‘Stress is what trendy sport is all about’

Graham Fletcher shares his ideas on the new-look Nations Cup and coping with stress

I used to be with David Broome not too long ago as we celebrated his 84th birthday. He all the time has a balanced view on the game of yesteryear in contrast with at present. Certainly, it wasn’t lengthy earlier than we had been speaking in regards to the FEI’s new Longines League of Nations (LLN) versus the Nations Cup format we’d identified for years.

Particularly, we reminisced about Hickstead and Dublin. I used to be fortunate sufficient to be on the successful staff at each. It’s clearly nice to win in entrance of your house crowd – however the Aga Khan Trophy in Dublin is such a big day when the entire nation appears to come back collectively within the hope of an Irish victory. Regardless of the end result, it by no means dampens the spirits of the night’s get-togethers and events. It all the time made me realise why, in terms of promoting, the Irish are in a unique class than some other creed or nation.

Nations Cups have traditionally been the FEI’s jewel within the crown they usually’ve up to date the system and prize cash for this season to provide it extra worldwide recognition. The primary of this 12 months’s LLN collection was within the UAE, with Ocala to come back adopted by St Gallen, Rotterdam and the ultimate in Barcelona. I can recognize how the FEI has made these revisions to maintain tempo with the status and prize cash provided by the World Champions League and Rolex Grand Slam.

In with the brand new

My son Olli was a part of the Monaco Aces, competing within the first of the Globals at Doha in Qatar. He mentioned that the photographs of the Al Shaqab stadium merely didn’t do it justice; every thing from the decor to cleanliness of the entire constructing was mind-blowing.

The present was held over two consecutive weeks with €800,000 (£680,000) to be gained throughout two grands prix. With the Cheltenham Pageant on this week, it’s fascinating to mirror that the Cheltenham Gold Cup has a prize fund of £625,000 whereas the Champion Hurdle is for £400,000 – statistics that reveal simply how far showjumping has come.

The FEI has additionally modified the format for the brand new LLN. It was the three greatest scores from 4 riders to rely for each rounds. Now, the primary spherical is similar, however solely three go within the second spherical with all to rely. Many riders would have most well-liked to maintain the previous system, as would some cooks d’equipe who used it to provide younger riders helpful expertise. I can perceive their considerations.

Nonetheless, it was some three years in the past on these very pages that I instructed the thought of three-to-count second rounds as a result of the Nations Cup was changing into too boring and complicated for contemporary sport. Let’s keep in mind that the thought for staff leaping got here from early military competitions once they usually struggled to get three out of 4 to complete!

A change for the higher?

In latest seasons, we’ve heard commentators’ enthusiasm wane when one staff was thus far in entrance that their final rider didn’t even want to leap. Think about how a System 1 crowd would react if Max Verstappen was main with 5 laps to go – so that they referred to as him in saying, “You’ve clearly gained, so save your self for an additional day.”

In fact, there will probably be extra stress below the brand new format. However that’s what trendy sport is all about. Take the penalty shoot-out in soccer… if solely three out of 4 counted, the competitors would go on all night time.

I keep in mind the England supervisor Gareth Southgate speaking me by means of the penalty kick he so famously missed. “Once I began strolling from the midway line, I knew I used to be going to attain,” he informed me. “However the nearer I obtained to the objective, the smaller it appeared to get.”

I’ve by no means heard stress defined higher – and that’s what the three riders in a staff will really feel. Some riders will probably be higher suited to it than others, and there will probably be large disappointments alongside the best way. However no less than no one will probably be leaving their seat till the final one jumps.

● Do you agree with Graham in regards to the new-look LLN? Tell us at hhletters@futurenet.com, together with your title, nearest city and nation, for the possibility to your letter to seem in a forthcoming concern of the journal

• This unique column can even be out there to learn in Horse & Hound journal, on sale Thursday 14 March

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