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Badminton dressage day 1 results

By on Apr 30, 2010 12:00 pm -
1.Ruth Edge on Two Thyme (GB) 39 
2.Kitty King on Boondoggle (GB) 44.3 
3.Mary King on Imperial Cavalier (GB) 44.8 
4.Simone Deitermann on Free Easy NRW (GER) 45 
5.William Fox-Pitt on Macchiato (GB) 45.8 
6.Clayton Fredericks on The Frog (AUS) 46.5
Mark Todd and NZB Grass Valley sit in the middle of the pack on a 55.8.  


We’ll have much more from day 1 later when I’m home from the barn, including our analysis and links to the best Badminton coverage elsewhere.

Badminton Thursday afternoon notes

By on Apr 29, 2010 11:50 am -

(1) *Live first horse inspection results are being posted as they happen.

(2) The FEI press release has a good preview of the favorites, which include Andrew Nicholson, Kristina Cook, and William Fox-Pitt.  It’s worth a glance to get a better feel for the entry list.


After a stellar spring season on the national circuit, Andrew Nicholson, whose best previous Badminton result was 2nd in 2004, has perhaps his best chance of lifting the Mitsubishi Trophy, worth £65,000, with the Spanish-bred Nereo, winner of Bramham CCI*** (GBR) last year, or the home-bred grey Avebury, first at Saumur CCI*** (FRA) in 2009.

It will be like old times for Nicholson, as his former team mate Mark Todd has finally come in off the wait list – the event received a massive 150-plus entries and will run about 80 – and competes at Badminton for the first time for 10 years. Todd, a triple winner (1980, 1994 and 1996), rides the New Zealand Thoroughbred NZB Grass Valley.

Although last year’s winner Oliver Townend (GBR) is a notable absentee – he had actually withdrawn before his fall at Kentucky last weekend – the Kiwis face stiff British opposition. 


An equally popular winner would be Kristina Cook (GBR); the reigning European Champion. Known as one of the best Cross Country pilots in the business, she first competed at Badminton in 1993 but has never yet finished in the top three. However, that could all change this time, as she brings her dual European gold medalist Miners Frolic, also the dual bronze medalist at the 2008 Olympics, and all eyes will be on the exciting Thoroughbred as he makes his debut at a British 4-star.


Cook’s team mate, the always hard-to-beat William Fox-Pitt (GBR) comes to Badminton with the advantage of a winning 4-star ride under his belt. Just last weekend, he captured his first Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event – he is the only rider in the world to have won four different 4-stars – and, at Badminton, which he won in 2004 on Tamarillo, he has the choice of three proven horses. 

William can choose between the magnificent long-striding chestnut Idalgo, Badminton runner-up last year; the German-bred Sea Cookie, 6th at Kentucky last year; and the Argentine Thoroughbred Macchiato, winner of Luhmühlen in 2008.

Alongside these veterans of the sport, such as 48-year-old Mary King, a former dual winner (1992 and 2000), a host of younger riders will be hoping to make an impression. They are headed by the European silver medalist Piggy French (GBR); Juan Carlos Garcia (ITA), the only rider to win silver medals in Eventing and Jumping in the same season (2009); Ireland’s premier couple Michael and Patricia Ryan, plus Sam Watson (IRL) and Elizabeth Power (IRL); Portuguese first-timer Duarte Seabra; South African debutant Alex Peternell and former Young Rider European Champion Emily Llewellyn (GBR). 

In other international firsts, Aistis Vitkauskas is the first Badminton competitor from Lithuania, and Alex Hua Tian, 20, the first from China. 12 nations are represented in all: Australia, Belgium, China, France, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, New Zealand, Portugal and South Africa.

(3) Finally, a few facts about Badminton from sportinglife.com

* Veteran New Zealand rider Mark Todd is among the entries this weekend – 30 years after his Badminton debut.

* Australian Paul Tapner contests the 4*, while his wife Georgina competes in the Badminton Grassroots Championship.

* Aistis Vitkauskas (Lithuania) and Alex Peternell (South Africa) are the first from their countries to compete at Badminton.

* The Badminton entry list includes two full-time vets in Kent rider Tony Warr and James Robinson, from Leominster.

* Herefordshire rider Louise Skelton’s two Badminton horses – Bit of a Barney and Party Pickled – are full brothers.

