Horse Illustrated Magazine

From Sept. 13 to 16, Barcelona becomes the capital of the equestrian world as it hosts the 96th International Show Jumping competition, which includes the final leg of the Samsung Super League that has been going on all summer long throughout various cities across Europe.

The best eight national teams are competing in Barcelona this week, including Team U.S.A, Belgium, France, Germany, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland. 

The eight teams involved in the Samsung Super League are vying to win–and vying to stay in the League during 2008: The team that finishes last at the end of the Final is dropped from the League for the following year and replaced by the team that finished first in the FEI Nation’s Cup Series.

Team U.S.A. is made up of the following horse and rider pairs:

• Beezie Madden, 43, Cazenovia, N.Y.
Judgement, 16-year-old Dutch Warmblood stallion owned by Iron Spring Farm

• Todd Minikus, 45, Loxahatchee, Fla.
Olinda, 11-year-old KWPN mare owned by Lawrence Houlihan

• Laura Kraut, 41, Middleburg, Va.
Anthem, 16-year-old KWPN gelding owned by The Summit Syndicate

• Christine McCrea, 29, East Windsor, Conn.
Vegas, 13-year-old Dutch Warmblood stallion owned by Windsor Show Stables & Candy Tribble

• Kenneth Berkley, 44, Flemington, N.J.
Carlos Boy, 12-year-old Holsteiner gelding owned by Krista & Alexa Weisman

The current leader board going into Barcelona is:

1. Germany – 47.75
2. Switzerland – 32.75
3. Great Britain – 30.5
4. Belgium – 27.75
5. USA – 26.5
6. The Netherlands – 25.5
7. France – 20.25
8. Sweden – 16.5