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US STUDENT RIDING TEAM PLACES FIFTH AT WORLD UNIVERSITY EQUESTRIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS 20 Nations. 60 riders (plus alternates). Four days (including one day to soak up Japanese culture). When the World University Equestrian Championships had concluded in Tokyo, Japan on December 5th, the United States Team, made up of four current or former IHSA riders, had placed fifth in the field. Current IHSA Zone 1, Region 2 Cacchione leader John Pigott led the US Team, ranking ninth individually out of 60 riders entered. The show itself is divided into a dressage phase and a jumping phase. As is the case in the IHSA, the show organizers supply horses for a random draw. Unlike the IHSA, each rider gets two practice jumps before the jumping phase and a five minute warm-up for the dressage phase. In an attempt to level the field, each horse is ridden three times in every round, with the rider who earns the best score advancing to the next round. Those who reach the finals in show jumping must be prepared to clear heights of 1.30 to 1.50 meters (the latter of the two being higher than fences used for Cacchione classes at IHSA Nationals). Each rider in the jumping finals is allowed up to two minutes to warm up on each horse. The dressage finalists participate in two tests: A musical freestyle and a Prix St. George Level. Held every other year, the World University Equestrian Championships had never been held outside of Europe until this event, staged at the JRA Baji Koen (or 'Equestrian Park of Japan Racing Association' in plain english). Riders from each team stayed in the Olympic Village, constructed for the 1964 Olympic Games (as was the JRA Baji Koen). Funding for the U.S. Team was handled by the International Student Riding Association (ISRA), a non-profit group helping U.S. University Students take part in international student-sponsored competitions. Through the ISRA, the U.S. team received sponsorship from Beval Saddlery, Dover Saddlery, SmartPak and Frantisi, Inc. for their 2004 WUEC participation. The U.S. Team was made up of Pigott (a three-time Cacchione Cup participant, including first place in 2003), University of Massachusetts senior Amy Lowrey (who was third at 2004 IHSA Nationals in the Cacchione Cup Competition), Boston University junior Jessica Long (eighth in the nation in the 2003 Cacchione Competition that Pigott won), alternate rider and Savannah College of Art & Design junior Jordan Siegal (who rode in each of the past two Cacchione Competitions at Nationals, placing third in 2003) and Chef d'Equipe Kama Godek (College of Charleston Class of 2001, who never got to ride in a Cacchione Cup Competition but did ride in one open class or another at four consecutive IHSA Nationals shows). The unit of Pigott, Lowrey and Long had competed in an international competition in Hamburg, Germany almost two months earlier, with the U.S. Team fourth out of sixteen entries. Day one in Japan consisted of the first two rounds of Dressage. Pigott survived the first round and went on to place 13th in the discipline. After the second day was spent learning about Japanese culture and the sights of Tokyo, day three was spent jumping. Both Pigott and Lowrey made it to the second round of show jumping, with Pigott 15th and Lowrey 19th over fences. The final day involved only those who made it through both rounds to compete for the medals. Though none of the U.S. riders were still in the running, the U.S. Team had placed fifth overall. Host Japan won, with Norway second, Ireland third and the Netherlands fourth (Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Great Britain and Italy rounded out the top ten). Pigott's combined scores put him in the top ten individually (ninth place) while Lowrey was 27th and Long 33rd for the competition. The next international competition will see the U.S. Team back in Germany (this time in Berlin) sometime in March 2005. The World Championships will take place again in late 2006, at a location in France still to be determined. --Steve Maxwell
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