Competitors
Twenty of the world's top riders will compete for the Express Eventing International Cup, including two from the United States, France, Germany, New Zealand and Australia; two from Europe (excluding Germany and France) and two wild cards from outside Western Europe. Britain will have four riders as the host nation of the first event and there will be two places reserved for the reigning European, Olympic, World or Pan American champions.
The following riders have qualified for the Express Eventing International Cup:
Linda Algotsson
Swedish Olympian Linda Algotsson started to ride before she could walk on her parent’s farm and started competing at just 12.
Linda won the Nordic Championship when she was 17 and when she was 18, she won the European Championships for young riders.
Tina Cook
Tina Cook’s dream came true this summer when she won an individual bronze medal at the Beijing Olympics on her horse Miners Frolics.
Tina has been eventing full-time since she was sixteen. When she was twenty she won a Land Rover scholarship to be based at Gatcombe with Captain Mark Phillips where she trained for a year.
Buck Davidson
Buck Davidson Jr has horses and eventing running through his veins. His father Buck Davidson Sr is a highly successful three-day eventer.
Buck amassed an impressive record of accomplishments in the equestrian field from an early age, though he started out his career as a fox hunter and timber racer. He won the Open Timber race at Bradywine Hills Point to Point in 1992.
Karin Donckers
Karin Donckers has been involved in top class riding for more than 18 years. The 37-year-old rider has competed in four Olympic Games, claiming ninth individual position at the Beijing Games this summer.
Phillip Dutton
Phillip Dutton has represented Australia and America at top level eventing for more than 15 years.
The 45-year-old Australian born rider has competed at four Olympic Games – three for Australia, winning team gold in Atlanta and Sydney, and representing the US at this summer’s Beijing Olympic Games.
Philip grew up on his family’s sheep and wheat farm in New South Wales, moving to the US in 1991 to further his eventing career. He became a US citizen in 2006 and changed his competitive nationality.
William Fox-Pitt
William Fox-Pitt has a career spanning 15 years in eventing, with a string of major titles to his name in domestic and international competitions. The 39-year-old rider secured a bronze medal at his third Olympic Games this summer and was placed twelfth in the individual competition.
Clayton Fredericks
Clayton Fredericks secured a silver medal with Team Australia at his very first Olympic Games this summer. The Perth born rider also claimed an individual seventh placing.
Bettina Hoy
British based German Olympian Bettina Hoy has competed in Olympics, European Championships, World championships and all of the most prestigious eventing competitions around the world.
Married to Australian international eventer Andrew Hoy, the two are a rare specimen – the first married couple to compete in the same event at the same Olympics but for different teams. They met during the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984 and it was not until the Atlanta games in 1996 that they met again.
Mary King
Mary King has established herself as an equestrian icon in Britain. With a career spanning 20 successful years, the 47-year-old mother-of-two has just added an Olympic bronze medal to an impressive list of accolades.
British-based Kiwi, Andrew Nicholson has just returned from his fifth Olympic Games, where his New Zealand team took fifth place. He previously won silver at Barcelona in 1992 and bronze at Atlanta in 1996.
Austin has been involved in horses since he was a child when his parents ran a riding school and handling yard. At the age of just 13 he started his international career and became the youngest every rider to compete in two-star in Punchestown.
Vittoria Panizzon
Italian rider Vittoria Panizzon is one of the youngest riders in the Express Eventing International Cup.
The 25-year-old competed in the 2008 Beijing Olympics with her horse, Rock Model, coming 16th overall. She was also a member of the team that won the bronze medal for Italy in the recent European championships.
Caroline Powell
Kiwi Caroline Powell made her New Zealand debut just two years ago at the 2006 World Equestrian Games and has gone on to become one of the best eventing riders in the world.
Rodolphe Scherer
One of France’s top eventing riders, Rodophe Scherer has competed in two Olympic Games.
The 36-year-old just missed out on Olympic medals in both Atlanta and Sydney, where the French team finish fourth.
Alex Hua Tian
Eighteen year old Etonian Alex Hua Tian became one of the youngest riders at the Olympic Games this summer when he represented China in the three-day eventing.
The teenager, who is back at school after a year out of education to concentrate on preparation for the Games, was the first Chinese rider registered by the International Equestrian Federation and the first Chinese rider to compete in the three-day category of an international equestrian event.
Mark Todd
Mark Todd is an equestrian legend – voted Rider of the 20th Century by the International Equestrian Federation.
The 52 year old Kiwi started riding as a young boy. After gaining a Diploma of Agriculture at the Waikato Technical Institute, Mark decided to move to England where he mucked out stables and began taking part in eventing. In 1980 he entered Badminton as a total unknown and won. He went on to become the most successful event rider in equestrian history.
Oliver Townend
British rider Oliver Townend has equestrianism in his blood. The 26 year old’s father rode at the prestigious Burghley Horse Trials and his mother showed side saddle at County level.
Leicestershire-based Oliver has an impressive string of horses, so there are few competition days when Oliver is not in action. 2007 was Oliver's best season to date - he clocked up a massive 1,886 British Eventing points.
Nicolas Touzaint
Nicolas Touzaint was the first Frenchman to win one of the most prestigious three-day eventing competitions in the world this year – Badminton.
The talented 28-year-old won the CCI **** with Isle of Hildago. Nicolas was unable to continue his successful start to the year at the Beijing Olympics, withdrawing after an injury to his horse Galan de Sauvagère.
Lucy Wiegersma
With a background steeped in horses, it was inevitable that Lucy Wiegersma would find a career in equestrianism.
Her father has ridden for Holland and Great Britain, and both parents have been involved in producing and selling event horses for 25 years.
Currently ranked third in Great Britain, Lucy is the only rider to have won all three National titles - Junior Rider Championship, Young Rider Championship and Senior British National champion.
