Astier Nicolas and Piaf de b'Neville sit in third place after cross country. Photo by Jenni Autry.

All horses that presented at this morning’s final inspection at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro were ultimately accepted, sending 46 combinations on to the first round of show jumping.

Three were sent to the holding box: Jonty Evans’ mount Cooley Rorkes Drift (IRL), Yoshiaki Oiwa’s mount The Duke of Cavan (JPN), and Phillip Dutton’s mount Mighty Nice (USA). All three were accepted after re-presenting to the ground jury. After Phillip Dutton and Mighty Nice’s heroic save on cross country yesterday, we’re thrilled to see them move on to show jumping.

Rebecca Howard and Riddle Master sit in 15th place after cross country. Photo by Jenni Autry.

One combination, Ryuzo Kitajima and Just Chocolate, did not present this morning following cross country.

Pierre Michelet’s grueling course definitely took its toll, and we saw some tired horses on the jog strip today. All horses will jump in the first round of show jumping, which starts at 10 a.m. local time/9 a.m. EST, to determine the team medals.

The top 25 after the first round will then return to jump a second show jumping round, which will determine the individual medals, starting at 2 p.m. local time/1 p.m. EST. The order of go is at this link.

Phillip Dutton and Mighty Nice sit in fifth place after cross country. Photo by Jenni Autry.

We’ll be running live updates here on EN and live tweeting all the action @eventingnation.com. Click here for EN’s guide on how to watch live, and click here to catch up on all of our Olympic coverage so far.

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Lauren Kieffer and Veronica. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

Another cross country day at a major championships, another let down for Team USA. After failing to complete a team at the 2014 World Equestrians in Normandy, many hoped the U.S. was back on track and ready to reclaim a place on the world stage — or at least put in a respectable performance at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

But after the toughest cross country day in the short-format era — with just 40 percent of the field jumping clear — two of the four U.S. team riders did not finish the course, leaving us without a team completion. Of the 13 teams competing in eventing at these Olympics, 11 of the teams completed cross county with a team intact. Russia’s team was already out, as they only had three riders and one withdrew before cross country. The U.S. is the only country that did not complete a team today.

The day started out very promising, with Boyd Martin riding “like a demon,” as Phillip Dutton put it, to bring home the cracking trailblazing round the team needed with Blackfoot Mystery. A clear round with 3.2 time penalties ultimately boosted Boyd and “Red” up to sixth place in the individual standings at the end of the day.

Clark Montgomery and Loughan Glen set out next, but things went all wrong from the very beginning when the horse did not seem keen at all to turn at the first water complex and picked up 20 jumping penalties. They continued on but picked up a runout at 14A and another runout at 17B. That was three refusals and elimination, though the 20 penalties from the first water were later removed, changing Clark’s score to an R for retirement.

Then it was up to Lauren Kieffer and Veronica to deliver a clear round for the team to keep our medal hopes alive. By that point in the day, numerous top teams, like the Germans, Irish and Great Britain, had all run into trouble on course, opening the door for the U.S. to step through. Even a clear round with a hefty number of time penalties would have boosted the U.S. well up the team standings by that point.

Lauren and Veronica were having a foot perfect round until the very tricky set of fences at Malmesbury Cottage. The direct route required horses and riders to jump the front corner of a wide table at fence 23, then go on a bending line in four or five strides to jump an angled narrow gate at fence 24. The long route had riders jump the table straight on, then circle around to the gate.

While some horses and riders did successfully take the tricky direct route, many also took the long route. After Clark’s retirement and with the team needing a clear round to keep the team in the competition, it seemed like Lauren would likely take the long route with Veronica to play it safe.

But she didn’t. After jumping the corner at fence 23, she went direct for 24. Veronica caught her right front foot on the gate when they didn’t quite get the right approach, and they fell hard on the landing side. Thankfully, both of them are OK, though Lauren is having her thumb examined as a precaution; it was bandaged after cross country.

Phillip Dutton and Mighty Nice then completed the course with a clear round, coming home with 3.2 time penalties — and pulling off the save of the day at the corner combination at fence 6 — to move up to fifth place on 46.8.

Let’s break down what went wrong. First off with Clark, he said a previous training issue with Loughan Glen reared its ugly head today: “He’s definitely not feeling himself. It was an adjustability issue. He’s very difficult to make come back and then to turn to the right especially. It’s something I know that needs to get fixed. We were unable to fix it before we got here. I thought everything really was OK, and apparently it wasn’t.”

Looking to Lauren, why did she go direct instead of playing it safe at the long route? “I think she was being really good, and it seemed stupid not to go the straight way. Then she just kind of hit that with her right front. For a second I thought she might save it, but down we went. My job was to get a clean round, first and foremost, and it’s pretty disappointing to let the team down.”

We spoke to U.S. team coach David O’Connor at the end of the day to get his assessment on what happened. First and foremost, Lauren was not told whether or not to go direct or take the long route at those fences. Instead, she was given the option to do what she felt was best given how Veronica was going up to that point.

