A World Champion wins at La Baule

Eleven years after his first victory in the Grand Prix of La Baule, Jos Lansink does it again with Carthago Z. Only 7 qualified
with a clear round on Frederic Cottier's challenging course.

“When I designed this course, I had the objective of 10 qualifiers for the Jump-Off ” explains the Course Designer. ” At the beginning of the competition, I thought, maybe, that my course was too easy and after the half time break, Jos Lansink was the only couple to have a clear round. I am very satisfied with nine clear rounds even though two did not qualify because of time faults.

I wanted to present difficulties for the riders without tiring their horses. ” I reached my goal ! ”

With 6 clear rounds for the first ten couples, one could have imagined a crowded jump-off. Peter Charles was penalised with one fault for time and Olivier Guillon (FRA), Marcus Ehning (GER), Ashlee Bond (USA), Kevin Staut (FRA) and Angélique Hoorn (PB) qualified for the jump-off. Only Malin Baryard-Johnsson (SWE) and Jos Lansink (BEL) had double clear rounds.

Olivier Guillon (FRA) had the challenge of riding first in the jump-off. His horse, Lord de Theize, ran an excellent time however he had a bar down on the oxer of the last combination jump. This jump was also detrimental for Marcus Ehning however his faster time allowed him a 3rd place on the podium.

Olivier Guillon did not appear to be too disappointed. ” This is the first important international horse show for Lord de Theize and I would not have thought that we would have performed as well as we did. Lord de Theize is a horse that I have ridden for two years. He competed in the young horse division under the saddle of Gilles de Balanda. It was Gilles that recommended to Lord de Theize's owner than he select me as the rider. I am hopeful to have the opportunity to prove ourselves in upcoming important horse shows. I love riding with the best !
The second Frenchman to qualify for the jump-off was Kevin Staut who also had four faults on the same oxer as the other qualifiers.

His 5th place finish was a impressive victory considering he was riding with a broken hand.

The next to last rider in the jump-off was Sweden's Malin Baryard-Johnsson. Since there were no clear rounds so far, she opted for a conservative strategy to ride clear. She will compete one more time in the CSIO in Rome before giving birth in October.

When Jos Lansink came into the ring, he knew what he had to do. ” Malin did not have a very fast round and I thought I could ride faster without taking too many risks. I am so pleased with Spender S who jumped a double clear round in the Nations Cup.

When I arrived in La Baule, I planned to ride Spender S in the Nations Cup and Valentina van't Heike in the Grand Prix. I decided to put Spender S in the Grand Prix as Valentina did not jump well during the week-end. ” Without too much effort, the World Champion, was declared the winner just like he was 11 years ago with Carthago Z.

Sweden's coach, Maria Gretzer, was extremely happy with Malin's performance in the Grand Prix riding against Maria's former horse, Splender S. It was a great performance for Sweden and it was a great horseshow.

All of the riders and coaches expressed a unanimous appreciation for a fantasique horseshow including the greatly improved stabling facilites. René Pasquier, Président of International Jumping of France in La Baule declare with a smile ” It will be difficult to beat this one ! ”