Tryon, NC USA – September 15, 2018 – The British Eventing Team performed a Cross-Country master class as they hit the heights in pursuit of gold at the FEI World Equestrian Games™ Tryon 2018 on Saturday, September 15 on the third day of Mars, Incorporated Eventing competition.

They emphatically wiped out defending champion Germany’s lead after dressage, with team riders Gemma Tattersall, Piggy French, Tom McEwen and Ros Canter all jumping clear inside an optimum 10-minute time and raising hopes of a first world team title since 2010.

While reigning European champion Ingrid Klimke leads the individual competition following a perfectly timed performance on SAP Hale Bob OLD, hopes of a German double with team success effectively evaporated as Britain took charge.

Individually, Klimke’s score of 23.3 penalties is just 1.3 ahead of Canter, with Irish challenger Sarah Ennis and Horseware Stellor Rebound holding third, ahead of French pair Thibaut Vallette (Qing de Briot Ene HH) and Astier Nicolas (Vinci de la Vigne). The top ten riders are separated by only 5.1 penalties.

Tattersall set the tone on Arctic Soul, filling the team’s key pathfinder role with distinction aboard a horse she describes as “the complete cross-country machine.”

“He is such a good jumper, he is so clever and careful and knows his job,” she said. “He has jumped around several four-star competitions, so this was nothing to him, really. I did feel a humungous amount of pressure. I came here to go clear inside the time, and on a normal day that’s pressure, but when everyone in the whole world expects that of me and Arctic Soul, it is a lot of pressure.”

“We’ve had a fantastic day,” Canter said. “We have the utmost confidence in our horses and the system we have got at home and the way we’ve got our horses fit.

“We have been up for this all year and everyone else in the team has been, too. We have such an incredible team spirit, everyone gets on really well and the support team behind us is just phenomenal, so our job has just been to go out there and do it for everyone else.”

Ireland’s last major championship Eventing medal came more than 20 years ago, but they put themselves right in the mix at Tryon through an outstanding team effort led by Ennis, who said: “My horse was super. He flew around and felt very easy.”

The heavily-favorited Team Germany dropped from first to sixth, with their day being summed up by an unfortunate run-out for leaders after dressage Julia Krajewski and Chipmunk FRH that saw them collect 20 penalties, before Klimke delivered trademark genius to top the individual leaderboard.

“It was a tough course, you really had to fight for it and go for it,” Klimke said. “There were so many fences and so much going on. Being last (of the team) to go and seeing that the others had trouble was really tough because they all gave their best.”

“I wanted to show what such a small country can do in the sport,” the 45-year old professional said.

“I visualize the pattern at least 20 times before I go in the arena”, he explained as he described his success over the course of the past week.

While the top two medals were decided clearly, it took a nail-biting run-off to decide for third place.

The McCutcheon family, hailing from Aubrey, Texas, now hold eight WEG-medals after Cade took home Team Gold with the team on Wednesday.

“She is very special. She is left and right from me and in front and behind me, supports me in every way. She is the best,” he said as he credited his wife of 16 years before the medal presentation.

For more information on the FEI World Equestrian Games™ Tryon 2018 and to view start lists and results, please visit www.Tryon2018.com.

To purchase tickets or for more information about the WEG, please visit www.Tryon2018.com.

Click here to watch the FEI World Equestrian Games™ Tryon 2018 promo video!

Media Inquiries

For media inquiries about the FEI World Equestrian Games™ Tryon 2018, please visit www.Tryon2018.com or contact one of the following press officers:

National Press Officer – Carly Weilminster at cweilminster@tryonweg.com or +1 (828) 863-1144

International Press Officer – Gayle Telford at gayle@revolutionsports.co.uk or 0044(0) 203 176 0355

For more information from the FEI, please contact Shannon Gibbons at shannon.gibbons@fei.org or 0041-78-750-6146.

Photo Credit ©Sportfot. These photos may be used once in relation to this press release with proper credit.

About the Tryon International Equestrian Center
Tryon International Equestrian Center at Tryon Resort, host of the FEI World Equestrian Games™ Tryon 2018, is one of the world’s premier equestrian lifestyle destinations, with first-class facilities for all eight FEI disciplines. From carousel to competition, the mission of Tryon Resort is to celebrate the magic of the horse, grow equestrian sport, and increase access to this majestic animal. Tryon Resort is a spring, summer and fall haven for equestrian competitors and enthusiasts, and a year-round destination for connoisseurs of diverse cuisine and shopping, lodging getaways, and family entertainment. Learn more at www.Tryon.com.

About the FEI World Equestrian Games™
The FEI World Equestrian Games™, held every four years in the middle of the summer Olympic cycle, is the property of the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI), the world governing body for horse sport organized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). It is one of the biggest events on the global sporting calendar, combining World Championships in the Olympic disciplines of Jumping, Dressage and Eventing, the Paralympic discipline of Para-Equestrian Dressage, as well as Driving, Endurance, Vaulting and Reining.

The inaugural FEI World Equestrian Games™ were hosted in Stockholm (SWE) in 1990. Since then the Games have been staged in The Hague (NED) in 1994, Rome (ITA) in 1998, Jerez (ESP) in 2002, and Aachen (GER) in 2006. The first Games to be organized outside Europe were the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™ in Kentucky (USA) 2010. The Games came back to Europe for the 2014 edition, the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™ in Normandy (FRA), which attracted more than 500,000 on-site spectators and a worldwide television audience of 350 million, as well as delivering an economic impact of €368 million to the French economy.

The Tryon 2018 Games offer qualifying slots for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The FEI World Equestrian Games™ History Hub can be viewed here.