Claire Lomas flanked by Mark Todd and Bettina Hoy (photo used with kind permission of Peter Atkins)

When the Paralympic flame is lit in Trafalgar Square, London on Friday doubtless many eventers will spot a familiar face holding the torch  – Claire Lomas will be in her robotic suit, fondly christened Fred, and back in the city whose pavements she pounded for seventeen days this Spring on her way to completing the Virgin Marathon, despite being paralysed from the chest down in a freak cross country accident at Osberton five years ago.

With the total amount raised for Spinal Reasearch currently over 200,000 GB pounds and still growing, and considering that the daily conditions were generally agreed to be appalling – pouring rain on every day except for the first and last – one would expect, and hope that Claire might still be relaxing, taking it easy, recovering gently –  No such chance!

“We had such a laugh with the marathon, we got to know everyone so well over the 17 days and I was quite sad at the end thinking I would miss everyone and all the action, but it’s not been like that at all because we’ve started planning the next adventure straightaway!”

The next adventure is a Paris to London bike ride on an FES bike (Functional Electrical Stimulation) which works via 16 electrode pads on Claire’s legs, “It’s just as hard as anyone else doing it – basically the electrical stimulation acts as your spinal cord, if you were pedaling you’d send your signal from your brain down your spinal cord and then your leg moves, like everything you do in life it goes brain, spinal cord, and then the  movement, but with me because of my spinal cord damage the electrical stimulation does what the brain and spinal cord do, which is tell the muscle to move. I’m still powering the bike, it’s still my muscle power, it still makes me puff and blow, it’s still like a workout and I need strong legs, everything’s the same really.”

Charlie the Coffee Man will plan the route once Claire takes delivery of her bike, “The company are making me a special bike – they’re going to put as many gears on it as they can, and keep it as lightweight as possible. It’s never been done before, which is what makes it special.  The electrode stimulation will only work so long as my legs are strong – once they get tired they don’t keep going. That’s why my training is so important. I’ve got a really good bike physio and quite a detailed training programme from 6 months out so starting November, even though I’m training hard already, it’s a bit like interval training a horse what with all the  hill work and everything.”

Lucy show-jumping at Barbury earlier this summer

As soon as I saw Lucy Jackson working Kilcoltrim Ambassador in Kentucky this Spring a few days before the start of the Rolex Kentucky CCI**** I was impressed, and it seems I’m in good company – William Fox-Pitt had asked her to ride eventual winner Parklane Hawk for him until he arrived in the States. Almost as long-legged as he is but much prettier, it would be easy to be jealous of Lucy for her looks, her talent and her string of horses, but once you meet her it’s impossible not to also like and admire her for her sense of humour, warm, open nature, and work ethic. I invited myself to her yard in Oxfordshire just after the Olympics to find out a bit more about her operation and see how her Autumn plans are shaping up.

Lucy, Erik and Sprout working at Rolex Kentucky

Four years ago, Lucy returned to England from New Zealand, “in a bit of a muddle – I’d run away from my job, my husband, my house, my security. I went to work for Ann and Nigel Taylor and it was perfect – all I had to do was ride a dozen horses a day, and after about eight months I had a sudden realisation that that was all I wanted to do, and all I’d ever wanted to do.”  Lucy, a trained physio, worked in a hospital in Auckland for three years and in private practice there for two years after that, but has now ridden professionally for slightly more than three years.  Her compact  yard is “not immaculate but all the essentials are here” – a cluster of barns with all manner of roomy stables, a walker, an arena and plenty of turn-out, super hacking, and galloping just down the road on a surface with Austin O’Connor at Tetsworth, as well as a steep hill on “an old-fashioned wood-chip surface” a tiny bit further afield for the “big boys!”

Animator at Bramham this summer

It was at Nigel and Ann’s yard that Lucy got the ride on Animator, fondly known as “Luke;” belonging to Nigel and Ann, and Kathy Brown, Lucy is very fond of him, “I’m really sentimental about him because when I first came back from New Zealand I wasn’t riding very well and Nigel let me have the ride on him, and basically Luke was going, whether I was coming or not, so he gave me back my confidence!  He’s been a funny horse, he’s had 8 different jockeys and he used to be quite nappy, but I think because I hero-worship him so much he doesn’t mind, he just does it.”

–

Lucy was disappointed not to make the New Zealand Olympic team with Luke, “I feel really sorry for him because this was his opportunity to shine, he was on amazing form, and the guys that did go to the London Olympics obviously did deserve to go because they won a bronze medal, but it would have been nice if it was the old days when they could take six; I think he would have done it!  Anyway, we’re going to make them really sad they didn’t take us by doing well at Burghley! Erik (Duvander) told me not to lose my focus – lose my focus?! I have such a point to prove that I’m even more on a mission now than I was six months ago, which I didn’t think was possible!  I think there’s always going to be one disappointed person and I don’t think they made the wrong decision because everyone went so well but I do feel like I could have done as well.”

Kilcoltrim Ambassador

“I really think he’s going to be like my little Lenamore, a little hero, – he’s got everything. At the moment it’s a little bit like the wrong size engine in the wrong strength body , it’s like a Porsche engine revving in a little mini; that’s what gives him frights in the dressage, you get him engaged and the power just takes over a bit.”

Lucy and Willy Do

With the Games well and truly behind her now, (“I went both dressage days and had a great time, and then spent all day cross country day in the pub with Piggy (French). Actually it was a Godsend because both of us had got quite miserable.  We’d both started watching at home on telly, and then rang each other in floods of tears and said this is really hard, and then thought, come on, lets get over it together and have a jolly time.  There weren’t that many people there and we were definitely the most drunk, and we had our photo taken with our pints stacked up in front us, and it says ‘Rio Hopefuls!'” ) Lucy has a lot to look forward to, starting immediately as she kicks off her busy Autumn campaign at Burghley, followed almost immediately by Blenheim, and she told me she’ll keep Pau and Boekelo in the back of her mind as a Plan C in case she needs it.  Many thanks to Lucy for her time and for chatting, and wishing her the very best of luck of in all her endeavours – Go Eventing!

 Kitty on Zidante in the CIC*** at Barbury

It was my great pleasure to visit Kitty King when I was in England recently and watch her work a few of her horses and chat about her philosophy and training, as well as life in general. I don’t think anyone would argue with me if I said she’s widely regarded as one of the most talented young riders on the eventing circuit, as well as one of the most popular.  A true product of the the GB system she’s come up through the ranks, competing on the Pony, Junior and Young Rider European Teams, and got her senior flag and competed at her first Badminton on Five Boys, the little horse that she originally turned down because he was too small and failed the vet.

Now retired from top level competition,  her admitted favourite, and first “proper” horse, Five Boys is still enjoying his competing after a hind leg suspensory injury put paid to his career at the very top of the sport. Although he had surgery and was sound to compete, as Kitty explained, “he didn’t owe me anything. I gave him to a girl who worked for me called Holly Milne, she does BE 90 and BE 100’s and he gets completely spoiled. He has a bigger wardrobe than I do, he tootles off around these little events, he’ll go really well and win some and at others he’ll be really naughty and take the piss completely! He’s 20 now so he’s getting on a bit, but he still looks exactly the same and has the same cheeky character.”

Kitty only agreed to ride Five Boys after Jane Tolley’s stable jockey Chris King (no relation) didn’t really get on with him, and was too big for him. Having seen him at Jane’s yard a few months prior, but been unable to ride due to a concussion, Kitty had been wholly unimpressed, “- he was really small, he had a bowed tendon like a big old banana and I didn’t want to buy him because I  thought I wouldn’t be able to sell him on, or to an owner.” However, she agreed to compete him for Jane and took him home, “I’d had him at home for about four days and called her back and told her I’d buy him! I just loved him and he had such an amazing jump.” Five Boys failed the vet but Kitty and Jane managed to work out a deal and then he and Kitty never looked back, “He won his first three day at the end of the year and stayed sound as a pound,  I did all the Young Riders with him, my first Badminton…”

Kitty and Zidante again at Barbury

Five Boys’ character is very similar to Zidantes’, Kitty tells me, Zidante being Blackie, an exciting 8 year old black mare that has replaced Five Boys as her favourite,  “he had a very similar character to Blackie – quite feisty but on your side. They both love doing it; when the lorry starts up and Blackie’s getting left behind we have to shut her window because otherwise she’ll try and jump out of it! He was the same, they just love doing things, they’re both really intelligent. He was a special, special little horse, and she seems to be turning out quite special too.”

Kitty found Zidante through a Horse and Hound advert four years ago and never expected great things from her, “I basically bought her as soon as I saw her head, I just loved her! I never really knew how far she would go. She always had a really big, springy, careful jump but I didn’t know whether she’d be quite brave enough to go a long way, but I always loved working with her; she always put a smile on my face. From a four year old  I really liked working with her, it felt like she always wanted to be learning things. The more you do with her the happier she is, otherwise she gets a bit lazy and crabby, and she’s miserable in her stable. When you’re actually teaching her things and going to competitions she just seems to love it. She can be a little bit cheeky at times in arenas at competitions but she’s normally pretty relaxed, and if anything it just makes her a little  more in front of the leg and gives her a bit more presence.  Although I really needed to sell her I just thought even if she’s not going to be a Badminton winner I just really, really like her so when she was five I managed to sell a half share to an owner, and then when she was six, just before Le Lion, he bought me out. (and she may yet go and win Badminton too!) He’s a really supportive owner, so hopefully she’ll stay here for the duration because he’s been offered quite a lot of money for her and he’s turned it down. She just keeps going out and doing more because I did worry that she might be a little too careful; when she was a Pre-novice horse I thought she’d probably go Novice but she did all that well, and then I thought maybe she’ll just be a nice, little Two star/Intermediate horse and she did all of those really well last year, so I thought I’d try an Advanced – she’s definitely got the jump for it, I just didn’t want to put her off because she doesn’t deserve that, she’s such a lovely animal but she bombed round all her Advanceds and all her CICs so hopefully we’ll go to Blenheim.”

