Last week’s coverage of Pau on EN is brought to you with the support of Kentucky Performance Products. We couldn’t do much of what we’ve done these last few years without the support of sponsors such as KPP — which, by the way, is a horses-first, women owned and operated company based in, you guessed it, Kentucky — and without you, our readers! So as we head into this final hurrah of our season, too, we thank each and every one of you.

We couldn’t exactly let the final five-star of 2022 go by without our favourite game of all, could we? For this week’s edition of Who Jumped It Best, we journey back to Les 5 Etoiles de Pau in the south-west of France and, more specifically, to the second water complex, which ended up being one of the most influential sections of the course. It featured an A and a B element, and it was the B element — a yellow MIM-clipped open corner on a right-handed four-stride turn — that ended up being a particularly busy segment of this year’s track, as the clip was activated nine times throughout the day, including by the first-phase leaders, Felix Vogg and Colero.

But our focus today goes to the A element instead, which was a beefy hanging log drop on a wide right-handed turn. Riders needed to land tidily to catch the reasonably tight four strides to the B element, and they needed to get it very right, or risk that clip being activated. Have a look at each effort and then scroll down to cast your vote on who you think made the best job of it.

Hector Payne and Dynasty (GBR). Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Fiona Kashel and WSF Carthago (GBR). Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Emily King and Valmy Biats (GBR). Photo by Tilly Berendt.

David Doel and Galileo Nieuwmoed (GBR). Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Anna-Katharina Vogel and DSP Quintana P (GER). Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Alex Donohoe and Guidam Roller (IRE). Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Karim Laghouag and Triton Fontaine (FRA). Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Les 5 Etoiles de Pau: [Website] [Entries] [Schedule] [Timing & Scoring] [H&C+ Live Stream *Use code PAU2022 for 15% of H&C+ Annual!*] [EN’s Coverage] [EN’s Ultimate Guide to Pau] [EN’s Instagram]

This week’s coverage of Pau on EN is brought to you with the support of Kentucky Performance Products. We couldn’t do much of what we’ve done these last few years without the support of sponsors such as KPP — which, by the way, is a horses-first, women owned and operated company based in, you guessed it, Kentucky — and without you, our readers! So as we head into this final hurrah of our season, too, we thank each and every one of you.

Every time someone refers to twisty, turn-y, tight-timed and atmospheric Pau, with all its skinnies and corners and accuracy questions (and the odd swimming rat in the water) as the ‘soft’ five-star, I can’t help but laugh a bit — because never yet in the five years that I’ve been covered it for EN has it been anything close to an easy competition. Often, we see a leaderboard so tightly packed that even if the only influence comes from the tough-to-grab time, that’s enough to see huge changes — but most years, including this one, it serves up wall-to-wall action. Though today’s completion rate of 80.9% might look high on paper, its 62% clear rate is much more closely aligned with the historically ‘tough’ five-stars, and with just four of yesterday’s top ten remaining at the business end of the leaderboard, the Pierre Michelet course certainly did the job it set out to.

Though, as predicted, the first combination — a sizeable log drop to a corner at 4AB — caused plenty of influence, with eleven competitors running out the side door at the B element, it was very nearly eclipsed by a particularly efficient set of MIM clips much later on in the course. They featured as the B element in the middle water at 21B, which was an open corner equipped with the more sensitive yellow clips, four strides after another hefty hanging log drop. Nine competitors in total picked up 11 penalties for activating those clips, including dressage leader Felix Vogg and Colero, as well as Mollie Summerland and Charly van ter Heiden, who had been fourth going into today’s action.

David Doel achieves a career highlight, taking the overnight lead after a fifteen-place climb with Galileo Nieuwmoed. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

The first of the nine to activate those clips was David Doel, who was fourth out of the box with his first ride, Ferro Point, and reached the B element on a half-stride, kicking out the rails. But sometimes, eventing’s sense of kismet works in funny ways: having made that early mistake, he was well-prepared to nail the line, and that final stride, when he came back out as the last rider of the day with the Dutch-bred Galileo Nieuwmoed.

The eleven-year-old gelding (Carambole x Sjaloma, by Harcos) has been quietly proving himself as a serious talent for some time: he finished inside the time here last year, and was sixth at Badminton this year — but still, by the time David was counted down in the startbox, the pressure had been piled on. So much had changed through the course of the day — and particularly, in the final batch of riders, which saw Felix drop out of the lead, third-placed Tom McEwen and Bob Chaplin and second-placed Izzy Taylor and Monkeying Around both opt to retire after a duo apiece of refusals in the early stages of the course — that despite his fifteenth-place position at the end of the first phase, David was suddenly, keenly aware that a quick clear would give him the lead.

If he felt the pressure, though, he never showed it. His ride through that influential MIM-clipped water complex was one of those masterclasses of focus and commitment, and the four perfect, balanced, attacking strides he got were a clear indicator that David, like all his vocal supporters in the crowd, knew that his time had come.

David Doel and Galileo Nieuwmoed. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

And boy, had it. Just four riders made the 11:00 optimum time out of 47 starters — France’s Luc Chateau was the first, with Viens du Mont, and fellow countrymen Karim Florent Laghouag and Maxime Livio each did it too, with Triton Fontaine and Carouzo Bois Marotin, respectively. But David’s round didn’t just squeak inside the time — he romped across the finish line a full nine seconds under, lodging the fastest round of the day, despite a serious technical hitch that could have made even catching it nearly impossible.

“I actually stuffed up my clock because as I left the start box, I hit it twice,” he explains. “By the time I realised it wasn’t running, I was about three or four seconds out on my clock, so I had to just sort of keep myself ahead of it a little bit, just to make sure that my stuff up at the start box didn’t affect us. So I didn’t actually realise [I’d made the time] until I was back and my mum told me!”

David, who stepped up to five-star here in 2018 and has since produced an enormously impressive six horses to the level, entered into a debate at today’s press conference about whether luck plays a part in how a week of eventing can go — and the man who has suffered a fair share of rubbish luck, including a slipped saddle in the showjumping at Luhmühlen this year that resulted in a very late elimination, argued that it certainly does have a role.

“I think you need a little bit of luck,” he says. “Sometimes you have a trip or a stumble on cross-country, and sometimes the horse falls over, and sometimes they stand up. So I think there’s definitely a bit of luck involved, but the majority definitely comes down to preparation — to the days, weeks, months, and years in the process of getting horses to this level. The good horses are well-prepared, and you don’t often see someone get lucky and win a five-star — so it’s a bit of a mixture of both [luck and preparation].”