* The Badminton Horse Trials first took place in 1949. The event has been cancelled three times due to bad weather and once because of a foot and mouth outbreak.

Go Eventing.

Badminton Horse Trials Preview

By on Apr 29, 2010 5:25 am -

Now that William has finished giving his young horse a nice schooling ride around what can only be described as a nice move-up 4*, the eventing world turns to the Badminton Horse Trials.  And by ‘horse trials’ they mean a CCI4*–they just call it a ‘horse trials’ to be cool.  Sadly, as usual, the USA will not be sending any horses over to attempt a revenge win from Rolex.  Thank you Icelandic volcano gods.  When was the last time the US won a 4* on foreign soil?  With that depressing thought I present our Badminton preview:
Schedule — Due to a new TV contract with the BBC, the competition at Badminton will run from Friday to Monday, with dressage on Friday and Saturday, XC on Sunday, and show jumping on Monday.  They scheduled the show jumping on Monday because May 3rd is a ‘bank’ holiday in the UK.  Bank holidays are public holidays in England, so it’s like their President’s Day or Independence Day except…well, you get the idea.
The UK is currently running in GMT +1 time, which means they are EST +5 hours.  Basically, the Badminton schedule is 5 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time in the US, so take any time on the badminton schedule and subtract 5 hours to get the EST time. 

Thursday: First horse inspection 11AM EDT

Friday: Dressage 4:30AM-12:00PM EDT

Saturday: Dressage 4:30AM-12:00PM EDT

Sunday: XC 6:00AM-11:30AM EDT

Monday: Show jumping 6:00AM-10:00AM EDT

–DETAILED TIMETABLE (EDT +5)

You don’t even want to think about the Badminton schedule in Pacific time.  The good news is that none of your friends will be awake for most of Badminton so they don’t have to be disappointed when you tell them you’re too busy refreshing Eventing Nation to hang out with them.  Actually, that’s a lie, there’s nothing good about this schedule.
Horses and Riders — As usual, the Badminton field is stacked.  There were approximately 130 entries and 85 horses are set to start the event.  Some names everyone should recognize include Alex Hua Tian, Mary King, Andrew Nicholson, William Fox-Pitt, Clayton Fredericks, Mark Todd, Zara Phillips, Lucy Wiegersma.  We won’t preview everyone of course, but check out the entries list and you can click on the names of each rider for a biography and past performances.

The Course — It’s Badminton so it’s big and technical and will chew you up and spit you out if you’re not ready.  The Badminton website has all the resources you need to get a feel for the course that doesn’t involve a long plane flight and a trip through customs.  And yes, I know we already linked to these last week:

Video course walk: with Polly Stockton and course designer Hugh Thomas

Fence drawings

Virtual course walk

Course analysis article

EN’s Coverage — If you haven’t caught on to this already, to steal a line from Oliver, you’re a bit slow on the uptake.  Check back to Eventing Nation throughout the weekend several times a day for the latest Badminton coverage and to chat with the Eventing Nation community about all things Badminton.  

The vote for the placement of the scrolling Twitter news feed was close enough (56%-44%) that I decided to leave it at the top for now.  Essentially, all the little stories that used to go into N&N are getting put into the news feed, which has the added advantage of being able to include feeds from other sites depending on what events are most important.  Go eventing.

Hats Off to Allison

By on Apr 28, 2010 3:37 pm -
Good afternoon Eventing Nation!  This post signals a turning point in our four-star coverage and from here on out Badminton will start getting a lot of attention.  But before we make that transition we have a great follow-up story.
As we know Allison wore a helmet instead of her top-hat in dressage at Rolex to honor her brother who died from a head injury and a friend who recovered from a head injury.  What Allison didn’t know is that, in the COTH forums, deltawave had offered $500 to any rider who wore their helmet in dressage at Rolex.  Allison hadn’t heard about the offer when she wore the helmet, but when she found out she decided to donate the money to the Courtney King-Dye recovery fund.  Bravo Allison–eventing needs more leaders like you.

And The Winner Is…

By on Apr 28, 2010 12:34 am -

Congratulations to ‘Trakehner-WI’ for winning our $100 Bit of Britain Rolex Challenge!  Trakehner, like everyone else on the planet (including me), picked Comet to score under 45 in dressage.  But, Trakehner pitched a perfect game from then on by picking Woodburn for XC (7 points), and Cool Mountain to win (15 points), and also the 3 point bonus for registering–giving them a grand total of 25 points, bragging rights, and the $100 Bit of Britain gift certificate.  Congrats Trakehner, and let us know what you spend it on!