“The instructions were if (Veronica) feels good and she’s going well and you get a good jump in the corner, then do the (direct) line. If that’s a mistake, then I’ll take it. I didn’t say, ‘No, you can’t do that.’ But I think you always respect that riders are here to compete. I will always respect the riders as long as I have the job for however long that is,” David said.

“It’s an instinct moment out there. We’ve all been there; we’ve all been in situations. I think she got caught inside the line, which she shouldn’t have done, but I’m not going to second guess her decision. The mare was foot perfect all the way around. Why wouldn’t you go down there if the horse was being that good? I’ll take the responsibility. If everyone feels like she should have taken a conservative route and I should have told her not to do it, I’ll take that.”

As for Loughan Glen, David commented: “The horse didn’t look like it was going to be in the game right from the beginning. … They had a great last 18 months leading up to here, and I’m sure there will be a lot of Monday morning quarterbacking for all of the different reasons, but the horse looks and feels physically fine. When he went in the competition ring, both in dressage and on cross country, he didn’t want to play.”

How is David feeling after such a disappointing day? “Devastated. You’re one fence away from medaling, basically. Phillip and Boyd I thought were great. Boyd really had to ride and used every skill he had to be able to get that done. Phillip chose a little bit of a different line into that corner, and I think the horse didn’t read it. It was a different line than we walked, but then I thought the horse jumped beautifully all the way around the rest of it,” he said.

“This ended up being an experience day. It was a tough day for the level, and experience showed where you’ve got Michael (Jung) and (Mark Todd) and all those other guys up at the top (of the leaderboard). There is nobody there that doesn’t have years of team experience, not just experience of individual competition, but years and years in team competition. I think that’s what today showed — that experience really does count.”

Thank you to David for speaking so candidly and openly to EN after a disappointing day for Team USA in Rio. You can click here to catch up on all of EN’s Olympic coverage. The first horse inspection is at 8 a.m. local time/7 a.m. EST. There is no live stream, but we’ll be tweeting live @eventingnation. The first round of show jumping starts at 10 a.m. local time/9 a.m. EST.

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Chris Burton and Santano II representing Australia at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, where the team took the bronze medal. Photo by Shannon Brinkman Photography.

We just witnessed one of the most influential cross country days in history, with Pierre Michelet’s technical track totally turning the leaderboard upside down to leave Chris Burton and Santano II in individual gold position and Australia with a narrow margin atop the team standings as we look ahead to tomorrow’s show jumping.

The day started out fairly well in the grand scheme of things, with Jessica Phoenix and A Little Romance completing the course with 40 jumping penalties as the first out, then Astier Nicolas and Piaf de b’Neville jumping clear and inside the time as the second pair out. But things quickly came unraveled from there.

About 70 percent percent of the field completed the course, with just 40 percent jumping clear, which is the lowest clear rate in the short-format era according to EquiRatings. Just three combinations made the time, and they’re all sitting in the top three after cross country. Chris Burton piloted a relatively green Santano II, who has only competed in one CCI3* prior to this, to a foot perfect round, coming home bang on the optimum time to remain on his dressage score of 36.0 and move from second up to first.

Michael Jung and La Biosthetique Sam FBW. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

There are just five sub-50 scores left, with Chris having the only score in the 30s and four riders still clinging to scores in the 40s. Reigning Olympic champions Michael Jung and Sam came home a whopping 14 seconds inside the time to move from fifth to second place on 40.9, the only German combination to jump clear. (Click over to our quotes report to read comments from Chris, Michael and the rest of the riders at the top of the leaderboard.)

Mark Todd’s speedy round with Leonidas II, which picked up just two time penalties, moved him from 17th to fourth on 46.0. That performance, combined with clear and fast rounds from Clarke Johnstone and Jonelle Price boosted New Zealand’s team from sixth up to silver medal position in the team standings.

Astier and Piaf de b’Neville’s clear inside the time moved them from 11th up to third place on 42.0, which helped keep the French team in medal contention. They dropped from second after dressage down to third place, with all four of their riders completing, though Karim Laghouag and Entebbe picked up a refusal at fence 11, the Pan Am Wall Combination.

Phillip Dutton and Mighty Nice. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

Our own Phillip Dutton and Mighty Nice are rounding out the top five on 46.8, moving up from 15th after dressage thanks to a clear round and 3.2 time penalties. Phillip pulled off the save of the day at 6a, the first of the tricky brush corners, when “Happy” seemed to misread the corner. Phillip had to pull off an impressive acrobatic maneuver to keep the horse’s front shoulders inside the flag, which he somehow miraculously did.

Save of the day for sure! Screenshot via BBC

“It actually surprised me a bit. He must have misread it and didn’t understand it, and I had to hold him in. Then after that it was just trying to catch up to the time. He jumped beautifully after that. He wouldn’t be the fastest horse–he’s not a Thoroughbred–so it was a little harder to catch up, but he fought really hard to the very end and came home nicely,” Phillip said.