Zidante won the Young Horse World Championships as a 7 year old in Le Lion D’Angers in France,” it was my first three day win for a long time so it was really nice, and especially nice to do it with her because I love her, she’s just such a character. She is a bit of a minx; when she was four and five, and even in her six year old year, quite often in the winter I’d be dumped on the floor more times on her than the rest of the yard put together throughout the year!”  When we spoke Kitty was undecided whether to enter her for the CIC*** 8 and 9 year old Division at Blenheim, or “Big Blenheim” the CCI*** this autumn,  and was waiting to see how she went in the CIC*** at Hartpury before she made up her mind. I’m delighted to be able to report that Zidante performed her normal stunning dressage test to lie 2nd after the first phase there and jumped a clear show-jumping, and a steady clear cross country to finish 9th overall last weekend – looks like they’ll be going to “Big Blenheim”!

Kitty works on the flat regularly with FEI judge and former eventer Nick Burton, who she laughs, complements her driven attitude with his slightly more laid-back style, “he’s really good with the slightly more mentally fragile ones. We’ll always get what we want to achieve at the end of a session but I’m very determined and want everything better NOW, and he’s more likely to tell me to give the horse a pat and take my time. Nick is good for my personality on a horse and stops me always asking for too much, I suppose that would be my downfall, I can be  feisty and I always want everything to be perfect straightaway.” Zidante is also one of Nick’s favourite’s of Kitty’s horses, just because of the huge improvement she’s shown, and because they both believe there’s still plenty of room for more, ” She’s not the biggest horse in the world with the hugest paces. We’ve been working at making her really supple, swinging and accurate.”  For jumping, Kitty gets help from show-jumper Keith Doyle who she likes because she told me he understands that eventers can sometimes be a bit quirky, are sometimes bolder than pure jumpers, or jump flatter on the third day and so on.

Kitty has about a dozen horses in work, mostly that she competes for owners, some of whom have been with her since she was in her mid-teens, and a few of her own horses that are for sale. The property actually belongs to her parents, and much to Kitty’s chagrin she jokes that her dad refuses to give her “family or mates’ rates”, but instead Kitty and her husband pay rent for the immaculate facility which includes an american style (indoor) barn, indoor arena, horse walker, lunging pen, jumping field, ample turn-out and beautiful Wiltshire hacking.   They also rent out the converted bull pen right next door to the barn, which Kitty admits is very useful for those early mornings, “if we’re leaving early for an event I can literally roll out of bed and rock into the lorry and drive off!”

Kitty and her mother, Jane have worked together since Kitty was tiny; first Kitty helped Jane, now the roles are reversed, “we get on really well, thank goodness. She’ll often lunge one or take one hacking, and she’ll come galloping with me which is really helpful because I know she’ll ride them in a good balance and won’t let them get strung out, or go on their heads and do things which then they’re more likely to injure themselves. Because she’s evented herself and then had racehorses in for re-schooling and teaching them to jump, and pre-trainers for all the racehorses she has a wealth of experience which is quite handy and nice for me to be able to ask her opinion. I don’t know what I’d do without her and I think she quite enjoys it secretly!”

Married for three years this winter to ex-National Hunt jockey Ben, Kitty also ropes her husband in to help, “He used to be based at Nicky Henderson’s and now he works at NFU Mutual in Marlborough, and I either gallop at Manton or Lambourn, so  quite often if I gallop at Manton which is about ten minutes away from where he works I’ll time it in his lunch break, bring his breeches and he’ll come and gallop one with me if he can.  I think you can do a lot of damage by galloping horses badly and not on the bridle and in balance, and I know that obviously Ben has had masses of experience and he’ll gallop them properly.”

Sinead was kind enough to send us an update from Hartpury late last night with her perspective on how it went, not only  for her and Tate,  but also for Allison and Arthur who have been training alongside her all summer in England, and now Burghley bound Sharon White and Reggie (Rafferty’s Rules) who arrived in the UK recently and are based with Rodney Powell  – because I’m not homesick enough already! Thanks a million, Sinead for taking the time to write this and for thinking of us, and many, many congratulations. Bring it, Burghley!

–

The Equestrian Olympics are over for another four years, but inevitably the analyses and autopsies of nations’ and individuals’ performances will continue for much longer. Celebrations and commiserations in equal measure are probably taking place all over the world right now, and in Pennsylvania Boyd Martin is still reflecting on his own part in the London 2012 Games.  Boyd’s horse Otis has been home in the US, and thoroughly examined by Boyd’s vet Kevin Keane, himself also an accomplished event rider, and Boyd explained what they’d discovered,

“After a number of x-rays, ultra sounds and nerve blocks they’ve figured out that he has a small lesion on the capsule of the ankle. Kevin thinks that because of the terrain that we had to go through, and the fact that Otis is quite a hard jumper, plus the fact that I put bigger studs in his front feet means that he twisted his leg on the course somewhere, and then soldiered on to finish, but as soon as I pulled up he was quite lame. Unfortunately  it was one of those injuries that we couldn’t make him sound with ice and a bit of light exercise.  Kevin’s quite optimistic that he’ll make a recovery and be back in the game.  We’re going to treat him with a therapeutic ultrasound, and we may consider doing the IRAP therapy but I think the biggest thing is that the horse gets a good long rest and doesn’t go back to work until he’s 110% which is what my plan was anyway, because he’s done two four stars in a short period of time. The next focus for him would be Normandy.”

–

–

“I feel like I gave it a hundred percent; there’s nothing I would have changed about my preparation. I hold my head high and know that I tried.  I really don’t think I could have got another mark out of Otis in the dressage, and I think he went as good as he could have gone in the cross country. I think I was going to make the time up until the last minute and that’s when he did really hit the wall; initially I thought he might have run out of puff, but looking back on it now I think he really started to feel the pain going through his leg and he pushed on and finished just a couple of seconds over the time. It’s one of those terrible things that will haunt me for a while, but it’s the nature of competitive sport, and it’s heartbreaking that it had to finish that way. He’s renowned for good show-jumping and I believe he would have put in a couple of good rounds and that would have left him in the top 10.”

–

Although Otis now enjoys a nice, long break there was no such thing as a holiday for Boyd – he came straight back to the US and was out competing at Millbrook Horse Trials in New York that very weekend,

“Millbrook’s one of my favourite events of the year and the bulk of my supporters and owners are from the Millbrook area so I love getting up there and riding those horses. I’m glad I went actually, I enjoyed jumping on my young horses. Trading Aces is actually going better now than when I was riding him all the time, it’s a little bit depressing –  I had my best ever dressage score on him and the first day I rode him on the flat was the day of the show! Hats off to Silva and Caitlin who might have done me a bit of a favour!”

Trading Aces will likely now be aimed at Fair Hill,

“I think I might take Trading Aces to Fair Hill. I’m a huge believer that Fair Hill CCI*** is the ultimate preparation event for a good Kentucky. I think it’s the biggest, boldest and toughest CCI*** in the world, and without question, if you can run around Fair Hill then Kentucky is a walk in the park with six months more training on your horse. I think that will suit Trading Aces the best, and the big focus with him is obviously improving him a little bit in the dressage. I think he ran well at Bromont but we’re still getting to know each other, and I think that I probably didn’t have him quite fit enough up there in Canada. He still placed second, but to have him available and competitive for Kentucky next year I’d like to put a bit more of a base on his fitness.”

 

 “He almost had the best event of his life there at Barbury, and he was in flying form with a great one at Kentucky, so we’ve got to sit down, regroup and work out what’s best for Remington’s future. I’m not sure what the plan is with him at the moment until we discuss that but I know for sure I”ll probably get the opportunity to hunt him a bit with the Cheshire Hounds.  It’s a pretty awesome group of horses and riders, and it’s great to get Remington out there and doing that a bit.”

It’s been my privilege and pleasure to get to know Boyd during the last couple of years; he’s come back from tough times before and will again, and I look forward to reporting on many more of his successes,

“I believe that I have the skills and the horses to go and win a medal. Going into London I knew I was on a green horse but one that had the ability to medal if everything went my way, but everything didnt’ go my way so the whole medal thing was way off. In a couple of years time if these horses shape up the way I’m planning on them shaping up and things do go my way…”

My thanks to Boyd, and you can hear our entire conversation on next week’s Eventing Radio Show, online Thursday 16th August. Go Windurra USA and Go Eventing!

Sinead and Manoir de Carneville jumping clear at Barbury CIC***

There were many people who were shocked when the US London 2012 Olympic Eventing Team was announced and Sinead Halpin’s name was not one of the five on it. Last year, she and her horse Manoir De Carneville were US National Champions by dint of finishing 3rd at Rolex CCI**** behind Mary King in the spring, and performed impressively that fall at the Burghley CCI****. This year they were second at the Jersey Fresh CIC*** and the Advanced at The Fork,  and won the Southern Pines OI, having been excused a four star run by the selectors, and although their dressage at Barbury CIC*** wasn’t as good as it has been, their jumping was, as usual,  flawless.  Now with the Games behind her, she’s back at Maizey Manor in Wiltshire preparing for Burghley once more, and kindly took some time out to talk to Eventing Nation.

Sinead told me that Maizey Manor is perfect for her and Manoir de Carneville/Tate right now, not only because of it’s outstanding facilities, but also because of the people there too, “Headed by Jax Green, who has had almost every country’s team members sitting at the dinner table, which gives her an interesting perspective and  priceless, often hilarious insight when discussing success and failure in a sport –  I think we’re a really resilient and great group. It’s really fun right now because Rebecca (Howard) is back here at Maizey, and Esib Power and Allison (Springer) and myself; all of us have known each other for so long and have actually not just known each other, but we’ve all been pretty close friends so we’re comfortable asking for advice. Everybody knows each other’s programmes well enough to let something sit, and I think we have a really open-minded group, especially after the last month of team training when you just had so much information and so much knowledge being given to you from all different directions. I think now is a nice time because as a group we’re  having more conversations around the table about our thought process and training programmes than we are in the ring, and I think that’s probably the healthy way to go. For me personally, now,  I have so much to process, and it’s fun to sit around the table with all these guys , and sit in the barn aisle and chat about that, and when we’re actually in the arena we’re all pretty quiet and doing our own thing and I think that’s probably the right way to go. I think all of us are thrilled with the way the horses are going, I know Tate’s going ten times better now than he was even two weeks ago.”

–

Sinead and Tate jump clear xc at Barbury CIC***

Sinead and Allison are both planning to compete at Hartpury this weekend, which Sinead hopes will allay some of her fitness worries, having had Tate peak for the Games a few weeks ago, “It’s nice to be able to have a run like Hartpury so we’ll have plenty of time to judge where they’re at, and enough time between Burghley and Hartpury if we need to back off or pick up. I’m sitting on quite a fit, streamlined type of horse so I think I just have to have faith in that.  Fitness to me has always been something that you have a plan for, but at the same time you’re always trying to read your horse and see where they’re at, and it’s much easier to know where they’re at when you’re galloping them often.  I know Allison and I haven’t cantered since that last team gallop. That’s the hard thing to have faith that you can actually let them down for a little bit and then feel like you can pick them back up, so I’m crossing my fingers and hoping it’s okay that I gave him a couple of gallops down.”

Rebecca Howard is also aiming at Burghley after a disappointing Games, but her entry is not yet confirmed, “Rebecca is desperately trying to get into Burghley – we never have this problem in the States with balloting, but when the entry date closes here, it closes. Canada didn’t have an entry and again, it’s something that in North America we wouldn’t even think about but a lot of the Europeans had their entries in for Burghley just in case something went wrong, because it closed the Friday of the Olympics.” If Burghley doesn’t pan out, then Sinead said Rebecca’s looking at Blenheim or Pau instead.

Sinead and Tate Burghley CCI**** 2011

For Sinead, following the same pattern as last year – Hartpury to Burghley, gives her some confidence, although she admits that it’s true sometimes that ignorance can be bliss, “I think I should be competitive. I know the track and I know what I’m getting into a little bit more now, and I don’t know if that’s a good thing! Last year I was slightly naive and so I didn’t know how big the jumps were until the Wednesday, now I actually know so I’m freaking out already! Seriously though, I feel smarter and more mature as a competitor and as a rider this year, and I think I’m much more aware of my horse as well. I just hope to go and show the work and the improvement. Everything has just been so much better than last year; my horse on the flat is ten points more trained than he was last year, and now I just have to get ring savvy and figure out the best way to show that off. The same thing with the jumping phases, his show-jumping has just come on miles, and he’s always been a good cross country horse but I’ve been working on his fitness, and making sure that at that four star track I have a horse left at the end of the course, whereas at Burghley and at Rolex I felt like that last minute he was really at max. I think at both of those tracks I was a little nervous and I ran him quite quick at the beginning instead of saving him, so it’s just basically I’ve matured somewhat in my competitive knowledge, and hopefully that will show through, and hopefully it will go well.”

–

During her long partnership with Arthur Allison Springer has suffered plenty of disappointment, and each time has managed to find a silver lining and continue undeterred. This summer though she came over to England as US National Champion and with a practically flawless Spring season under her belt, so it must have been a particularly crushing blow to not make the cut for the Olympic Team. We spoke at Maizey Manor where she’s relocated to prepare for Burghley, on the day before the Opening Ceremonies of the Games.  Of course Arthur looks fabulous, as he’s primed to run right now, and Allison told me that the challenge will be maintaining his form for another month,

“Ideally if you go to Burghley you want that to be your Plan A, Burghley should never be an afterthought. Burghley is going to be more difficult than the Olympics, it’s the toughest four star in the world so really you should be prepping your year and your season towards it so my horse is peaked right now, he was more than ready for the Olympics, and he didn’t have much of a break after Kentucky.  I’m a little  worried about Burghley because it’s tough on a horse to have them peak now, and we’ve got a month, we’ve got a long way.  When I entered Burghley last month, I needed to do it at the time to set the ball in motion but I wouldn’t really make it my plan to go to Burghley until I could judge my horses health, weight and soundness coming out of the intense Olympic preparations. Arthur’s welfare always comes first in my decisions, and, as you can see, he continues to be in fantastic health right now. His weight is perfect, he is happy, sound and going better than ever, so Burghley it is!  He’ll walk hack for 45 minutes to an hour each day and either do a light trot or more of a stretchy flat like I started out in the beginning of my ride, and just sort of take it easy like that, I can’t completely let him down and then pick him up and take him to Hartpury, that’s not good for his health and soundness either. It’s a bit of a tricky play right now, how to get him fully prepared for Burghley. Fortunately he’s kept his weight beautifully and he’s training really well, he’s really fit so we just won’t canter him until the week before Hartpury and then just do one canter before I go, and stop cantering him every five days now.”

Allison and Arthur jumping at Barbury

Coming to Maizey Manor was almost a foregone conclusion, “I’ve been to Maizey Manor before. I think when you stay on so long you really have to pair up with people you know with getting around and everything, so obviously Sinead is going to be here with Tate, and Esib (Elizabeth Powers) is amazing, and she’s not only going to help get us around but she’s a lot of fun as well. It’s just really easy here – Jacky (Green) is amazing too, Catherine (Burrell) is so nice, you have everything you need here, (turn-out, arena, hacking, access to gallops etc)  so I didn’t even really research into other places, I already know this place and it seemed like the right choice.” and although Allison made sure to stress how much she appreciates being over here it was obvious that she missed some home comforts too,

“I’m dying to go home, I miss my dog like mad, I wish I had figured out a way to bring him. It’s just so long to be gone from home. It’s been nice, it’s just been a long time away from home. I feel like I’ve been here forever and I still have the same amount of time left that I have to stay here for Burghley, it seems like a long way away. I have a gorgeous new facility that I’m at this year, I’m just beginning to get the new business and lesson program going there and I had to drop it for two months so that was challenging, but I had a couple of fundraisers before I left because I knew if I stayed on for Burghley things were going to get really, really expensive really quick.”

The USEF has funded Arthur’s round trip, as they did all they all the short-listed horses and just like the other reserves, Allison has done her fair share of soul-searching, “It is what it is and the nature of selection means there are always going to be people who are heartbroken and people who are joyous, that’s just what it is.  When I look back on our last two selection trials to figure out what I could have done better or differently after having such an amazing and well planned spring season, I’m not sure I could have changed much. After Rolex I was very conscientious to the fact that Arthur had just given me such a beautiful effort at Rolex and I was only going to give him a couple of weeks off before having to get him ready for Bromont and it just seemed so unfair. I would have loved to give him a full month off. He is a high energy horse that always maintains his fitness and it takes him a while (more like a month as opposed to two weeks) to let down. For him to have demonstrated the same form and focus at Bromont that he has had all year, I would have needed to keep riding him straight through from Rolex to Bromont and that, in my opinion, simply wasn’t an option. So I definitely showed up for a combined test thirteen hours away with my horse not in his top form – that didn’t help selection.  Bar that, I did everything to prepare my horse as well as I could.  After Bromont, I do feel I was fortunate to make the short list, period. Fortunately I did, and after his 13 hour trip back home he was on a plane less than a week later to England with Barbury just two weeks later.   I look back at Barbury and my time here and I don’t think I could have done anything different to improve my chances of selection.”

Allison is also incredibly grateful for the additional training she’s received since being over here, and for the opportunity to work more closely with Captain Mark Phillips, “The dressage is dressage, I know how to get him in the ring on the day – even at 25 years old he’s still going to be a horse that’s on edge, that’s him, that’s his personality, but he is a very kind person, he’s very sweet; he’s spooky but he doesn’t do it in a nappy, terrible way and I know how to manage him and get him in the ring.   His cross country record is sorted, especially this year it’s been beautiful and his show-jumping has been great, Lauren Hough has really helped me a ton. Lauren has been so helpful, she even said after the last lesson that her opinion of Arthur had totally changed, that he does want to jump clean. It was really helpful and positive working with her. Hopefully she’ll come back and help Sinead and I right before Hartpury and she’ll be at Burghley.  I’ve got a lot of great training this month and I think that Mark’s opinion really changed about me and my horse, unfortunately too late because I think he probably had the most influence on it being between Tiana’s horse or mine.   Who knows how things might have been different had this happened sooner but it doesn’t matter now.”

Again, my thanks to all the US reserves who have talked to me so openly about such a sensitive topic and I look forward to cheering them on in future Championships and many Olympic Games to come. Thank you for reading and Go Olympic Eventing!

The New Zealand team lie in equal fourth place after two days of dressage.

All pictures by and used with kind permission of Clifton Eventing. Check their facebook page regularly for super pictures throughout the event.

I had a quick chat with Jock Paget, currently lying in equal 17th place on Clifton Promise at his first Games, about the Olympic Experience.  Jock told me he was really happy with his dressage, “I was a little disappointed that I missed the first change and he was half a stride late which was annoying because he’s normally really good at his changes, that probably shouldn’t have happened, but I was really happy with the rest of the test”.  Poised and mature, Jock told me he didn’t have a chance to get nervous, “the good thing about that arena is that despite it being big, and it being the Olympics, you’ve got so much else to worry about that that if you can just stay focused, you don’t even think about it, you’re just too busy doing your job – that was the case for me.”

Jock  talked about his teammates, especially the marvel that is Mark Todd, currently lying 3rd after conjuring a 39.1 out of the relatively inexperienced Campino, “Toddy is just a legend, isn’t he?  To come out, with all the pressure on him, and he just nailed it.  The horse did the best test he’s ever done, everything went perfectly.  Andrew had a really tough situation, you plan your warm-up right to the last minute, and then to find out you have to wait another ten minutes is a real pain in the a** but Andrew was as cool as a cucumber, he took his horse for a stroll, waited for it to start back up again and then he went in and did a really competitive test; it was very cool to watch him do that,  it was pretty impressive.”  After his test Andrew made no bones of his unhappiness about the situation, but apparently has put it behind him now and is looking ahead to the jumping phases, “He’s been in the sport for so long he’s had plenty of highs and lows, he’s good at handling everything now.  Everyone is in good spirits, ready to tackle tomorrow.”

Jock was on his way to a team meeting with Erik Duvander, but he already had a pretty good idea what his cross country instructions would be, “I’d imagine he’s going to tell us to go hard and fast, straight and true.  I think it’s going to be quite a tough course, especially if you go fast but we have got good jumping horses and good cross -country riders (massive understatement!) so hopefully with a bit of luck, everyone’s going to need a bit of luck, but hopefully it will all go to plan.”  I asked Jock if there was anything in particular on the course he was worried about, “Just not to go too fast too early, there are a lot of big hills that are going to tax the horses.  I just want to make sure that I set off and get smooth before I get fast; you don’t want to get too fast too early because I think you’re going to run out of puff by the sixth minute, then you have a section of the course that puts them to sleep a bit before you have to re-start them again, so I think it’s going to be important to ride the course smart and be clever.  You’re not going to be able to just gun around it, or just cruise around it, you’re going to have to be fast in the right place, give them a breather in the right place and then be fast again in the right places, I think it’s actually going to take a lot of riding.”

Since Jock already rides alongside the person most people want to meet, I asked if he’ll get a chance to stay on in the Olympic Village after the eventing is finished and meet some of his own athletic idols, “I’ve got to go back to work actually, all the other horses need to be worked, they’ve all got their own targeted events that they need to do well at (notably Clifton Lush goes to Burghley) so I’ll just go straight home and back to work, hopefully on a high.”  Hopefully indeed.  As I write this on the eve of cross-country with butterflies in my stomach already and wondering how on earth I’ll sleep tonight (could time possibly go any slower) Jock tells me he doubts he’ll have any such problem, “I should sleep well, I normally sleep like a baby!”  Sweet dreams to Jock, and wishing the entire Kiwi team hard and fast rides, straight and true. Is Erik Duvander eventing’s answer to Friday Night Lights’ Coach Eric Taylor,”Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can’t Lose”?  New Zealand forever!  My heartfelt thanks to Jock for chatting tonight of all nights.  Go safely cross country to all the horses and riders, and Go London 2012 Olympic Eventing!

This is a question that Clark has been pondering since Rolex, then since Barbury, and still couldn’t answer definitively until just a few days ago when the USEF announced that Sinead and Will Faudree would be the two top tier reserves for the Olympics.  Now Clark has made plans to apply for a grant to compete at Boekelo, and although he told me in a perfect world he would love to remain in England with Glen until then, economics dictate otherwise.  He wasted no time and is already back home getting on his horses in the USA, while Glen and Sally, his uber capable groom, will fly home with the team horses next week.  Like all the riders I’ve spoken to who aren’t on the team, Clark has analysed his Spring campaign and told me it’s been difficult not knowing exactly why each rider wasn’t picked,  “The only thing that I wish that they did was offer up more explanation of why decisions were made and I think that would relieve a lot of stress thereafter; whether that’s the coach and the selectors sitting down with each rider individually and discussing exactly why they are an alternate for example, that might be a better system, but no system is going to be perfect.”   Overwhelmingly though, Clark stressed how much Glen has benefited from the month’s training in England at Eddy Stibbe’s fantastic facility, and how lucky he feels to have such a talented, healthy, sound and happy horse available to represent his country at many future Championships for years to come. We talked briefly before Clark left England about being away from home, his business, and of course his beautiful wife, (“I miss her desperately”), and coping with disappointment, and inevitably, carrying on,

 “I think I’ve dealt with it pretty well, there’s definitely been times when it’s been hard, when you get sad, disappointed or a bunch of different emotions but none of that really gets you anywhere. So I’ve had those moments, and then I’ve tried as quickly as possible to get over them and then focus again.  Until a couple of days ago we were all alternates, we didn’t know any rankings so it was my responsibility to continue to train as well as I could in case they did need me and that’s been well worth it. I’m really glad that I didn’t get mad, or so sad that I didn’t ride well or take advantage of being over here and take Glen to those gallops and get him fitter than he’s ever been, and take the lessons from Lauren and Mark, and have the availability for Sandy (Phillips) to come and teach me.  That’s all been tremendous so no matter what it’s been a great experience.  Yes, of course I wish I could have gone to the Olympics but that’s not how the cards played out.”

 By his own admission Clark didn’t feel like Glen performed his best at Barbury, he was disappointed with his dressage test, and explained that as Glen has gotten fitter they’ve been trying out different bits in the jumping phases, which now they seem to have found the answer to with a full-cheeked snaffle gag, “I ride him with two reins because when I tried to ride him with just the gag rein it was too much, he was too sensitive to that so then we put two reins on and into the combinations it’s plenty, it’s enough to just help me get him up, he respects it and then because of that I can then ride with the leg and not have him lag him in front, but use leg to get him in front and have jump to to the canter which creates balance and makes jumping a lot easier.  I did go cross country schooling just in case we got called up to the go to the Olympics and I didn’t want to go there with a brand new bit, and he was great in it,  and we’ve had time to show-jump in it because both Mark and Lauren wanted his balance in show-jumping to be a bit better, so riding him in that bit and in that way has been tremendous.  Lauren has been a phenomenal coach, and we’ve all got to see her three or four times during the month.  If for nothing but the training alone this trip will have been worth it, it’s been fantastic.  The dressage is coming along too, it’s getting much better.  At home I do a lot of things on my own which I’ve been re-thinking a little bit.  It’s been suggested to me that I figure out who I want to train with more full-time, and get into a programme, and that can be a dressage person and show-jumping person, it doesn’t have to be the same person for all all phases.  In this month with all the consistent help I’ve had Glen has come along tremendously.”

Clark and Glen jumping clear at Barbury

Clark explained he’s looking forward to giving Glen a slightly easier run this autumn, “From what I’ve heard Boekelo will be a bit of a step down on the cross country which I honestly don’t think will be a bad thing for Glen. Obviously he seems like he’s regained his confidence since making that mistake at Kentucky but at the same time I’d like to pump him full of confidence before next year. There’s no reason to go and test him again without it being the Olympics – I was happy to do it for the cause of the Olympic Games, but other than that I’d like to go and really make him happy.  I’d also like to try and get close to the time if not make the time at Boekelo, it’s flat there and I think I need to trust that he’s fit and not go too fast at the beginning, knowing that I’m going to have gas at the end. I think it will be good.”

Clark and Glen jumping clear XC at Barbury

Clark and Constantin

Having enjoyed the training this past month, competing alongside the world’s best riders, he said “I’m the kind of person who’s inspired by other people’s good riding, you’re only as good as your competition.”  I know Clark returns home ready to start a new chapter.  As we get ready to cheer on Team USA in London, I couldn’t be prouder of the team members we should cheer on behind the scenes – to Clark, Will and to Allison who I spoke to earlier and who you’ll hear from on Eventing Nation soon.  Many, many thanks to all three of them for their time, they have been incredibly stoic and strong, and in my mind absolutely epitomise team spirit.  To Sinead who’s in London waiting in the wings. To all the grooms and support staff, and thank you of course for reading. Go Olympic Eventing!

There’s no ‘I’ in team: Will hacking Happy/Mighty Nice after Phillip left for Greenwich on Wednesday

The lucky five selected to represent the USA at the London Olympic Games may have left Eddy Stibbe’s dream facility but that doesn’t mean for a moment it isn’t still a hive of activity.  The Dutch Dressage Team is in training (yes, I glimpsed Anky riding, and Edward sunbathing topless, swoon!)

Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend Dressage Riders Must-Have Accessory

Despite having been at the yard at 4am to help pack everything up and see the team off, Clark Montgomery, his groom Sally, Will Faudree and Nat V-C were still busy with their own horses and keeping an eye on the horses left behind for the rest of the day before the remaining American horses ship out to Maizey Manor.  Will and Andromaque will stay put at Lavender Hill until Burghley while the rest of the US contingent ships to Maizey Manor until they leave.  Sinead and Allison will prepare Manoir de Carneville and Arthur for Burghley from there, while Remi, Neville, Happy and Loughan Glen will meet the US team horses at Stansted on Thursday 2nd August and all fly home together from there. The US team horses, God willing, go straight from show-jumping, to Eddy’s old yard Waresley Park Stud as they have to vacate Greenwich Park that night, and will spend the night there before shipping to the airport.

Third time was not to be a charm in 2012 for Will Faudree and he kindly shared some of his thoughts about the disappointment, and his plans for the future.

