Georgina Bloomberg Qualifies for the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Final

Top U.S. show jumper Georgina Bloomberg is heading to Gothenburg, Sweden, to compete in the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Final on April 3-7. Bloomberg will be one of 10 riders from the U.S. who qualified this year to compete at the prestigious individual championship.

“I’m very excited. It’s been 14 years since I last qualified for a World Cup Final. I did it in 2005 and that was my last time competing in one,” said Bloomberg.

“In between, there have been years when I’ve tried to qualify and haven’t, and years when I didn’t make it a goal because either I wasn’t there riding-wise or didn’t have the right horse to go on. This is the first year in 14 years that everything has come together. We really set it as a goal, and I had the right horse, and it paid off,” she continued.

Bloomberg, of New York, NY, and Wellington, FL, earned enough points during the seven-month qualifying period of the North American Eastern Sub-League of the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ standings to earn a spot in the U.S. contingent headed to the Final.

Bloomberg plans to ride Chameur 137 in Sweden. The 11-year-old Westfalian gelding (Cayetano L—Gina, Grossadmiral) will ship to Sweden on March 27.

“I think the World Cup format suits him,” Bloomberg said of Chameur. “He has tons of energy, so he’s a great championship-type horse. He can jump every day and not run out of energy.”

Chameur, who had jumped to the CSI4* level in Europe with Danish rider Zascha Nygaard Andreasen, joined Bloomberg’s string in August. Their first grand prix class together was at the $300,000 Hampton Classic Grand Prix CSI3* (NY) in early September, where they placed 11th with just four faults. Bloomberg and Chameur earned valuable World Cup-qualifying points by placing fourth in the $100,000 Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Sacramento (CA) in October. Just two weeks later, they took third place in the $100,000 Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Del Mar (CA). They finished the fall in November with ninth place in the $135,000 Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Las Vegas (NV).

“He’s still a relatively new horse for me,” said Bloomberg. “I got him at the end of last summer, and while I showed him in the fall, we didn’t get a chance to get to many big indoor shows. I don’t have the experience of having done an entire circuit of indoor shows at a high level, which I wish I did have, but I’m going with lower expectations than I would if I were going on a really seasoned horse that I’d had lots of experience on. I’m going to go and do my best and wait and see what happens. I know the horse can jump whatever we put in front of him.”

During the winter season in Wellington, FL, Chameur and Bloomberg have placed seventh in the $391,000 Palm Beach Equine Clinic Grand Prix CSI5* and in the top 12 of the $134,000 Equinimity WEF Challenge Cup Round 7 and the $71,200 Palm Beach Masters Classic.

Bloomberg, 36, helped the U.S. team earn bronze at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, ON, and has jumped on multiple winning Nations Cup teams for the United States. She’s also the owner of and rides for the New York Empire team that competes on the prestigious Global Champions League around the world. With a strong string of top grand prix horses, she’s hoping to be selected for upcoming US Equestrian Federation teams.

Along with Chameur, Bloomberg has another new addition, Tulara Colmine, and grand prix veterans Crown 5, Manodie II H, and Quibelle in the barn. “To really be considered for a team, you sometimes have to have more than one good horse and I’ve got a couple really good ones right now,” she said. “The U.S. team is something that I’d like to make a priority again, and to aim for making a team or two in the next few years. If it’s the right thing to do for me and my horses, I’d definitely like to aim for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.”