The New Zealand Team for the Equestrian Eventing: Jonelle Price; Clarke Johnstone; Tim Price; Caroline Powell; Jonathan Paget. Paris 2024 Olympic Games | Games of the XXXIII Olympiad. Friday 26 July. Copyright Photo: Libby Law Photography

An eighth place team finish at the Paris Olympic Games wasn’t the outcome many had hoped for but ESNZ high performance general manager and team chef d’equipe Jock Paget says he’s still very proud of the them. Tim Price and Falco finished sixth individually on 28.5 penalty points with Clarke Johnstone aboard Menlo Park 18th on 34.9 penalty points and Jonelle Price on Hiarado 40th on 71.2 penalty points.

“Eighth wasn’t what we came here for and we know our disappointment will be felt by many others too,” said Jock. “It was not what we had expected this week. We came here with a good, experienced team and lovely horses, and at the end of the day we had a bit of a blowout and weren’t able to recover from it.”

Dressage in the Rail
Dressage day came with a lot of rain. Clarke and Menlo Park posted the best score for the Kiwis with their 25.7 penalty point effort putting them in ninth spot in a very competitive field that saw the Olympic record bettered twice.

“I have been dreaming of doing a test like that at the Olympics,” said Clarke. “I am so excited. It is pretty amazing. He has been so with me and feels fit but calm. I have been thinking he could do a test like that and to actually do it makes me so, so proud of him and of myself. It is just a great, great result.”

Tim and Falco bagged a 26.5 for 12th in the 64-strong field. “It’s just fun to have him here,” said Tim Price of Falco. “I think he is the ideal kind of championship horse, just not quite as fancy as some of those other lovely ones out there today. He was very fresh. He wanted to look at things but he’s here for a reason. He stayed with me more than not so we were able to just quietly pick up a few good points around the place and sort of mitigate the damage here and there.

“It is such an atmosphere in there,” said Tim. “My guy was better than I expected. Actually every time we have had a chance to go in there he has been spooking at the speakers, the cameras and even the lovely boards that are made in the shape of this whole place . . . that is just how it is.”

Jonelle was frustrated with her 30.8 penalty point dressage aboard Hiarado. “It was so close to being really good,” she said. “This test is another step up in technicality so 95% I am delighted but she has such a beautiful walk so it is a crying shame to give marks away there. The tension showed but such is the nature of a big arena like that.”

At the end of the day the New Zealand team sat in fourth on 83 penalty points, just 1.8 behind hosts France in third, Germany in second on 74.1 and defending gold medallists Great Britain leading on 66.7.

Stunning Cross Country Day
Cross country day dawned with barely a cloud in the sky – much to the delight of the 150,000-plus spectators that lined the beautifully presented Pierre Le Goupil designed course. They were vocal, proudly supporting their own nations but equally cheering on every competitor to gallop past. Julia Krajewski (GER) and Nickel 21 were first out in the field and stormed home clear but with time. It settled the nerves for many.

Jonelle was the trail blazer for New Zealand and their uncharacteristic refusal at 7B was felt by all, adding 20 jump and 8.4 time for a total of 71.2. “I am gutted,” she said. “I think it is my first mistake at a championship and I like to be reliable in this department and it was really such a silly mistake. It was just one of those moments I didn’t foresee. Perhaps she was a little green in that first two minutes but fair play to her, she dug pretty deep thereafter to come home like she did. We jumped all the direct routes and direct distances. She would have learnt a lot but we don’t come to the Olympics to learn, we come to deliver. The annoying thing is that I did all the very difficult stuff very well and one of the easier fences not so well. It is so frustrating.”

Clarke and Menlo Park romped around, coming home clear but with 4.8 time to end the day on 30.5 in 12th place. A 15 for a flag was quickly removed. “Honestly I couldn’t fault him at all. He just left the start box and jumped every fence I wanted. He was on the job. I had no idea how he was going to cope with the crowds being so loud and so close to the fences but if anything it helped me because he felt so motivated all the way around the course. Even towards the end of the course when I was asking him for extra effort he was giving it to me,” said Clarke.

“He’s always a good jumper and really reliable with his lines but he honestly just skipped around and gave me a dream ride. It was so cool out there. I even managed to pick out a couple of Kiwi voices when I was going around. It was just such a buzz. It is an amazing course to suit an incredible venue. I feel very proud to be a Kiwi, to be on the team, and really proud of my horse.”