“This is the third Olympic Games I’ve been a reserve at. I was the traveling reserve at Athens. I didn’t actually come to England in 2008 but I was shortlisted – they named the eight that flew over and I was number nine.  In different ways this trip has been absolutely more frustrating than both the other times.  In 2004 I was left off because of my age and inexperience, I was 22 , I’d never done an overseas competition and the selectors told me they didn’t want to send me to an Olympics as my first one.  I understood that, even though it was still frustrating.  In 2008 it was really frustrating to be left off that squad because I had done everything (Badminton, Burghley, WEG) and that horse (Antigua) had a flawless cross-country record, he’d never had a cross-country penalty in his life.  He was 18 years old, but look at Lenamore.  I think he was left off because of his age, and that was a particularly hard year for me; it was the summer that my sister was diagnosed with cancer and I was desperately hanging on to that dream of going to the Olympics.  I had a good mandatory outing, but that was something that horse always did – he always did things well, he never won anything big, he just always did things well so it was frustrating to be left off that squad.” (McKinlaigh won individual silver but Poggio was eliminated while  Mandiba and Courageous Comet accumulated multiple stops cross country).

Will and Andromaque jumping clear at Barbury

“This year has been really, really frustrating, I’ve had a lot of things go on in my life throughout the Spring, not that I’m blaming my fall at The Fork or my stop at Kentucky on anything, but I gave them reasons to leave me off and I understand why I was left off.  Then Marilyn Little-Meredith’s horse was unfortunately withdrawn due to veterinary reasons and I got moved on to the short list which I was really excited about.  Then I get on the short list, come over here and have a really good Barbury – she was sensational cross country.  I cannot think of another horse that I would rather ride around that track at that venue because she is so fast cross country, she doesn’t pull and I can turn. I had a bit of a bad go at Barbury and scored a 52, you can blame it on a lot of things especially the weather, but she’s such a workman. I thought after Barbury that maybe they would look at my cross country round and that she could be a good pathfinder.”

“When the team was announced of course I was upset – anybody whose name isn’t called is upset, it wouldn’t be human nature to not be, but I understood why I was left off because of the issues I’d had in the Spring. I’m going to do my best in four years to not give them a reason because unfortunately this year I did.  Things change, in every team that I’ve been a part of they’ve never taken the original team that they’ve named: in 2004 My Beau was switched for Poggio, in 2006 Stephen Bradley was switched for Karen O’Connor….so I just keep training as if I’m going and keep that glimmer of hope and that dream alive that I could still get there.  I’ve told Nat that Missy feels as good as she’s ever felt, she’s as sound as she’s ever been and happy, and if the Olympics don’t happen they don’t happen, and I’ll take her to Burghley.  I’m excited about that, it’s a huge honour in itself to have a horse to go to Burghley on.”

“Being a reserve is such a hard thing because you know you want to go to the Olympic Games so much, that’s your goal – you want to go and be competitive and win medals, and I right now, today, feel like I could do it – I feel so prepared and ready – but you also know that the only way you’re going is if someone else drops out and you don’t wish that on anybody.  I’ve been lucky.  At the end of the day I’m 30 years old, I can do this for many more years and whenever I have things like this happen I have to remember – I get to travel around the world and ride horses, it’s what I’ve always wanted to do.  I would rather be known as a really good horseman and a really good producer of horses than for the number of medals around my neck.  Having said that, I want one of those medals around my neck so badly I can taste it!  If it doesn’t happen though, it’s not like I’m going to wake up tomorrow and give it all up, I’m still going to take care of my horses, I’m still going to keep producing them to the best of their capabilities, and the partnership I have with my horses is my focus.  Hopefully someday the Olympic Games will be a part of that path and that journey.”

My thanks and respect to Will, and all the reserves for their time, and thank you for reading.  I’ll also be bringing you news of Clark Montgomery, Allison Springer and hopefully Manoir De Carneville within the next few days.  In exciting news looking ahead, Will hopes to take Pawlow to Boekelo, and Clark told me he’ll apply for the grant to take Glen there too, as well as Phillip with Mighty Nice, just three that I’ve heard of in the last few days.  To make it extra special the Dutch event will mark the passing of the torch as Captain Mark Phillips hands over the reins as US team coach and it will be David O’Connor’s first  official international competition in charge of the American squad. Go USA Eventing!

–

Tucked away in the nether regions of suburban Newbury’s twisting, leafy lanes that suddenly turn into surprisingly pretty and spacious countryside is Jamaican Eventer Samantha Albert’s yard.  Hiding behind a Garden Centre is a collection of stables that have been continually expanding and upgraded, multiple paddocks, an indoor arena, lanes for hacking and just a few minutes drive away is the main road that takes you to the A34 and then the M4 which practically unlocks the whole of England.  Rather like her facility, Samantha’s not what you’d expect either, she’s an absolutely charming mix of Carribean cool, top class athlete and successful businesswoman but with a sweet, soft maternal side  too.  Having lived in England most of her life, “When I was fourteen I came over to England and spent the summer here and loved it, and begged my dad that when I finished school could I come here and ride,” the slight lilt to her accent belies her roots.

–

Samantha at the Beijing Olympics 2008 (picture kindly supplied by Samantha and used with permission)

–

Samantha has ridden for Jamaica all her life despite having several options – her mother still lives there although her father lives in Canada, and her ex-husband is Swedish eventer Dag Albert, and Samantha herself has been based in England for some 20 years now. Although Samantha says she misses Jamaica, especially during these less than warm, non-sunny British summers, she returns often with her two sons, and hopes to be able to give back to the Jamaican eventing scene there again, “My dream is to build up the riding a bit more in Jamaica because when we grew up, everybody rode; all of my friends rode and we used to have such a fantastic time and it slowly died down. Whenever I go out there now I teach and I do clinics, and there’s always a huge turnout, but the problem is they don’t have anyone producing the horses. I am trying to organise getting horses off the track and producing them as riding horses, polo ponies, trekking horses, anything, which is what I used to do when I was a young teenager there.  I’d like to try and get that going again in Jamaica so that there’s something for the children to get on. It needs some other blood in there to get it going again, and I would love to get it going.” Interestingly, there are no ponies in Jamaica, just horses, and although there is only one cross country schooling course, there is a fairly healthy combined training scene, including the FEI Samsung League.

–

Samantha on her London Olympics hopeful horse, Carraig Dubh aka Danny

(Picture kindly supplied by Samantha and used with her permission)

–

Even though the weather has now improved considerably, the climate here isn’t what compatriot Usain Bolt thrives on, and Samantha laughs that her fellow Jamaican athletes will have to acclimatise when they get here in a classic case of the Cool Runnings!

“When they arrive they’ll be wrapped up in their winter woollies because this is freezing for them; even though it’s not that bad, it is really cold for them because they’ve been running at home and it’s a big difference.”

The horse that Samantha rode in the Beijing Games four years ago, Before I Do It, was a mare bred by her ex-mother in law, broken and brought on by Samantha and then sold during her divorce. Samantha had the opportunity to buy her back and took her all the way to the Olympics, and is now looking forward to starting one of her offspring. This time around though, she’ll be riding a leased horse at London, taking on a horse that Tina Cook brought up to Advanced level, and something she said at first she found quite daunting, “I’ve had him since the end of November and it’s been a bit of a steep learning curve; I’ve never ridden anyone else’s Advanced horse, I’ve only ever produced my own so it’s a bit of a shock! My first run was Ballindenisk Three Star which was our qualifier, I didn’t have a prep run, I could only cross country school once because it was so wet, so it was literally throwing us in at the deep end!” Since then the weather has continued to play havoc with Samantha’s campaign, so Carraig Dubh aka Danny and her will go to London on the back of Ballindenisk, two Open Intermediates, and Houghton and Belton CIC***s.

–

Samantha and Danny (Picture kindly supplied by Samantha and used with permission)

–

On arrival in the UK, her father paid for three years of coaching for Samantha, as well as her first serious horse, A Step Ahead, after which time Samantha was well and truly hooked, and since then she has bought and sold, trained and taught and made her own living with horses, “Sarah Wardell and I started a yard together in Cheshire and we did everything – we did hunters in the winter, we bought horses, we broke them, we brought them on, we sold them, we did a lot of teaching. That’s how I started my business which is pretty much still buying and selling and doing a lot of teaching.”

–

On the left, Dan, Samantha’s Olympic hope, and on the right, Squirt

–

Samantha had been aiming Squirt at the London Games but an injury sidelined him, and despite his prodigious talent, she told me it has just cemented her love for the thoroughbreds, “I’ve always had thoroughbreds, and then with the sport slightly changing I went to warmbloods. Squirt is an amazing horse, but if he has a pinprick on him it’s a disaster – he lies down and puts his leg up in the air! The thoroughbreds are so much tougher, they just grit their teeth and carry on, that’s one part of it, and they just seem to have a much tougher way of going, and I think the  sport suits a thoroughbred just as much as a warmblood now, I don’t think there’s much in it really.”

–

Just in case you were worried Squirt was getting bored being stuck in his stall whilst recuperating….!

****************http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YAWge-BUy8*****************

–

Samantha rode Dex, aka Culture Couture at the Test Event last summer, another horse that she bought, brought on and has since sold. We talked a little bit about the difference between riding at these Games in the middle of London, and riding at the Olympics in Hong Kong and past Championships, “It’s nice in that we’re all in one spot, we don’t have to truck to the cross country, that’s the biggest bonus. The cross country course in Hong Kong was fantastic, the facilities were great, nobody could knock them.  The site at Greenwich is very, very small. Not only the cross country – everyone is talking about the cross country being very tight and twisty and turny, but the whole site is tight. There’s nowhere to hack them, I think we have one canter strip where we can canter up to where the start of cross country is, but the horses are very fit, sometimes on edge and there are times you just want to take them for a stroll around the park,  like at Badminton for example, but you can’t do that there, there just isn’t the space. I don’t know how Danny will react to that, he is quite a high-strung horse but I think once he gets in there it will be fine. Again, in Hong Kong we went in eight or nine days prior, and here we’re going in three days before we  start so we’ll probably give them the last gallop before we go in so there won’t be that much to do.”  Samantha’s parents, sisters, and sons will be there in London to cheer her on, as will many Jamaican fans at home and plenty of others all over the world, my son and I included.