We received over 150 entries in this contest and we will be hosting more of these in the future.  Of course, thank you to Bit of Britain for sponsoring the contest.  John Nunn consistently serves the eventing community and we appreciate partnering with him in that service.

—-

On a completely unrelated note, I want to give a big Eventing Nation get well soon to Polly, an adult amateur and regular EN commenter.  As the story goes, Polly fell off her horse cross-country schooling yesterday and broke her leg.  Polly, in considerable pain, didn’t realize her leg was broken and GOT BACK ON the horse and schooled some more.  Her daughter finally convinced Polly to go to the ER today, where doctors found that the leg was broken.  That’s a true eventer.  Go eventing.

Lauren Kieffer and Snooze Alarm: Rolex Recap

By on Apr 27, 2010 8:54 pm -

In her latest entry, our guest writer Lauren Kieffer describes the event that turned her into an official four-star rider.  I was so proud of Lauren throughout the entire weekend at Rolex.  Lauren’s XC was one of the highest quality rides on Saturday and that’s coming from people much higher up on the food chain than myself.  One day you are going to look back and think to yourself: that girl that’s standing on the podium — I read about her first 4* on Eventing Nation.

——
Well my little Arab jumped around “The Three Day That Shall Not Be Named”. I guess we can call it Rolex now. Rolex was a great experience all around. I think the hardest part is how anti-climatic it is when it’s finally over and enjoying it without picking apart every mistake. The whole week started on a high when I won the Dubarry boots for best dressed at the first jog. I considered going home while I was ahead, I was afraid my luck may have peaked too early in the week! There was a lot of laughter in the barns about winning best dressed considering I am rarely seen in anything but my trusty camo hat and Carhartt, but I busted it out for the jog, I wanted those boots badddd. 
We did our dressage Thursday afternoon and Snooze was pretty lit by the atmosphere, it was a great feeling trotting into that grandstand arena though. He wanted to be pretty fresh and we had some less than stellar moments but he also had some really good moments such as his extensions and changes. The great part about doing our dressage on Thursday was having all day Friday to think about my cross country. I got up and had a great jump school in the morning and then took another walk around my course. The more I walked it the less nervous I got and the more I was looking forward to it. 
chip2.jpg
I was pretty excited when Cathy Weischoff asked me to ride in the Mounted Games at noon and it was a risky but fun distraction. My trusty steed was a tiny pony named Chip. We took a warm up lap around the arena and he seemed pretty rideable so Cathy and I had a little race, and let me tell you, Chip may be small but he is a strong little bugger and I may have mauled down a group of Pony Clubbers in an attempt to stop. I was on team Gummi Bears who were great sports in explaining the games to me and darn it if these kids can’t ride. The Gummi Bears did end up winning the prestigious Prince Phillip Cup at the end of the weekend. I like to think Chip and I played a small part in their success, or maybe it was more like they won despite us…. 
Saturday morning rolled around, luckily I got a good night’s sleep because for some reason I get sleepy whenever I’m nervous. I got up and took a last walk around the course and then I went back to my stall and took a nap till I needed to hop on. The best part about getting on is that once you are sitting on your horse the nerves go away and you focus on your job. We had a great warm up, he was fresh but rideable so we headed to the start box, we walked around it a couple times, 10-here it is-9-8-the biggest countdown of my life so far-7-6-now or never-5-4-HOLD. You can’t be serious. Well ok I can wait another minute, the countdown starts again 10-9-8-7-do you mean it this time?-6-5-don’t mess with me-4-3-2-1-GO! OK! And we were finally off! Snooze went right into a rhythm from the start and was right on everything. He just kept jumping bigger and better the whole way around and finished the course a very brave and happy pony. It was such a great feel jumping through the Duck Pond, the first real question and thinking “We’ve got this.” And galloping down to the Head of the Lake and seeing the crowd, and nothing beats crossing the finish line with all of your friends and family cheering. 
Snooze’s Arab blood was evident in the D box when his low heart rate amazed the vets and he recovered quickly and was mostly concerned about how much grass he could shove into his mouth. It was nice going so early and after some fluids and a few icings we just let him rest and recover. He came out on Sunday morning feeling great and was a gentleman at the jog. 
And finally it was time for show jumping, my low point of the weekend. He warmed up really well and I was feeling really confident going in, but unfortunately it didn’t go as planned. #2 to #3 were two oxers on a pretty forward 7 strides, I was on the fence about whether to do it in 7 or 8 strides because he doesn’t have a big stride but I had watched several people go and they all did the 7 and I made the rookie error of doing what everyone else does instead of doing the right thing for my horse. I didn’t get the 7 done and we crashed into the 3rd fence. Let me tell you, it was about the longest five seconds of my life watching that fence fall down, but I refused to let myself get flustered so I gave him a pat, waited for the ground crew to get that entire freakin jump set back up while trying to ignore the thousands of people staring at me and my little Arab, and then carried on with the course which he jumped brilliantly, not touching a rail. 
I felt like I had let Snooze and his fans down but on the other hand I can promise you that I will not make the same mistake twice and I have come out of the weekend more motivated than ever. 
Snooze is now in Virginia living his fat kid dreams for the next month and now I am in Florida jumping back into reality riding and packing to turn around and go to Virginia on Thursday. We haven’t made a concrete plan for the fall yet but who knows, maybe the Maggot will be leaving on a jet plane….

