We’re half-way through the show jumping at Barbury with XC still to come

The Barbury show jumping course feels like a derby because it incorporates terrain in the grass main arena.  The footing is causing a few slips in some of the tight turns, something the riders will be making note of as they pick their studs for the cross-country.  The cross country is being run in reverse order of placing.

The first two US pairs just finished their show jumping in the Barbury CIC3* division with mixed results.  Julian Stiller’s first ride of the day, Axel Rose, had a nice round and only pulled the panel jump at the top of the arena.  Having already ridden the course once, Julian will have a nice advantage with her second ride, Enjoy Me.

Will Faudree and Andromaque had 8 jumping penalties and 12 time after an uncharacteristic mental gaffe when Will cantered by fence 11.  He quickly realized it and circled back for the jump.  Missie jumped nicely throughout the round and the score should include an asterisk that only credits her with one rail.

With 109 pairs, the show jumping will take several hours to finish and it will be followed by the cross-country later this afternoon.  The other two American paris–Julian with Elmo and Will Coleman with Twizzel are both in the top 20 so they will ride late this morning.  The very kind people in the Barbury press office are letting me borrow a small table and the wireless password, so we should have quick results and updates throughout the day.  There is beer in the press office fridge, a tradition that explains some of the British eventing press coverage over the years.  I guess when you are four beers in it’s easier to complain about Greenwich Park.  Go eventing.

The good news is that the Barbury CIC3* is my favorite Mark Phillips course that I have ever seen.  The bad news is that the area and shape of available land creates some tight turns including a very tight “W” early on in the course to add distance.  In the course walk with Mark Todd Friday afternoon, Mark said that the key to making time is riding through the turns tightly and aggressively.  The risk in doing that is putting a lot of stress on the horses.  Barbury is not a course where I would want to have to make the time. 

The footing is almost perfect with lush grass and soft but strong soil.  You can barely hear the horses galloping on it.  There is little doubt in my mind why British horses tend to be more sound than American horses.

As for the jumps, the course is big and technical, but not extreme in either direction.  Some of the tables are big enough to keep the riders honest about maintaining a forward pace–you’re going to want some momentum to clear #23 in particular.  The one bogey fence is #14, a large wide open corner with a short back rail that I could see one or two horses getting confused about.  I also expect a couple of horses to over-jump into the water at #17C.

The finish line is in the main arena, and the cross-country is running in reverse order of placing. So, the crowd will get a really exciting experience of watching the clock as the leading riders cross the line in front of them. But, we have to get through the show jumping Sunday morning before all of this fun Sunday afternoon. Go eventing.

William took Cool Mountain for a nice canter up the hill after their pre-dressage ride

Great Britain seized control of Barbury in the third and final day of Barbury dressage on Saturday.   6 British riders jumped into the top 7, with Laura Collett and the beautiful Rayef ultimately taking a 1.4 point lead on a 34.8.  Rayef finished 8th at Badminton earlier this year after getting a 36.5 in the dressage.   Pippa and Billy Landretti are second with a 36.2, and everyone else behind them is in the 40’s.  Remember that even though it is Saturday, we had to sit through one last boring day of dressage before the show jumping and cross-country doubles up for the exiting Barbury conclusion tomorrow.

Barbury Dressage Results:

1. Laura Collett and Rayef (GBR)  34.8
2. Pippa Funnell and Billy Landretti (GBR)  36.2
3. Emily Baldwin and Drivetime (GBR)  40.6
4. Piggy French and Jakata (GBR)  41.2
5. Rodney Powell and Happy Go Lucky (GBR)  44.4
6. William Fox-Pitt and Cool Mountain (GBR)  44.6
7. Francis Whittington and Easy Target (GBR)  44.8
8. WIll Coleman and Twizzel (USA)  45.0

[Full Barbury CIC3* Dressage Results]

—Will Coleman and Twizzel are the highest placed non-British pair here at Barbury.  They hung onto 8th place with a 46.0 from Friday.  A test that I felt was only decent for them beat 107 other competitors here at Barbury, which is a big positive for Will.  Will’s goal is to get to Burghley, not win Barbury, so I expect him to take his time around the cross-country tomorrow.

