Rolex generously arranged for reigning/reining (?!) Olympic Medalist from Hong Kong Gina Miles, above, and David O’Connor to ride around parts of the cross country course with some of the media corps on Thursday so that we could have a feel for what it might be like to approach those massive fences from the perspective of a rider, and talk to them about what it’s really like, and how they would tackle this year’s course.
Course Designer Derek Di Grazia started us off with a brief overview of the layout of his course, and his thought process that went behind the changes this year. The tighter galloping lanes and roll-backs are a nod to the twisting and turning expected on the limited space available in Greenwich later this summer. Our horses were all Western style, and we walked round gently, taking in the major combinations so although I didn’t get a feel for galloping around the four star track, if you can put up with the shaking and slight wind, I did get a chance to catch up briefly with Gina as we rode from one fence to another.
Gina and David both had some interesting points to make, especially about the difference in the three and four star level, that at four star it tends to be the cumulative effect that will make a difference in the end, not just one mistake or particular jump. David also shared some great memories of past Rolex’s, anecdotes about various rides and the evolution of the course, for example how they moved the site of the present coffin over to accomadate the crowds and television, but essentially they just recreated exactly the same ground a few metres over.
We all enjoyed this alternative way to ‘walk’ the course, especially after walking it on foot again twice the next day! Many thanks to Rolex and the USEF for their organisation and generosity. Wishing everyone out on cross country today safe rides, and Go Eventing!