Tuesday Evening Eventing Entertainment

By on Apr 27, 2010 6:06 pm -
Welcome to our live blog! Tonight we were joined by Samantha Clark from the horse radio network, our very own Visionaire, and Steph Rhodes-Bosch, who placed 5th in her first Rolex.  We chatted about Rolex, frangible pins, how Steph started eventing, Samantha’s favorite Rolex horses and much more.  Click the big Cover It Live box for the replay.  This live blog is part of our ongoing efforts to get people in eventing together and talking about the issues in our sport.  Samantha’s Twitter, Visionaire’s Twitter, Eventing Nation’s Twitter, Steph’s Blog.  Go eventing.

US Eventing Team WEG Selection List Update

By on Apr 27, 2010 1:30 pm -

Rolex was a big weekend for WEG selection.  One top rider even told me (using hyperbole) that it doesn’t matter what you do anywhere else–it only matters what you do at Rolex.  However, it goes without saying that the process of choosing the USA’s best pairs to fly the stars and stripes at the WEGs is more in depth than just taking the top US Rolex finishers.  Hopefully this article will help to illuminate the selection process as it moves forward into the summer.

After Rolex, the USEF asked 7 horses to participate in their Monday morning veterinary inspection.  

The chosen 7: Woodburn, The Foreman, Neville, Remington, Comet, Mandiba, and Pawlow 
If you don’t know–the inspection involves jogging, flexing, bone scans, drug tests, and other procedures to evaluate soundness after a four-star.  Presumably, the goal is to extrapolate information about that horse’s suitability to compete for the team at the WEGs.  The riders also participated in sessions with fitness, nutrition, and sports psychology experts provided by the USOC (United States Olympic Committee).  Several riders told me that these sessions were extremely helpful and well received, and I’m a big supporter of helping our top riders to compete at their physical peak.
It’s bad news for the Rolex horses that were not asked to stay for the Monday inspections because the selectors passed on an opportunity to gain information on those horses at a very low marginal cost since the vets, machines, and horses were all in the same place.  But, this does not mean that their road to the WEGs is over.  Several of the current A and B-listed pairs who had a tough weekend at Rolex will probably shoot for Luhmuhlen in mid-June.   
Of course, Will Coleman and Twizzel are also targeting Luhmuhlen after Will’s fall at The Fork broke his collar bone and his chance to ride at Rolex.
Furthermore, several of the most likely WEG horses (in my opinion) were not inspected on Monday because they did not compete at Rolex, but they are obviously still on the Team’s list of considered horses.
Leyland, My Boy Bobby, Ballynoecastle RM, Connaught, and Tru Luck are all horses that have met the minimum criteria to be considered for selection (ie: they have obtained their FEI certificate of capability and they have submitted an application).  After consultation with CMP, their owners and vets, the riders determined it was in the best interest of the horses to not run at Rolex.  These horses were all given a Monday morning veterinary inspection after The Fork.  Tru Luck and Connaught are entered at the CIC3* at Jersey.
I have mentioned 13 horses so far in this article, and in my opinion, the rest of the US horses are on the outside looking in right now and need a great performance somewhere to enhance their chances.
The next major stage of the official FEI/WEG process is when the USEF sends a ‘nominated entries list’ to the FEI on August 15th.  This nominated entries may contain up to 18 names from which the final 6 US pairs will be selected and sent to the WEGs.  Before August 15th, the USEF can (and probably will) release a short list of around 18 horses to guide summer training with the US coaches and to help riders plan their autumn.
In discussion with Sara Ike of the USEF, Sara explained that because several horses may go to Luhmuhlen, we don’t know for sure when the USEF’s short list will be released.  However, it is anticipated that it will be named after Jersey, but the USEF might name additional combinations in June after Luhmuhlen.
As you can see, WEG selection is a long and thorough process, requiring organization, coordination, and flexibility between the selectors, USEF, and riders.  Of course, Eventing Nation will keep you posted about the process as it develops this summer.  Go eventing.