Certainly, though, those years of hard work, which have seen David run a yard alongside the family ice cream business, are the primary factor — and so the 29-year-old couldn’t be more delighted to relish the moment for now.

“[Leading a five-star is] a huge goal, and it’s been on the cards,” he says. “He’s a fantastic horse, and I’m very lucky to ride him. He’s athletic, and he has the power. he should have gone to Burghley, and we did a lot of prep for that, but then he had a bit of man-flu before Burghley, so he’s come here really fit and feeling fantastic. It’s a massive team effort — it’s not just my trainers that are out here, my granny’s out here, and the owners, and my mum and dad, and [for all of us], it’s been years and years of working to get him to this position. He’s been close, and so it’s lovely to be rewarded.”

Though the gelding jumped a classy clear on the final day at Badminton this spring for sixth, last year, he tipped two rails here — and so David is remaining pragmatic ahead of tomorrow’s competition and focusing on the variables he can control — namely, making sure his horse feels as good as he can do.

“Tomorrow’s going to be another day,” he says sagely, “but we’ve got great help, and the British team have been fantastic, so we’ll hopefully get him feeling as fit as possible for tomorrow.”

Jonelle Price’s Grappa Nera steps up to the big leagues with a swift, decisive run and overnight second. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

“I could have been [clear inside the time] number five,” says Jonelle Price ruefully, reflecting on her 1.2 time penalties with Grappa Nera. “I’m afraid it’s my fault — I could have been inside the time, but I had the three seconds, and that was my undoing today!”

But although those three seconds cost Jonelle the overnight lead, it’s a scant loss: she sits second with the five-star sophomore on a score of 31.3, which puts her just 0.7 penalties, or less than two seconds on the clock tomorrow, behind David.

Grappa Nera, who has gone under the radar at one-days for her propensity for naughtiness in the first phase, has come out of a spate of time off for an injury as a real contender — and although her primary role this year was as a back-up horse for the World Championships at Pratoni, Jonelle had long earmarked Pau as an event that could suit her perfectly.

“All the five-stars have their own unique flavour, and Pau is certainly unique,” she says. “It’s not the biggest of the five-stars, but the time is always influential because the woods really slow you down in the first and last third of the course. You need a nimble, athletic horse, but some of the distances that appear aren’t really suited to that type of horse, and you’d want something a bit bigger and scopier. I thought I had the perfect candidate in Grappa Nera: she’s very nimble and athletic, but some of those distances were pretty good for me, and luckily there’s another option there.”

Karim Laghouag and his Olympic partner Triton Fontaine lead the way for the home side and sit third overall going into the final day. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

There’s probably no man in France more popular than the ebullient, jovial Olympian Karim Florent Laghouag, and never more so than when he gives fans the chance to see his most recent Olympic partner, Triton Fontaine, in action. Those fans’ enthusiastic support was rewarded in kind today (and truly, you could chart his progress around the course from their screams of encouragement alone) with a speedy clear two seconds inside the time, hoiking him right up the leaderboard from 19th to overnight third.

“He gave me an amazing ride, and when he’s like that, he could do a six-star,” says Karim with a smile.

Kazuma Tomoto and Brookpark Vikenti move into fourth place. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Japan’s Kazuma Tomoto is one of the sport’s real stylists in this phase, and his efficiency and prowess — and that fourth-place individual finish at Tokyo last year — belie the fact that he only began eventing less than six years ago after a career in the showjumping arena. Just a smattering of weeks after a top-ten finish with Vinci de la Vigne at the World Championships, he journeyed to Pau with a very different horse in Brookpark Vikenti. Though we’ve not seen the gelding at this level since 2019, when he led the dressage at Luhmühlen but ran into trouble across the country, and though he sat out much of 2020 and all of 2021, he’s been solidifying every skillset along the way, picking up a number of placings — and a win in his prep run in the CCI4*-S at Little Downham. That time and patience paid dividends today, and the pair go into the final day in a strong fourth place, just 1.4 penalties off the lead after adding 6.4 time.

Hector Payne and Dynasty climb into the top five after a storming clear round. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Hector Payne sits fifth overnight after what felt like a coming-of-age round for the 14-year-old KWPN gelding Dynasty, who was campaigned in his early years by Hector’s former employer Willian Fox-Pitt, and who Hector inherited the ride on after William’s accident in 2015. This is the pair’s fourth five-star start, and their second trip to Pau — but the first time that, in every phase so far, the gelding has felt like he’s finally hitting the targets that they’re able to set at home. Their week began with a personal best score at the level of 30.9, which put them into 16th place, and their round today, which was clear with just 1.2 time penalties, was a sea change from their educational 20 penalties here in 2020 and their slow, steady clears at Burghley in 2018 and Badminton this spring.

Their newfound competitive bent comes after a trick year or so for the rider, who suffered a crashing fall while riding at a one-day event last year, resulting in a badly broken femur that ostensibly healed quickly, but has left lingering longer-term muscular damage that Hector has been working hard on with a physio.

“The first 80% of healing happened quickly — it’s the last 20% that’s felt like it’s taken a year,” he says, adding wryly, “I’m only allowed to do one-leg exercises in the gym!”

We chatted to Hector after his dressage test about the course to come, which he laughingly described as “Chris Bartle’s dream: he’s always telling us to ride everything as though there’s a corner three strides later, and here, there is!”

Maxime Livio and Carouzo Bois Marotin take overnight sixth in the horse’s level debut. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

There are few riders as efficient across the country, regardless of which horse is beneath him, as Maxime Livio — and at Pau, which is always packed to the rafters with a vocally enthusiastic home crowd who effectively carry their riders home with cheers of ‘Allez! Allez!’, there’s an even more noticeable buoyancy to the way he pilots his horses. That was evidenced today in his ride with the ten-year-old debutant Carouzo Bois Marotin, who came here with limited experience — though two top-ten finishes in as many CCI4*-L runs — but crossed the finish line looking like a truly established top level horse. They added nothing to their first-phase score of 35.1, catapulting themselves a remarkable 29 places up the leaderboard from 35th to sixth.

“He’s only ten, but I did two four-star longs with him, and this year in Saumur when I crossed the finish line with him still pulling the reins I thought, ‘shit, he’s ready for bigger sport!'” says Maxime. “So I let him have a rest for a little bit in the middle of the season to let him prepare for here. I was a little bit disappointed with the dressage, but even if he has a great ability for the test, he’s still very sensitive in his mind, so I can lose him a bit in a test. It’s his worst test of the season, but the atmosphere is different [to what he’s used to], and I’d really like to finish this competition well, because for me, if I do well today and tomorrow, then all I need to do is school him to learn that the dressage can be an easy job for him, too. Then, next year, I think I’ll have a real five-star horse.”

