40,000 spectators showed up for a cloudy day at Boekelo
One of the hardest things to do in eventing is to separate the good from the bad. I consider myself a rider first and I gladly let that principle shape the direction of Eventing Nation–we are a website from and for riders. And because of that, tonight sucks. Everyone is walking around the barns at Fair Hill doing what they need to do to get their horses ready for tomorrow’s jog but in the back of everyone’s mind is grief for the passing of JB’s Star and the solemn hope that Jennifer will be ok.
Nights like this make us ask important questions. In my mind, if a tiny little part of you isn’t asking “why do we do this sport?” right now then you are certifiably crazy. Part of the answer to that question can be found in the great community support for Jennifer and JB’s Star tonight–everyone here feels the loss. Whatever happens in eventing, the barns at the end of the day are filled with the strongest community that you will ever see.
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Boekelo: Live scores, team standings
If I was not writing about all of the news from Fair Hill today, I would have been writing much more about the tremendous performance of the US team in Boekelo on Saturday. The top three US riders at Boekelo added a grand total of 9.2 time penalties over a course that produced only six double-clears out of nearly 100 starters. Will Faudree and Andromaque had one of those six double-clears and it’s time to start talking seriously about these US horses. Ringwood Magister is in 7th, Will and Sinead are tied for 13th with Will having the advantage from making the XC time. The US team is sitting a fantastic 2nd in the team standings. Doug Payne had a tough day with Running Order but shows wisdom beyond his years in his recap for EN. Thanks for writing this Doug and thank you for reading.
From Doug:“Back again EN,Running Order was pretty damn good, but unfortunately not perfect. He jumped the first 8 perfectly. 9 was the first water. The A element was on a left bend into it around a bunch of trees. In hindsight I should have squared the turn off a bit more and kept him more active, he didn’t read it well. I ended up have 2 stops at it. I should have taken more time on my second attempt. The third was sticky, but finished up well. We continued on in the straight route and jumped elements b through e very well.In most cases I’d be very upset with this result, but he just got better and better through the course. I can’t tell you how excited I am about our future. He finished up still only 45 seconds late. Amazing being that I just let him cruise on after fence 9. The time was well within his grasp. As Mark said at the finish, “this is a very good horse for the future.” I couldn’t agree more. Just has some to learn. I just have to keep everything in perspective, he’s only 8…I’ve heard time and time again that experience is what you need after you need it. I’ve got it for next year! I’ve got to say today was incredible…40,000 spectators, 10 deep at every fence. Something we never see at home at a CIC***. Its something that you can read about everyday of the year, but until you see it, it doesn’t hit home. Without a doubt regardless of placing, this trip has been invaluable.As for the rest of the US team, it was a great day! All jumped around clean. Will went without time. Sinead took the long route at the first water on the advice of Mark and Mike, being that she was last to go. She finished with 1.6 time. Tiana finished with 7.6 time. The team is sitting just a rail out of first. So keep your fingers crossed for tomorrow!”
Mark Todd leads the overall standings at Boekelo and Michael Jung is in second and third. The US team trails the German team by less than two rails and we wish the US squad the very best on Sunday.
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Sharon White–As a quick update, Sharon’s facebook page confirms our reports on Sharon:
“Sharon has broken her hip and is in good spirits (but also pissed off!) and waiting to hear from the doctors if/when/where surgery will occur. Keep those prayers and good wishes coming!”
Sharon’s fall was a very hard rotational and frankly I am breathing a sigh of relief that we are only dealing with a broken hip. We wish Sharon a speedy recovery and look forward to seeing her back in the saddle and repping the bright orange soon.
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Sunday Schedule: The jog starts and 9am on Sunday and we will have updates throughout Sunday. We will also do a live blog from the CCI3* show jumping starting at 1:30pm. Speaking of live blogs, I made an interesting decision to end the live blog on Saturday after we reported that JB’s Star and Jennifer had been transported after their fall. Call me weak or whatever, but I feel really affected when horses and riders are injured–I usually just want to sit down. The decision to end the live blog was based mostly on the fact that I just didn’t feel like writing about the final few rides. Either way, I’ll be back to live blogging tomorrowand we will find out about Boekelo.
Good luck to all of the competitors tomorrow and may Sunday be a better day for eventing. Go eventing.
