overnight fourth place on the same score as Great Britain’s Nicola Wilson and Coolparks Sarco, who delivered a faster time that will ultimately relegate them to fifth if the appeal is successful, as cross-country tie-breaks are decided by proximity to the optimum time.

Nicola Wilson’s Blenheim CCI4*-S winner Coolparks Sarco produces the goods yet again. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Just 0.8 behind them is France’s Sidney Dufresne, whose fourteen-year-old stallion Tresor Mail brings the most considerable experience of any horse in this year’s field, having jumped clear around the 2018 World Equestrian Games.

Sydney Elliott and QC Diamantaire make it happen. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Third out for the US team was Sydney Elliott, who’s having the kind of season most of us daydream about with her eleven-year-old Oldenburg QC Diamantaire: after making their five-star debut as a partnership for a top twenty finish at Kentucky this spring, Sydney embarked on her first-ever trip to compete abroad, trailblazing for the US at CHIO Aachen last month. Their admirable performance there was also an educational one; the atmosphere in the main arena resulted in some expensive tension, earning them a 39.4, and they clocked up 10.8 time penalties across the country en route to bringing essential intel back to their teammates. All of that has served to help them peak when it counts, and their flowing, expressive test here put them on a competitive mark of 26.7, putting them into equal eleventh place before today’s exertions. And what exertions they were: the pair made light work of the tough track, attacking each distance and coming home ten seconds inside the time to move up to sixth place going into the final phase.

“It was an amazing day from the start,” says a delighted Sydney. “The crowds actually backed him off a little bit, and so all I had to do was drop the reins and keep kicking — it was awesome!”

That meant that despite the influence of the track and the pressure of riding for the team, Sydney’s Boekelo round with the oversized gelding was actually one of the easiest she’s had, helped along in part, once again, by that pivotal Aachen outing.

“He was brilliant; I’m so thrilled,” she says. “For him, I always knew that at the first water, he’s not going to jump in well — just like at Aachen. He basically tip-toed in at a trot, and so I knew that would be a little funny, and I did six there instead of the five [it walked]. Everything else went exactly as I walked it. It was a good day — he came through the finish sound and happy, and that’s what we want!”

Germany’s Alina Dibowski, the 20-year-old daughter of two-time Boekelo winner and German team stalwart Andreas, sits seventh after climbing twelve places with her Young Rider mount Barbados 26, with whom she went clear inside the time, while Sweden makes an appearance in the top ten in Lina Forsberg, who lies eighth with Kaizen, climbing from 23rd after coming home with four seconds to spare. Great British climbers round out the top ten: Tom Rowland and Quintilius, who ride as individuals, added 2 time penalties to jump from 17th to ninth, while team anchors Izzy Taylor and Hartacker were clear in the time to move from 26th to tenth. They made the most of the open door left by two departing members of the top ten: the Netherlands’ Willemina van der Goes-Petter and Ekino were eighth after dressage but saw their weekend end early after a rider fall at fence 13, while fellow Dutch rider and reigning national champions Merel Blom and Ceda NOP had a horse fall at the final element of the main water complex at 20.

Hallie Coon and Global Ex make a major move up the leaderboard. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

US individuals Hallie Coon and Global Ex made a spectacular leap up the rankings after delivering a fierce clear with two seconds to spare, which bumped them up by 20 places and sees them sit 13th going into tomorrow’s final horse inspection and showjumping. This is a relatively new ride for Hallie, who took the reins from Katherine Coleman at the tail end of 2020 and stepped the twelve-year-old mare up to four-star this spring — but in every outing so far, she tells EN she’s got the feeling that the diminutive grey is the real deal.

“She was unreal,” says Hallie. “She just kept galloping; I never had to put my leg on, and I never had to say ‘come on’. I had to say ‘come here’ a couple of times, but I could take my time and use those extra seconds, because she lands and she goes. It’s a good feeling to have that little bit of breathing room and be able to ride things properly, instead of just having to go balls to the wall, and that really helped today. But obviously, I haven’t had her very long, and I think I learned a lot about her — and it was all good.”

Through building their partnership and incrementally stepping the mare up to greater challenges, she’s also been able to develop her physical strength and shape — and now, people who might have previously written ‘Dolly’ off are seeing her huge potential, too.

“Every event she just shows me a little bit more and a little bit more,” she says. “It’s so funny — the vet who did her pre-purchase exam in England wrote in the notes, ‘nice horse — not sure it’s a top one.’ And she came up to me in the box after cross-country today and said, ‘oh boy, was I wrong!’ The mare just looks completely different; she’s come on so much and her musculature is so different. She was just beaming about her, and it was really good to see that.”

Dolly might be small and unprepossessing, but it’s her extraordinary focus that helps her produce round after round of solid cross-country — even with all the usual distractions of Boekelo, and a few extras besides.

“I don’t think she ever takes her eye off what’s between the flags,” says Hallie. “There was actually a dog under her legs — I was coming up to one of the wagons and literally a stride before, I was right on the ropes and someone lets their dog jump out in front of me. She never stopped looking at the fence, and if they hadn’t pulled the dog away, she’d have gone straight over it — it was inches away. She just never reacts; never takes her eye off the ball.”