Video Tuesday: Rolex Relapse

By on Apr 27, 2010 5:48 am -

We tried our best to stop posting videos–honestly–but our addiction to loud colorful moving pictures of Rolex horses got the better of us.  I’m afraid there’s much more video to come as Rolex is just the gateway to Badminton.

Warning – Radio Flyer’s fall is at 1:10

what the heck–another XC montage

Lastly, check out one of the WEG dressage test event rides from Thursday night

Live Blog 7PM EST Tonight with Samantha Clark

By on Apr 27, 2010 12:57 am -

Samantha Clark, host of the 2010 Radio Show and, perhaps more importantly, a very well connected eventer extraordinaire, will join us as 7PM EST tonight for a live blog.  We’re going to chat about Rolex, Badminton, and anything else Eventing Nation wants to discuss.  Please join us because you don’t want to miss it.  Word in the barns is that we might be joined by a top 5 Rolex finisher, and that Visionaire might also participate.  While I’m starting rumors, I might as well also say that we intend to incorporate live blogging in our Badminton coverage.  Oh, and we will reveal the winner of our Eventing Nation $100 Bit of Britain Challenge during the live blog.  Go eventing.

Rolex: Best of the Blogs

By on Apr 26, 2010 11:35 am -

Our eventing world is exploding with rider blogs, facebook fan pages, and everything else new media.  Eventing, as usual, is 5 years behind the rest of the world in this media development, but better late than never.  Here is a short list of the rider blogs with the best Rolex coverage.

1. William’s Website: William is probably happier to win Rolex, but he can add Best of the Blogs to his trophy case as well.  William’s site regularly broke news about William and Oliver’s epic.  Simple, accurate, and very effective: William’s blog reflects his style.
2. Phillip’s Blog: Yes, Phillip actually has a bog.  Phillip’s blog gets ranked highly because it said why Kheops was scratched, rather than following the industry convention of sticking it’s head in the sand.  And it has some great pictures.
3. Chelan Kozak’s Blog: Chelan’s blog isn’t always the most sophisticated, but it is usually the most entertaining, with fun pictures as well.  Chelan’s blog also gets a high ranking because she sent me a thank you note the last time we linked to it.  Yes, that kind of thing matters.

Thckle Me Elmo David


4. Boyd’s Blog: Boyd has a couple of good recap posts and some nice photos by Amber.
5. Will Faudree’s Blog: Will launched his blog just a few days before Rolex.  The posts that he actually spends time writing are excellent.  For example, he mentioned that he forgot to unhook his air vest hopping off after XC and it inflated.  Never post a press release again Will, and pictures are king, but, other than that, I’m excited to have you in the blogosphere.
6. Bruce’s Blog: Bruce couldn’t be at Rolex in person, but Lisa Thomas took some fun pictures.
Honorable mention: Oliver’s Facebook completely fooled his fans and members of the eventing media Saturday night, but I give it credit for trying to tell folks what was going on.  The latest story it has is that Oliver, William, and Yogi were stranded in Chicago overnight because their flight out of Lexington was delayed due to weather.  I have since heard that they are on their way back to England today.

One Shining Moment

By on Apr 26, 2010 7:43 am -
Life is about friends and memories.  Everyone who was at Rolex this weekend made some great memories and hopefully our coverage helped our friends at home make some Rolex memories as well.  
Share your favorite Rolex memory as a comment on this post because I think sharing our Rolex weekend memories might be a great way for Eventing Nation to work those post-Rolex Monday morning blues at work.  If we get enough comments, I’ll tell the story about why I ran around the XC course in less than 40 minutes for absolutely no reason.

