Riders for the Nations Cup in Wellington announced

Details: March 1, 2021; By SARA CAVANAGH

LEXINGTON, Ky.--Due to the snafu resulting from US Equestrian awarding the Nations Cup that counts towards qualifying to the Nations Cup Finals in Barcelona to the World Equestrian Center in Ocala, Fla.,, there will only be one Nations Cup held in the United States this year, and that one will be in Wellington, and it won't count towards qualification.

N C Jumping team After US Equestrian awarded the Nations Cup to the World Equestrian Center, it pulled recognition of all the WEC shows because some of its classes were recognized by an organization other than US Equestrian.

Awarding the Nations Cup to another show was left up to the FEI, which never named another venue, so the U.S. will only have the one Nations Cup this year.

The U.S. can still qualify for the Finals in Nations Cup classes in Canada and in Mexico. said chef d'eqipe Robert Ridland.

"The two teams with the most points from those two Nations Cups would qualify," said Ridland.

But there still remain many questions about whether we can go to those shows as well as whether there will even by a Finals.

"THE CANADIAN Nations Cup at Langley is scheduled for June, but right now we can't travel to Canada," said Ridland. "The Nations Cup in Mexico is scheduled for August, but whether that show will happen is up in the air. Plus, that presupposes that there will be Nations Cup qualifying classes in Europe."

Without qualifying classes in Europe, obviously there couldn't be a Finals.

"As of now, the World Cup in Gothenburg, Sweden is still on," said Ridland. "That's interesting, because it's indoors in April. But all we can do is plan for it and wait to see what happens.

US Equestrian announced the riders selected to represent the U.S. Jumping Team at the Nations Cup Wellington CSIO4* hosted at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center in Wellington, Fla.

Competition at the WEF will begin on Wednesday, March 3, and continue through Sunday, March 7.

The first round of the FEI Jumping Nations Cup Wellington CSIO4* is set to take place Friday, March 5, at 4:30 p.m., with the top eight teams returning for the second round of competition later in the evening beginning at 7:30 p.m.

The event will be live streamed on USEF Network.

The following athletes are listed in alphabetical order and will represent the U.S. in the FEI Jumping Nations Cup Wellington CSIO4* led by Chef d’Equipe Robert Ridland.

Bliss Heers, of Las Vegas, Nev., Lillie Keenan of New York, N.Y., Spencer Smith of Wellington, Fla., and Jessica Springsteen of Colts Neck, N.J.

While the FEI Jumping Nations Cup Wellington CSIO4* does not count for points towards the 2021 Jumping Nations Cup Series, the competition offers valuable team experience for rider-and-horse combinations and will serve as the first team outing of the 2021 season for the U.S. Jumping Team.