Andrew Nicholson and Rathmoyle King. Photo courtesy of Thomas Ix.
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Well, you can say for sure this year’s Luhmühlen CCI4* was not a dressage competition. Only four of yesterday’s top 10 remain there after cross-country. Moving up from third, cross-country genius Andrew Nicholson now leads with Mr. Cruise Control on a score of 38.0. He does not have a rail in hand, however, as Zara Phillips and High Kingdom sit close in second with 39.7. A little breathing room for them back to third, where Kevin McNabb and Clifton Pinot and Andrew Hoy and Rutherglen are tied on 47.5. It should be noted that Rutherglen was a few seconds over the time, so the tiebreak will go to Kevin McNabb and Clifton Pinot should the two remain tied tomorrow.
Andrew Nicholson was first out on course with Rathmoyle King, and as he usually does, made it look easy. The pair sit in 6th, sandwiched between William Fox-Pitt with Neuf De Coeurs (5th) and Lionheart (7th). Andrew and William both with two horses in the top 10. Just another day at the office?
The lone American hopes rest with Marilyn Little and RF Demeter, who went double clear to move up from 28th yesterday to 10th after cross-country. Jolie Wentworth and Good Knight started off the day with two stops, at fence 11 and 28c, but I’m sure she is happy to finish. British-based American Jules Stiller retired at fence 7 with Enjoy Me. The course claimed a lot of riders today, including our own Jennie Brannigan and Cambalda, who fell coming into the first water at 4a.
Fence 4, the first water, where many came to grief.
via Luhmuhlen’s official course preview
Fence 4 was a major troublemaker today, responsible for three horse falls: Andrew Nicholson and Qwanza, Nicola Wilson and Opposition Buzz, and Jennie and Ping. Also, two riders fell there (Dee Hankey with Chequers Playboy and Tom Crisp with Liberal) and two others retired (overnight leader Ingrid Klimke and Tabasco TSF, 7th-placed Dirk Schrade and Edino). Emeric George and P’tite Bombe suffered a bad fall at fence 12; Emeric is okay, but the mare was taken to the clinic, resulting in a lengthy hold on course.
Update 12:41 p.m.: Luhmühlen just released a statement with the tragic news that P’tite Bombe was euthanized following the clinical examination. EN sends its deepest condolences to Emeric and the George family. The statement reads as follows:
It is with great sadness that we have to announce that P’tite Bombe, ridden by the French athlete Emeric George and owned by the George Family, was humanely put down as result of the clinical examination in the veterinary clinic in Vierhöfen after a fall at fence 12 of the cross-country course. At every FEI event, the maximum consideration is given to safety and welfare of horses and competitors.
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I had trouble watching the live stream, and Twitter was abuzz with harsh criticism for FEI TV. However, I have to give major thanks to Luhmuhlen’s Twitter feed (@luhmuehlen2013) who did an excellent job of frequent on-course updates, for riders of all nations. I’m not sure how bad the weather was, but it was raining for at least part of the day, which may have had some affect. Stay tuned for more on EN, as tired grooms Jackie Imholte and Kate Miller will hopefully send us a report from the day.
[Scores] [Course Preview] [Official Site] [@luhmuehlen2013] [Live Stream]
| RANK | RIDER | HORSE | RANK AFTER DRESSAGE |
CROSS-COUNTRY | RANK AFTER CROSS-COUNTRY |
||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SCORE | RANK | FAULTS | TIME | SCORE | RANK | ||||||||||
| 1. | Andrew NICHOLSON |  |
Mr Cruise Control | 38,00 | 3. | 0,00 | 11:08 | 38,00 | 1. | ||||||
| 2. | Zara PHILLIPS |  |
High Kingdom | 39,70 | 4. | 0,00 | 11:07 | 39,70 | 2. | ||||||
| 3. | Kevin MCNAB |  |
Clifton Pinot | 47,50 | 10. | 0,00 | 11:06 | 47,50 | 3. | ||||||
| 4. | Andrew HOY | |
Rutherglen | 46,30 | 9. | 1,20 | 11:17 | 47,50 | 4. | ||||||
| 5. | William FOX-PITT | |
Neuf des Coeurs | 47,70 | 13. | 0,00 | 11:05 | 47,70 | 5. | ||||||
| 6. | Andrew NICHOLSON | |
Rathmoyle King | 48,00 | 14. | 0,00 | 11:05 | 48,00 | 6. | ||||||
| 7. | William FOX-PITT | |
Lionheart | 48,20 | 15. | 0,00 | 11:11 | 48,20 | 7. | ||||||
| 8. | Jonelle RICHARDS | |
Flintstar | 51,50 | 25. | 0,00 | 11:06 | 51,50 | 8. | ||||||
| 9. | Andreas DIBOWSKI |  |
FRH Butts Avedon | 48,30 | 16. | 3,60 | 11:23 | 51,90 | 9. | ||||||
| 10. | Marilyn LITTLE |  |
RF Demeter | 53,50 | 28. | 0,00 | 11:11 | 53,50 | 10. | ||||||
