STAYING COOL IN SWEDEN.....Louise Parkes reports from Gothenburg, Part 1
Equestrian News Release

Gothenburg, SWE – April, 15, 2006 - The ice has still not gone from the lakes around Gothenburg after the long, cold winter. On the trip in from Landvetter airport the driver comments that it is unusual for the snow to have lasted so late into the year - it only began to disappear a few weeks ago - but the melting process is probably being assisted by the heat emanating from the Scandinavium arena where colossal crowds of enthusiastic Swedes have been enjoying the four-day international horse show.

How they love their show jumping here. Jessica Kuerten commented, after her victory in the FEI World Cup Preliminary competition on Friday night that "this is a particularly good arena to ride in because the crowd really know their horses - they know when you are going well and they know when you are going badly, and they cheer you like you are a winner every time you come into the ring". They have their favourites of course and the greatest of these is Sweden's show jumping super-star Malin Baryard-Johnsson. She continues to be a role model for young Swedish girls and, when not sitting rapt with attention or screaming with delight as the competitions take place, Malin-lookalikes are busy buying up all sorts of horsey goodies from the trade stands in the nearby convention centre. In fact a walk around the shopping area can be a dangerous operation, as groups of young ladies go rushing by with sharp-ended dressage whips poking out of their enormous shopping bags at just the right height to take your eye out.

The international fixture at Gothenburg is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. "It has been 30 fantastic years actually" says Organising Committee President Per Lojdquist proudly. "We have staged 11 World Cup Jumping finals and six World Cup Dressage finals here over the years and in 2008 we will have the World Cup Jumping final again from 23 to 27 April - we are really looking forward to that"

Did you know that in Sweden show jumping is the second most popular sport? Only soccer attracts bigger crowds while ice-hockey, an obvious option for people living in this part of the world, has to settle for third place in the order of popularity. "Yes its a huge sport here" confirms Lotta Amnestal, Public Relations Manager for the Swedish Equestrian Federation. "The Federation has 190,000 members and everyone is a member of a club" she explains. There are a total of 960 riding clubs and 500 of these are attached to a riding school, while the majority of people involved in equestrianism take part in show jumping at some level - "and numbers are increasing all the time" Lotta adds. And its not a sport just for the rich and privileged. Club membership costs just under €15 per person - compare that to the fees charged by golf clubs and other sporting organisations in most parts of the world these days.....

Women dominate equestrian sport in Sweden, making up 85% of the Federation membership, and another staggering statistic is that 65% of members are aged under 25. No wonder there is such strong Government support for the sport. "It also brings a lot of spin-off business to the country, and helps people like our farmers who grow the feed for competition horses. This is a very important part of their income" Lotta points out. The Swedish Federation offices are located in Stromsholm, about 100kms west of Stockholm where the national equestrian centre is located. "Young people can go to High School at Stromsholm and include equestrianism in their studies - it's a very popular choice" Lotta explains.

Sweden's record in international show jumping is consistently impressive and, having taken silver medal position in show jumping at both the World Equestrian Games in Jerez in 2002 and at the Olympic Games in Athens in 2004 there is plenty of pressure to produce yet another good result at WEG in Aachen this summer. However Swedish fortunes are only just recovering after a tricky period of internal turmoil and, having fallen out of the Samsung Super League nations' cup series in 2004, they are making a comeback this year having earned their stripes once more through sheer determination during the 2005 season.

This season they have a woman at the helm as international rider Maria Gretzer is Chef d'Equipe, ably assisted by top trainer Henk Nooren. It was Maria who advised Niklas Jonsson to jump in yesterday's World Cup Preliminary class despite the fact that he had never competed in an international competition before. It might have seemed like a bit of a crazy move to most people, but Maria did not think so and neither did Niklas who calmly proceeded to produce a perfectly clear round to finish 11th amongst a starting list of some of the best riders in the world. The 30 year old shrugged off any suggestion that this was an extraordinary result saying "it's only sand and fences". Clearly not rocket science then. And he thinks he might just try jumping abroad now. Usually riders spend years honing their skills at lower levels of international competition before breaking into the big-time - like at World Cup level - but not Mr Jonsson. Smiling at the growing realisation that he had done something fairly incredible on Friday evening he just said "yes, I might just think about jumping outside Sweden now".

It might be a good move for the latest candidate for the title of The Coolest Man on Earth.

PhelpsSports.Com Is Coming In August!!

Louise Parkes covers Ireland, Great Britain and Europe for PhelpsSports.com

Look for the debut of PhelpsSports.com in late August. PhelpsSports.com, a new and highly innovative subscription equestrian sports website, will offer equestrians and fans of equestrian sports from around the world, a single web address for the latest breaking news of the Hunter, Jumper, Dressage, Eventing and other High Performance disciplines. The website will include up to the minute audio reports, live video interviews and unique features from around the globe, photography, and the creative writing and reporting of some of the finest equestrian journalists in the world.

PHOTO CREDIT: Ireland’s Jessica Kűerten. Photo by ©Peter Llewellyn HorseSource Ltd and PhelpsSports.com.

This Louise Parkes report from the final World Cup Qualifier in Sweden is another preview provided by PhelpsSports.com. Look for the debut of this brand new, dynamic and exciting equestrian news website during the World Equestrian Games in August. PhelpsSports.com is going to change the standard of equestrian sports coverage on the Internet and will be your best source for up to the minute video, unique and personal audio interviews and late breaking news of the High Performance disciplines. Stay tuned!