In Their Own Words

By on Apr 25, 2010 6:15 pm -
William: 

“I know my chap tries to jump the jumps…He tried his heart out.” 

“I came here hoping for a top-10 placing, and I kept reminding myself of that while I was in the ring today.” 

“I’m impressed and surprised, he didn’t do anything wrong. But I didn’t expect it. He’s come out of this a better horse.” 

“To be on Cool Mountain sitting on top of Woodburn and Courageous Comet – they are fantastic horses so to pip them to the post was a real thrill.”

“I was sure [Oliver] would win it.  He came here with two lovely horses and for it to have gone so wrong just shows what it’s all about. You just never know. You couldn’t have imagined that. We’re just all very, very happy he’s okay, and he’ll win it another day.”

Phillip:

“I’m pleased I made the decision to come here and I’m thankful to the organizers for getting him in at the last minute.”
  

“Hopefully he’ll win one of these things one of these days, but sometimes you’re grateful to be second.”

“He’s a phenomenal horse…He’s a fiery, strong horse, and actually out of the whole weekend I was really pleased with today, because he and I have struggled a little bit to keep things calm on the third day.” 

Becky:

“I’ve been fortunate enough to have a lot of experience being in the top places after cross country and the unfortunate experience of having bad rides and disappointment in the show jumping…On the day you have to just jump one jump at a time as well as you can.”

