A ‘Wanda’ful win
BEAULIEU - WITH his trainer Barry Taylor’s words, “Go for it. You’ve got nothing to lose,” ringing in his ears, Liam Stevens set off on the winning round of the Brother SA FEI World Cup Qualifier held at the Equidome in Beaulieu on 29 November.
The Team Nissan rider and his Dutch Warmblood mare Nissan Wanda turned tightly between the jumps and cleared all the fences to clinch the win in the fifth leg of this year’s Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI) World Cup Jumping Series.
Behind Stevens was Lisa Williams riding Discovery Campbell who placed second in the class, and Nicola Sime-Riley riding Fulvic Connoisseur placed third. Williams and Discovery Campbell also won the Victor Ludorum for the 1.50m class at the Brother SA FEI World Cup Qualifier, and to top off the year, Williams was named as the top ranking rider in the FEI World Cup Jumping Standings in the South African League for 2015.
Despite the Brother SA FEI World Cup Qualifier being the final FEI World Cup Jumping Qualifier of the year, it was the first one that Stevens and Nissan Wanda competed in as Wanda was recovering from an injury to her suspensory ligament which she incurred in September last year while competing in a grand prix class in Polokwane. Stevens said it has been a long process to get the 12-year-old mare back to competing at top level and he was “ecstatic” about the win.
“I started slowly with walking and trot work in December and only started jumping again in May this year. She jumped a show in May in the 1.10m and gradually progressed to the world cup show now in November. It’s always a worry in the back of your mind when a horse has had an injury such as the one she had, but she felt back to her best on Sunday. I’m ecstatic about the win but equally as happy about having my horse back.”
Stevens has built up his companionship with Nissan Wanda over the years since he purchased her as a young five-year-old, riding her in the junior and young rider classes before rising to compete at top level in the adult classes. Among this horse-and-rider combination’s noteworthy wins are The Nissan World Cup Qualifier in Port Elizabeth in 2012, a grand prix class at a FEI World Cup Jumping Qualifier in Cape Town in 2013 and now the Brother SA FEI World Cup Qualifier at the Equidome in November.
Stevens’ latest win cements a year of building. “It’s been a slow recovery for Nissan Wanda and then I have a team of very exciting young horses. Producing quality young horses means that you aren’t always going to be very competitive until they are at a stage in their training where they will start to cope with the pressure. So being able to be back in the big classes is really exciting.”
Show jumper Barry Taylor has been helping Stevens with his horses throughout the year since Stevens became part of the Nissan Showjumping team. “I am really enjoying the team environment and working with Barry has been great.”
Looking forward to 2016, Stevens said he hoped to start the year competing in the open showjumping grades with three of his horses, namely Nissan Wanda, Nissan Alternativa and Nissan Adventure and he already has his eye set on competing in the Nissan South African Outdoor Grand Prix and the South African Derby, which are both highlights on the equestrian calendar and held at Kyalami Equestrian Park, as well as the FEI World Cup Jumping Series.