–

Samantha riding Dex/Culture Couture at the London Test Event last summer.

(Picture kindly supplied by Samantha and used with permission)

–

Having changed her mind to retire after Beijing she is determined to do so after these Olympics, even with the uber talented Squirt waiting in the wings, and of course Before I Do It’s youngster amongst much else to tempt her back, “After London I’m going to take a back seat. I’ve had an amazing life doing it and I’ve met so many fantastic people, but it’s got to the point now where there are other things that I’d like to do. It’s just so time consuming and every penny I earn goes into the horses. I’ve got two boys who want to do other things too, they’re both very sporty and while I do love that they ride and I don’t think that I would want them to choose it as a career.”

–

Many, many thanks to Samantha for her time and generosity, and wishing the very best of luck;  thank you for reading and if you still want to know more about Samantha you can listen to a full audio version of our interview on this week’s Eventing Radio Show online on Thursday 26th July.  Go Samantha and Go Jamaican Eventing!

–

Thursday morning at Maizey Manor, Wiltshire was the first day of work for the Canadian Olympic Eventing squad since arriving in England on Monday. Canadian Chef D’Equipe Graeme Thom shared that he first discovered this training paradise in 1993 when he came over for Blenheim, and this is the Canadians’ fourth year here.  After a rest day on Tuesday, and a hack on Wednesday, they’ll set out the dressage arena Friday in honour of Canadian Olympic Dressage Superstar Jacquie Brooks who’ll be teaching all day, and then Saturday is a gallop day; just a 20 minute hack away the squad can use a six and a half furlong uphill grass gallop that boasts wonderful going. The horses all look remarkably well, and the mood is upbeat, relaxed and quietly confident.  In fact, the horses may be feeling fitter and better than expected – both Hawley and Jessie told me their horses were pretty fresh out hacking Wednesday.

–

I missed Hawley’s ride, she was first to go with David O’Connor in the secluded arena, but caught up with her for a quick chat afterwards.  Hawley was thrilled with her ride and told me she really feels as if she’s had a breakthrough with Ginny these last couple of weeks, and is very excited about the Games.

–

–

Ginny traveled in a pallet on the ‘plane with Tucker aka Exponential, Jessie Phoenix’s horse and they make quite a nice matching pair!  Dr Christiana Ober was overseeing the Canadian event horses every step of the way, and was regaling us with stories of the the six US Olympic Team Dressage horses being on the same plane, enormous in comparison,  and that they  weighed  exactly twice as much as her six horses!  Christiana was laughing when she told us about the NBC reporter waiting on the tarmac to “interview” Rafalca who came straight up to Ginny and Tucker and asked if one of them was the right horse?!  Hawley, meanwhile, is convinced that Ginny was so good  because The Wizard and Ravel, traveling just behind her, had been whispering in her ear throughout the journey and telling her how to do proper dressage!  All joking aside, Dr Christiana Ober deserves an enormous pat on the back for delivering the horses in such fine form, especially as they undertook a large bulk of the journey in the extreme heat of the United States.  Christiana explained that it’s all a matter of making sure they have plenty of fluids and keeping a close eye on them.  We also discussed how these Games will be the ‘cleanest’ yet; the FEI are making it clear that there will be zero tolerance and  increased monitoring and testing, including video surveillance in the barns. To ensure there are no mistakes, they are allowing sample testing 14 days from arrival at the Games and you can hear a brief interview with Dr Christiana Ober explaining the protocol on next week’s Eventing Radio Show, online Thursday 19th July.

–

Exponential looks a million dollars and super fit. Jessie warmed him up with some counter bending, and leg yielding in trot and canter, and then let David get on. David worked him pretty hard, and is strict about everything. I also watched him ride Peter’s horse Eddie (Kilrodan Abbot), and both times was reminded of Alison Oliver telling me, “Every time you let a horse get away with something, you’re training him to do it.” In his very calm, quiet but equally strong and disciplined way David instinctively knows when to ask for more, how much to push, how to resolve any argument or when to reward wonderful work, and it’s a treat to watch. Both Jessie and Peter got back on their horses after David, and I spoke to Jessie back at the barn.

–

–

I also spoke to Peter for the Eventing Radio Show and you can hear that interview on next week’s episode as well. Peter,  as a lifelong amateur and one-horse operation, confided that he’d had some some anxiety beforehand about immersing himself in the team culture, but said he is absolutely loving it; he told me this is the first competition he’s done outside of North America and it’s a huge relief for him to have the Team handle all of the logistics, and indeed there is no stone left unturned –  the whole operation that is Team Canada Eventing runs like the proverbial well-oiled machine.

–

–

Not only that but the energy within it is wonderful too, very supportive, very easy-going but uber efficient and top notch. Maizey Manor couldn’t be a more perfect base – quiet and ideally situated with just two barns, one of which  now belongs to the Canadians.

–

–

A lovely outdoor arena, a walker, turn- out, amazing hacking and access to gallops, and especially the combined bonus of gracious hostess Catherine Burrel who by all accounts is an outstanding cook, and Jacky Green who hardly needs an introduction, but who I was very happy to meet in person finally – a canny place to base your team  before a major Championship.

–

I’ve been a huge fan of Shandiss’ horse Rockfield Grant Juan since I first saw him at Poplar Place early this year, and he continues to improve all the time. An enormous bay who looks like he’ll never stop trying his very hardest, and with jump and brains to match he still looks as if he has some growing into his frame  to do so perhaps it won’t be the worst thing in the world if he doesn’t get the run this time. I talked briefly to Shandiss about her plans as an alternate.

–

Michelle Mueller’s Amistad is an interesting horse – on the flat Thursday, even just on what is supposed to be a gentle training day he is seriously impressive, and could easily be mistaken for an upper level pure dressage horse. Weaned from his mother at a week and a half, Michelle will explain in the video below, he suffered an injury before the WEG in 2010, and Michelle gave him a whole year off to make sure that he came back as good as new. Megan, who has come over to England to groom at the Games for Amistad told me, “He knows he’s the Prince, he doesn’t like other horses going by his stall, he can be a little grumpy.”  Originally purchased by one of Michelle’s clients as a lesson horse, when she went to University she offered the ride on Amistad to Michelle for five years, and luckily, the relationship between horse, rider and owner blossomed, and Michelle has kept the ride, obviously, ever since.

–

Michelle explained a little bit more about Amistad being a “bucket baby” after she’d ridden him, and by the way she was one of the select riders to earn a highly coveted “high five” from David that morning!

–

I hope that Marlborough enjoyed better weather yesterday afternoon than we did in Henley-on-Thames for Michelle and Megan’s sake as we  endured incessant pouring rain which lasted well through the night, about the same amount of time it took to upload the videos!  I chatted with Rebecca Howard about her plans after the Games for she will, of course, be staying here in England, and she told me that contrary to her nature, she doesn’t have much planned as yet. Hopefully after a good run, Rupert (Riddle Master) will have a rest, and she hasn’t committed to any barn long-term yet she said, but will shop around a bit before making up her mind.

–

 Rupert looked very professional after Rebecca managed to convince him there really were no tigers in the far corner of the arena! David is so soft-spoken it was impossible to hear what he was saying to each rider, but every horse worked on collection, and then lengthening within the paces and then each ride was tailored to that horse’s particular needs. I’ll be sorry to miss more of the intense training later this week, and next, but was incredibly impressed by what I saw today, not only in the ring, but in the barn and just in general.

–

He already had the best hair in the business, but now Graeme Thom adds a puppy to his arsenal!   Many thanks to the entire Canadian Team for welcoming me and my children so warmly, and showing me a glimpse of such a first rate operation. It was a fascinating and highly enjoyable morning and I wish the Canadian Squad nothing but the very best of luck as they make their final preparations and at the Games themselves.  Go Canada and Go Eventing!

Imperial Cavalier and Mary King (at Barbury)

Hawley Bennet-Awad and Gin’n’Juice (at Badminton)

Lenamore and Caroline Powell (at Burghley)

It seems I made the quiz far too easy this weekend, it won’t happen again!

Congrats to Olivia Quill, Isabella Bartolucci, Hayley Sullivan, Katie Bornholdt-Peery and Annica Berg who all got it right – please send me your addresses and I’ll make you get an Olympic memento of some sort.

Go the London 2012 Olympics. Please check out the Eventing Radio Show if you haven’t done so already for  lots more Games Fever – on this week’s show online Thursday July 12th – German Team Coach Christopher Bartle, Swedish rookie Ludwig Svennerstal, a preview of Stuart Horse Trials with organiser Heidi Vahue and checking in with Canadian Jessie Phoenix to see how she’s mending (splendidly!). Go the Eventing Radio Show, and Go Eventing Nation!

These seasoned four star horses have all been selected to represent their countries (3 different) at the London 2012 Olympic Games later this month – can you name them, Eventing Nation?

All guesses in the comments section please, and we’ll reveal the answer next week and maybe even try and find an Olympic mascot or cap for the winner. Go the Olympic Games and Go Eventing!

Chris and his Olympic mount, Holstein Park Leilani

–

When the Australian Olympic Eventing Team was announced last week, and then appealed, I don’t think there were many people who would have argued that Chris Burton hadn’t earned his spot.  I caught up with him after Barbury where he won the 4* Olympic Combined Training Dressage Test on Leilani, for a quick chat, “It was a huge buzz to do such a good test in that strong 4* field; I’m really happy with the way she’s coming along. The hard part for me as a competitor is to not try too hard now, and to stay relaxed and do what I normally do.I can’t wait to get there now to be honest!”  This season especially, the norm for Chris has mostly been winning – the CCI* and ** at Tattersalls,  and then taking the top two places in the CCI*** at Saumur just this Spring.  Although Leilani will not compete now until the Games, Chris has two horses in Aachen this weekend, and two more at Gatcombe the weekend after that, “I think it’s an advantage to stay on your game and keep doing what you do.”

