As I write this, we are just over halfway through the Badminton XC rides, which started at 7am ET and end around 12:50am ET. There have been a couple holds on course, but overall Badminton is riding like a legitimate 4* course. 22 of the first 32 horses out got home clear, which is about what we would expect from Badminton.
–Marina Kohncke and Calma Schelly of Germany lead at the halfway point, but 4 riders have a chance to overtake them–Ruth Edge, Mark Todd, Piggy French, and Emily Baldwin.
[Live Scores, Ride Times, Rider Interviews]
–The early riders who stood out looking good included young Laura Collett who only added 8.8 time penalties in her first Badminton, Harry Meade, and Niklas Lindback of Sweden.
–As is usually the case, Buck Davidson had to use every once of his strength, skill, and tenacity to guide Ballynoecastle through the course, but he did just that. It wasn’t always pretty to say the least but they crossed the line clear with just 10 time penalties to give USA a fabulous first pair around the course.
–Sadly, Jennifer Wooten and The Good Witch picked up a couple of stops at the Willow Wave drop jump into the Lake and elected to retire.
–Canada’s Hawley Bennett and Ginny had a run out at the skinny at fence 6. In the Badminton radio interview after her round Hawley was really frustrated with the penalties because she felt like she had a great chance to go double-clear. Otherwise Hawley’s round looked fabulous.
–Samantha is of course on scene at Badminton for Eventing Nation and is providing regular Twitter updates @SamanthaLClark.
–Elizabeth Powers and Kilpatrick River had a hard fall at the Sunken Lane. Kilpatrick River was reportedly fine but Elizabeth was airlifted out. We’ll keep you updated as we hear more and wish Elizabeth the best. Horse and Country reported as she was being airlifted that she was reportedly unconscious for 10 minutes but woke up before the helicopter took her away.
–Ingrid Klimke fell at the gate into Huntsmans Close with FRH Butts Abraxxas. She had an injury to her knee and was taken to the hospital for x-rays. The horse is reportedly fine.
That’s all for now. I’m off to Easter Sunday mass with my Mom. Scroll down to watch the Horse and Hound live blog or for the link to FEI TV. As always, we’ll have a full recap of the Badminton XC shortly after the last horse crosses the finish line. Go Badminton.
