Jumping his first Nations Cup, and in the pivotal anchor position, eight-year-old Condios and the Danish Team placed eighth, and in the prize money, at the CSIO-W Nations Cup of Podebrady (Czech Republic) on 13 September.

Condios had four faults in the first round, knocking the last fence, and eight faults in the second round, including an unlucky step on the tape during takeoff over the water jump.

Condios winning the Grand Prix of Copenhagen

By virtue of having only four faults in the first round of this CSIO Nations Cup, under the rules of the International Equestrian Federation (EFI) Condios has qualified to be a member of the Danish Federation's Olympic Team. Unfortunately Denmark did not qualify for the Olympics at the European Championship in August, so if Condios is to make it to Athens he and his rider, Henrik Gundersen, will have to qualify as individuals during the 2004 outdoor season.

Along with this result, in recent weeks Condios placed 3rd in the CSIO-Drammen International Grand Prix (and, in so doing, qualified under the rules of the EFI to be on the Danish Team for the European Championships, which he skipped because of his age) and won the CSIC International Grand Prix of Copenhagen.

According to Tom Reed, Condios' owner, "We are very pleased with Condios' performance in his first Nations Cup. Henrik Gundersen had been sidelined for about three weeks before this competition due to knee surgery, so both horse and rider faced some unique challenges with this competition. Despite this, Condios still met the standard to qualify for the Danish Team for the 2004 Olympics -- if only Denmark had qualified at Donaueschingen!"

Condios' next big outing is scheduled to be the World Cup Show in Finland, the CSI-W of Helsinki on October 16 - 19.

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