The Great Britain team pathfinder Joe Stockdale provided a solid start on day one of the Agria FEI World Showjumping Championships in Herning, Denmark, on Wednesday 10 August.
Riding the 11-year-old mare Equine America Cacharel (Cachas x Quinar Z), Joe just picked up four faults at the triple bar at fence 12a, the second double on the course. The penalties are added to his time of 87.85sec to provide a final score of 91.85sec for this speed class on day one of the world showjumping championships.
“I was really pleased with how my mare jumped,” said Joe, 22. “I thought she felt fantastic in that atmosphere and it’s lovely riding in that arena. It’s a nice feel when you can canter in with atmosphere. So it’s a shame about the fence, but overall I was pretty happy with how she felt.
“I thought she jumped a good enough round to jump clear, it was an unlucky fence – a small mistake,” he explained. “That was a tricky enough fence – a triple bar into a tall vertical coming out. She barely touched it, so I’m not too worried about it.”
Equine America Cacharel was bought at auction as a three-year-old by Joe’s late father Tim Stockdale and the family pinpointed her potential from the start.
“She’s a special one for me because my dad was originally the one that bought her,” said Joe. “I’ve been with her all the way through her career. And we always said that she’d be a championship mare, so to be able to bring her and ride her here is very special.”
Joe Stockdale made his senior championship debut at the European Showjumping Championships last year and has was selected for these world showjumping championships after producing some great Nations Cup rounds with the mare, who is owned by his mother Laura Stockdale and Joy Cocklin.
Joe said the plan for the rest of the week was to “just build a bit on today”.
The rest of the British team riders, Ben Maher (Faltic HB), Scott Brash (Hello Jefferson) and Harry Charles (Romeo 88) will be jumping shortly on day one of the World Showjumping Championships.
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