Classic Eventing Nation

Ros Canter and Allstar B post a personal best to go into the lead on the first day of dressage. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

A dramatic reshuffle of the leaderboard took place in the latter half of today’s dressage, with Britain’s Ros Canter and Allstar B moving into a decisive lead in the penultimate test.

Ros, who tops out at a diminutive 5’2, has put a huge amount of effort into turning her own and Caroline Moore’s 17.1hh ‘Albi’ into a competitive horse in the first phase. Her trainer of six years, Ian Woodhead, has been instrumental in the process, both on the ground and when reviewing video footage of her performances. That joint effort paid off today with career-best result of 23.9.

That winning feeling – Ros Canter and Allstar B. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

“I’m so proud of my horse as the dressage isn’t his favourite phase,” she said. “He isn’t a naturally big-moving horse, but he allows me to ride him for those bigger paces. If he had his own way, he’d stay on the centreline in halt – he’s quite lazy, and so the key for me is to get him in the right frame of mind and not kick him.”

Such was her focus that she didn’t realise how highly her scores were trending.

“I can’t really believe it – I don’t remember much of it! I didn’t look at the scoreboard or anything, as he’s a big horse and a lot to hold together. I just wanted to get the most of every movement.”

A swansong or a second wind? Michael Jung and La Biosthetique Sam FBW hold second place overnight. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

Second place is held overnight, perhaps somewhat predictably, by Germany’s Michael Jung and La Biosthetique Sam FBW. This, says Michael, is likely to be the eighteen-year-old gelding’s final season, and perhaps the final time we’ll ever see the horse on British soil. His first-phase score of 24.7 puts him well in the hunt at this early stage as we look ahead to the horse’s best phase. Still, Michael felt that the test could have earned the pair better marks: “It was difficult to prepare him – he wasn’t very happy with the ground [in the warm-up], but he knows his job. Most of the time I train him inside, so he doesn’t like the wet ground for dressage. By the end of the test, though, he felt really relaxed. In the end, I’m very happy – I was not so happy when I first got here and saw the wet ground.”

Sam’s incredible wealth of experience brings challenges of its own right: “On the one hand, he is so experienced and he knows what he has to do, but on the other hand he knows the arena and can get tense because he knows that there will be an atmosphere. He’s in really good form, he feels good, and I think people see that. We have a very good partnership, I really like him like a friend, and we grew up together. It’s not always been easy but we’ve had a good time together.”

Yoshiaki Oiwa and The Duke of Cavan set a record for Japan. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

Yoshiaki Oiwa recorded Japan’s best-ever four-star score aboard The Duke of Cavan, posting a 24.9, despite a tumultuous start to his day.

“I’m very happy – he was a bit quieter than I expected, because at lunchtime there was a dog chasing us and he was very upset.”

Lauren Kieffer and Veronica make a return trip to Badminton. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

It was a great day for North America, with two riders moving into the top ten. Lauren Kieffer and Veronica sit in fourth place overnight, with Selena O’Hanlon and her Fair Hill winner Foxwood High posting a massive personal best of 26.4 to sit in eighth.

“I was absolutely tickled with her,” said Lauren of the sixteen-year-old mare, who was 17th here last year and 12th at Burghley in the autumn. Compatriot Selena, on the other hand, hasn’t been seen here since 2011, with Colombo, and her return has been something of a dream come true for her horse’s owners, John and Judy Rumble.

“John trained over here for the 1956 Olympics, and he said he had always hoped to come back here one day with a horse,” explained Selena, who has based herself at Mark Todd‘s Badgerstown in Wiltshire for the past month. “Two dreams have come true – John’s was to come back to Badminton, and mine was to take off and be a minion for Mark Todd!”

An incredible effort from Selena O’Hanlon and Foxwood High sees the pair better their CCI4* PB by nearly seven points. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

The experience has been made even sweeter by the kindness of strangers, particularly after some confusion surrounded her win in the Fair Hill CCI3* last year. One of her prizes – a return flight with DuttaCorp – was rescinded as it was deemed to be designated for the highest-placed US competitor. “I’ve been so lucky to have EquiJet offer the lift after the kerfuffle last year. And Mark’s staff have made me feel like part of the family – I even got to ride Kiltubrid Rhapsody, so I feel like a kid in a candy store.”

As for Woody, with whom Selena has been working hard to improve upon prior scores: “he’s been pretty excitable this week, and I was wondering how to manage it, but sticking to the programme has helped him settle. Kiltubrid Rhapsody is his gallop buddy, so I made sure he hacked up here with him, and that helped him to relax.”