Last out for the Kiwis was Tim who was also clear but added two time for his ninth spot 28.5 penalty point effort. “Falco was really good and just stayed very focused, travelled beautifully and had plenty of gallop at the end,” said Tim. “It is a little bit regretful to have the time faults on one hand but there are so many things to take care of to make sure you don’t have a silly moment. We had a really good final water . . . and he bloody motored home. I think we probably made up 10 seconds but we couldn’t make up 14 seconds. I am really happy with him – he pulled up super with a big smile on his face.”

Just 10 combinations made it home clear and inside time, with a further 26 home clear but picking up time penalties. There were only two eliminations and one retirement. The New Zealand team slipped to sixth on 118.2 after cross country day, with Great Britain still leading on 82.5, France in second on 87.2 and Japan in third on 93.8. The Germans and Australians were out of contention with an elimination and retirement respectively.

New Format Comes into Play
Quite a few nations used their alternate combination for the showjumping including Japan, Ireland, Brazil, Italy, Australia and Poland. In the team jumping clears inside time were thin on the ground with just eight adding nothing to their tallies, including Tim and Falco.

Jonelle and Hiarado added 12 jump faults for a final score of 71.2 rounding out a challenging Games for her. “She is a very good jumper,” said Jonelle. “I have had her two years and she hasn’t had a single fence down so you can see why I went in with confidence. She’s got scope, she’s got power and she is very careful. She perhaps didn’t quite feel at her best – whether that is a little fatigue from yesterday, but I still didn’t expect her to have those down. It was just on that last line coming home. Whether you have them at the start or the finish, it is still the same on the scoreboard and pretty crippling from a team point of view. I came in full of confidence. I believe in this mare hugely. I really thought we had a shot at a top 10 finish individually. Sometimes it just doesn’t go your way and this week really hasn’t from the moment she jogged in the walk in the dressage – that was probably my indicator. But you have to hang in there and keep fighting.”

Clarke and Menlo Park added 4.4f to their score putting them through to the top 25 for the individual honours. “He was jumping so well,” said Clarke who finished the round in 16th spot. “He wanted to jump a clear round. I just came a little too close to that oxer unfortunately. It was hard to read it clearly because it was jumping straight into the open towards the canals and the palace. If I was to ride it again I would ride it slightly differently and make sure I had a little more room between me and the front rail. He has come out today feeling so fresh. He finished full of running yesterday and has come out today feeling as though he could go again. It is a big stadium out there and the crowd are loving the spectacle so it is good to see.”

Tim was pleased with his efforts that saw them in eighth after the team showjumping. “Falco started a little bit like he thought there was going to be a dressage arena in there or something scary like that but once he realised there were showjumps he was good to go. It is a very testing course. He is a great jumper and I am very spoilt to be on him. He came into this competition very fit and well. Yesterday he had an easy time of it and he has woken up today feeling like he normally does. I am very pleased with my guy.”
The final individual round was electric. Clarke and Menlo Park added 4.8f for a Games total of 39.7 in 18th place. “My horse tried his heart out and he has given everything this week,” said a disappointed Clarke.

Tim added nothing for his 28.5 sixth place finish. “I wouldn’t have minded a bit better but he jumped awesome in the second round.”

Onwards and Upwards
Jock Paget said they would continue to work hard and look at ways to improve performance. He tipped his hat to the New Zealand alternate Caroline Powell who had been an “incredible” team member all week, supporting the others wherever she could.

“We were lucky to have such a strong and supportive number four who was there for the team every step of the way,” he said. “Overall, it was pretty disappointing for us as we knew we were more than capable of getting into the medals but we missed.”

The Brits – comprising Ros Canter (Lordships Graffalo), Tom McEwen (JL Dublin) and Laura Collett (London 52) – won the team gold on a score of 91.3 penalty points, for a record-breaking fifth time. Second was hosts France on 103.6, and third were Japan on 115.8. New Zealand finished eighth on 134.6.

Michael Jung (GER) and Chipmunk FRH won the individual gold on 21.8 with Chris Burton (AUS) aboard Shadow Man silver on 22.4, and Laura Collett (GBR) aboard London 52 picking up the bronze on 23.1. Michael is the first eventer to ever win three individual golds while Laura set a new Olympic record for her 17.5 penalty point dressage effort.

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