Mexican flag flies high for Carlos Hank Guerreiro with Nations Cup on the horizon

Cheers from some of his compatriots among the Winter Equestrian Festival [WEF] Jump Crew heralded Mexico’s Carlos Hank Guerreiro and H5 Chacco-San’s International Ring victory lap after their win in the $62,500 FEI 5* 1.50m. Next week Carlos can expect even louder support when he jumps for his country in the Nations Cup at Wellington International.

“We’re always loud, even if there’s a few of us you can always hear us,” he said. But first things first and Carlos’ win saw him lead an 11-strong jump off, with a well executed plan that came together after he watched Britain’s Ben Maher aboard Faltic HB set the bar with an opening jump off round in 34.74.

“I know I have a very, very quick horse,” he said of the 13-year old Hanoverian gelding, with whom he has partnered for five years. “Normally if I do the same strides as most horses he’s almost always quicker than them. He’s very quick on the ground so I knew if I had to do somewhat of a similar plan to Ben’s I could be maybe faster. And he did his best for me. He tried so hard for me out there.”

When Carlos first met Chacco-San he was just eight-years old. “He was a bit green” Carlos said. “But always very special – a little stiff in his body but he’s always been very careful with the jumps. If you point him at the jump he will try his best to clear it, even if he’s a bit of a stiffer horse. Now he’s just amazing. He’s so, so careful but he’s almost more brave than careful sometimes. I couldn’t ask for a better partner in these classes.”

The element of bravery combined with accuracy helped to give Carlos the edge finishing the jump off in 34.22 seconds. Egypt’s Nayel Nassar claimed the final place on the podium with Eis Ali – second-to-last to jump and finishing in a competitive 35.27 seconds.

Next week show jumping becomes a highly patriotic sport as the Nations Cup sees riders turn their focus from their singular performance to a team perspective as they represent their home countries. Mexico is fielding a mixture of young and experienced riders.

“I think we have a good chance,” said Carlos. “Some young riders, good horses. We have Eugenio Garza Perez and another young rider Maya Denis who is based out of Ocala. I think she’s only 20 years old and stepping up to this level but she’s a very capable rider. Then we have veteran rider Enrique Gonzalez with a younger horse so there’s a little bit of balance there.”

Carlos is looking forward to it. “It’s such an individual sport. We never really get the chance to participate on a team and when it’s for your country it means even more,” he said. “So I’ve always thought of the Nations Cup as special, especially here. There’s always such a great turnout, a great atmosphere. It’s maybe not the biggest [Nations Cup] so it’s nice for some young horses to step up and for teams to also give a chance to the young riders to step up here. I love a good Nations Cup,” he said.

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