Pippa Funnell and Billy Beware make a welcome return to Badminton. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

Pippa Funnell‘s Billy Beware made his first Badminton appearance in four years, scoring 25.7 to sit fifth overnight. Their score comes off the back of two very competitive tests at Burnham Market and Belton.

“On the whole, I was very pleased with the test,” said Pippa. “It’s really nice to have him back. I think, perhaps, that I gave him a bit too much work. He’s been so pleased to be at a big party again and his eyes have been on stalks, so I thought I ought to give him a bit more work. He had a bit of a jolly this morning and this afternoon, I think i just overdid it by five or ten minutes, so he lost a bit of the dance in his steps.”

Tim Price and Ringwood Sky Boy – well in the hunt after the first day. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

New Zealand’s Tim Price is in sixth place currently with Ringwood Sky Boy, with whom he’s finished 2nd, 4th and 5th at Burghley over the last three years. He and wife Jonelle, riding tomorrow, are balancing competing at the event with looking after baby Otis.

“We go from changing nappies in the morning to riding horses and walking courses,” laughed Tim.

Of Ringwood Sky Boy’s test, he said: “I’m so pleased he’s been in and delivered what he can do. We’ve been here a few times and never really found ourselves up there. In the past I used to come out and focus on getting ready for the test in one big session, but we’ve found that the little-and-often approach to schooling works better for him.”

Tim has swapped his trademark (itty-bitty) motorbike for a pushbike this year – “I did the course on it earlier, and I think we went clear, so that’s a start!”

It’s been an incredibly exciting first day of dressage, made all the more interesting by a remarkable number of personal bests recorded – a whopping 41% of the field bettered their previous best scores, according to the stats chaps at EquiRatings.

Tomorrow brings another jam-packed day of dressage, with some more big names coming forward to fight for a place on the leaderboard. Keep an eye out for:

FRIDAY DRESSAGE NOTABLE NAMES:

9:54am BST/4:54am EST: William Fox-Pitt and Fernhill Pimms

11:58am BST/6:58am EST: Jonty Evans and Cooley Rorkes Drift

12:22pm BST/7:22am EST: Jonelle Price and Classic Moet

2:00pm BST/9:00am EST: Piggy French and Vanir Kamira

2:16pm BST/9:16am EST: Madeline Backus and PS Arianna

2:48pm BST/9:48am EST: Will Coleman and OBOS O’Reilly

3:12pm BST/10:12am EST: Sam Griffiths and Paulank Brockagh

3:40pm BST/10:40am EST: Gemma Tattersall and Arctic Soul

4:36PM BST/11:36am EST: Oliver Townend and Ballaghmor Class

The top ten at Badminton after the first day of dressage.

Badminton Links: Website, Entries, Form Guide, Course Map, EN’s Coverage, Live Stream, Course Preview

Oliver Townend praises Cooley SRS for a job well done in the first phase at Badminton. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

The first day of dressage got off to a competitive start, with a chocolate-box selection of some of the field favourites taking to the main arena for the first session. It was to be a fortuitous morning for Oliver Townend who, fresh off the back of his win at Kentucky and following on from his victory at Burghley last year, is in contention for the Grand Slam. His test on Europeans mount Cooley SRS scored a 25.9, a considerable bettering of the horse’s CCI3* average of 30.3. ‘Aero’ is contesting his first four-star this week, and Oliver, who won both previous legs on first-timers at the level, remains pragmatic about the task ahead.

“This is another horse that’s at its first four-star, so it’s just nice to get through it,” he said. “I made one mistake, and he made another, which didn’t help, but I’m happy with the score. With the Grand Slam, and with Badminton, we have to just take one phase at a time and see where we end up. He’s always had it in him – a good test, and the ability to do the job, and he wasn’t always the easiest, but he’s progressed exactly as we’d hoped he would.”

Angela Hislop’s eleven-year-old gelding was the pathfinder in Strzegom, and despite an uncharacteristic 40 penalties across the country, he came in closest to the optimum time on the tight course. Under the revised scoring system, we’ll be looking closely at horses who can be quick and clean across the country, and, despite that performance, Cooley SRS is an out-and-out contender. He’s finished in the top ten in 17 of his 23 internationals, and proven that errors in the second phase are the exception, rather than the rule. With stablemate Ballaghmor Class taking to the ring tomorrow, Oliver will have an exciting week ahead of him.

Travelling groom Jess McKie gives Cooley SRS a pat after his test. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Although the Grand Slam is the question on everyone’s lips, he hasn’t had time to dwell on what it will take, nor what it could mean.