“I think everyone is pretty shocked (about how difficult the course was). Most of the Olympics haven’t been; the cross country hasn’t played quite that big a role. It’s probably not my favorite type of course, but it was the same for everybody, and it looks like Australia are way out in front.”

Boyd Martin and Blackfoot Mystery. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

The U.S. Out of Team Competition

While Team USA started cross country day tied for sixth place with New Zealand, the U.S. will sadly not complete a team at the Olympic Games. In addition to Phillip and Mighty’s Nice’s fantastic round, the day started off super for the team, with Boyd Martin and Blackfoot Mystery jumping clear with just 3.2 time penalties, which moved them from 35th up to sixth place on 50.9.

“That was one of the most physically demanding courses — you had to jump a jump, turn, accelerate. It was tiring, it was laboring, it was intense,” Boyd said. “Question after question after question, and you get through one tough jump and you come to another tough jump. I’m so thankful I was on an old racehorse from Kentucky because he kept firing the whole way home. He was definitely on empty coming to the last three and he just tried his heart out and jumped every jumped.”

Clark Montgomery and Loughan Glen. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

Clark Montgomery and Loughan Glen went out next, and their round was in trouble right from the start when Clark struggled to turn the horse toward the log into the first water jump. They were originally assessed 20 penalties there, though that was later removed from the scoreboard.

They then continued on but picked up a runout at 14A, the first jump at the Narrow Wood Piles, and another runout at 17B, the corner at the Palm Tree Question. That was three refusals and elimination, though the 20 penalties from fence 4A were later removed, changing Clark’s score to an R for retirement.

“He’s definitely not feeling himself. It’s an old problem he used to do a couple years ago that we found out how to fix, and obviously we missed it somewhere in his preparation,” Clark said. “It was an adjustability issue. He’s very difficult to make come back and then to turn to the right especially. We were unable to fix it before we got here. I thought everything really was OK and apparently it wasn’t. We didn’t know we needed to work on it.”

Lauren Kieffer and Veronica. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

Lauren Kieffer and Veronica were having a beautiful round jumping out of stride and nailing their distances until the very difficult jumps at Malmesbury Cottage at fences 23 and 24. This was a very difficult line where riders had to jump the front corner of the big table at fence 23 and then execute a bending line to an angled gate at fence 24.

While riders like Michael Jung, Boyd Martin and Phillip Dutton successfully rode the line, many others chose to take the long route, jumping straight across the table and then circling back to the gate. Lauren got onto an inside line and didn’t quite get the approach she needed to the fence, and Veronica caught her hoof and fell. Veronica is OK, and Lauren’s hand is currently bandaged while she waits on X-rays.

“I think she was being really good, and it seemed stupid not to go the straight way. And then she just kind of hit that with her right front. For a second I thought she might save it, but down we went,” Lauren said. “My job was to get a clean round, first and foremost, and it’s pretty disappointing to let the team down.”

You can read more comments from Team USA in our quotes report. Stay tuned for a full interview with Coach David O’Connor as we break down what went wrong in Team USA’s day.

Rebecca Howard and Riddle Master. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

Rebecca Howard Rises to the Occasion for Canada

Looking to Canada, they completed three of their four team riders and currently sit in 11th place in the team standings, with Rebecca Howard and Riddle Master putting in a super impressive clear round with 12.4 time penalties to move from 41st to 15th. That makes her one of the biggest movers on the leaderboard aside from Stuart Tinney and Pluto Mio, who moved from 58th to 14th with 2.8 time penalties.

“It’s a huge sense of relief coming in just to have jumped around clear,” Rebecca said. “The horse is an experienced horse. He’s so genuine and such a great jumper. He’s a pleasure to be on out there. I felt him being a bit careful out there in places, and I felt like I had to work pretty hard, harder than I’m used to sometimes on him. But even if we were a bit off coming into some combinations, he’s so genuine, and his knowledge and desire to do the job got us out. He tried his guts out to get through the flags.”

Jessica Phoenix and A Little Romance. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

Jessica Phoenix completed with two runouts (at 17B and 23) and 35.6 jumping penalties to sit 41st on 127.6. “She was just a little bit shy coming out to this venue. She’s never really seen anything this big, so definitely I really had to get behind her. … Then honestly she dug down and she gave it her all, and I honestly couldn’t be more proud of A Little Romance today.”

Colleen Loach and Qorry Blue d’Argouges. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

Colleen Loach and Qorry Blue d’Argouges completed with two runouts (at 9 and 11B) and 45.2 time penalties to sit in 4th place on 141.7. “After I had my second stop, I was like ‘Colleen, you cannot have another stop; you’ve got to finish for your team.’” And that was my main goal, just finish — put the rest out of my mind and ride like I know I can ride.”

Kathryn Robinson and Let It Bee. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

Kathryn Robinson had three refusals (at 8C, 20B and 29A) and was sadly eliminated. “I was a bit too cautious and a bit backwards, and I was a bit worried about people having fallen on the turns, and he’s a big horse. So I rode a bit overprotective, but we came back in one piece and we’ll do another competition. It’s just a bit disappointing for the team and for everyone involved.