Piggy French and Jakata finished 2nd at Badminton this year and moved into 4th today on a 41.2:

–WEG silver medalists William Fox-Pitt and Cool Mountain sit in 6th after the dressage with a 44.6.  Personally, I am not the biggest fan of how Cool Mountain moves because I think he is built a bit downhill.  But William does a fabulous job of making it look elegant and the judges seem to like the horse.  William is the only rider with two horses in the top 10–Navigator is tied for 9th.  Rodney Powell has two horses in the top 12.

–Barbury 2012 will be the final selection trials for the London Olympics for the British team, and likely many other teams.  That is one of many fabulous facts I learned from the team of Barbury announcers–two on the XC and one in the dressage.  A good announcer can really make the spectating experience twice as fun and Barbury has some of the best in the business.

–Julian Stiller of the USA has two horses in the CIC3*.  Enjoy Me “Elmo” is an incredibly impressive horse with loads of potential.  Julian was unhappy with their today, which is pretty impressive considering they scored a 48.0 and go into the jumping in 15th.  Julina’s other ride, Axel Rose, scored a 60.4.  Julian was kind enough to chat with me about her dressage rides, Elmo’s history, and eventing in England:

–There were about 10 times as many spectators at Barbury today compared to Friday.  Although I would have trouble putting an exact attendance number, there were certainly at least a few thousand people in attendance.  Fear not, one of our worst videos ever is on the way.

–It’s good to see Zara Phillips out with High Kingdom.  This pair finished 5th at the Saumur CCI3* earlier this year, and they go into the jumping phases in 33rd with this test:

 

–Overall the CIC2* cross-country course rode pretty easily today.  I haven’t seen a final scores sheet, and we left before the final few rides, but the day went quite smoothly.  The water jump caused some very sticky moments as the horses tended to over-jump into the water.  I expect the CIC3* course to be much more of a challenge tomorrow.

–I walked the CIC3* course with Mark Todd, Julian, and Will Coleman today, which has to rate as one of the top 5 eventing experiences of my life.  I’ll have more on the XC course later this evening.

–Remember that the CIC3* horses will do show jumping in the morning on Sunday and then cross-country in the afternoon.  The cross-country will run in reverse order of placing and then finish in the main arena, creating a great atmosphere of suspense for the crowd.  It’s a very cool format that I think should be really considered by larger events in the US. 

A typical lunch break at Barbury involves aeronautical stunts from parachutists

We’ll have more Barbury excitement throughout the day and I hope everyone is having a great day of eventing back in the States.  Go eventing.

As the CIC3* wraps up their dressage today at Barbury (more on that shortly), the CIC2* divisions are completing their show jumping and cross-country.  When Tiana Coudray and Ringwood Magister were circling the start box before their CIC2* cross-country here at Barbury, I started to realize the importance of their round.  Success or failure at Barbury meant the difference between getting one of the best horses for the US back on track, or continuing the tailspin that perhaps started at The Fork and continued at Rolex and Luhmuhlen.  Tiana and Finian stepped up big time and put together the best cross-country ride I have seen from them, adding just a few time penalties to their dressage score.  Tiana and Finian finished in 15th out of 100 competitors.  Granted, it was only a CIC2*, but Finian looked like a completely different horse from his tentative and ultimately failed trips around Rolex and Luhmuhlen earlier this year.

The video is a bit jumpy because I had to zoom in so much, and it begins a few jumps into the course

As with all of the divisions at Barbury, the CIC2* competitors did the show jumping first and then the cross-country soon thereafter with an abbreviated warm-up.  There were two other competitors riding for the USA in the CIC2* divisions at Barbury.  Aimee Chambers and After Eight had a solid weekend, finishing on a 53 and jumping Tiana and Finian to finish in 8th place in the CIC2* Section A.  Aimee has competed After Eight at several 3*’s in England, including a finish at Blenheim last year.  Cindy Rawson and Mocharabuiee also competed in the CIC2* for the US, and although my ride left before they went out on course, they finished with a rail and 2.8 time penalties for 34th place.

[Section A Results, Section B Results]    

After her rides, Tiana was understandably ecstatic with Finian:

Wireless cards do not work at the Barbury show gounds, so I am just getting the videos and recaps uploaded back here at Headley Stud this afternoon.  I will be along shortly with a recap from the last day of the CIC3* dressage and a look ahead at the jumping tomorrow.  Go eventing.

