Hometown Heroes in California and Martin Fuchs’s Big Win

In this issue you’ll learn:

1. Inside the American victory in San Juan Capistrano and Robert Ridland’s master plan.

2. Why Martin Fuchs wanted to win Windsor… badly.

3. Who won the next golden ticket to the LGCT Super Grand Prix.

But first, trivia!

Nations Cup News: Americans Celebrate Their Hometown Heroes in San Juan Capistrano

Lightning struck twice as the United States emerged victoriously in the Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup event held in San Juan Capistrano, California, securing their second consecutive win after triumphing in Mexico.

The American team, led by Chef d'Equipe Robert Ridland, consisted of Lillie Keenan, Karl Cook, Laura Kraut, and McLain Ward.

Ridland, who still hasn’t fully recovered from a disappointing 2022 season that left the United States out of the Nations Cup Finals, didn’t want to take any chances this year – especially as this is one of the final opportunities to qualify for the Olympics.

So his plan was to divide and conquer.

He sent half of his senior ‘A’ team (riders from the Tokyo Olympic team) to Mexico City and brought the other half to San Juan Capistrano.

It worked.

No American rider had more than one rail throughout the weekend and McLain Ward was the only rider in the entire competition to produce a double clean round.

To show their appreciation for Ridland’s excellent guidance, team USA decided to give him some extra champagne:

The United States remains firmly at the top of the leaderboard with 200 points and Mexico and Canada sit in second and third place with 170 and 150 points respectively.

The final leg of the competition will conclude in Vancouver on June 4, 2023.

Martin Fuchs’s Royal Windsor Dreams Finally Come True

In 2021, Martin Fuchs took a very honorable third place at The Royal Windsor’s CSI5* Rolex Grand Prix.

Ben Maher and Explosion W took top honors, but Fuchs really wanted that green Rolex cooler on his mount.

This year, he took no chances with his 12 year old gelding, Connor Jei.

In preparation for the show, Martin Fuchs told Horse and Hound that he called his uncle, Markus Fuchs, to help him get the Holstiener into peak performance. So when they entered the ring last Sunday, they were ready to take on any challenge – including Ben Maher’s decorated champion.

Only nine riders qualified for the jump-off and Fuchs watched as Maher lay down an impressive performance with Explosion W. The pair left out strides where none of the other riders dared, and Fuchs knew he would have to push it to beat Maher’s time.

So his plan was to ride the same round as Maher – just a bit quicker.

And when Fuchs said, “just a bit quicker” he didn’t mean it lightly.

He and Connor Jei put the peddle to the meddle, and in an audacious turn to the final fences, managed to cross the timers just 0.28 seconds faster than Ben Maher and Explosion W to clench the victory he wanted so badly a few years ago.

You can watch Ben Maher and Martin Fuchs battle it out in this side by side jump off round:

Martin Fuchs is also the trivia winner for this week’s issue!

The Lone Survivor: Edwina Tops-Alexander Wins The Madrid LGCT Grand Prix

It was the Australian anthem that blared across the lush green grass of Madrid on Sunday afternoon as Edwina Tops-Alexander celebrated winning the fourth LGCT Grand Prix of the season.

Tops-Alexander and her mount, Fellow Castlefield, were the only pair to emerge unscathed from the challenging first round with zero faults.

However, she’s no stranger to the podium.

This was Tops-Alexander’s 27th time stepping onto an LGCT podium and she was also the winner of the first edition of the LGCT Super Grand Prix.

She’s also the winner of our weekly trivia!

Now, she’s already tracking Google Flight prices to Prague as she aims to repeat her LGCT Super Grand Prix victory this fall.

You can watch her winning round here:

Looking at the overall rankings, Malin Bayard Johnsson, who wasn’t present in Madrid, slipped down to second position and Maikel van der Vluenten took over the lead by 10 points. David Will remains firmly in third place as the tour moves on to Saint-Tropez for the first weekend in June.

Breeding Recommendations From VDL Stud

Wondering who to breed your mare to? We recently asked Wiebe Yde van de Lageweg of VDL stud who he would breed one of our subscriber’s mares to.

After looking at her videos and pedigree, he provided two stallion recommendations. Watch the video to learn what he had to say:

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Other News

A Working Hunter and Eventing Horse Triumph in The Royal Windsor Puissance

If you’re an adrenaline junkie and want a new exciting challenge, try galloping straight towards a seven foot brick wall.

And no, this wall isn’t like platform nine and three-quarters, where you can just go through it.

Nevertheless, this is how five horses and riders chose to spend their weekend, and it was Derek Morton and the 12-year-old working hunter gelding, KBS High Quality, that ultimately cleared the fence and won the puissance at the Royal Windsor horse show.

The only other horse to clear the massive wall was Olympic eventer Commandant Geoff Curran riding the 16-year-old event horse, Bishops Quarter.

It turns out that both KBS High Quality and Bishops Quarter are sired by the same stallion, OBOS Quality.

Hear Henrik von Eckermann Critique His Own Round

The most accomplished riders in the world always find ways to improve – including World Number 1, Henrik von Eckermann.

Listen to him critique his own round on Iliana:

Farms We Love

This farm just might be the crowning jewel of the many gems in California’s equestrian property market.

First, it has everything you could possibly need.

• Indoor with viewing area and commercial grade kitchen? Check.

• Outdoor complete with water jump? Check.

• 20 stall main barn? Check.

• Stallion barn with unnecessarily large stalls? Check.

• Electric riding walker, covered round pen, and isolation paddocks? Check. Check. Check.

It also has about 90 acres of fenced pastures and two cottage houses for staff.

Located about 35 miles from San Francisco, it’s the perfect broke-person starter kit for any tech billionaire.

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