Medals Far From Decided

Just 10.7 penalties separate the top three teams, with Australia in first on 150.3, New Zealand in second on 154.8 and France in third on 161.0. Germany sits 11.8 penalties behind in fourth place on 172.8. Just 9.2 penalties separate the top five individually. After a wild day of cross country in Rio, the Olympic medals are far from decided.

Looking to the other teams, Brazil sits well back in fifth place on 222.9 but still completed all four of their riders when Marcio Carvalho Jorge won a nail-biting appeal to the ground jury after originally being assessed as missing a flag at the final water complex. An impressive clear round from Carlos Parro and Summon Up The Blood, a British-bred off-track Thoroughbred, moved them from 33rd up to seventh on 51.3 to also help the team.

The Dutch sit in sixth on 238.6, with Sweden in seventh on 243.1 and Great Britain in eighth on 252.1. After a cross country day plagued with problems, Team GB slipped well down the leaderboard after sitting in fourth following dressage. Overnight leaders William Fox-Pitt and Chilli Morning were going beautifully before the horse came in too hot at the ski jumps at fence 20.

William tried to quickly take the long route after getting in trouble after A, but he was ultimately assessed with 20 jumping penalties. Gemma Tattersalls and Quicklook V, Pippa Funnell and Billy the Biz, and Kitty King (who unfortunately dropped her whip on a day when she really needed it!) and Ceylor LAN all picked up 20 jumping penalties.

Lauren Billys and Castle Larchfield Purdy. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

Our California girl Lauren Billys, who is representing Puerto Rico as an individual, completed with two runouts at 11B and 25B and completed with 48.4 time penalties to sit in 46th place on 144.4. “ It was the biggest event we’ve done in our life. and we’ve done it at the biggest venue possible. This is our first four-star, and we decided to do it at the Olympics, so he was awesome. I had so much fun, and I’m really lucky to be riding that horse.”

I interviewed riders in the mixed zone all day (many thanks to Lorraine for transcribing the quotes and to Wylie for compiling them), so be sure to click here to read what many more of the riders had to say, plus more quotes from Team USA, Canada and Lauren Billys. You can relive all the action in EN’s open thread at this link.

Click here for a full break down on scoring. Despite the dramatic leaderboard, no serious injuries have been reported. The final horse inspection is at 8 a.m. local time/7 a.m. EST. There is no live stream, but we will be tweeting on @eventingnation. Click here for a full fence analysis on what happened where on course, plus an interview with U.S. Coach David O’Connor.

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Phillip Dutton and Mighty Nice. Photo by Jenni Autry.

William Fox-Pitt’s storybook comeback is one step closer to reality following the conclusion of dressage at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. No one could catch his leading 37.0 score with Chilli Morning from yesterday, so William remains in first place for Team GB as we look ahead to cross country tomorrow.

Second place also remains unchanged, with Chris Burton and Santano II hanging onto second place for Australia on their dressage score of 37.6. The best test of the day came from Mathieu Lemoine and Bart L, who scored 39.2 after the lunch break to sit in third place.

“The French team is quite a new team, so we’re all trying to work together,” Mathieu said. “We trained together for 20 days, and the goal was really to form this new team and build the links between competitors.”

Mathieu and Bart L, a 10-year-old Dutch gelding owned by Pierre Defrance and Jerome Pechenard, won a team bronze medal for France at the 2015 European Championships last fall, and now they are hunting for a medal of the same color but on a very different world stage.

Ingrid Klimke and Horseware Hale Bob. Photo by Jenni Autry.

We saw four scores in the 30s in all, with Ingrid Klimke and Horseware Hale Bob scoring 39.5 to deliver the best German score and slot them into fourth place. “I was so pleased. He was quite excited outside. It was quite noisy, and he even bucked a little. But he contained his excitement during the test, and it was pure fun. We could not do any better,” Ingrid said.

Michael Jung and Sam, who sat in third place overnight on their score of 40.9, now round out the top five after dressage. While Germany does not have an individual rider sitting in the top three, they are still holding on to the top of the team standings on a score of 122.2, with three of their riders in the top eight

France sits in silver position after dressage, with all four of their team riders in the top 15. Australia sits in bronze territory, boosted both by Chris Burton’s lovely test yesterday and a solid performance today from Shane Rose and CP Qualified, who scored 42.5 to sit in 13th place.

Team USA is tied for sixth place with New Zealand, with Phillip Dutton and HND Group’s Mighty Nice coming through with a clutch performance as the penultimate pair to go, throwing down a personal best of 43.6 to sit in 15th place as the best U.S. combination after dressage.

They unfortunately missed on the last flying change, but aside from that it was a steady, fluid, solid performance for “Happy,” 12-year-old dark bay Irish Sport Horse gelding, whose super groom Emma Ford said has been very relaxed all week here in Rio.