Will and Twizzel

Will Coleman and Twizzel of the USA took the lead in the Barbury CIC3* on Friday afternoon, half-way through the nearly 120 3* dressage rides.  The cool thing is that Will’s test had a couple of bobbles in it and I know that Twizzel can score even better.  The Barbury competition is some of the best in the world because it is the major event for the British 4* horses to start up again after their spring three-day breaks.  Will’s plan is to keep Twizzel in Great Britain through Burghley.  Perhaps more impressive than his score is that Will took the lead today from William Fox-Pitt and Navagator.  We still have a full day of dressage to go Saturday, including William’s Cool Mountain, and there were quite a few great horses left to go Friday afternoon when we headed back to Julian Stiller’s Headley Stud farm.  But, however the leader board is looking going into the jumping, Will stepped up big with his performance today.

[Barbury Friday Scores, Barbury Scoring Website–Click ‘Section A CIC’ for scores]

–When we left at about 3:00pm local time, William and Navigator were still in second with a 46.0.  William had a lovely test, as always.  Our US readers will remember Navigator finishing 23rd at Rolex in 2009.  Since then he has finished 2nd and Pau last year and 15th at Badminton this year.

–Will Faudree and Andromaque were the other US pair to ride in the CIC3* today.  Will felt that Andromaque’s test took a step back from her performance in the 3* at Luhmuhlen.  Missie was a bit tense, which will attributed to the rain and missing a few rides on her this week while he was at the test event.

–Tiana Coudray also left the CIC2* dressage with Ringwood Magister feeling as though she didn’t have her best test.  Finian warmed up partly next to the cross-country, which got him a bit wound up and the sleeting rain during their warm up probably didn’t help either.  One way or another, dressage isn’t the important phase for Missie or Finian at this event.

–Will is keeping Twizzel over here until Burghley and will be commuting back and forth to keep his program running smoothly back in the states.  Will talks about his travel plans and thanks thanks Twizzel’s owner, Mr. James Wildasin, as well as our host Julian Stiller in his post-dressage interview.  My apologies to Will for doing the interview facing him right into a rare moment of bright sun:
 

–The Barbury setting is unbelievably perfect for eventing.  The event is built on an estate in a large bowl of land.  The trailer (lorry) parking, temporary stabling, trade fair, and dressage arenas are built on one side of the bowl and the cross-country course is built on the other side, meaning that everyone at the event can see most of the cross-country course from anywhere. 

–My guess is that Barbury would be the second largest event in North America, behind Rolex, in terms of trade fair scale and general ‘big event’ feel.  I would guess there are around 30 vendor tents and 5 food trailers, there is a massive sponsors tent with a public bar, and I counted 5 dressage arenas.  But the ‘big event’ feel was juxtaposed with a sense of calm and quiet throughout the day.  Perhaps it was because very few spectators braved the cold and rainy weather, or perhaps the wind muffled the sound, or perhaps it was just that everyone seemed to know exactly what they were doing, but Barbury felt very calm–for lack of a better word–compared to your average CIC3* in the US. 

–The novice (US prelim) divisions did dressage, cross-country, and show jumping all today.  The CIC2* and CIC3* just did dressage.  The CIC3* has 120 competitors so they will do another day of dressage tomorrow followed by a big show jumping Sunday morning.  The cross-country runs Sunday afternoon in reverse order of placing and my guess is Sunday will be when the spectators show up in big numbers.

–Speaking of trailer parking, there are no trailers in England.  Everyone uses lorrys here, whereas only a few people use them in the States–for example, Allison bought Phillip’s old white lorry.  For the uninitiated, lorries are like RVs except the front half is living/tack area and the back half have angled horse stalls.  Like anything, lorrys come in varying degrees of size and awesomness, but we spent the day working out of the Headley Stud lorry, which is absolutely amazing.  Everyone over here says lorrys are better than trailers with living quarters, but I think it is a matter of preference.  Lorrys are easier to drive and incredibly convenient and space efficient.  But, you can’t unhook a truck from a trailer so you are instantly obligated to have two vehicles.