His ride today certainly buoyed his convictions in the gelding: “I didn’t have to work hard, because he’s really quick in the gallops, but also at the jumps. So on the twisty parts, I was quite fluent and up on time, and when I came back, I was still on my time. And I let him breathe a little bit for the last loop of the water which is quite twist and you can’t go fast, so I use that moment to say, ‘that’s a good job’. But then even in the last minutes, he was asking me to go for more. He’s quite an amazing horse.”

Caroline Powell’s Greenacres Special Cavalier may be the youngest horse in the field at just nine, but she’s one of the most impressive, too, jumping a confident clear for seventh. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

When we spoke to Burghley winner and seasoned Olympian Caroline Powell after her dressage, she confessed that she’d initially wondered if she might be mad to bring her preternaturally talented nine-year-old, Greenacres Special Cavalier, to Pau, rather than waiting until next season for the step up. But, she reasoned, even if they couldn’t be competitive this week, the exposure and experience would still serve as an important foundational and educational milestone for the mare, who has long looked set to be one of Paris 2024’s major contenders.

As it happened, though, they went a few better than that. Despite her inexperience, the nine-year-old mare sunk her teeth into the Pierre Michelet track as though it was a particularly good meal, and along the way, the pair were able to take calculated risks and add a relatively scant 8 time penalties to their first-phase score of 27.7. That sees them go into the final day in seventh place — one spot higher than they were after the first phase.

Emily King and Valmy Biats shake off their Badminton demons with an excellent round for overnight eighth. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

After completing three-quarters of Badminton’s exceptionally tough track this spring with her then-debutant Valmy Biats, Emily King knew she was sitting on a horse with the scope and guts to succeed at this level — even if he didn’t quite have the mileage yet. And so it was particularly refreshing to see that the Selle Français gelding, who is owned by breeder Philippe Brivois and ‘run’ by the Event Horse Owners Syndicate micro-syndicate group, hadn’t suffered any obvious loss of confidence after his unlucky late fall there — and that Emily, who enjoyed such extraordinary success on her own five-star debut here back in 2016, when she finished fourth, was able to repeat her fate of old today. They sit eighth overnight after an exuberant, bold round with 11.6 time penalties — a drop of three places from their first-phase fifth, but one that Emily isn’t wasting a moment regretting.

“He was just foot-perfect,” says a delighted Emily. “He was very strong and very brave — I nearly  could have had two gears left on the straight, and I could have gone for it, but I didn’t want to overdo it and then him get tired and have a mistake. I really wanted to use it to see where he was at — and he just cantered home so easily. Every fence was perfect; he was just amazing.”

In fact, as Emily explains, much of the time she accrued was actually intentional, with two eyes firmly set on the future.

“He was so quick with his legs and made all the distances I’d planned,” she says. “I was planning to go one extra stride [in a combination] at the beginning, purely because he’s so brave. He could have gone one or two strides less if I let him, but I didn’t want to let that gain on him and then at the end have him be too keen, because that’s what led to the only mistake he’s had [previously]. I think like I could have gotten flat out and been a bit riskier, but actually, I wouldn’t have really learned much from it.”

Bubby Upton and Cannavaro tick all the boxes for ninth. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

So much has changed in a year for Bubby Upton, who made her five-star debut here last year with this week’s ride Cannavaro and her Badminton partner Cola. Then, she had a storming clear on the latter but opted to retire Cannavaro on course after an early issue, and this year, her five-star campaigns have largely been something of an educational experience — an odd irony considering that over the last number of years, she’s been successfully eventing alongside completing her degree, which she finished this spring. At Badminton, she picked up a frustrating run-out at the final fence with Cola after an exceptionally classy effort around the tough track, and at Luhmühlen in June, the former show jumper Cannavaro led the dressage, but showed his sporting roots across the country, jumping ever higher and more carefully until he effectively went into orbit over a drop combination, resulting in their elimination. A 14th place finish at Burghley with Cola marked a turning point — and Cannavaro’s turn has felt inevitable.

But there’s never been any doubt that Bubby would tick the boxes she did today at this level. The former Junior and Young Rider European Champion is a fierce competitor and, of course, a committed learner — and every frustrating moment she’s had this year was channeled, today, into the round the pair have long deserved at five-star. She and ‘Joey’ made light work of the analytical track, delivering that coveted clear and adding just 4.2 time penalties to move from 25th after dressage to overnight ninth.

“It’s probably one of my proudest rounds I’ve had, because I’ve let him down twice now and he so deserves to show everyone how classy he is,” says an emotional Bubby. “Although I was very disappointed with his mark in the dressage, I wasn’t disappointed with him — he’s just incredible. Last year, I messed up; Luhmühlen, I messed up. And today, I feel like I did him justice, and we showed everyone what we can do.”

Bubby, who now has valuable mileage over four of the world’s seven five-star tracks, rated today’s Pierre Michelet effort as among the most difficult she’s ever tackled.

“It was so tough out there. It was one of the toughest I’ve ridden — Burghley was tough physically on me, because I was having to keep plugging Cola along, but the intensity of this track, I’ve never written anything like it. So I’m so proud of how we handled it.”

“It was just one of those courses that you had to ride by the seat of your pants and by feel,” she says. “I’m one that always goes out with a set plan; I’m like, I want to know if I’m doing it on three or four or five or six. But as soon as I get out there it all goes out the window and I ride by feel. I know that that’s what works for me; having a plan mentally, knowing I have it, and then just going by feel. It paid dividends today.”

One of the major boxes that Bubby ticked with Cannavaro today was that of speed — something that’s not come naturally to the gelding.

“He’s never gone the trip before. I’ve said it time and time again that I never knew if he was ever going to make the distance. And actually, he had 11 weeks off after Luhmühlen, just in the field, because he injured his knee when he fell — so he jumped for the first time on the 22nd of September. That’s just a month ago, so for him to go around like that means more than anyone could know.”

Felix Vogg and Colero are one of several pairs to pick up 11 penalties in the second water complex, losing them their first-phase lead but only dropping them to tenth. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Though Switzerland’s Felix Vogg attacked the course with the serious focus and gumption we’d expect from the Luhmühlen winner, he and Colero sacrificed their first-phase lead when they, too, were victims of those tender clips in the racecourse water. They added a further 3.2 time penalties for coming in eight seconds over the optimum time, but such was the influence of the day that even those 14.2 total additional penalties only dropped them as far as tenth overnight.

