Equestrian: Dutch offer McVean way to Olympics

Katie McVean. Photo / Christine Cornege

The Olympic Games door which had appeared firmly shut on New Zealand's leading showjumper was wedged open again this week.

Katie McVean's hopes of contesting the Games in London next year seemed to have been dashed by the multimillion-dollar sale to Saudi Arabian interests of her champion mare Delphi, shortly after finishing an outstanding sixth at the World Cup final in Leipzig, Germany at the start of this month.

However, the Mystery Creek rider received an approach from Dutch contacts; an owner had been impressed with her riding at an event in s'Hertogenbosch, Holland a few weeks ago and would she fancy trying to qualify for London on their 8-year-old gelding Wavantos VD Renvillehoeve?

Would she what. So McVean is off in a couple of weeks to try to make the field for London at Aachen, Germany in July.

Call it a timely birthday present as she turns 25 this weekend.

The possibility of linking up with Wavantos was mentioned while she was in Europe but "I'd pretty much forgotten about it, until I got a call on Wednesday morning saying 'can you come back?"'

Wavantos had already been Olympic qualified through competitions with his usual Polish rider, so that's one hurdle cleared.

He has done Nations Cup and World Cup competition and McVean has seen video of it and had favourable reports.

"The Dutch owner said he's a good horse," she said. "They've already got some good Dutch riders riding for them, so they know a good horse when they see it."

The sale of Delphi gave the Dutch contacts a chance to offer her the ride.

"It's quite an honour to get a horse from a Dutch owner that they want to try to get you to the Olympics on. They've got millions of riders over there so it's quite exciting."

McVean and the horse's owners will find some competitive outings for the pair before heading to Aachen. She will be based at the HBC stud in the north of Holland. The Games qualifier starts on July 8.