New Zealand sits in third spot at the end of the FEI Nations Cup dressage, with Jonelle Price the third individual at the Pratoni test event in Italy.

World no.5 Jonelle and Faerie Magnifico scored 25.9 penalty points, with husband Tim aboard Falco in sixth on 26.6, and Amanda Pottinger on Good Timing scoring 35 to contribute to the 87.5 team score.

Germany leads on 78.7, with France in second on 82.3 in the nine-strong opening Nations Cup competition.

Thirty-five of the 63 competitors have completed the CCIO4*-S dressage test, with Ingrid Klimke (GER) and SAP Hale Bob OLD leading on 24.8 and Maxime Livio (FRA) aboard Api du Libaire on 25.4 for second. Just 3.8 penalty points sit between first and 10th.

Jonelle says her nine-year-old certainly showed his quality today. “He was super today. He is very capable in this phase but he is still only nine. Last year was his first four short in the autumn and he was a little unestablished. Today he showed a bit more establishment . . . all the work in general was a little bit more secure.”

She had managed to get him in a nice, relaxed place where he was able to show his quality. “It is nice the marks reflect that and hopefully we can try and stay as close as possible to it.”
Tim too was happy with Falco. “It is quite early season for him,” he said. “He has only done a couple of one day events, so he wanted to be a bit fresh but he is becoming more professional as he is coming along. He just stayed thinking and concentrating. He was really good.”

It is the first 4* for Amanda’s Good Timing and she was pleased with his efforts. “He has never been in a big ring like that,” she said. “He was very level-headed which is promising for the future, but he just made a few little green mistakes. Overall, first his first time at this level I can’t be too displeased. It’s definitely not his strongest phase so we are looking forward to the jumping.”

Jesse Campbell was very disappointed with his test aboard Diachello, and they became the drop score for the team.

The dressage continues tonight but the Kiwis are all through given they are part of the Nations Cup competition.

CLICK HERE FOR FULL RESULTS & STARTLISTS

THE HORSE DETAILS:
Falco – owned by Sue Benson and Tim Price
Faerie Magnifico – owned by Trisha Rickards
Good Timing – owned by The Volunteer Syndicate
Diachello – owned by Kent Gardner and Jesse Campbell

By Diana Dobson – HP Media Liaison
Photos by Libby Law/ESNZ