Matt Flynn and Wizzerd. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Our sole US representatives, Matt Flynn and Wizzerd, picked up twenty penalties at 10A, a skinny in the first water, but nailed a completion, which sees them sit 30th overnight on a two-phase score of 83.3.

Tomorrow’s final day of competition kicks off at 12.30 local time (11.30 a.m. British/7.30 a.m. EST) with the final horse inspection, followed by showjumping from 15.15 (14.15/10.15 a.m. EST). Keep it locked on EN for all the news and updates, and until next time: Go Eventing!

The top ten after an influential day of cross-country at Pau.

Les 5 Etoiles de Pau: [Website] [Entries] [Schedule] [Timing & Scoring] [H&C+ Live Stream *Use code PAU2022 for 15% of H&C+ Annual!*] [EN’s Coverage] [EN’s Ultimate Guide to Pau] [EN’s Instagram]

This week’s coverage of Pau on EN is brought to you with the support of Kentucky Performance Products. We couldn’t do much of what we’ve done these last few years without the support of sponsors such as KPP — which, by the way, is a horses-first, women owned and operated company based in, you guessed it, Kentucky — and without you, our readers! So as we head into this final hurrah of our season, too, we thank each and every one of you.

Felix Vogg and Colero. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Yesterday’s short dressage session at Pau, which saw just 17 of the 50 combinations make their way around the main arena, served as something of an appetite whetter – and today’s jam-packed line-up truly was the full meal. There are just two five-star winning combinations in this field, which set up a match race of sorts, and at the close of play, both are within inches of one another — but it’s this year’s Luhmühlen winners, Felix Vogg and Colero, who reign supreme on a score of 24.2.

But although the fourteen-year-old Westphalian gelding is a stalwart campaigner for the Swiss rider, who has piloted him around the World Championships in 2018 and also finished sixth with him at Kentucky in 2019, he’s still thrown a few surprises Felix’s way this summer.

“I was really nervous, because since Luhmühlen, he’s been really nervous in tests, like at Strzegom two weeks ago,” he says. “I think it’s because he did the prizegiving at Luhmühlen, and that’s not his thing at all! Yesterday, he completely freaked out in here.”

Despite a rather sparkly preparation, though, Colero cantered down the first centreline with his professional hat firmly in place.

“When it matters, he stays with me,” reasons Felix. “Usually he’s always too calm — he’s not usually allowed to do familiarisation, and I didn’t do that in Luhmühlen at all, but he needed it here!”

That meant that, despite a couple of lost marks in the halt and reinback due to tension, they were able to execute a valuable clear round and impress the ground jury, who have proven to be tough nuts to crack this week.

“All the way through was quite okay, and the walk was quite good for him — sometimes he’s a tiny bit nervous. The medium canter was very good, I think,” he says.

Though his five-star win at Luhmühlen was a milestone moment for him, and for Swiss eventing, which hasn’t seen a five-star winner since the 1950s, Felix is remaining level-headed under the weight of expectation this week.

“It starts from the beginning again — it’s like before Luhmühlen. Probably some other people expect something, but for me, he’s done enough.”

Izzy Taylor and Monkeying Around. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

A perfunctory glance out at the schooling arena yesterday yielded a bit of excitement, if you happened to have that glance when Izzy Taylor was riding her Bramham CCI4*-L victor Monkeying Around: the exceptionally talented dressage-bred gelding spent a fair amount of time demonstrating his extraordinary athleticism, in a way that Izzy no doubt hoped he’d avoid in the main ring. But, as Izzy explains moments after her musical, fluent test, part of getting to the bottom of this tempestuous talent has been letting him have his ‘moments’, so that when the real deal rolls around, he’s ready to crack on and give his best work.

“He’s a character, and you have to work with that,” she says with a grin. “He likes to have fun, and everything’s very easy for him, so you have to make the preparation harder so that when he’s in the ring he’s like, ‘oh, this is easy!’ and he’s happy, he’s smiling, and he loves life.”

That joie de vivre was evident in his work today, which had none of the extra dance moves we’ve sometimes seen in four-star tests — and in his hotly-anticipated five-star debut, Monkeying Around pulled it out of the bag, putting a 24.4 on the board and taking a close second place at the culmination of the first phase.

“He’s a very characterful horse, so if I can bring the character into the ring, then it’s great — but I need to make sure we’ve had our chat beforehand,” says Izzy, who, despite her gelding’s relative experience at this point, hasn’t yet ridden him in an atmosphere of this scale. “I suppose Bramham has an atmosphere,” she says, “but he’s never really been anywhere because of Covid and life, I suppose, so he did come in here and go ‘ahh!’ I was like, ‘you need to breathe!’ and then he grew and smiled the whole way through. I was very pleased with his brain.”

Just one tiny error precluded an overnight lead: the first change came a touch early, earning them 4s at H and B.

“It’s annoying with the change — he went early in front because he was so eager to please, and you can’t fault them for that,” she says. “But I’m so proud of him; he’s a beautiful horse, and it’s special when you have them from the word go.”

Tom McEwen’s second ride, Bob Chaplin, gives him two in the top ten at the conclusion of the first phase. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

2019 Pau champion Tom McEwen goes into cross-country with two horses in the top ten: his day one pathfinder, Braveheart B, sits ninth on 28.3, while today’s ride, the exquisite grey Bob Chaplin, takes third overnight on 24.6 after a real clear round test.

“He was a really good boy,” says Tom, who opted to scale back the gelding’s schooling prior to his test, with great success. “Harriet [Fettes, my fiancee] has hacked him; he’s been out looking at the racehorses every morning, and he did ten minutes of arena familiarisation and that’s literally all he’s done. He can get a bit bored and irritated if you kick him around a school, so however much you want to work on bits and bobs, you’re better off leaving him alone.”

Both of Tom’s horses come to Pau with a point to prove after an unlucky week at Luhmühlen in June, where Bob Chaplin fell at the penultimate fence as a result of an errant dog on the course, and Braveheart, too, took a tumble. Tom, though, is a stoic soul and a lifelong learner, and while he’s not dwelling on the past this week, he’s certainly found things he can improve upon from that week — namely in that warm-up routine.

“[Doing too much before dressage is] the mistake I made at Luhmühlen with him, when he feels a little bit perky — but he’s also been on the road for two weeks now, so he’s seen enough,” says Tom, who brought both horses to Le Lion d’Angers with him last week so he could keep them in work as he competed his young horses. “He does very limited stuff at home, too — he does twenty minutes of schooling and then goes hacking, so we can keep him nice and happy and fresh.”

