I don’t know about you, but those 74 dressage tests over the past two days flew by in no time at all. Underneath the blazing sun, gusting wind, the rain and the thunder, the individual standings got more interesting along with the weather today, dispelling the myth that the top ten should be ranked in order of who is most famous, as happens in pure dressage. Who is that Japanese guy, anyway? He looked like he was about to fall out of his saddle with joy when his score was announced.
Yoshiaki Oiwa, looking a bit more subdued in the press conference here.
Keeping in line with my pure allegience to our American riders, I dutifully stalked Will Coleman and Phillip Dutton after their tests, bringing this show jumper to the conclusion that at least in one area, the three day eventers are winning – the handsome man category! And wouldn’t you know it, we have USEF to thank for the neat and tidy look of 29 year old Will, who as an Olympic Games rookie found out that his shaggy surfer hair was not going to be making an appearance in London. His tidied up hairstyle came on order (and yes that was an order) from the US Equestrian Team higher ups. As Will explained it:
“I think they were afraid I wasn’t going to get it done. It’s pretty military grade; they shipped some guy in, a lovely guy from Winchcombe. I was a bit shaggy a couple of weeks ago and they came in and were like Will, sit down, you’re getting a haircut!”
Don’t worry Will, your mom isn’t the only one who likes it.
Other than looking good while doing it, our two Americans were marvelously composed about their rides; Phillip of course is a veteran, and such behavior is expected of him. However, he could do to loosen his composure just a tad when speaking about his ride; as the press politely asked him questions, he politely whispered his responses back to them. Only the most intent listener heard a word he said. Perhaps he’s conserving his energy for tomorrow….
P-Dutty, intently whispering away.
Sidenote, right before the first dressage round this morning, I hiked up to the top of the hill behind the stadium, where the crescent moon shaped jump that you’ll be seeing a lot of tomorrow sits. If I were English I would have called it a brilliant morning, with the sun gloriously streaming down onto the stadium between puffy marshmallow white clouds. The views from up there are going to make for an unforgettable cross-country day tomorrow.
And then, the weather went all bipolar on us. It was still sunshine and blue skies during Zara Phillips’ early ride, which was nice, because her family turned out to watch her and I got to see what a real media frenzy looks like.
However, as those of you watching already know, we were then treated to a day of gusting wind:
. . . which ironically took out the sun visor on one of the judges’ booths.
And an ever-changing slideshow of dark skies, thunder and lightning, short teases of sunshine, and chilly rain. Yeah England! Get it all out now so that we’re spared tomorrow.
This is what the sky looked like just as Rebecca Howard trotted down centerline.
Not that Rebecca paid the sky any attention during an awesome extended trot:
I’m now going to take my wimpy sunshine-state self back to my apartment and find the snowboarding jacket I wisely brought along to jolly old England. I seriously can not wait to watch the cross country tomorrow, but here’s hoping there aren’t any more of these in our future:
