Equestrian: NZ eventers second in Germany

Clarke Johnstone. Photo / Getty Images

The New Zealand eventing team gave strong performances in the cross country but could not overall Great Britain for the gold medal on the final day Aachen international equestrian festival in Germany last night(NZT).

The team finished second, 8.2 points behind the experienced British team, with Clarke Johnstone on Orient Express and Caroline Powell on Lenamore both in the top 10 in the individual standings.

Germany's world champion Michael Jung aboard La Biosthetique-Sam FBW won the individual title, finishing off a dominating performance with just 2.4 time faults over the cross country to end 6.7 points clear of Italy's Stefano Brecciaroli in second.

Johnstone, 24, went clear and picked up just 1.6 time faults over a very challenging cross country course to finish sixth.

"I am so pleased that we've come out at an event like this and done so well," he said. "It is just fantastic."

Powell also went clear with 2.8 time faults, to finish in seventh spot. Both Andrew Nicholson on Nereo and Jonathan Paget on Clifton Promise were clear and inside time, finishing 15th and 16th respectively.

Equestrian Sports New Zealand (ESNZ) high performance director Sarah Harris was rapt with the team's performance.

"I couldn't ask for any more from them," she said. "We were in the medal hunt right from the start. The cross country was tough and time very tight, so all our crew did very well."

ESNZ eventing high performance coach Erik Duvander, while pleased with the result, said there was still work to be done by the team.

"All our riders are working very hard and improving all the time. There was a lot of atmosphere out there but they were good to the end," he said.

- NZPA