Though Tom is sitting on a horse with a very low 20s score within him, he tempered his expectations in the ring today, instead focusing on laying firm foundations for all that’s to come with Fred and Penny Barker’s eleven-year-old.

“I knew he could do a good test, but apart from the first change, which we messed up, it was a clear round,” he says. “I know he’s expressive and he can go and do all these amazing things, but he’s just not yet strong enough to do that in a test. So for me, it’s more important to go and do that nice, clean test, rather than worrying about how expressive he can be, because we know it’ll come.”

As one of just four riders with two rides here, Tom had the rare opportunity to feel out the difference in the arena surface, which was watered heavily overnight and had a noticeably shallower cut underfoot today, resulting in easier, more fluid rides and, arguably, a slightly less taxing route to great marks.

“It’s good that they listened to feedback, but it’s a shame it couldn’t have happened a day earlier,” says Tom. “Realistically they’re beaches that are maintained with water, and yesterday, there wasn’t enough water, so it was like the tide had been out for a good couple of hours — whereas today, it’s back to a normal Pau surface.”

Mollie Summerland and Charly van ter Heiden dance their way to a close fourth place. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

The ground jury certainly hasn’t been giving marks away freely today, and never was that more keenly felt than in 2021 Luhmühlen champions Mollie Summerland and Charly van ter Heiden‘s test, which was wholly mistake-free and elegant but just saw them slip out of a potential lead on a final score of 25, just 0.8 off first place.

“He felt really rideable, and it was nice that they’d just rolled the arena, so there was some spring to it,” says Mollie, who trains on the flat with dressage supremo Carl Hester and is reliably a force to be reckoned with in this phase. “He did everything I asked, and maybe one change wasn’t as expressive — I think I rode it a bit safe, but I was really happy with the way he went. He had a good brain in there, and he didn’t take much work outside, so it’s nice to know that I’ve got some left in the tank for tomorrow.”

Emily King and Valmy Biats. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

There was a very jolly scene in the chute after Emily King‘s test with Valmy Biats, who remains under the ownership of France’s Philippe Brivois, who also bred the gelding, but is also ‘co-owned’ by the successful Event Horse Owners Syndicate, which provides affordable micro-syndicate memberships for eventing enthusiasts, many of whom turn out at events near and far to watch their horse strut his stuff. Today, they were rewarded in kind with one of the 13-year-old’s best-ever tests, which demonstrated his burgeoning strength and earned him and his rider a 25.5, slotting them into fifth overnight.

“He’s just getting better and better, which is so nice,” says Emily. “You don’t really know where the end’s going to be with him, because every time he goes out, whether it’s a one-day or an international, he just keeps getting better. He’s got a really good brain on him, and he finds the lateral movements very easy, it’s just that he can get a little bit hot in there, so it’s all about keeping him calm.”

Though he’s thirteen, Valmy is still learning his job — and one of his big learning curves has been the flying changes, which didn’t just look good in the ring, but also looked newly well-established in the schooling ring, where EN’s roving journalist admired him earlier on in the day.

“He’s only just started doing the changes properly this year, so they’re getting more and more established, but they’re not quite beautified — but this is one of the first shows where he hasn’t missed many in the warm-up, so everything’s getting more consistent,” says Emily, who is supported this week by mum Mary King and boyfriend Sam Ecroyd, and returns to Pau for the first time since finishing fourth in her five-star debut here in 2016 with Brookleigh.

This is the gelding’s second five-star: he made his debut at Badminton this spring, where he was one of several good horses to be caught out late on course at the Mars flower boxes — but already, Emily is seeing a huge improvement in his work as he begins to understand the nuances of what he’s being asked.

“He’s very supple naturally, and the changes, he can jump them a bit — he knows what he should do, and he tries to do all this extra stuff to help him, which actually doesn’t,” she explains. “So it’s just been about polishing the changes and getting him really rideable — all those little things that’ll step him up again.”

Valmy is a big, rangy boy to look at, rather than the whippet-like French horses that we so often see on the continent, and that, too, has contributed to affording him a touch more time to establish himself at the upper levels.

“He’s quite a chunky monkey, so he doesn’t get the elegance factor quite so naturally, so it’s been about getting him through and showing him off but keeping the basics understood, rather than showing off and little mistakes creeping in,” she says. “That’s the thing as he levels up — as he gets more established, he can get more elegant.”

Kazuma Tomoto and Brookpark Vikenti. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Japan’s shining star Kazuma Tomoto is never a man to throw a mark away in a test, despite picking up eventing just over five years ago — and today, he delivered a characteristically sparkling performance aboard Brookpark Vikenti to earn himself a very respectable 25.6, which sees him hold sixth overnight. That moves day one leaders, Ros Canter and five-star first-timer Rehy Royal Diamond, into seventh place on their 27.3 in this tightly-packed top ten.

Caroline Powell and Greenacres Special Cavalier. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

The youngest horse in the field, nine-year-old Greenacres Special Cavalier, gave us one of the most enjoyable tests of the week, posting a 27.7 for overnight eighth with Olympian and Burghley winner Caroline Powell in the irons. That puts her six-tenths of a penalty ahead of Tom McEwen and Braveheart B, yesterday’s pathfinders, who sit ninth now on 28.3.

“She’s been on it all week,” says Caroline, who gave the expressive mare a sympathetic, nurturing ride that yielded some serious ‘wow’ moments in the ring.

But, like many seasoned producers of young horses, Caroline wasn’t always sure if the step-up was the right step.

“She’s only nine, and so you wonder if you’re a bit silly bringing them here, but if she makes a mistake, it’s going to be a glance-off or something. She jumps so well, and she’s never scared herself; she just needs to learn how to do the lines.”

Caroline Powell and Greenacres Special Cavalier. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Though she came to Pau with the tempered expectations that come par for the course with a first-timer, Caroline always knew she was sitting on something that could produce a really special test — particularly as her mindset has shifted in the right direction over the last couple of seasons.

“She’s been doing some quite nice tests, and all week, she’s been with me. Once you get a mare on your side, you’re a wee bit further on. She loves her work; she’s a real workman, and that makes a real difference. Once she’s got something in her mind, she’s fine — but if she gets the wrong thing in her mind, then you’re in trouble!”

