Although Britains riders in La Baule produced some superb individual results, things went wrong when it really mattered and our team finished last in the opening leg of the Samsung Super League.
Germany beat the Swiss by two faults, with Ludger Beerbaum not needing to jump a second time in the heavy rain.
Michael Whitaker led off for Britain on Mozart Des Hayettes, who collected an uncharacteristic 13 faults. This meant that the eight faults from Mark Armstrong (Thesaura) and William Funnell (Cortaflex Mondriaan) had to count.
The best score came from David McPherson, whose ride Pilgrim II made a single error.
In round two, the Brits totalled 18 faults, while the German squad of Ludger Beerbaum, Marcus Ehning, Alois Pollmann-Schweckhorst and Heinrich Engemann looked untroubled en route to top points.
Read this report in full in this Thursday’s Horse & Hound (24 May, ’07)