“My ride could have been better — obviously my last flying change wasn’t great — but you know there’s a lot of atmosphere there, and I couldn’t be more proud of my horse,” Phillip said. “We were hoping we’d get close to 40, and that’s close to as good as he can do, I think. He’s really come along. I think he’s liking being here and getting the individual attention and having Emma to himself.”

While Boyd Martin and Blackfoot Mystery delivered a personal best yesterday, both Clark Montgomery and Loughan Glen and Lauren Kieffer and Veronica did not get the scores they were hoping for (click here for quotes from Lauren on her test), which made it all the more paramount that Phillip come through for the team.

“Everybody’s just trying to do their best. It’s the sport, and sometimes it doesn’t always go quite right. But this is a cool horse, and he’s really starting to understand the sport,” Phillip said. “There was a lot of atmosphere in there, but he knew his job and he’s getting better and better, and I’m glad that it’s helping out the team.”

Phillip and Mighty Nice lead the way for the U.S. in 15th on 43.6, with Clark and Loughan Glen in 24th on 46.6, Lauren and Veronica in equal 33rd on 47.3, and Boyd and Blackfoot Mystery in 35th on 47.7.

Rebecca Howard and Riddle Master. Photo by Jenni Autry.

Rebecca Howard and Blithe Hill Farm’s Riddle Master were the last to go this afternoon for Canada, scoring 49.4 to tie with teammates Kathryn Robinson and Let It Bee as the highest-placed Canadian pair in 41st place.

“He stayed quite rideable in there and with good relaxation relative to some of the tests he’s done. The key is to keep him relaxed and loose in there. The horse has a ton of quality in the way that he goes,” Rebecca said. “There were some key moments where I didn’t feel I was able to show him off quite as well — he got a bit wiggly in one bit of the trot work, and then finished off well — and then the canter just lost a bit of rhythm in a couple of the changes.”

We saw a number of horses come undone in the atmosphere today, but Rebecca said she went into the stadium with a plan. “I made a conscious effort to help him feel like it wasn’t that (electric). I went in and started him quite long and low and loose, like he’s just doing a warm-up or a cool down. He’s a horse that doesn’t miss a thing, really. So, I keep him down there where he doesn’t really see much. He stayed loose, and then I have him come up, and he looks to me for what to do next.”

Jessica Phoenix and A Little Romance are in 50th place on 52.0, with Colleen Loach and Quorry Blue d’Argouges in 57th place on 56.5 after loud feedback from the sound system unfortunately startled “Qorry” during her test. You can read her comments on what happened in our lunchtime report.

Now it’s go time as we look ahead to Pierre Michelet’s monster cross country course. As Ingrid Klimke so aptly put it: “Dressage is history now.” You can get a full look at each fence on the cross country course, plus Team USA’s comments and analysis, in our full course preview.

Ride times are are at this link, with Jessica Phoenix and A Little Romance first out on course at 10 a.m. local time, 9 a.m. EST. For those of you who can’t watch live, we’ll be running live updates on Twitter @eventingnation and running an open thread here on EN. Click here to catch up on all of EN’s Olympic coverage so far. Go Eventing.

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Lauren Kieffer and Veronica. Photo by Jenni Autry.

It’s been a bit of an anticlimactic morning here on the second day of dressage at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. While we’ve seen numerous dressage powerhouses enter the ring, none of them have really wowed the judges so far today, leaving the top three unchanged from day one.

William Fox-Pitt and Chilli Morning still lead on 37.0, with Chris Burton and Santano II in second on 37.6, and Michael Jung and Sam in third on 40.9. Three horses and riders have managed to crack the top 10 today, with France’s Thibaut Vallette and Qing du Briot the best of the morning session to sit fourth on 41.0.

Thibaut’s score boosted France to the top of the team standings, and the French now lead on 126.4. Germany sits second on 127.3, with Great Britain in third on 128.1. The U.S. team remains in seventh place after three of our four team riders.

No one caught the top of the leaderboard this morning, but you would have thought Ruy Fonseca and Tom Bombadill did based on the roar from the Brazilian crowd! Photo by Jenni Autry.

Lauren Kieffer and Veronica scored 47.3 to tie for equal 25th place after their test. That’s the highest four-star score the 14-year-old Dutch mare owned by Team Rebecca has ever received in her career, and while we could nitpick over things like a missed change, I doubt I’m alone in thinking Lauren’s test was a bit harshly judged.

“She was really good. Her trot work was really nice; I thought probably some of her strongest trot work,” Lauren said. “It tends to be that the walk is her most difficult gait, and she actually was quite good through that. I was quite happy with the canter. I think she missed the one change, but we seemed to really get punished at the end, so I’m a bit disappointed with our score.”

But with Pierre Michelet’s cross country course expected to turn the leaderboard upside down tomorrow, Lauren said she’s not dwelling on the score. “I have a feeling by the end of tomorrow that today won’t matter much,” she said.

“It’s certainly a very strong track — one of the stronger tracks I’ve ever done. The footing is great, though; there’s lots of options if you’re having trouble to get home. But if you want to go for the win, you’re going to really have to take some risks, and it’s going to be tough out there.”

Lauren Billys and Castle Larchfield Purdy. Photo by Jenni Autry.

All three of our North American riders that have gone so far today are all ladies making their Olympic debuts, and Lauren Billys was beaming from ear-to-ear after her test with Castle Larchfield Purdy, a 14-year-old bay Irish Sport Horse gelding owned by the Purdy Syndicate.

Lauren, who is based in California but rides for Puerto Rico thanks to her grandmother’s Puerto Rican heritage, and “Purdy” scored 56.0 to sit in equal 39th.  “I felt like he answered every single question that was asked of him,” she said. “He just was the best he’d felt in a big ring. He was quiet and settled and handled every movement that I asked of him, so I was really happy with him.”

Lauren has had the ride on Purdy for about two years now, ever since she purchased him with a syndicate from Emma Castle in Great Britain. Since then Lauren and Purdy have developed their partnership from the two-star level through to the Olympic Games.

“He’s really cool. He’s willing. He’s fearless until he sees a turkey or some other obscure object, but the reason we bought him and the reason I felt comfortable buying him is I feel fearless when I ride him. When I ride him cross country, he just goes and he squeals at the sight of the start box. He loves eventing, so he’s a really special partner for me.”

Lauren is competing as an individual for Puerto Rico, and you can spot the flag just about everywhere you look thanks to the large support crew she has with her here in Rio. From Derek and Bea di Grazia to super groom Max Corcoran and her vet Emily Sandler to members of the Purdy Syndicate, Lauren is feeling the Puerto Rican love!

Colleen Loach and Qorry Blue d’Argouges. Photo by Jenni Autry.

Colleen Loach and Qorry Blue d’Argouges sit in 41st for Canada on 56.5 after a test that unfortunately came unraveled right from the start when feedback from the sound system suddenly blared from the speakers just as they were starting the medium trot.

“Qorry,” a 12-year-old grey Selle Francais gelding owned by Peter Barry, spooked at the loud noise and broke to canter, and Colleen struggled to get him back. She recovered as best she could given the very ill-timed sound system malfunction.

“There was a huge microphone noise coming into the arena; that’s for sure (what spooked him). I don’t know why it happened; it was really unfortunate. He was so good coming in, relaxed, really clued in to me, and then just blew the whole movement,” she said.

“I just told myself to put it behind me and think about the next movement. He was good the rest of the test. I think we didn’t have quite the presence that we may have had without the mishap. … I’m just really disappointed that happened. But he was a good boy and it won’t be a dressage competition.”

Canada sits in 11th place on a team score of 157.9 after the third of their four team riders, with Rebecca Howard and Blithe Hill Farm’s Riddle Master still to come in the next group. Phillip Dutton and HND Group’s Mighty Nice are the final combination out for Team USA, the second to last to go today at 3:38 p.m. local time/2:38 p.m. EST.

When your horse knocks it out of the park at the Olympic Games … LOVE this touching moment between Jonty Evans and Cooley Rorkes Drift #Rio2016 #TwoHearts #JoinTheJourney

A photo posted by Eventing Nation (@goeventing) on Aug 7, 2016 at 6:49am PDT

Looking to other notable tests this morning, Jonty Evans and Cooley Rorkes Drift absolutely knocked it out of the park for Ireland, scoring 41.8 to sit in sixth place. That boosted the Irish team to fourth place on 135.6 with Mark Kyle and Jemilla still to come.

Pippa Funnell and Billy the Biz also had a lovely test for Team GB, scoring 43.9 for ninth place.

As we head into the afternoon session, who if anyone will challenge William Fox-Pitt at the top of the leaderboard? Click over to Maggie’s dressage powerhouses analysis to get the scoop on which horses and riders we’ll be watching closely. If you’re just tuning in to EN, be sure to check out our open thread from this morning, and don’t forget to follow along with our live tweets @eventingnation.

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Fence 28: Fisherman’s Lake. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

There’s a vibrance and energy about Rio do Janeiro that beckons you to fall in love with Brazil, and that same color and charm comes through loud and clear on Pierre Michelet’s 2016 Olympic Games cross country course.

The fences are a work of art, and we’re immensely proud of the handiwork from the USA’s own Tyson Rementer and Levi Ryckewaert, who are two of the builders who worked on the course.

As beautiful as the course is, it is immensely difficult. The unanimous consensus from the riders is that this is one of the toughest Olympic courses in the past two decades. Phillip Dutton, who is competing in his sixth Olympics here in Rio, said it’s the most challenging Olympics course he’s seen since the 2000 Games in Sydney.

There’s a monkey on the Palm Tree Question! Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

Pierre Michelet also designed the 2014 World Equestrian Games cross country course, which turned out to be extremely grueling, though heavy rains played a large role in that outcome. That said, the same themes from Normandy, plus Pierre’s signature design style, are overtly woven throughout the course.