The pair go into cross-country tomorrow in an enviable position, just 3.5 penalties, or just under nine seconds, off the lead — but still, Caroline is maintaining a firm hold on her sense of pragmatism, because ‘Cavvy’ is a serious contender for big things in the years to come. Tomorrow, she reasons, will be an exceptional learning opportunity for the eye-catching mare, and whatever happens, she’ll benefit from the experience.

“She’s a big girl, but she’s getting better between the strings, and the more places she can go, the more she’s going to learn,” she says.

Kevin McNab and Willunga. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Today’s first out, Australia’s Kevin McNab, was one of several riders in the field to pilot a mid-teens first-timer — and fifteen-year-old Willunga certainly stepped up to the plate, delivering a 28.9 that puts him in tenth place overnight. But his workmanlike behaviour in the ring belies a rather wild frat-boy past: his former rider, young horse aficionado Nicky Roncoroni, fondly remembered his early years in a celebratory Facebook post ahead of his performance.

“When perseverance is key,” she writes. “The most characterful little rascal to start off, causing no end of entertainment to anyone who had the pleasure of working with him. The early days were not the most simple, from marching off with people on the long reins, changes in direction quicker than a jump jet, frequently clearing collecting rings, knocking my two front teeth out & the first 3 events reading something like E/R3 145.60 and E/AR & we’re talking about BE80(T’s) [US Beginner Novice] here!”

“He’s a lot more professional now than he used to be,” laughs Kevin. “He certainly was interesting in his younger years! I think Nicky got a lot of that out of him, but there was still some there [when I got him]. He actually thought he was a proper boy, so he’d call out in his tests and he had a few little tricks — but he’s settled down a lot, which he should do, because he’s fifteen!”

Time has been the key for Willunga, who paid that back in full today.

“We’ve just had to get to know him, and figure out what works for him and the set-up. We’ve had to go at his pace, rather than our pace, and that’s meant it’s been a bit slower getting there.”

Though the atmosphere, which was bolstered by low-flying planes and nearby firing practice, certainly added an extra pizzazz factor to proceedings, Willunga remained almost entirely cool and collected, showing some real highlights in the test.

“His trot work is really fun to ride, and it’s really solid, so it was nice to be able to show that off a bit,” says Kevin. “The walk is always a little bit of a thing if he’s tense, and it was a little bit today. That carried on into his canter, but once we got going, he was back again and he made a nice picture.”

Matt Flynn and Wizzerd. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

We’ve got just one US representative in the field after the withdrawal of Caroline Martin and Islandwood Captain Jack from the holding box yesterday morning, and Matt Flynn, who’s been based with Tim and Jonelle Price in England this season, put in a solid effort with the stalwart Wizzerd to post a 35.7, which sees them go into cross-country in 34th place. That’s less than 12 penalties — or 30 seconds — off the leaders, and in a tightly-wheeled track like Pau’s, that’s a much smaller margin than it might sound.

“There’s always things you want to improve, but I was happy with the way he went,” says Matt sagely. “There’s still plenty to do this weekend, and we’ll give it a good shot.”

Tomorrow sees our competitors head into Pierre Michelet’s cross-country challenge, which will begin from 1.00 p.m. local time (12.00 p.m. British/7.00 a.m. Eastern). You can follow all the action live on Horse&Country TV, plus, stay tuned on EN for riders’ thoughts on how the course walks and what we might expect from the competition to come. These things are rarely dressage competitions, but with its abundance of corners and technical, analytical questions, Pau offers a particularly unique challenge, which should yield plenty of changes across our leaderboard and a seriously spicy day of five-star action. Keep it locked on EN — and until next time, Go Eventing!

The top ten after dressage at Les 5 Etoiles de Pau.

Les 5 Etoiles de Pau: [Website] [Entries] [Schedule] [Timing & Scoring] [H&C+ Live Stream *Use code PAU2022 for 15% of H&C+ Annual!*] [EN’s Coverage] [EN’s Ultimate Guide to Pau] [EN’s Instagram]

This week’s coverage of Pau on EN is brought to you with the support of Kentucky Performance Products. We couldn’t do much of what we’ve done these last few years without the support of sponsors such as KPP — which, by the way, is a horses-first, women owned and operated company based in, you guessed it, Kentucky — and without you, our readers! So as we head into this final hurrah of our season, too, we thank each and every one of you.

Ros Canter’s five-star debutant Rehy Royal Diamond delivers the first day’s leading score as the last test of the day. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

From the tiny men dressed as horses (we’ll get to this, I promise) to the cross-country course that practically enters a Citroen dealership, everything at Les 5 Etoiles de Pau is done in its own unique way — and that certainly includes day one of competition. Unlike other five-stars, which host the trot-up on a Wednesday and dedicate Thursday to dressage, Pau takes more of a ‘bit of column A, bit of column B’ approach to proceedings — and after today’s first horse inspection, we dove pretty well headlong into a short, sweet session jam-packed with the horse-dancing stuff.

This afternoon’s action saw just 17 of the 50 competitors take a turn around the main arena — and along the way, just two would crack the 30 barrier. The lead was held through most of the afternoon by pathfinders Tom McEwen and Braveheart B, but at the very tail end of the day, they were pipped at the post by fellow Brit Ros Canter, who came forward as the last rider of the day and delivered the new leading score with debutant Rehy Royal Diamond.

“I’m absolutely delighted with him,” says Ros, who posted a 27.5 with the eleven-year-old Irish Sport Horse (Ars Videndi x Pegasus Star, by Diamond Lad), who she rides for owner Christopher Makin.

Though the gelding has proven an exciting talent, taking a top ten placing at Bramham CCI4*-L this season, he hasn’t always been particularly straightforward: “He’s not been the easiest to get his brain right on the flat,” explains Ros. “He just has a game, and goes on a bit of a jolly — like, ‘look at the crowd!’ He’ll change when he’s not supposed to do, or miss a change when he’s supposed to do one, and waggles around in his halts and jogs in his walks — he’s just a jolly fellow!”

Coming to a long-format event gives the gelding a chance to settle into his environs and perform at his best, she explains: “We need a three-day; his one-day results aren’t anything to go on, because he just needs to be in a place for a bit longer and get a bit bored by it.”

Getting a clear round in the ring was the goal of the day, and although Ros is realistic about her expectations for the week, it’s a starting point she’s very happy with.

“He pulled up completely mistake-free, which is pretty much unheard for him, so that’s great stuff,” she says. “[The highlight] was the way he just stood in his halts with his head so still, because that’s what we struggle with the most, and it’s quite a difficult thing to train with a horse, and it’s just a bit of a habit for him. So just the rideability in a change, and the fact that I could have my leg on all the way is a massive improvement for him.”