–I’m quite convinced that I will never get used to the feeling of how exiting it is to stand in a warmup with Mark Todd, William Fox-Pitt, Mary King, Oliver Townend, Tina Cook, and a ton of other great riders circling around.  It’s impossible to pick just one to focus on and watch.

–I walked the cross-country course with Coleman and Faudree and I was surprised by how twisty and hilly the course is.  It almost feels like Greenwich Park all over again, except there are no trees and the ropes make very wide galloping lanes–they are just placed to prevent collisions.  The footing is almost perfect and we could barely hear the ‘novice’ horses galloping.

–I videoed 4 rides today: Tiana, Will Faudree, Will Coleman, and William Fox-Pitt.  When we left this afternoon two of them were in the top two.  I’m going to start charging and EN Karma fee to video people.

–The old joke is that if you don’t like the weather in England, wait 5 minutes.  That held true today and a miserable morning of showers gave way to a beautiful afternoon of partly cloudy skies.  The only constant was the wind.

I want to give a huge shout-out to Julian Stiller and Headley Stud for putting me up this weekend, letting me ride to and from Barbury in the aforementioned lorry, and for general awesomeness.  We have two more amazing days of British eventing Saturday and Sunday left on our Eventing Nation British tour.  Until then, go eventing.

The Greenwich arena is raised above the ground to protect the park

From the very beginning, Greenwhich Park has been a controversial site to host the equestrian events for the London Olympics, but I held judgement until I could see the park in action.  The test event convinced me the Greenwich is a good venue that will serve horses, riders, and fans well at the Olympics.  Like any selection, Greenwich has its drawbacks, but the advantages far outweigh the downsides in my opinion.

First and foremost, Greenwich puts the equestrian events in the heart of London and closer to the rest of the Olympics than they have been in recent memory.  In an age where I think the Olympic future of equestrianism, particularly eventing, is very much in question, horses and riders will be a big part of the Olympic experience.  This can only help our case for the future and will hopefully bring more fans to the sport. 

However, Greenwich will never feel exactly like a traditional three-day, particularly the cross-country course.  I spent a lot of time talking about the turns and hills on Tuesday, and there is no doubt that the course will have to be more compact than anyone would like.  The galloping lanes at the event were so narrow that one rider said he didn’t think he could have gone any faster even if it was the true Olympics. 

The single biggest thing that I take away from the weekend is that a big Olympic track is going to be incredibly hard and horses will have to be trained and selected according to their ability to handle that type of track.  It’s like Red Hills on half the land.  One interesting comment a rider made to me is that Canadian and US riders might be more prepared to handle the course because they deal with more tight and windy courses than riders in Europe.  Who knows, maybe the crazy trend of modern US course design will be a blessing.

It is impossible to not mention the Greenwich crowd.  The test event main arena seating held 2,000 spectators.  The main arena will hold 20,000 spectators for the Games.  The bleachers will be huge and steep and cover three sides of the arena, creating an incredible atmosphere for the horses.  The cross-country crowd will also be 10 times larger with only 40% more space.  The main arena for the Olympics will also be 10 meters wider on every side.

Alec Lochore, eventing organizer for the 2012 Olympics deserves top marks for the test event.  There were a few tiny wrinkles that will be smoothed out, such as 3 inches of sand on the Sunday jog strip, delayed scoring, and only two groom shuttles, but it was one of the best organized events I have attended considering its scale.  

In a remarkable testament to everyone working on the test event, every single thing that was brought in for the test event will be removed by August 1st.  And I mean everything.  Every building, jump, piece of fencing, trash can, vendor stand, all of the arenas, everything will be gone in three weeks–and the pentathlon test event hasn’t even finished.  The cross-country course was completely gone by Tuesday night–all of it.  All of this is being done to provide as little disruption to the members of the Greenwich community who use the park.

All that remained of #7A&B Wednesday morning

To facilitate the removal and to protect the ground further, absolutely nothing from the test event was allowed to blemish the ground–everything was raised on plastic platforms.  The arena was built on a platform, the barns were build on a platform.  People walked on raised walkways.  It was simply incredible and I can’t imagine how much expense was added as a result.  [More on protecting the ground from TJR]

Despite all of these efforts, there were still protesters outside of Greenwich Park all week long.  The police conveniently made a bus parking spot right in front of the designated protesting area.  I wasn’t very impressed by that even though I completely disagree with the protests. 