From: Rolex website, USEF release, USEA release

William Fox-Pit and Cool Mountain WIN ROLEX

By on Apr 25, 2010 2:23 pm -
Check out the USEA photo gallery for more photos from Josh and Leslie.
1. William and Cool Mountain +0 42.8
2. Phillip and Woodburn +0 47.7
3. Becky and Courageous Comet +4 49.2
4. Boyd and Neville Bardos +0 51.8
5. Steph and Port Authority +0 52.0
6. Phillip and The Foreman +8 56.0
7. Karen O’Connor and Mandiba +8 56.5 
(1) William Fox-Pitt had a rail in hand when he started his show jump round but he didn’t need it.  Cool Mountain jumped big and listened to William the entire way around for a double-clear.  William adds an [8th] career four-star win (5 Burghley, Badminton, Luhmuhlen, Rolex) to his trophy case.  I don’t mean to take away from Cool Mountain–he’s a 4* champion now–but he was far from the most talented horse in the field.  Cool Mountain jumped well today and he clearly gives his best effort to William every time, but neither the horse’s canter nor his jump are textbook.  All the more credit should be given to William for navigating this horse to the win.  As ‘lec’ commented, Cool Mountain probably isn’t one of William’s top three horses.  William’s wikipedia
(2) Phillip and Woodburn delivered a fantastic double-clear round to move from 4th to 2nd.  Show jumping has been Woodburn’s weakest phase, but Phillip switched him back to a bit after using a hackamore at The Fork, and the new headgear worked beautifully.  Woodburn was calm throughout the entire round, which is the key for this horse.  The icelandic volcano gods smiled favorably on Woodburn by redirecting him to Rolex.  Phillip finished second at Rolex…again, and I bet he was really happy to be answering questions about that at the press conference.
(3) Courageous Comet and Becky Holder had an excellent Rolex, finishing in 3rd place.  Comet felt his way around the entire show jumping course, but only pulled one rail.  Comet belongs in the top 3 of four-stars and it’s good to see him there.
(4) The show jumping struggles continued for Kim and Tipperary Liadhnan.  “Paddy” stopped at  fence #4, a stone wall decorated vertical.  It just seemed like Paddy saw something he didn’t like about the jump and wasn’t going to give it a try.  After the stop, Paddy jumped the next few great but fell apart through the final line and pulled the last three rails.  Kim has had so many great performances at Rolex over the years, but today was not her day.  
(5) As I wrote during the live blog, Boyd finished the weekend with 13.2 jumping penalties combined on 3 horses.  Two of them (Rock on Rose and Remington) were first time 4* horses, and they finished next to each other in 11th and 12th place.  Neville finished a super weekend in 4th on a double clear and made a great case for himself to make the WEG squad.  
(6) We have written about how Steph Rhode-Bosch and Port Authority have been owning the jumping phases of competitions all spring.  They did the same at Rolex and Steph and Port Authority finished their first 4* on their dressage score and in 5th place.  I’m not sure if that’s a record finish for a first time pair at Rolex but I’m guessing that it is.  Steph never flinched under the pressure all weekend; she didn’t even look nervous when I saw her back in the barns.  Steph has moved up the levels with Port Authority and their partnership is their greatest strength.  This is a young pair to put on a team.  They delivered under pressure this weekend, and we have a great chance to see them riding for Canada this fall.
(7) Speaking of Canadians, Canada finished 4 riders in the top 10.  The US finished 5 riders in the top 10, and of course Great Britain had the other.  David has made a point of investing in Canada’s young talent and three of Canada’s top 4 finishers were first time 4* horses.  Also, consider that Jessica Phoenix didn’t even ride this weekend due to recent childbirth, and she rides two of Canada’s best horses.  I fully expect David to win as many gold medals coaching as he did riding.  Welcome to the big time team Canada; let’s see how you do with the pressure of some expectations at the WEGs.  Thanks to PlayerHater for asking me to write about this topic.
(8) The Foreman disappointed me by pulling 2 rails.  Phillip is really comfortable with “Chip” but after that show jumping and the hold this morning at the jog, I don’t see this horse factoring too much into WEG selections unless a couple of Phillip’s other horses run into issues.  Phillip finished two horses in the top 10 of a four-star…again.
(9) I give Karen and Mandiba an A- for the weekend.  They had 2 rails and dropped one place to 7th in the show jumping but they got the job done yesterday, making it two straight big three-days with clean XC rounds.  For a bit of perspective, if Mandiba hadn’t lost his shoe yesterday, I’m sure they would have made the time on XC which would have put them into 4th for the weekend.
(10) Several of the riders were complaining about a camera on the jump standard of fence 11.  Allison explained to me that it was an automatic camera with a loud shutter sound that went off repeatedly as the horses were about a stride away from the fence.  When Allison simulated the volume of the shutter sound for me it was about as loud as a talking voice.  Several of the horses, including Arthur, visibly shied at the fence and pulled the rail.  Apparently there were some discussions about turning the camera off, but it was still running for Selena and Colombo and they pulled the rail as well.
(11) I’ve been griping all weekend about Kyle Carter not putting together a solid three phases at a big event.  Just to spite me, Kyle put together three solid phases this weekend and finished in 13th.  But there’s no excuse for Madison Park to score higher than a 55 in dressage.
(12) Two North Carolina horses, Ernie and Stewie, had excellent 4* debuts.  These horses will bring Will and Holly back into the spotlight of US eventing over the next few years.  I can’t say enough about how well Stewie handled the environment considering how feisty he has been in the past.  Way to step your game up Stewie!
(13) The California crew had a disappointing weekend.  Hawley Bennet-Awad who rides for Canada but trains in California had a good weekend and finished in 9th aboard the powerful and talented “Ginny.”  But, I just scanned the final placings, and someone please correct me if I’m wrong, but I think Debbie Rosen and The Alchemyst were the only other pair that trains primarily in California to finish the event.
(14) There were 7 double-clears in the show jumping (Cool Mountain, Woodburn, Neville Bardos, Port Authority, Anthone Patch, Titanium, and The Alchemyst).  This made the Richard Jeffery’s course ride considerably harder than ’07 and ’09 but easier than ’08.   
(15) Other than William, the other non-Canadian international competitors underperformed at Rolex.  Stanislas de Zuchowicz (FRA), Jonathan Paget (NZL), and Capt. Geoff Curran (IRL) all flew a long way to finish outside the top 25.  But, they did all finish.
(16) In general, I want to give the weather a lot of credit for holding up this weekend.  It rained at night, and it’s raining now, but the rain held for almost the entire time horses were competing.
(17) While this has nothing to do with show jumping, word is that Phillip’s now infamous phone call was to Evie to ask Jan if he should keep going on Waterfront since the horse was giving him a tough time around the course.

Oliver Back at Rolex

By on Apr 25, 2010 2:20 pm -
Oliver Towned has been released from the hospital…for real this time…we promise.
Oliver was out and about at the horse park this afternoon.  If you have any photos of an Oli sighting from Sunday, please send it in and we will post it just as hard evidence that he has actually left the hospital.

In the interview, Oliver explains that the FEI has given him a 21 day pause from competition because the fall knocked him unconscious.  Obviously Oliver will miss Badminton.