His courses are not necessarily the biggest in terms of fence size, but they are extremely mentally taxing in that he packs in technical question after technical question on windy, twisty tracks. On this course in particular, Pierre has really used the terrain to up the ante; even the let-up fences don’t seem like much of a breather because many of them are set on uphill or downhill slopes.

Pierre likes three-stride combinations and attacking, forward distances, and you find both in surplus on this course. There are also a number of severely angled fences, with some of them coming off one of those very forward distances in a combination. To say there is very little room for error on this course is an understatement.

If the sheer onslaught of demanding technical questions doesn’t mentally tire the horses and riders, then there’s also the physical challenge to consider. This is a long course: 33 fences with 45 total jumping efforts, 5,840 meters, with an optimum time of 10 minutes and 15 seconds. Horses need to be very, very fit, and the time is almost certainly going to play a factor.

Pierre Michelet stands with one of the beautiful jumps on course. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

Here are Team USA’s thoughts on the course:

Boyd Martin: “It’s tough, tough; it’s very tricky. It wouldn’t suit (Blackfoot Mystery) that much with all these twists and turns and angles, so I am really going to have to ride well to get him around clear and fast. There are a lot of angles and corners and narrows. The one thing I have, this horse has tremendous speed and endurance, so I think I can afford to take my time at some of the tricky fences and really get him to look at it and press him the galloping lanes and make up some time. I’m quite confident.”

Clark Montgomery: “There’s a lot of questions from the very beginning to the very end. You’re never home until you actually jump the last jump. It’s going to be a tough day on Monday.”

Lauren Kieffer: “It’s certainly a very strong track — one of the stronger tracks I’ve ever done. The footing is great, though; there’s lots of options if you’re having trouble to get home. But if you want to go for the win, you’re going to really have to take some risks, and it’s going to be tough out there.”

Phillip Dutton: “I definitely think that if you win a medal here, you’re going to deserve it. It’s a proper four-star.”

David O’Connor: “I agree with Phillip that it’s probably the toughest Olympic course since Sydney as far as how much influence it will have. And that’s a good thing. It’s a good thing for us, and it’s a good thing for the competition. You’re going to have to be very smart and very much in the moment the whole way around and know what your strengths and weaknesses are.”

We teamed up with the one and only Shannon Brinkman to bring you a course preview from a different view — one as colorful and creative as the track itself. Read on for a fence-by-fence play-by-play, and you can scroll all the way down to the bottom to see a bonus photo gallery of Team USA and other familiar faces walking the course.

2016 OLYMPIC CROSS COUNTRY COURSE TOUR

 FENCE 1: The Copacabana Flower Bed is a basic table with an upward profile that’s painted to mimic the sidewalks in Copacabana and decorated with surf boards on the back (check out a photo of the back in the photo gallery below).

Fence 1: Copacabana Flower Bed. Photo by Shannon Brinkman Photography.

FENCE 2: The Arch of Lapa is an upright fence set up the hill that turns towards the first water complex. It is designed to replicate the Arch of Lapa, an iconic monument in Rio.

Fence 2: Arch of Lapa. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

FENCE 3: The Picnic Table is the first square spread fence on the course.

Fence 3: Picnic Table. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

FENCE 4: The Botanical Garden Water Jump is the first water complex on course. The direct route is to jump the natural log table at A, jump into the water over a hanging log at BC, and jump a log in the water at D. There is a long route here, but it will cost quite a bit of time.

Fence 4A: Botanical Garden Water. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

Looking at the jump into the water complex. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

FENCE 5: The Pine Wood Ramp is a let-up fence before the tricky corner combination.

Fence 5: Pine Wood Ramp. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

A look back at the pull up the hill after fence 5. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

FENCE 6: The Corners Question features two big brush corners, once again with a long route.

6AB, the Corners Question. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

6AB, the Corners Question. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

FENCE 7: The Burghley Fence is a ditch and brush.

Fence 7: Burghley Fence. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

FENCE 8: We usually see a mound complex on Pierre’s courses, and the Pao de Acucar (Sugar Loaf) at fence 8 gives us a taste. The direct route if jumping the first narrow rolltop at 8AB, going down the mound and back up to another rolltop at C. The jumps are meant to resemble wagon trains.

Fence 8ABC and 9: Pao de Acucar (Sugar Loaf). Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

Fence 8ABC: Pao de Acucar (Sugar Loaf). Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

FENCE 9: This is the final element in Pao de Acucar, an arrowhead fence set on a sharp angle following the rolltop set at the top of the mound (you can see it in the photo above too).

Fence 9: Sugar Loaf (Sugar Loaf). Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

FENCE 10: There’s not much to say about the Bamboo Keyhole aside from this: That hole is pretty small, ya’ll.