In one amusing story that I heard but can’t verify,  apparently one protester snuck into the test event on Tuesday with his protest signs.  As the story goes, after 5 minutes of watching XC he asked a fence judge for the nearest trash can for his signs, saying “this is the coolest thing I have ever seen.”  I also heard that Piggy was told that a protest sign had her name on it and she went out to chat with the protesters.  Apparently they struck up a friendly conversation and Piggy gave them her helmet in exchange for her sign.

Nothing better to do

The British media is making a bit of a kerfuffle (shocking, I know) about comments made by British show jumper David McPherson, who competed in the show jumping demonstration and said “The surface is nowhere near good enough. It needs an enormous amount of work.”  The jumpers were worried about the footing being too sticky, but when they are done getting their panties in a bunch they will realize that the footing for the games will be put in well in advance and worked over more to get in just right for their jumping pleasure.  [Show jumpers whining to the press]

Here is the latest of our ‘worst videos ever’ series from Greenwich.  I have to say that it is not one of my best, but does that make it better or worse that the other worst videas ever?  Think about that as you watch:

 

The test event was an absolutely wonderful experience that I am very sad to see end.  I am staying in England and attend the Barbury CIC3* this weekend, where multiple US riders are competing as well as all of the best in Great Britain.  I’ll have more on that later and until then, gosh it feels like a Monday.  Go eventing.

Piggy French accepting her medal from Princess Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall

There was really never a doubt of this result today, but Piggy French and Topper sealed the deal by jumping clear in the second round of show jumping.  All three British riders jumped clear in the second round and Pippa Funnell finished on the bronze podium spot, giving Great Britain the team victory as well as the 1st and 3rd individual placings.  I didn’t expect any different result in this test event and, although most of the horses will be different at the Olympics, it’s a bit hard to bet on a different result then.

The top 3 places did not change in the second round of show jumping and 4 of the top 5 horses went clear.   Sara Algotsson Ostholt and Mrs. Medicott improved on their first round but had a costly time penalty that dropped them from 4th to 5th and moved Clayton Fredericks up one spot.

London Olympic Test Event Final Results:

1. Piggy French and DHI Topper W +0 +0 34.7.
2. Michael Jung and River of Joy +0 +0 41.8
3. Pippa Funnell and Billy Shannon +0 +0 44.9
4. Clayton Fredericks and Bendigo +4 +0 46.1
5. Sara Algotsson and Mrs. Medicott +4 +1 41.6

I already posted a recap of the first show jumping round, so here are some notes from the second round…

—Waylon Roberts and Blockbuster III had one rail down in the second round, but finished off a great weekend for Canada in 13th place and the highest placed North American pair.  Kathryn Robinson and Let It Bee moved steadily throughout the competition (I keep wanting to write ‘weekend’) and they finished in 18th with a clear second round.  Canada’s two riders competed against the best in the world and proved themselves riders to watch for the future.

–For the USA, Will Faudree and DHI Colour Candy made up for a couple of rails in the first round by having a better second round and moving up to 21st place for the weekend.  Andy is still a bit green, but handled the big atmosphere here this weekend like a champ.  Julian Stiller and Gunstone Wallstreet had one rail in the second round but moved up to finish in 24th.

–The second round course was shorter and bigger.  William said after the round that the horses actually jumped better the second time and the results agree with fewer rails, especially at the top of the leader board.   However, there were more time penalties in the second round than the first.

–All week I have been asking myself–what are the differences between events, riders, and horses in Europe versus the US?  I feel that the best 2* and 3* horses in the US can absolutely compare to the horses at the test event in the dressage and cross country, and I could probably say the same for the riders.  Today I felt like the quality of the European horses in the show jumping was above what I see from the best horses at 2* and 3* competitions in the US (and Canada).  Perhaps the course was soft, and perhaps that is because only the best riders were competing at the event, but I feel like we are behind on the show jumping in North America.

[BBC Recap, H&H Recap]

The final individual results:
 

It has been a great test event and there is no doubt that London will be an absolutely fantastic host for the eventing in the Olympics.  I’ll be back later with more from Greenwich Park, and until then go eventing.