Show Jumping Preview

By on Apr 25, 2010 10:00 am -
–Cool Mountain has 8 show jumping penalties in his last 4 advanced level events, but none in his last 2.  William looked relaxed at the jog today, and he is no stranger to high pressure situations.  
-Sitting 2.0 points back from Cool Mountain, Tipperary Liadhnan has 58 show jumping penalties in his last 4 advanced rounds.  “Paddy” has the physical skills to jump clean, but the question is all about whether he and Kim can find their old SJ form from Rolex 2008, when they had just 1 rail.  Only one rail for Paddy will get him on one of the summer lists.
–Courageous Comet is just 2.4 points back from Cool Mountain.  Comet has 1 rail in each of his last 3 advanced events, and 2 rails in each of his last two four-stars.
–The Foreman sits just over a rail behind William and Cool Mountain.  “Chip” has 2 rails in his last 5 advanced level events, and one rail in his last two four-stars.  Chip jumps unconventionally, but he also jumps unconventionally high.
-Rounding out the top 5, Woodburn is also just a rail back.  He has 20 show jumping penalties in his last 6 advanced rounds.  The USET will be paying close attention to Woodburn’s round today as they work to figure out which of Phillip’s horses is the best.

In the past three years, no horse outside of the top 3 after XC has won Rolex.

2007: Ben Along Time moved up from 3rd (one rail back) to 1st with just 1 time penalty.
2008: Connaught moved from 2nd (within a rail) to 1st with a double clear.
2009: Headley Britannia maintained her lead with a double clear.

That said, we all remember Andrew Hoy’s surge from around 7th to the win in 2006.

This is clearly shaping up to be William’s competition to lose.  The only question is Cool Mountain’s The crowd (and I) will be rooting hard for Becky and Kim to have quality rides. 

Not to jinx it, but 4 of my top 5 (Chip, Ashdale, William, Woodburn, and Mandiba) are in the top 6 going into show jumping.  Since I’m wrong nearly 100% of the time, it can only be more EN Karma hard at work.

As an update on Leyland, word in the barns is that the Team gave him a bye, which just basically means that under present circumstances they didn’t feel it was necessary for him to run.

Sunday Jog Report

By on Apr 25, 2010 9:31 am -

More Jog Photos from Josh and Leslie of the USEA

Kelly Prather’s tough weekend came to an early end this morning when Ballinakill Glory was spun on representing during Sunday morning’s jog.  “Pippa” has a great deal of talent and is a super horse when she focuses.  We will see this pair back in action and doing well sometime soon.

Right before Nigel announced that Kelly would not be accepted, Gorund Jury member Marilyn Payne walked to Kelly to explain their decision.  This seems like a small thing, but it was a nice gesture.

Madison Park and The Foreman were both held but passed on re-inspection.
A lot of the horses looked pretty fresh this morning, which might have been the windy weather or a bit of gamesmanship from the riders.  Speaking of the weather, it’s a beautiful partly cloudy and breezy spring day in Lexington.
53 horses perfeormed dressage at Rolex, and 37 of those advance to the show jumping.
I spent some time speaking with people about Oliver’s status this morning, and I don’t have anything further to add from this morning’s update.  The picture of Oliver’s crash is on the front page of the Lexington Herald Leader.

Report: Oliver Townend Still at the Hospital

By on Apr 25, 2010 7:12 am -
The latest official report is that Oliver is fine, but remained in the hospital last night.

According to British Eventing:

“Unfortunately due to several minor injuries, Oliver was not discharged from hospital. He has not sustained any head injuries but will remain in hospital for observation of his minor fractures. He will therefore not be able to complete the Rolex Kentucky three day event.”


On Saturday afternoon, Oliver’s Facebook announced that he had been released from the hospital.  I contacted a source who is very close to the British team who confirmed that they were at the hospital picking Oliver up.  The USEA and the Chronicle both also reported that Oliver was released from the hospital.


This morning, the post reporting that Oliver was released has been deleted from his Facebook and the latest post is the (above) release from BE.


The latest that I have heard is that the British contingent heard that Oliver was fine and could leave the hospital, Oliver’s people posted the FB status, they went to the hospital to pick Oliver up, and then learned that he would have to stay the night.  Word is that the “fractures” talked about above are cracked ribs and a cracked collarbone.

As of late Saturday, Oliver was listed in “fair” condition at the hospital.

That’s all the information that I have at this time, and I apologize for the error.