Jennie Brannigan and FE Lifestyle anchor the US team in fine style. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

As the US team anchor, Jennie Brannigan knew she had one job with FE Lifestyle, and it was a big one: jump clear and do it fast, particularly after an earlier fall for Matt Flynn meant that all three of the other team rounds would have to count. But Jennie has always had faith to burn in the capable, quick gelding, and she knew that many of his qualities as a cross-country horse are similar to those of Sydney’s QC Diamantaire, which mean that she was able to firm up her course plan based off the intel her teammate brought back.

“I felt good about the course, but I waited for Sydney’s input because I know her horse has a very big step and mine has a huge step,” she explains. “She did the four in the final water, and so I did the four in the final water, and she told me she did six in the first water, so I took that advice to heart. Other than that, it was just getting it done.”

For Jennie, the full focus this week has been on logging a strong result as a team, though today’s result puts her well in the hunt, too.

“I didn’t come here to do well individually — I came here to do well as a team, but obviously it’s great if you can finish well individually as well,” says Jennie, who climbed from 32nd to 14th place after stopping the clock just one second over the optimum time. “I think we all wanted to do a good job for our country, and the team obviously did that at Aachen, so that’s what we wanted to do here. He’s a green horse, so I’m happy with him.”

The team spirit of the USA this week has been palpable, with every groom, rider, and connection rallying to help take care of horses after each phase, offer advice and insight, and provide motivation — a rallying force that has helped produce some seriously exciting results so far this week.

“For me, just being calm is all I need to do well cross-country,” she says. “We had southern rap going in the tack room, and I love that, and as a team, we’ve had some ups and downs — but we’re going all the way up. We’re bringing it all together, and we want to do a good job: Erik [Duvander] has believed in us, and put in a lot of time with us, and we obviously want to do a good job for our country but Erik’s done a great job and we want to hopefully show that. We’d be lost without him, for sure.”

Tim Lips gives Lady Chin van’t Moerven Z a super education. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Though an excellent test and a score of 24.5 put Tim Lips into second place going into cross-country, his ride this week is a catch-ride and his intention today was to provide Lady Chin van’t Moerven Z with experience for her usual rider, China’s Huadong Sun, before next season. That meant that even before cross-country began, he was realistic about the result he’d produce: while a classy clear was well within their wheelhouse, she’s not the fastest horse, and trying for any heroics on a horse he’d never competed before wouldn’t ultimately serve to build her confidence for her 2022 WEG campaign. And so, despite what must have been enormous pressure to chase the lead and become the first-ever Dutch winner of Boekelo in its anniversary year, Tim stuck to his guns and gave the eleven-year-old mare a superb education on course. They added 14.8 time penalties to slip down to 21st place, but Tim is still top of the leaderboard for the Dutch National Championship, and will go into tomorrow’s competition with a rail in hand over reigning champion Merel Blom, this time fighting for a win with Crossborder Radar Love NOP after a fall with her titleholder Ceda NOP.

“The horse has some experience — she went to Tokyo, but before that, she only ran to get the qualifications with Sun,” says Tim. “I think they did a great achievement, but we were looking back at the last few years and thinking about aiming for the World Championships next year, and we think the World Championships will be more strong [than Tokyo]. So Sun thought that this would be a great experience the horse, and that’s the reason I was competing her here. I wasn’t as fast as others, but I let the horse run and I took the time where I thought I should take time, and at the end the horse felt really fresh, so that’s a really good feeling for the next competitions with Sun.”

The team line-up looks much the same as it did after the first phase: Great Britain remains in the top spot, though they don’t have a rail in hand over Team USA, who are down to three riders after an unfortunate tumble for Matt Flynn and Wizzerd in the tough water complex. Behind them, Germany remains in third place, though by a significant margin after a fall for Heike Jahncke and a run-out for Ingrid Klimke and EQUISTROS Siena Just Do It. The team sit 38.3 penalties behind the US, which translates to nine rails in hand.

A tough day for the Swedish team means they’ll need to bring their A game tomorrow to win this year’s Nations Cup series: they’ve been so consistent this year that they only need to finish in the top eight of nine teams, but they come here with just three riders and one of them, Sandra Gustafsson, failed to complete today, putting them on an aggregate score of 1083. Italy, also down to two riders, is three rails behind them on 1098.9, and so the pressure is on for our Scandinavian pals.

Tomorrow’s finale begins with the final horse inspection, starting at 9.30 a.m. local time/8.30 a.m. British time/3.30 a.m. Eastern time, and will be followed by showjumping from 12.30 p.m. local/11.30 a.m. UK/6.30 a.m. Eastern. We’ll be coming to you bright-eyed and bushy-tailed (ish) from the trot-up and beyond, so tune in to EN to find out exactly how the exciting final day plays out here at Boekelo. Until then: Go Eventing!

Military Boekelo: [Website] [Entries and Live Scoring] [Live-Stream] [EN’s Coverage]

Eventing Nation’s coverage of Boekelo is brought to you by Kentucky Performance Products, our go-to source for the best support your horse can get. With a full line of proven supplements designed to help your horse feel his or her best, you can have peace of mind knowing that Kentucky Performance Products has your horse’s top health in mind. Learn more about KPP by visiting kppusa.com.