Piggy French recapping her ride for the crowd with announcer John Kyle

In a story that couldn’t have been better written in fiction, Team Great Britain dominated the team competition here at the Olympic test event by adding just two rails for all three riders.  Remember that the show jumping for the test event is in the same format as the Olympics with two show jumping rounds.  The first show jumping round counts for both the team and individual competition, and the second round only counts for the individual competition, meaning that the team competition is already decided.  The second show jumping course will be shorter and bigger*, and the second round is just a few minutes away from starting.

In the first round, Piggy French and Topper jumped a lovely clean round to secure the win for Britain and slightly extend her already copious lead in the individual competition.  Second placed Sara Algotsson Ostholt pulled one rail to drop to 4th.  Pippa Funnell and Michael Jung moved into third and second respectively with clear rounds.

Team Final Results:

1. Great Britain: 139.9
2. Belgium: 166.0
3. New Zealand: 183.8
4. USA: 243.2
5. Germany: 1102.7

Only the top 25 will move on to the second round of jumping, so we won’t get to see the North American riders Logan Rawlings or Nina Ligon.  Nina had a beautiful clear ride and Jaybee Star Celebrity showed a lot of promise.  Belgium opened a lot of eyes here, finishing three riders in the top 11 and finishing second in the team competition. 

In my opinion, the nicest horse of the first round of jumping was Mark Todd’s NZB Campino.  They moved up from 21st to 16th with a clear ride.  Campino was silky smooth and made the CIC2* jumps look absolutely effortless.  The course was not too challenging and a lot of riders had one rail or none, but the quality of show jumping horses is incredibly high here today. 

Individual scores with one round to go, not that when the sign says final it doesn’t mean final:

Stay tuned for the second round and individual results.  Go eventing.

Photo of Piggy and Topper by the great Nico Morgan

If Piggy French felt nervous riding with the lead in the Olympic test event on home soil, it never showed.  Piggy and Topper finished the course in 5:01, 4 seconds under the optimum time, and they extended their big lead slightly.  Sara Algotsson Ostholt and Mrs. Medicott moved up two places into second with Michael Jung and Clayton Fredericks picking up a few time penalties.  Piggy will take a big lead into the show jumping, but the next three spots are separated by less than a rail.

[Official XC results PDF, fence-by-fence results PDF]

Here are a few notes from a great day of cross-country action.  Please imagine these notes in a British accent, I know I am imagining them like that…

–The cross-country today taught us a lot about what we can expect from the London Olympics course.  The hills and the turns are certainly going to be a factor, both in terms of making the time and negotiating the fences.  The time was a bit easier to make than I expected, but this course twice as long will be a big challenge.  If Sue Benson builds a large Olympic track, the London Olympics is not going to be a dressage competition to say the least.  One key that I think a lot of the less experienced riders learned today is that the environment of a twisty track combined with big and noisy crowds backs the horses off way more than normal.  The best rides of the day occurred when riders used this to their advantage and kept kicking down to the fences.

–Of the US riders, Will Faudree and Julian Stiller both had great rides.  I was so impressed with how DHI Colour Candy handled this track for Will considering that the test event environment is unlike anything the horse has ever seen.  I’m not ready to say that Will has yet another superstar, but so far so good for this horse’s development.  Julian Stiller’s horse, Wallstreet, was very impressive as well.  On the downside, Logan Rawlings picked up a stop at the water, but her horse looked good when I saw him towards the end of the course and I know Logan learned a lot of good things today about her horse.  Will moved up into 12th going into the show jumping.

[Photos of the Cross-Country by Nico Morgan]

—Canada had a great day as Waylon Roberts and Kathryn Robinson both just added a few time penalties to their dressage score.  Kathryn moved up 11 places into 25th and Waylon is in 16th.

–The one other North American pair, Nina Ligon and Jazz King of Thailand picked up an uncharacteristic stop.  Nina got things back on track quickly and Jazz King looked better than I have ever seen him at the end of the course.  Fixing things on course is a tough thing to do at any event, much less at the Olympic test event, but Nina did just that.

–In a very cool story line, Sara Algottson Ostholt of Sweden is in second and her husband, Frank Ostholt of Germany, is in 6th.  Frank is riding Sir Medicott and Sara is riding Mrs. Medicott.  That’s enough symmetry on the leader board to give me a headache.

