April 2016
Boneo Park in January saw Judy Dwyer wife of former chair Ted Dwyer present a deserved Chris Chugg with the trophy for winner of the Australian League of the FEI World Cup with James Arkins a most competitive runner up. Inline with previous years the World Cup Committee provided a contribution of $15,000 towards the cost of Chris participating in the final at Goteborg. The season provided some very good jumping and some exceptional shows were held that were well supported throughout the country. Unfortunately the World Cup at Hawkesbury in its inaugural year suffered from shocking weather and we hope that this year’s event is not so unlucky.
Goteborg proved to be one of the most memorable and outstanding performances ever by an Australian at the World Cup Final. Congratulations are due to Chris, Gabrielle Kuna and of course Cristalline who is still at a very young age and has shown herself to be a truly exceptional performer. Even more encouraging than a great performance at the very highest level is that this combination was produced here in Australia – they are Australian made – produced by Australian riders at Australian shows with courses built by Australian course designers and competing against other Australian competitors. This is a huge shot in the arm to our domestic sport here and hopefully will provide a vision and a confidence to all who love our sport as to what can be achieved despite our financial and geographic limitations.
In producing competitors capable of this standard it is our shows that are a critical factor and it is the World Cup Committee’s responsibility to ensure that our very top competitions allow our outstanding horses and riders a suitable platform to develop to a competitive World level. With this in mind it is our objective to encourage our very top end shows to work towards a level of presentation and competition that is truly international. The benefits of this are numerous. Not only are our leading horses produced to a higher and more consistent standard but the benefits of a really top level show (footing, equipment, course design organisation etc etc) also flows down to the next generation of horses and riders. Furthermore, truly outstanding shows in relation to presentation as well as performance provide a template that can be used to show smaller shows a direction to head in and also provide a sophisticated “product” that may be used to source sponsorship. It is also anticipated that by providing shows of truly International standard the need for the continual exodus of horses and riders to Europe for selection will be avoided and we will be able to realistically compare our domestic performances with those from Europe when selecting or setting down selection criteria.
In line with this strategy our committee is increasing its expectations of shows seeking World Cup accreditation and it may be an unavoidable consequence that with a raised bar there will be some shows that will require assistance. For any that may, due to whatever reason, it is this Committee’s job and intention to do what it can to help every organising committee produce the best product it is capable of.
As we all know the FEI has a large number of conditions and rules that must be complied with in order for an event to be given an FEI accreditation. In the past Australia has been given some temporary exemptions to some of these regulations however the current FEI policy is to no longer grant us any further exemptions and despite representation by us and EA this is unfortunately out of our hands. There is no doubt that this will add to both the cost and complexity of running high level shows but these shows are critical to the development of Australian horses and riders to the standard we saw in Goteborg. We need to keep the cost and benefit in perspective.
The World Cup Committee has recently welcomed Coco Miles as the new rider's representative. Coco has big shoes to fill replacing Steven Dingwell who had to stand aside for personal reasons. Coco completes what I believe is a competent, experienced and enthusiastic committee who are extremely keen to see our sport progress from the strongest possible base. Communication is one of the most difficult hurdles we face and I strongly encourage all interested parties to contact any Committee member for advice or to voice any ideas or concerns they may have. As Chair of the World Cup Committee I get to see the work that EA, the NJC our State Jumping Committees, our World Cup show Organising Committees and many others are doing for Australian horses and riders. I can assure you that all have only the very best intentions and are working hard for you and our sport. They are achieving great things and with your understanding and support we can look forward to great Jumping and great World Cup circuit in 2017.
John McMillan
Chair, World Cup Jumping Committee