Now, both horse and rider will enjoy a ‘day off’ to prepare for Saturday — and once again, Ros is looking to take it one step at a time, always keeping the future in mind.

“It’s a bit of a fact-finding mission,” explains Ros. “I have no doubt about his scope and ability and generosity — it’s just that his build and shape mean that sometimes he runs out of balance, and he’s very long-striding. I’ve struggled in the past, towards the end of the course, to hold him — not because he’s wanting to gallop off with me, but because his length of stride gets a bit too big and I have to overcompensate and slow down quite a lot. So I’m fairly realistic: if we have a great experience, that will do for us. It’s just a case of, I’ll go as fast as I can, but hopefully in a safe way so that he comes home enjoying the experience.”

Pathfinders Tom McEwen and Braveheart B hold the lead for much of the day, but relinquish it at the eleventh hour. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Though Tom McEwen was usurped from top place with Braveheart B, his first of two rides, he didn’t slip by much: the pair’s 28.3 sits them in second place, just eight-tenths of a penalty behind the leaders going into the second, fuller day of dressage. For the twelve-year-old Irish Sport Horse (Radolin x Buenos Aires, by Heartbreaker), it’s the first time breaking the 30 barrier since 2019, when he did so in the CCI3*-L at Tattersalls. At four-star level, he’s been a pretty consistent mid-30s scorer — but although today’s tidy test undoubtedly earned its final score, Tom’s assessment was that it was on much the same par as his previous five-star performance at Luhmühlen back in June.

“He went really well at Luhmühlen, going in early, and actually, he produced a really similar test there,” says Tom, who scored a 31.6 on that occasion. “He did as well as he could do and tried as hard as he could, and all we can ask for is for them to try as hard as they can.”

Still, though, he was delighted to tick every box in the ring with the rangy gelding, who’s owned by Barbara Cooper.

“The changes, for him, would be highlights — they can be a little small compared to the others, but for him, they’re very nice,” he says. “There’s some nice work in there — he can hide a little bit behind the vertical at some points, but overall, he showed a really nice test and outline and gave us a solid, safe clear round.”

The trick to coercing a competitive score out of the gelding hasn’t been any magic button solution, he explains, but rather the long, slow process of building him up with correct foundations. Getting to school him in unique atmospheres, too, has been a blessing — which meant that his early trip to France, accompanying Tom’s ride in the Seven Year Old World Championship last week, paid dividends.

“It’s all coming; it’s just his strength. He’s taken a bit of time,” he says. “He actually came to Le Lion with us last week, and that was really good for him — just seeing the atmosphere, and working on the surfaces, which at Le Lion, are a bit softer than what you’d expect at Pau. So just getting him working through his body and running through the tests around other horses; it’s one thing doing it at home and another thing doing it a show.”

Jonelle Price and Grappa Nera curb their enthusiasm for overnight third. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Less than two weeks after her husband, Tim, won Maryland’s CCI5*, World Number Two Jonelle Price put herself in a competitive early position, taking provisional third place with the diminutive, expressive Grappa Nera on a score of 30.1 despite mistakes in the changes. That’s a considerable upgrade from her previous five-star score of 35.6, which she earned at Kentucky last year — but, as Jonelle explains, she’s not been the easiest horse to produce.

“She’s been a bit of a livewire, but it feels like there’s a light at the end of the tunnel,” she laughs. “The changes aren’t quite there yet, so you don’t expect to magically go and pull them off, but to sit on a thirty with four bad changes reflects on the quality of the rest of the work, so when — if! — I can get it, it’ll be good.”

Like Ros’s ride, Grappa Nera is at her best when she’s able to settle into a new location, and her best scores — such as the 30.5 she earned at Strzegom CCI4*-L in 2020, which ultimately helped her earn second place — have come at long-format events.

“She regularly does a 50 at a one-day — she’s a true three-day horse,” says Jonelle. “She needs to work and she needs to settle into an environment, but she is eleven, so she’s growing up a wee bit, hopefully, so hopefully we’ve got a few good years ahead of us.”

Gireg Le Coz and Aisprit de la Loge dance their way to a day one top five despite some disappointing moments. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

France’s Gireg le Coz leads the way for the home nation after putting a 30.4 on the board for overnight fourth place with Aisprit de la Loge — but the expressive twelve-year-old Selle Français gelding (Quppydam des Horts x Image de la Loge, by Dollar du Murier) has so frequently been a mid- to high-twenties scorer, including at Badminton this spring where he earned a 26.7, that Gireg couldn’t help but feel the sting of disappointment after his test.

“I’m not really happy,” he says. “I think he was feeling very good in the warm-up and good in there — there were just some uncharacteristic mistakes that normally doesn’t happen with him. I had a nice feeling when I started, and then there were just a few little mistakes in the canter. I don’t really know why, so I’m disappointed.”

Disappointed though he may be, it’s never over until it’s over — and Aisprit de le Loge, with his short-coupled build and easy manoeuvrability, is a horse who’s made for Pau, as he proved when winning the now-defunct CCI3*-S here back in 2018.

Izzy Taylor and Happy Days. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Izzy Taylor rounds out the top five overnight on the first of her two rides, the five-star debutant Happy Times. At just ten years old, the British-bred Sport Horse is among the least experienced horses in the field, but he delivered a mature, promising performance to earn a 31.7, just losing a minor smattering of marks in the second flying change and the stretchy canter circle.

“I think did the best he can do with where he is at the minute,” says Izzy. “He’s a first-time five star horse with not a lot of mileage, and he came and did everything. He had a clear round, basically.”

Time, too, has been key with Happy Times, who has had to learn to carry himself in balance but has, this year, picked up promising placings as a result, including fifth place in the CCI4*-S at Burgham.

“He’s lovely, but he’s quite a big horse, so there’s a lot of him to manoeuvre and he’s actually very bendy, so actually translating that to having the legs in the right place… he wants to do it right, and then he gets into it and he can’t,” says Izzy.

Tomorrow sees us dive headlong into a fully-stocked day of dressage, with 33 tests to be performed from 10.00 a.m. local time (9.00 a.m. British time/4.00 a.m. EST), with Australia’s Kevin McNab and Willunga first in the ring. As always, you’ll find all the biggest stories of the day right here on EN — so tune in for all the news that’s fit to print. Until then: Go Eventing!

The top five after day one’s first (short!) day of dressage at Pau.

