Sinead and Allison are now the toast of Burghley, and the media can’t get enough of these Burghley’s Angels. I caught up with Sinead after her leading dressage performance, but had to wait my turn to ask a question, long may it continue!
When asked at the press conference why she wasn’t picked for the Olympics Sinead answered that Tates nosebleed may have been an issue, and also that she’d ben struggling with her dressage, and Allison corrected, “That’s what Mark said!” Allison has come to Burghley with renewed determination and vigor, she seems much happier than when I saw her last at Maizey Manor on the eve of the London Games, and despite being homesick then it’s obvious the time here in England has been good for all of them. I followed Allison around after her test on a very impatient Arthur to ask her a few questions.
Allison is definitely behaving like a team player here at Burghley, and the Maizey Manor group are having a terrific Burghley so far if you combine the girl power of Sinead, Allison, Elizabeth Power and of course Bettina Hoy – whatever Catherine Burrell has been cooking, or whatever advice Jackie Green is whispering in their ears, they need to bottle it and sell it, it’s working! Let’s hope this winning streak continues all weekend, and on into next week for the two Canadian riders who’ll be going to Blenheim, Shandiss Wewiora and Rebecca Howard, both also on Team Maizey Manor!
Allison explained that she had ridden slightly cautiously in the ring, “I had certainly hoped for a more relaxed horse today, but Arthur is Arthur, he is spooky and he’s a nervous type of horse and I think a year ago or before that the horse I had today with have thrown in a bunch of spooks in the arena, so I was really pleased. I knew what I could and couldn’t push for, and there wasn’t a heck of a lot that I could actually push for, I was mostly just trying to ride an accurate test. I was so happy to finish the walk and start cantering; fortunately there are a lot of scores in the canter work and I think that’s ultimately what helped my final score.” On her partnership with Arthur, Allison elaborated, “He is who he is, he is a tremendous athlete and he does a lot of things really well. He IS a spooky horse, I don’t ride a lot of horses and I think I needed the education that Arthur has given me through the years to become the rider that I am. I get a weird confidence accepting the fact that he’s difficult but I know what I need to do to produce the best and hopefully that will be good enough. This sport is a heartbreaking sport, silly things happen and you just have to be positive and believe in your skills and your horse and I do. Looking at some of those big jumps I’m happy to have his scope. It’s big, it’s Burghley, I’ve been here once before and it didn’t go so well for me then but I’ve learned a heck of a lot since then. I remember walking round then and I was terrified of Discovery Valley, so it felt better to be able to walk around the course this year and not feel the same way. I’m looking forward to tomorrow now.”
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Clayton’s shiny boots!
If anyone knows all too well the ups and downs of the sport this year it’s Clayton Fredericks, “Anyone who’s spent time in this sport knows that you spend your whole life picking yourself up; there’s more disappointment than there are great times so we’re used to it. It’s hard when it’s the Olympic Games and everyone’s focus has been on London for the past four years. All three of us sitting up here have experienced disappointment in some way, shape or form but that’s life – what you dream about or hope for doesn’t always turn out but you’ve got to take every opportunity that comes to you. I was very disappointed at the Olympics, at the end of the day being tripped up by a stud piercing your bell boot is not the way you want to go down but it’s what got dealt to me, so I have to get on with it. Maybe this weekend might be the high from that low, we’ll see.”
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Sitting in 3rd place behind the gals he was asked if he thought this might be his year for a crack at the Burghley title he answered with a wry smile, “I suppose after this year I really have no anticipation of what’s going to happen at all on the cross country! We worked very hard to get here, and worked on the dressage to be in this position and we’re starting in a good place – now you need to jump every fence and try and stay on your feet and get through the flags at the end. I was pleased when I walked the course because I think it suits my horse particularly, he’s a big-striding, great galloping horse and it’s quite big and bold; it’s fairly straight-forward although there’s plenty of places where we could all be disappointed. Hopefully it suits my horse though, and I’m looking forward to having a good go.” The horse has been in Clayton’s yard for a long time, he was owned previously by pilot Dermot O’Brian, but was bought for him to ride by Michael Lee.
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Later Friday afternoon Lucy Jackson was delighted to slot into 7th place after a lovely test on Animator II, and Wiliam Fox-Pitt’s test on Parklane Hawk was heaven to watch – soft and flowing but with a mistake in the canter and with enough wiggle room that he finishes this phase in equal fourth place.
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Click below for much more:
On the same score in fourth place today is Andrew Nicholson on Avebury – this impressive grey with such a huge stride was given an accurate ride by Andrew leaving nothing on the table, and they share fourth place with German Kai Ruder on Le Prince Des Bois.
Squeezing out all the marks – Andrew Nicholson on Avebury
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Bruce Davidson walking the arena fences with Kristi Nunnink
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Will Faudree walks with Bobby Costello….
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….and you can imagine what a stir this caused in the main arena!
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Lucy Wiegersma rode a very positive forward test on Simon Porloe but made a couple of errors – it was still the bravest extended canter I’ve seen the past two days, I thought she might gallop straight out the arena and out onto the cross-country!
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South African Paul Hart has had a difficult year, not making it to the Olympics after all, and didn’t have a great test today either, but said he loves his horse, Heartbreak Hill and is looking forward to Saturday’s phase.
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Jeanette Brakewell’s Ideal Sebastian couldn’t be more different to her first horse Chill Out Bob who’s a big, impressive solid bay. Sebastian has quite high knee carriage and carries his head and neck high, but nonetheless was accurate and made for an elegant picture.
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Props to the gate crew for being so beautifully turned out especially because although the sun was out it was actually quite chilly for a lot of the day.
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Richard Jones got some grief about his hat but still did a nice test on Highland Ford to finish in =37th.
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Mary King leaving the arena with Kings Temptress – all the top riders, especially the British ones have so many commitments to honour while they are competing – juggling signings, photo opps, and course walks etc for sponsors with tv/radio/print interviews and press conferences if they’re lucky (!) and no one handles it with more grace than Mary. It’s been a wonderful two days of dressage already, and we could barely have dreamed of a better result for the USA – more videos to come tonight, including Erin Sylvester, and the promised Bettina Hoy and Sinead getting a bit giddy, can you blame them?! Light rain is falling on Burghley as we prepare to leave the press tent. I hope the riders get some sleep tonight, and wish them all safe rounds on the cross country tomorrow, the first horse on course will be Watership Down with Louise Lyons at 11am British time, and the action will continue straight through the day with no break until the last horse, Mark Todd’s Major Milestone, due out at 4:32pm. Go Safely, sleep well, and Go Land Rover Burghley Three Day Eventing!
