Equestrian: NZ dressage team eyeing Olympics

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New Zealand have taken a giant step towards fielding their first dressage team at an Olympic Games in London next year.

The New Zealand quartet finished second behind Australia in their regional qualifier to secure a place in the event. That gives New Zealand two Olympic equestrian teams, with the eventing squad already preparing for the Games.

But New Zealand's leading contenders must still achieve Olympic Games standards set by Equestrian Sports New Zealand and the New Zealand Olympic Committee.

In a two-part qualification process, New Zealand secured their place when their only rival, South Africa, could not muster sufficient points at an event in the Netherlands yesterday.

The New Zealand team of Louisa Hill and Bates Antonello, Nicky Pope and Fabarchie, both of Auckland, Taranaki's Vanessa Way and KH Arvan, and Shiwon Green of Cambridge aboard Gosh did their test in Sydney last weekend and had to wait to see whether South Africa could better their mark.

Australia finished first with 207.765 per cent over their three best combinations; New Zealand totalled 194.767 per cent and South Africa ended on 188.999 per cent.

"It creates such an exciting opportunity for dressage," Equestrian Sports high performance director Sarah Harris said. "It is now up to the riders to achieve the next big step which is achieving the Olympic selection criteria so we can fill the team positions. It is going to be very much a team effort to make this happen."

The four riders who rode in the qualifier are not necessarily the combinations who will ride at the Olympic Games, unless they achieve the necessary steps and are selected.

Qualifiers are Australia, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, Germany, Great Britain, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, Sweden and the United States.