Fence 10: The Bamboo Keyhole. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

FENCEs 11AB and 12: The Pan Am Wall Combination starts with a step up at fence 11A, following by two brushes set on a very sharp angle. They are numbered 11B and 12, so riders have the option to circle around and take a long route here, but it’s going to be very costly from a time standpoint.

Fences 11AB and 12: Pan Am Wall Combination. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

FENCE 13: The Amazonian Log is a big jump set on a slope.

Fence 13: The back view of the Amazonian Log. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

FENCE 14: The Narrow Wood Piles are two skinny log piles set on a bending line. Precision and accuracy are key here.

Fence 14AB: Narrows Wood Piles. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

FENCE 15: Riders approach the Log Pile and Ditch after circling through the woods, then it’s on their way to the second water complex.

Fence 15: Log Pile and Ditch. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

FENCE 16: At the Old Water Complex, riders jump in over a hanging log on a slope at A, then jump out up a bank at B before going on to an upright vertical at C.

Fence 16A: Old Water Complex. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

Fence 16BC: Old Water Complex. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

FENCE 17: The Palm Tree Question features another technical turning combination, with a skinny square oxer at A and an open corner at B. There is also an alternate route here. Click here to see a photo of 17A.

Boyd Martin at fence 17B. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

FENCE 18: The Flower Box is a simple table after a long uphill pull. Click here to see a photo.

FENCES 19 and 20: This is yet another challenging combination, as riders will jump a large log and land on a slope before going on to two skinny wedges. Click here to see a picture of just how narrow these are on the front.

The view from down the hill at the Ski Jump at fences 19 and 20. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

FENCE 21: The ground at the Wood Pile Launch is sloped both on landing and take off.

Fence 21: Wood Pile Launch. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

FENCE 22: Then it’s on to the White Oxer.

Fence 22: White Oxer. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

FENCES 23 and 24: Riders can either jump this big table and circle back to the gate you see on the left side of the photo, OR they can take a very gutsy line, jumping the front corner of the table on an angle and then following the white fence line to jump the gate on an angle. (Horse & Hound has a view of the direct route angle at this link.)

Fences 23 and 24: Malmesbury Cottage. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

FENCE 25: For the Web Water, horses and riders jump a log in at A and then jump an angled upright fence at B.

Fence 25A: Web Water. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

25B. Web Water Jump. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

FENCE 26: Then it’s on to the Bamboo Vertical …

Fence 26: Bamboo Vertical. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

FENCE 27: … and the Fruit Wagon.

Fence 27: Fruit Waggon. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

FENCE 28: Now we come to the fourth and final water complex on course at Fisherman’s Lake. First horses and riders will first jump over a boat at fence 28.

Fence 28: Fisherman’s Lake. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

FENCE 29AB: Next at Fisherman’s Lake, horses and riders jump two angled fish brushes in the water …

Fence 29AB: Fisherman’s Lake. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

FENCE 30: … before jumping over a toad. There is a long route here, though it’s very twisty.

30. Fisherman’s Lake. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

FENCE 31: Next up is the Bridge of Knowledge.

Fence 31: The Bridge of Knowledge. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

FENCE 32: The it’s on to the Brush Fence, the penultimate jump on course.

Fence 32: Brush Fence. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

FENCE 33: Home sweet home! The last fence on course, Sambodromo, gives a nod to Carnival and marks the way to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Fence 33: Sambodromo. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

As you can see on the course map, this is a very twisty and winding track:

Photo via Rio 2016

What do you think of the course, EN? You can click here to see more photos of the fences in the official Olympic description of the fences. As a bonus, keep scrolling to see more photos from Shannon Brinkman’s colorful course walk. Go Eventing!

#Rio2016: Website, Schedule, Dressage Ride Times, Individual Scores, Team Scores, EN’s Ultimate Guide to Rio, How to Watch Live, EN’s Coverage, Twitter, Instagram

Another view of Fisherman’s Lake. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

More from Fisherman’s Lake. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

Details on the Bamboo Vertical. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

There’s a monkey on the Palm Tree Question! Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

Another view of the Narrow Wood Piles. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

Details on the Amazonian Log. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

Fence 7: Burghley Fence. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

Riders examines 6AB, the Corners Question. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

Fence 5: Pine Wood Ramp. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

Rodney Brown of Australia. Photo by Shannon Brinkman

Photo by Shannon Brinkman

Photo by Shannon Brinkman

Pierre Michelet and Alec Lochore. Photo by Shannon Brinkman

Photo by Shannon Brinkman

Photo by Shannon Brinkman

Pierre Michelet stands with one of the beautiful jumps on course. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

Caroline Moran, Phillip Dutton, Evie Dutton and Boyd Martin walk the course. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

Clark Montgomery walks the course. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

There are beautiful flowers everywhere you look on course. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

Details on the Arch Of Lapa. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

Ian Stark taking a dip in the water complex on a warm day in Rio. Photo by Shannon Brinkman Photography.

We love the colorful mural on the back of fence 1, the Copacabana Flower Bed. Photo by Shannon Brinkman Photography.

The Bridge of Knowledge. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.