The Aiken High Performance Riders donned their headbands, wristbands, short shorts, and tall socks today for a fitness test with US Olympic Committee folks bright and early today. The idea was to get a baseline test and then re-evaluate later this spring, but of course it turned into a massive competition between all the riders. The planks and squats were a duel between Jennie and Doug, and Boyd dominated the sprints. To preserve everyone’s pride, we’ll only post the winning times:
Planks:
Jennie Brannigan: 6:17
Doug Payne: 6:08
Squats:
Doug: 360
Jennie: 360
Sprints:
Boyd: Domination
So, how would you compare to the High Prerformance riders? The planks are holding this position, and the squats are just body-weight squats. The sprints are more complicated and involved a 20m run back and forth with a beeper. I should note that there was a bit of a dispute with the tie between Doug and Jennie in the squats and some sources told us that Doug won by 1, but the official unbiased ruling said it was a tie.
The last thing I will point out is that EN Karma helped out Jennie and Boyd as they were our predicted winners yesterday. Oh, and the Aiken scores dominated the Ocala scores. In other news…
Horse and Country TV has posted video of Matthias Rath and Totilas in their first public appearance:
It’s not up to Edward Gal’s standards yet, but the partnership is surely still developing. The real pressure and test will come when they start getting scores on a world stage. If those scores aren’t up to where they were with Edward, then there’s going to be some serious public pressure. Is it just me or did they steal that music from Pirates of the Caribbean?
–Eventing great Luncinda Green has signed on to the daunting challenge of coaching the Austrian Team (not Australian). To qualify for an Olympic berth, Austria must produce one of the two best performances at the European Championships in Luhmuhlen (25-28 August), other than Germany, Britain, and Belgium, who have already qualified. [Horse and Hound]
–Hunter Lone Star wins the Chronicle’s horse of the year. I hope an eventer will win Rider of the Year. [COTH]
Go eventing.