“All I’ve managed to do since Kentucky is get home, manage to avoid my own champagne, and that’s pretty much it,” he said with a wry grin. “The Grand Slam doesn’t bother me – I’m lucky enough to have been in this position twice, and I hope to god  the outcome is different this time.”

Oliver’s previous attempt at the third and final leg of the Grand Slam ended in a crashing fall at the Hollow in the latter part of Kentucky’s course in 2010.

Pamero 4 steps up to the big leagues with Gemma Tattersall to sit second at the lunch break. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

Fledgling partnership Gemma Tattersall and Pamero 4 looked in their element on the horse’s first trip around the Badminton arena, scoring a 27.4 and showing a solid continuation of form, which has seen them post five top-ten finishes out of five internationals together.

“Pamero and I are still getting to know each other – before today, I could count on one hand the number of times we’d been in an international arena together,” she said. “He’s usually quite calm, but this week he’s been quite excited. I just stuck to the plan, and even though he had a couple of tense moments, the judges saw his potential and gave him some super marks.”

The duo came into Badminton with just one run under their belts this spring – a third place finish in the CIC3* at Belton – but their success together hasn’t necessarily been as easy as it’s looked.

“He’s a long horse with a long, thin neck, so he can be difficult to ride in a soft outline with his nose out in front. We’ve been working on his right-t0-left changes at home, and he’s only just got them, so we knew we’d have trouble with those. But he’s such a happy horse, and he loves his work – his worth ethic is amazing,” said Gemma. “But honestly, I haven’t slept for a month for worrying about this horse – he’s one of the most challenging horses I’ve ever had to manage. All credit to my staff, who make sure he has his massages and hold his buckets for him so they can encourage him to eat. He’s a naturally skinny horse and it’s so difficult to keep him eating and looking well.”

To try to manage a drop-off in weight after Belton, Gemma got creative.

“He lives out now with a Shetland – she’s called Sootie, and I think she must be about 40, she’s ancient,” she laughed.

Mark Todd and Leonidas II – one of the fan favourites this week. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

Mark Todd and Leonidas II sit in third place on a score of 27.9, after losing some marks for tension in the halt and rein-back.

“He just got a little bit tense in the walk,” said Mark, “he normally stands still, but he just wanted to take a step forward. It did mean that he was ready to step up into canter well, though.”

Tom McEwen and Toledo de Kerser. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

Fourth-placed at Burghley last year, Tom McEwen‘s Toledo de Kerser is perhaps one of the country’s most exciting up-and-coming talents, and he scored a four-star PB of 28.9 to slot into equal fourth place with Padraig McCarthy and Mr Chunky at this early stage. His score, too, was affected by errors, this time in the changes, which added expensive 3s and 4s to a largely 7.5-8 scoring test.

“I’m not sure what I was thinking at the end with that last change,” said Tom. “I’m super happy with the horse. We threw a few marks away – he got a bit excited about that last change; a bit like last year, knocking the final pole down!”

Alex Bragg and Zagreb: back at the Big B. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

Equal sixth-placed Alex Bragg and Zagreb looked promising on their debut here last year, and their score of 29.6 set them up well for the week today.

“He’s very enthusiastic, and always enjoys and looks forward to his work,” said Alex of the rangy gelding. “Sometimes that can bubble over, but I’d always rather have that enthusiasm. We’re just looking forward to the cross-country – that’s my thing, and we love it. I’m not a dressage rider!”

Andrew Nicholson and Nereo aim for accuracy, not flash, in their test. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

Last year’s reigning champions Andrew Nicholson and Nereo didn’t quite live up to expectations in this phase, scoring a 30.3, a considerable increase on the horse’s four-star average of 27.9.

“I thought it was a good test, but just a little quieter in the powerful stuff than he can be,” he said. “He’s used to a big atmosphere, and there weren’t many people in there. He’s also a big horse, and it felt like he was sinking in the ground a bit, so I thought it was best not to upset the system and stay smooth, and show the judges what he can do rather than leave them wondering about what you can’t. I’ve never ridden in the arena when it’s been this soft, and it’ll only get worse, but as long as it’s consistent it shouldn’t bother the horses.”

We’ll be back with a full report from this afternoon’s dressage, which sees Lauren Kieffer and Veronica perform their tests, as well as Selena O’Hanlon and Foxwood High.

Go eventing!

The top ten at Badminton at the lunch break.

Badminton Links: Website, Entries, Form Guide, Course Map, EN’s Coverage, Live Stream, Course Preview