Les 5 Etoiles de Pau: [Website] [Entries] [Schedule] [Timing & Scoring] [H&C+ Live Stream *Use code PAU2022 for 15% of H&C+ Annual!*] [EN’s Coverage] [EN’s Ultimate Guide to Pau] [EN’s Instagram]

This week’s coverage of Pau on EN is brought to you with the support of Kentucky Performance Products. We couldn’t do much of what we’ve done these last few years without the support of sponsors such as KPP — which, by the way, is a horses-first, women owned and operated company based in, you guessed it, Kentucky — and without you, our readers! So as we head into this final hurrah of our season, too, we thank each and every one of you.

Japan’s Ryuzo Kitajima and Feroza Nieuwmoed. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Is it just us, or is time moving differently in the aftermath of the pandemic? Les 5 Etoiles de Pau, which takes place in the shadow of the Pyrenees in the south-west of France, is one of those special events that managed to run throughout the turbulent last couple of years, and perhaps for that reason, it’s beginning to feel like EN’s de facto second home. It’s somehow been a full year since we escaped a torrential downpour just after Tim Price’s big win here with Falco, but we will not believe it. We won’t. Accepting the passing of time means we must accept our own mortality, and that’s a minor crisis that no one needs on an overcast Thursday morning. Ennui might be very French, but a full on existential breakdown is surely beyond the pale. Let’s get back to the horses, shall we?

Matt Flynn and Wizzerd make a last minute leap onto the Pau line-up. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

This morning saw the competition kick off with the first horse inspection, which is almost always held on Thursday, rather than Wednesday, at this event. There were some last-minute additions to, and withdrawals from, the entry list before it began: 2019 Burghley winners Pippa Funnell and MGH Grafton Street will no longer contest this week’s competition, nor will Tim Cheffings and Gaston and the USA’s Katherine Coleman and RLE Limbo Kaiser. We’re excited to welcome another US representative, though, in Matt Flynn and Wizzerd, and Austria now has an entry in Katrin Khoddam-Hazrati, who rides five-star first-timer Pippa 2.

Max Gordon and Redwood Clover. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Our final start list now sits at 50 competitors after no small amount of drama at this morning’s first horse inspection, which was held before the ground jury of President Sue Baxter (GBR), Anne-Mette Binder (DEN), Xavier Le Sauce (FRA). Two horses were asked to trot again immediately after presenting, but subsequently accepted without a trip to the holding box — first of those was Redwood Clover, the sophomore five-star mount of Great Britain’s Max Gordon, who has had quite a trip to Pau after travelling directly from a wedding in Dubai. The second was another British pair in Harry Meade and the debutant stallion Tenareze, who cantered his way back down the strip and was thus given another opportunity to show the correct pace.

Emily King and Valmy Biats. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

A further two horses were sent to the holding box, where fortunes were considerably more mixed. Emily King and the exciting Valmy Biats, who had a late fall at Badminton this spring, were accepted upon re-presentation, while we were sad to hear the news that the USA’s Caroline Martin, who has been enjoying an exceptional season in England based with Pippa Funnell, opted to withdraw Islandwood Captain Jack from the box.

“He’s just a little body sore from two weeks of travelling and being stuck in a stall,” explains Caroline, who has been competing in France over the last couple of weeks with a successful run at Le Lion d’Angers last week — an end-of-season adventure that always requires competitors to bring their five-star horses out for the full shebang.

Fortunately, Caroline’s got a great sense of perspective about the disappointment: “We’ve had an unreal season and I get to go home with happy horses,” she says.

Caroline Martin and Islandwood Captain Jack. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

This week’s competition brings forward a bumper field of entries, including five-star winners Felix Vogg and Colero (Luhmühlen 2022) and Mollie Summerland and Charly van ter Heiden (Luhmühlen 2021); this year’s Bramham CCI4*-L victors Izzy Taylor and Monkeying Around, who makes his five-star debut as one of the hot favourites in the field; British under-25 National Champions Greta Mason and Cooley For Sure; Luhmühlen runners-up Kirsty Chabert and Classic VI; and French fan favourites Karim Florent Laghouag and Triton Fontaine, who were twelfth individually and team bronze medallists at the Tokyo Olympics.

Luhmühlen victors Mollie Summerland and Charly van ter Heiden return to Pau, where they were tenth in their five-star debut in 2020. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

The dressage will commence at 2.30 p.m. local time this afternoon — that’s 1.30 p.m. if you’re watching from Great Britain and 8.30 a.m. if you’re on the East Coast. Our first pair of today’s 17 competitors in the ring will be Tom McEwen and the first of his two rides, Braveheart B, while our sole remaining US competitors, Matt Flynn and Wizzerd, will come forward at 10.42 a.m. (9.42 a.m./4.42 a.m. EST) tomorrow. You can check out the times in full here, and to tune into the livestream — with a cheeky 15% discount! — click here.

We’ll be back soon with plenty more from France’s weird, wonderful crown jewel — until then, faire du concours complet!

Les 5 Etoiles de Pau: [Website] [Entries] [Schedule] [Timing & Scoring] [H&C+ Live Stream *Use code PAU2022 for 15% of H&C+ Annual!*] [EN’s Coverage] [EN’s Ultimate Guide to Pau] [EN’s Instagram]

This week’s coverage of Pau on EN is brought to you with the support of Kentucky Performance Products. We couldn’t do much of what we’ve done these last few years without the support of sponsors such as KPP — which, by the way, is a horses-first, women owned and operated company based in, you guessed it, Kentucky — and without you, our readers! So as we head into this final hurrah of our season, too, we thank each and every one of you.

And just like that, the 2022 season was over — or nearly, anyway. We’ve got one last big one to sink our teeth into before the battening down of hatches and digging out of training manuals and DVDs, and it’s one of our favourites here at EN. Welcome to the sultry south of France and weird, wonderful Les 5 Etoiles de Pau, where we’ve got a sizzling field of horses and riders from 11 different nations coming forward to fight for the prize — including five-star victors, some of the best debutants in Europe, Olympians and young riders alike.

It all kicks off tomorrow at 10.00 a.m. local time (9.00 a.m. British time/4.00 a.m. EST) with the first horse inspection, which will be followed by a short afternoon session of dressage — so to get you into the spirit of the thing, let’s take a glimpse at the stats of the 50 horses who will come forward this week.

Les 5 Etoiles de Pau: [Website] [Entries] [Schedule] [Timing & Scoring *Will be added when available*] [H&C+ Live Stream *Use code PAU2022 for 15% of H&C+ Annual!*] [EN’s Coverage] [EN’s Ultimate Guide to Pau] [EN’s Instagram]