-As I already mentioned, the crowd played a major role in the way the riders had to ride the course.  The test event organizers gave out thousands of tickets to local Greenwich residents as well as local schools.  The kids spent most of their time playing in the fields outside the galloping lanes, but when a crossing guard would blow their whistle the kids knew that a horse was coming and they would run towards the ropes.  When the horse came into view, they would often start screaming and cheering–well before the horses reached the jump.  And when school kids scream, it’s not that nice comforting scream of a male adult, but more of a harpy’s shriek.  This caused some horses, including Logan Rawlings’ to back off the fence.  This was a particularly big factor in the water complex, an obstacle that quickly became a really tough ride when the horses backed off.

–The test event was very well run today.  The announcers were great, the volunteers were knowledgeable and polite, and it felt like everything was completely under control.  My only question for the Olympics from an organizing perspective is that when you start packing tens of thousands of people into Greenwich Park it is going to start feeling very small.  That being said, the plan is to use additional land that was not open for the test event.  

–The water complex caused the most problems today.  The complex rested at the lowest point on the Greenwich course and was a jump, two strides, and then a very small jump to a big drop in the water followed by a narrow jump off a turn.  It would be considered an easy 2* question if it wasn’t placed at the bottom of a hill surrounded by a screaming crowd.  Renan Guerreiro and his very experienced horse picked up a stop at the drop, Alberto Giugni retired after two stops at the jump before the drop, and Logan Rawlings picked up a stop at the drop.  The footing in the water jump was also a bit sticky and the horses were not jumping well out of it.

–Of the 39 cross-country starters, only three riders did not finish the course, but I think that number was a bit higher than expected considering the caliber of the field.  As I already mentioned, Alberto Giugni retired at the water, Lukasz Kazmierczak (type that three times fast) fell at 7A, and Sandra Auffarth of Germany fell at the corner 16 after a beautiful round up until that point.  All the horses and riders were fine, which was the major goal of the day.

–I didn’t spend a lot of time in the vet box, but from what I heard the horses were pulling up pretty well with an average temperature around 103 Fahrenheit.  This is to be expected because the course was only 5 minutes long, but it’s nice to hear that the horses were finishing strong.

–People were using some huge studs today.  The ground was maybe a bit firm and not the least bit muddy, but it was still slick.  I don’t know how to describe the ground at Greenwich–it isn’t sand but it isn’t clay and it doesn’t have the feel of plain dirt.  It does not have much hold and after the first few rides word quickly filtered back to the barns to really stud up.  With the big studs the ground rode fine.

—Sue Benson should get an A+ for the course design.  It was very safe and not too challenging, which is exactly what we were hoping for today.   My only comment for the Olympic design is that I heard one anonymous EN tipster say that if the Olympic water complex is really challenging, that environment with a much larger crowd is going to make it extremely challenging and I completely agree.

–All of the jumps will be removed from the course this evening and by tomorrow the cross-country area will be completely returned to park status.  This is a herculean undertaking for the course builders and Greenwich crew, but they are doing a great job trying to reduce the impact of the test event on the local community as much as possible.

–I had a George Morris sighting and I would imagine the show jumpers will stick around to watch the action tomorrow.

—Karin Donckers was one of a few riders that I put a star next to on my start sheet for having a great ride.  Karin is an incredibly hard worker and a consistently strong rider for Belgium.  William, Mark, Clayton, Pippa, Piggy, and Andrew had great rides as we would expect.  Clarke Johnstone had the best ride through the water of the day.  

–The best helmet cover award goes to Takayuki Yumira of Japan, who had the rising sun emblazoned on the front.  The best save of the day goes to Benoit Johner, which you can see in our XC recap video.

–If Piggy wins tomorrow, and I definitely expect her to considering that the horse has finished third at a CCI3* before, it will be a great story and a boost for the Olympics eventing competition.

[Pippa’s XC thoughts, Piggy’s]

[H&C’s XC interviews]

The British team is also in great position to take home the test event ‘gold.’   The Belgium team continues a really impressive weekend with three good rides today.  Your updated team scores:

GBR: 131.9
BEL: 154.0
NZL: 175.8
USA: 215.2
GER: 1097.7

Go eventing