–

Chris on Tina Stafford’s Kinnordy Rivaldo at Barbury Castle

–

  Making the decision to leave his native, and beloved Australia was difficult, but one he considered essential to advancing his career, and one that has now started to pay off, “I had some tough times when I left Australia, I didn’t necessarily want to leave but I was lucky enough to have supportive owners to fly their horses over here for me, and once I got over here I was able to appreciate the competing and I love it, it’s just amazing. As you saw at Barbury Castle over the weekend – when you get ground like that and the sun is shining (?!) you wouldn’t want to be anywhere else in the world, would you? Now I’m here to stay, I’m settled in and I’m really enjoying it. Things are starting to happen, my business is picking up. ”  Since arriving in England, Chris has been based with Sam and Lucy Griffiths in Dorset, an arrangement that seems to work well for everyone, and one he doesn’t anticipate changing any time soon, “It’s an excellent place to train;  having Sam around to ride and train with, and we bounce ideas off each other, and compete makes for a great environment and I’m really happy there.”  However, his growing business, and a barn of about eight horses competing, and then working pupils’ horses added to that, means  it may be harder for Chris than he would like to escape the dreaded damp, cold British summer winter to the Australian sunshine  to teach and give clinics this year.

Chris on Kinnordy Rivaldo

–

On receiving the news that he’d be representing Australia at the Olympic Games, Chris’ first call was to Holstein Park Leilani’s owners, Jean and Jade Findlay who were “relieved and excited”, and the next call was to his parents, also equally excited, and Chris himself described making the Team as “a dream come true.”  I asked Chris if the chestnut mare had always been his first choice, and if this had been his two year plan since the 2010 WEG,

“I’ve been very fortunate, I’ve had a lot of good horses but that mare just goes from strength to strengh. Her best quality is she’s just a very sound, reliable horse, and that’s why she’s always there, always in with a fighting spirit, and she just continues to get better and better, I can’t believe it.  She certainly is a lovely, lovely mare and I’m looking forward to it.”

–

“The mare feels great, she’s really really going well so I’m looking forward to getting there.”

–

On whether the appeals have been bad for the morale of the Team, Chris pondered that equestrians as a whole tend to be less team-oriented by the nature of the discipline, but regardless, he didn’t forsee any problems,  “These teams area always very tough things because we’re a group of individuals really, our sport is not a team sport. Rugby is a team sport, where you train and prepare with your team the whole time and the sport suits that, but it’s an interesting thing the way we’re all thrown together. We all know each other, the Team all knows one another, and we’ll get along, it’s the Australian spirit. The trick is to really combine and come together and create a good performance.”   Australia will without a doubt be a force to be reckoned with in London, and I look forward to watching Chris and Leilani do her proud.  Many thanks to Chris for his time.   Go The 2012 Olympic Games and Go Eventing!

Michael Ryan and Ballylynch Adventure

The Irish have announced their team for the London 2012 Olympic Games and it consists of Michael Ryan, above, Camilla Speirs on Portersize Just a Jiff, below

Aoife Clark on Master Crusoe, Mark Kyle on Coolio, below,

 and Joseph Murphy on Electric Cruise, below. The reserves are Sam Watson on Horseware Bushman and Captain Geoff Curran on Shanaclough Cecora. Listen to this week’s Eventing Radio Show, online on Thursday, for an interview with Mark (above) as well as Boyd Martin and Will Coleman at Barbury, Lucinda Fredericks, and get to know New Zealand’s Jonelle Richards. Go London 2012 and Go Eventing!

Andrew Nicholson (Nereo), Caroline Powell (Lenamore), Jock Paget (Clifton Promise), Jonelle Richards (Flintstar) and Mark Todd (NZB Campino) joined by  Eventing High Performance Team Coach Erik Duvander.  Lucy Jackson, the reserve, was not present.

–

What is most striking about the New Zealand 2012 Olympic Eventing Team, apart from the blatant talent of course,  is the genuine camaraderie between them all – the press conference was a laid back and fun affair, with lots of gentle teasing of each other by all the riders and the mood was definitely optimistic and upbeat, but for acknowledging Clarke Johnstone’s hard luck in Orient Express’ recent injury and therefore the reason for him not being there also.  They all however agree that Jonelle Richards is a good substitute and has plenty to contribute to the Team.

Erik told us that Clarke withdrew his horse from Team consideration after Barbury, “and having Jonelle to step in there, the horse having been well-prepared by herself and Mark’s been helping her recently, we feel pretty confident that she’ll fill that spot very well.”   Jonelle told us although she has faith in her horse and their ability as a partnership to add value to the team, it was still a shock to get the phone call from Erik, “I was pretty speechless for a few minutes which doesn’t happen very often! It’s still sinking in really. Obviously I knew I had a chance, and I’ve had a good lead-up and been fairly consistent over the last 18 months , but you never know until that phone call, and I was pretty happy to get the nod.”

Andrew confirmed his confidence in the team, “I think it looks very good for the Olympics, I think my horses are going very, very well and I’m very pleased to have them in the form they’re in at the moment. I think New Zealand has got a very strong team and will have a real live chance of medals at the Olympics and I’m looking forward to it.”  Andrew added that he considered the Germans to be a big threat, “they’re very good now at all three phases and they’ve got a very good bunch of horses and riders”.

Mark Todd agreed that although Michael Jung is considered the main threat, “We all think he’s beatable – so long as the dressage judges don’t get carried away with the fact that he’s in the arena!”  Mark admitted that when he was competing at the Los Angeles Olympics he never dreamed he’d still be competing at this level at London, and I caught up with him briefly afterwards for a quick word.

–

Jonelle talked about getting up in the middle of the night at home in New Zealand to watch Mark and Andrew ride in Olympics all over the world on the tv, “It’s quite surreal. If they’d been normal and retired when they should have we wouldn’t be here with them now, but they just seem to keep going and it’s an honour and a privilege and something I never thought I’d be able to do, to get to ride on a team with them.”  I asked Caroline and Jock what their reaction was when they found out they’d made the Olympic Team.

–

Andrew is one of several competitors who has talked about relishing the opportunity to really be in the heart of the Games, staying in the Village and mixing with all the other athletes and embracing the Olympic atmosphere, “I should think we’ll be going to every Ceremony that’s going!” He heads off to Aachen, by virtue of an owner’s private jet on Wednesday, with Nereo, which he said seemed like a good idea at the time, “but now that it’s getting nearer I’m not so sure!” All joking aside, life will go on pretty much as normal as possible, “I’ve always made my plans well in advance and then tried my best to stick to them. I think Aachen is a good place to go before the Olympic Games. Hopefully he’ll come through that fine and then I have Gatcombe with a couple of the other horses, I’m used to competing a lot so I think I”m better out competing than just preparing, preparing, preparing.”

Caroline Powell told us Lenamore doesn’t really need to much more cross country, that she’ll just focus on working at home with him. Jock is taking Bullet Proof to Aachen, and will do a Combined Training Test with Promise and Lush at Gatcombe. Jonelle has a “Slightly unique build-up at the moment as I suffered a slight set-back and sprained my wrist about ten days ago, so I’ve been out of the saddle and Mark’s been training my horse. He’s actually going to go to Aachen and do the first two phases with Mark; we’ve been working together this year and it’s been going well, the horse has really improved in the dressage which has been his weakness in the past.” Mark joked, “Jonelle is actually worried that if he does a good dressage and jumps clear in the show-jumping I might actually run him cross country!”  “I think he probably would,” Andrew added laughing. Mark said he was so happy with Campino that he decided not to run him again after all, “He’ll just continue training towards London now, and my reserve horse Grass Valley goes to Aachen, and it’s basically business as usual.”

–

Many congratulations to the Team, and thanks to everybody for talking to me this morning. You can hear additional interviews with Jonelle and  get to know a bit more about her and Flintstar on this week’s Eventing Radio Show out on Thursday, as well as a brief conversation with Jock Paget, Boyd Martin and Will Coleman, news on the Irish Olympic team including an interview with a team member, Barbury and much more! Go Olympic Eventing, I officially have London 2012 fever, and Go Eventing Nation!

Andrew Nicholson and Avebury, runaway winners of the CIC***, a clear 8 points ahead of himself and Quimbo! Avebury also had the fastest time of the day, one second quicker cross country than Nicola Wilson and Opposition Buzz

Andrew and his second-placed horse, Quimbo

Lucy Wiegesma had a mixed day: she pulled Woodfalls Inigo Jones up after Fence 11 because she told me she felt he’d lost his action and sadly he has injured himself and will be off for at least the rest of the season. On a much brighter note, Simon Porloe was fabulous and finished in 3rd place.  Oliver Townend and Pepper Anne had a fast clear cross country to finish in fourth place.

Tiana told me Ringwood Magister  lost a front shoe at the third fence, the big table before these wishing wells, and then she saw the second front shoe fly off at the B element of this jump, number 4. Regardless, they continued the whole way round and jumped a well-judged clear round, 2 seconds over the time looking rock solid, so fingers crossed Ringwood Magister/Finn isn’t sore on his feet tomorrow as the US horses have a whole day of veterinary evaluations before the US Olympic team is announced Monday evening GB time.

Remington picked up 6 time faults to finish right behind Tiana in 6th place. I caught up with Boyd at the end of the day to talk about his rides and his plans for Neville now that he’s been caught!

Otis did look fantastic on the course today, and finished 23rd with 11..6 time penalties

Neville – enjoying the Great British Summer!

