Lindsay Brock to Robert Ridland: "You said a moment ago, 'That this was the easiest win to come by', I don't know if these ladies would agree with you, but can you just talk a little bit about the talent that you piece together on this team?"
Robert Ridland: “Well, when I said the easiest, I said very rare, first of all, very rarely does the anchor rider and any winning team get to sit it out. And it seems to be more rare for us. So, we were able to do that for Laura. Because I remember back to the Pan-American games when you were an anchor and you said, “I hate this. I hate this. I hate this.”
Laura Kraut: “This was the nicest anchoring I've ever had to do. Thank you, girls.”
Robert Ridland: “So, to answer your question, we obviously put together a team that we felt was very competitive, that's the number one thing, but this nation stuff in particular, we've done it over the years, has always been an opportunity for the up-and-coming, whether it's horses or a rider, so we've got three of the up-and-coming, the younger riders, and we've got Laura with a younger horse, that was what we intentionally set out to do, and then it worked. Obviously."
Lindsay Brock to Laura Kraut: “Talk a little about how it feels for you, like Robert said, to have these up-and-coming women behind you set you up. To not have to come back for the second round. How does that feel for you?”
Laura Kraut: “Well I mean this was incredible, but from the beginning when Robert told me who the team was, I was really pumped. I mean these were three amazing riders. They've been on fire for a while now, not just recently but for years actually. And the way they rode the first round, it was textbook. I mean it was so impressive to see them and then to come back in second round and do the same. I mean and all joking aside, my horse got very green and we had a miscommunication today and I wasn't sure that the second round under the lights was the place to fix this problem I was having. I was gonna have to do it if I needed to, but I am very grateful to them for being the riders and the tough competitors that they are. That they let my horse have the night off and he can live to fight another day.”
Lindsay Brock to Laura Kraut: “And even with not the result you wanted in the first round, Do you feel that this horse gained a bit of education and it'll be better for it coming up next time?”
Laura Kraut: “Definitely. We've never jumped in water in competition and he jumped it extra, extra high and I think that was a little bit of a distraction for him so then when I re-approached the double he jumped it great and he actually finished the round very well so I was confident about that. I wasn't a hundred percent thrilled about having to re-approach the water under the lights because he was already very high the first time. I was already planning on coming at about 100 miles an hour to it this round but I think that's something I can practice and perfect with him."
Lindsay Brock to Natalie Dean: “Natalie if you can just speak to your partnership with this horse and maybe what this win in particular means for you on home soil?”
Natalie Dean: “Yeah, for me, Annie is a super special horse for me. I've had her for four years now, and I've jumped all over the world with her. And she's just an incredible athlete. She's a pony, but she jumps the biggest classes in the world, I'm thrilled to win on home soil.”
Lindsay Brock to Carly Anthony: “Carly, a perfect evening for you, even with one stirrup in the last line. You seem to give all the credit to the horse after that last fence. Can you just speak to what the partnership with this horse means to you?”
Carly Anthony: “We wouldn't be here without the horses. so I definitely owe everything to Heavenly and to my team that supports me every day to be able to achieve this incredible opportunity and goal, and I'm very, very grateful to have such a wonderful horse and to have such a wonderful owner and a team behind me that make nights like this possible. And to these wonderful women, and man, to make it all possible.”
Lindsay Brock to Charlotte Jacobs: “Charlotte, could you maybe speak to the course design tonight in both rounds and maybe where you thought Nick and Steve brought out the more technical elements?”
Charlotte Jacobs: “I thought it was a great track. I thought the wall at jump four was tough. It was in your face. It was right against the wall and it caught out a good few people. The water to the double was obviously very technical. And then the last line, the triple, did not jump great tonight. Again, next to the wall some of the horses were spooking off the rails, some horses just didn’t have enough push at the end of the course. I thought they [the team] did a great job, three double clears, that’s really really good. I think there were 10 clears in the first round, so it was really perfect [the teams performance]. We like it tonight.”
Lindsay Brock: “I'll stick with you, Charlotte, and then if everyone can answer this question. It's a non-Olympic year, but we're looking ahead to LA 2’8. Can you each just discuss where you are with your strings right now and what personal goals you have at the moment?”
Charlotte Jacobs: “Yeah, I would love to jump on another nation's cup or two this year. I think my horse is really good with this format. I thought he actually jumped better the second round. So, hopefully there's a few opportunities for me over the summer. He’s still only 10, so we're just stepping stones and building him up, to hopefully jumping some of the biggest Nation’s Cups in the world. I think it just works a lot.”
Lindsay Brock: “Carly, we’ll move onto you.”
Carly Anthony: “I think that was very well said.”
Laura Kraut: “Ditto!”
Carly Anthony: “I would have to say, continuing to build on consistency and showing up and doing the same thing every day and building that repetition to go out there and produce as meany clear rounds as possible. And give something that the team can rely on.”
Lindsay Brock: “Natalie?”
Natalie Dean: “Yeah, I think like the others were saying, I hope I can jump some more Nations Cups this year. I have a few horses that I'm developing my partnerships with to help Annie out and I'm really excited for this year.”
Laura Kraut: “I think building towards LA we've got three exciting young girls here that I think have a strong chance if things go right and they've got the their right horses. I think we're looking really strong for LA."