History is celebrated at the final fence. Photo by Adrian Ditcham/CrossCountryApp.

It’s nearly go time at Military Boekelo, where 60 horses and riders and nine teams are battling for individual and Nations Cup glory in this much-loved CCIO4*-L. Set on the cusp of a town and a motorway in the far east of the Netherlands, Boekelo’s track tends to feature twisty, technical combinations interspersed with galloping stretches and, of course, an awful lot of Grolsch tents along the way. This is the fiftieth anniversary of the event, and the week so far has been a full-blown celebration of the sport — and you can spot nods to history on course, too. The final fence is covered with images of people and moments who have made Boekelo such a special part of our sport, including the likes of Sir Mark Todd and Martin Lips, whose son, Tim, sits second going into cross-country today.

The course measures 5,845 meters, with 40 jumping efforts over 29 questions. The optimum time of 10:16 will be a tough one to catch — so no pressure on our top three, who sit less than a time penalty apart!

You can take a walk around the course, courtesy of course designer Adrian Ditcham and CrossCountryApp, below:

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Or, check out this super video created by the fine folks at Irish Eventing Times, and be sure to follow them on Facebook and Instagram for more fabulous updates, videos, and photos from around the European circuit.

Want to follow all the action as it happens? Sally Spickard will be running live updates, and you can catch the Live-Stream here. We’ll be bringing you a full report and gallery from all the action later on today, so stick with EN to find out all you need to know from the exciting finale of the 2021 FEI Nations Cup series!

Military Boekelo: [Website] [Entries and Live Scoring] [Live-Stream] [EN’s Coverage]

Eventing Nation’s coverage of Boekelo is brought to you by Kentucky Performance Products, our go-to source for the best support your horse can get. With a full line of proven supplements designed to help your horse feel his or her best, you can have peace of mind knowing that Kentucky Performance Products has your horse’s top health in mind. Learn more about KPP by visiting kppusa.com.

There are two serious jumping phases left to tackle at Military Boekelo CCIO4*-L, in which the US currently sit in a close second place, but no matter what happens this weekend, we reckon our American contingent have already won the prize for the most team spirit: you can find them at the in-gate for each and every US rider’s test, acting as a roving cheerleading squad and all chipping in to help with the serious business of sorting the horses after their tests. Oh, and there’s been a whole heck of a lot of hugging going on, too, and who can blame them for feeling a bit heart-eyed, really, when their horses are easily the most ludicrously cute in the field? Dive in and feel the love with our in-gate gallery from the first phase here in the Netherlands.

Hallie Coon is all smiles after a super test from the inexperienced Global Ex. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Tamie Smith’s green but exciting Solaguayre California gets a well-deserved bit of fuss after a top-ten test. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Jennie Brannigan’s FE Lifestyle says “no fanks!” to the post-test bit check, and who can blame him, really? Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Hallie Coon’s Global Ex gets some love from groom Tabby Fiorentina. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Matt Flynn is very tall, which makes him perfect for the tough job of removing ears for the steward’s inspection. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Tamie Smith and Erik Duvander discuss the finer details…

…and then hug it out for good measure. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Jenni Autry and Jennie Brannigan take the two-pronged approach to horsecare after Danito’s test. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Tamie Smith’s groom, Taylor Greene, takes on horse-whisperer duties. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Danito: picture perfect and one of the US’s brightest rising stars. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

We want to talk about one thing and one thing only: Wizzerd’s ears. We’re obsessed. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Even chef d’equipe Erik Duvander can’t resist a bit of pony patting. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Tabby Fiorentino, Jennie Brannigan, and Ash Heller watch on as Hallie Coon prepares to enter at A. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

After the test, it’s all about the full team debrief — and that includes celebrations with the squad. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Confirmed: Team USA wins the gold for the cutest horses here at Boekelo, as Global Ex happily confirms. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Teammates Tamie Smith and Jennie Brannigan celebrate after Tamie trailblazes to a super score with Danito. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Global Ex receives a highly coveted high-five to the schnozz from Jennie Brannigan. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Sorry, but could Danito BE any more adorable? We think not. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

The man behind the magic: Tamie Smith shares a hug with Jo Hinneman, the German dressage guru who’s become her right-hand man during the pandemic, and with whom the US squad based themselves before Boekelo. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

QC Diamantaire is all character after a super test with Sydney Elliott puts him just outside the top ten overnight. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

US Eventing’s Managing Director Jenni Autry doesn’t play favourites, but if she did, Wizzerd would be right up there. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Tyler Held, head groom for Jennie Brannigan, shares a moment with FE Lifestyle. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

“Didn’t I do well?” Wizzerd smiles for his people after a sweet test with Matt Flynn. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

The best way to get attention? A full squad pile-on, as FE Lifestyle proves. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Hallie Coon and her partner Ash Heller stave off the early morning Boekelo fog. It’s snuggle szn, baby. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Military Boekelo: [Website] [Entries and Live Scoring] [Live-Stream] [EN’s Coverage]