Opposition Buzz and Nicola Wilson finished right behind Remington, and pinged round in their usual exuberant style, which must have been extremely satisfying for Nicola knowing that practically anyone who’s anyone in the world of Eventing was at Barbury this weekend watching!  Luckily for the Team GB Selectors and their connections, the two London-bound combinations in this section both had good, steady clear rounds, and reserves Pippa Funnell also went well on Mirage D’Elle while Francis Whittington didn’t run Sir Percival cross country as they leave for Aachen on Wednesday.

Andromaque was seriously impressive – Will could open her up along the galloping stretches and she was beautiful to see, and then like a sports car, compress her and bring her back in a few strides for the combinations which she looked to handle very easily indeed, before accelerating quickly away from the fences again. I think out of all the US horses today, she looked the most nimble and catlike cross-country, and maybe therefore best suited to Greenwich. Will, of course, also has Championship experience under his belt, and rode with a cool, hard head today – I’d pick him, but I’m terrible at maths and so far I’d pick all of them! Thank God I’m not a selector!

Borough Penny Z and Vittoria Panizzon for Italy, 11th.

Arthur and Allison Springer – clear with just 4 time penalties to finish 12th.

Izzy Taylor, one of the most stylish riders on the circuit today – 13th on KBIS Starlet

Mystery Whisper was very excited waiting at the start box, and Phillip had said earlier this weekend that he’d never known him get as excited as he did before his dressage but their clear round was workmanlike and never looked in any doubt.

Loughan Glen set off very well with Clark Montgomery and never let up. They had a nasty moment coming out of this water, which is where Boyd got off Neville prematurely, but survived and finished full of running with only 4.4 time faults. I saw Jess Montgomery later and she told me Clark had found a bit he’d been wanting to use for some time at one of the tradestands here at Barbury, a full-cheeked snaffle gag, so he decided to go ahead and try it. Obviously it worked pretty well–he wanted something not too strong, but that would also keep Glen’s head UP, and Jess said he hopes to be able to take him to Gatcombe now to have another run in it.

Sinead Halpin and Manoir de Carneville made easy work of the course, I didn’t see any sticky moments at all, they just seemed to jump everything out of stride and looked very switched on the job.  Will Coleman told me he had a great ride on Twizzel, his first run back since Kentucky, and I managed to get a short clip of him, and a couple of others, going through the water in the main arena.

Similarly Phillip Dutton gave Mighty Nice a wonderful ride round and the horse looked to grow in confidence the further he went. Without seeming to ever do anything they still seemed to meet every fence perfectly, Phillip hardly moved in the saddle, and yet managed to present his horse in the right balance at the right pace every single time – genius! Andrew Nicholson can do it too, I watched him gallop up the hill, take two very quick pulls, one with either hand which just warned the horse and set him up, but the rhythm and his stride never faltered and he galloped right up to the perfect spot at a max table and away again, barely losing half a second, and it looked so easy and effortless for the horse.

Mr Medicott looked as honest and bold as the day is long, but still a bit argumentative in front of fences

Butts Leon gave Nina Ligon a super ride, they cruised round, and are really looking like a partnership now.

Paul Tapner guiding Caicos around his first CIC***

How quickly fortunes can change! Run in reverse order of merit, the last three to go ie the top 3 were all Kiwis, but when Mark Todd (3rd) suffered from a memory lapse and was eliminated for missing out the 21st fence, and then Jock Paget (2nd) had an annoying fall from Clifton Lush at the alligator water, fence 11, it was left to Andrew Nicholson to fly the flag. Luckily he obliged picking up 1st and 2nd places and said later it’s a great boost to the morale for London.

Click below for much more…

(more…)

What does the future hold?

–

Everyone is talking teams – press, riders, fans…it’s unavoidable.  The British Team, the fantasy US team, who will make the Irish and NZ squads, and the already controversial Australian team. More than one US rider here at Barbury has talked to me about the pressure this weekend, and despite the camaraderie within the US camp, they’ve admitted it’s difficult, and chatting to one of the Team GB connections yesterday she told me about the huge relief once the wait was over, that they hadn’t even fully realised how much the decision had been weighing on them until, she said, the team was announced and they could begin to make plans again and get on with their lives.  John already covered that in detail in his excellent post late last night, so instead this morning, I thought I’d arrange the remainder of the CIC*** show-jumping pictures that I have by nation.

–

Team GB

Mary King and Imperial Cavalier

–

Tina Cook and Miners Frolic

–

(Piggy French and William Fox-Pitt rode their London horses in the CIC**, and I only saw them gallop past in the distance on cross country. Zara Phillips rode High Kingdom in the 4*Olympic CT Dressage but did not jump him. )

–Team GB reserve Pippa Funnell and Mirage D’Elle

–

Team GB reserve Francis Whittington and Sir Percival

–

The Smoking Hot Kiwis

Andrew Nicholson and Avebury

–

Jock Paget and Clifton Lush

–

Lucy Jackson and Kilcoltrim Ambassador

–

Mark Todd and NZB Campino

–

Clarke Johnstone and Orient Express

–

Jesse Campbell and Kaapachino

–

Bruce Haskell and Kiwi Smog

–

–

The Irish

Camilla Speirs and Portersize Just a Jiff

–

Michael Ryan and Ballylynch Adventure

–

Sarah Wardell and Killeenduff Boy

–

Jayne Doherty and Ravenstar

–

Louise Lyons and Watership Down

–

Sadly I missed Sam Watson jump on Horseware Bushman, and didn’t manage to get any nice pictures of Captain Geoff Curran on either of his horses, so please remember these photos are by no means a comprehensive or meaningful commentary on team selection!

–

The Aussies in the CIC***

Chris Burton and Kinnordy Rivaldo

–

Paul Tapner and Caicos

–

Clayton Fredericks and Walterstown Don

–

Chris Burton and Boyd Martin plot world domination!

–

BIG day of cross country coming up – I’ll be tweeting as much as phone signal allows, and bringing you a report as soon as possible after it’s finished. Wishing everyone safe rides, and “may the odds be ever in your favour!” Go Barbury Castle and Go Eventing!

The Eventers versus the Jockeys Mechanical Bull-Riding Challenge took place in the Main Arena in between the two main classes, the CIC*** and the 4* Olympic CT Show-jumping. Brilliantly compered by Alice Fox-Pitt and Jonty Evans it drew a large, and generous lunchtime crowd who seemed happy to donate to the Injured Jockey’s Fund and the Air Ambulance as they watched a team of four professional jockeys pit themselves against four of the world’s best event riders. Laura Collett was only just beaten by Paul Tapner, but Mark Todd was surprisingly and disappointingly average, perhaps that lanky height is a disadvantage!  Please excuse the shaking video and the loud wind noise, and just enjoy….!

Props to Barbury for getting my son to smile, first time all day! Tomorrow the cross country doesn’t start until 12:30 so I’ll have time to drag him and Lily around the fair and the army assault course, the shops, the food court and everything else they want to do that I’ve denied them so far – O Joy! Stay with Eventing Nation for more Barbury, more ridiculous and Go Eventing!

Rayef and Laura Collett added just one time penalty to their dressage score to win the 500 GB pound first prize after a slew of withdrawals, and very few clear rounds.

Jock Paget and Clifton Promise had one rail down to finish second

Bill Levett, determined to prove a point to the Australian selectors perhaps, jumped a lovely clear on One Two Many NJ to finish 3rd

Clayton Fredericks on his Olympic horse Bendigo, one down to finish fourth. Team mate Chris Burton had two down on Holstein Park Leilani to finish 5th, and Sarah Ennis upheld Irish pride with Sugar Brown Babe with a rail and one time rounding out the top 6.

Joy Dawes and Harbour Pilot C, one down and 7th.

Mark Todd and NZB Grass Valley 8th with one down

Tina Cook and Regal Red, one down, 10th

Bill Levett and Hyppolyte, three down to finish 13th, unlucky indeed!

Belgian Constantin Van Rijckevorsel jumped the first (above) beautifully, and then went on to have a rather abysmal round, less said the better, but he completed to finish 16th.  Some more pictures from the CIC*** show-jumping to come later when we get home. There is a party getting started here, and with the first horse not due out on cross country until 12:30pm GB time I’d say there’ll be a good crowed there tonight at The Outside Chance. I hear nothin Go Barbury Castle and Go Eventing.

Second to go of the Americans, Sinead jumped early this morning (9:15am) and much to her relief rode a quick clear round.

–

Clark Montgomery also jumped a copybook clear round on Loughan Glen. Although the time was generous, there was a little bit of terrain – you had to gallop up a small hill behind the water jump to the penultimate, and then back down the hill to a vertical at the last fence which caught a few people out. Clark told me Glen took it all in his stride, and that the footing was absolutely  fantastic to jump on, better than any arena surface, even in the warm-up where horses continually take off and land in the same spot, and which was quite cramped and on the side of a hill!

–

Mr Medicott never looked like touching a fence for Karen O’Connor, an effortless clear

–

Ditto for Mystery Whisper and Phillip Dutton.

–

Otis jumps clear for Boyd and America

–

Cool as a cucumber – Tiana and Ringwood Magister also post a clean round.

–

Will Faudree had a rail down but Meryl Streep Missy was jumping really nicely.

–

Arthur rubbed quite a few and finally Allison Springer’s luck ran out at the very last fence which came down for 4 faults.

–

In contrast, Mighty Nice knocked down the first fence but then jumped a good round with Phillip Dutton.

–

Remington and Boyd had the first part of the double down, an expensive rail.

–

Neville was the first of the Americans to jump this morning at 9:06, and according to Boyd was “a bit casual” for two down.

–

Will Coleman also had two down on Twizzel.

–

More photos to come later, but still a busy day ahead with the 4* Combined Test about to jump and of course the cross country tomorrow. Go the USA at Barbury, and Go Eventing!