Classic Eventing Nation

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Major Shake-Up on Paris Podium at Slightly Calmer Final Horse Inspection

By Sally Spickard on Jul 29, 2024 3:14 am -

Ryuzo Kitajima and Cekatinka at the First Horse Inspection in Paris. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Sunday trot-ups are always high in potential for tension with the massive efforts made on cross country the day before. After we saw multiple holds and an elimination in the First Inspection, it was hard to know what to expect this morning. Generally, however, today’s Final Horse Inspection was far less drama-filled, a huge testament to both the conditioning and care of the horses as well as the incredible work of the grooms and support staff through the night to help the horses recover well from cross country.

We do, however, have one major shake-up to the team podium after a withdrawal from the holding box on the part of Japan’s Ryuzo Kitajima and Cekatinka.

Team Japan was poised to finish on the podium today, securing bronze medal position on a team score of 93.0. But when the team riders came to present their horses to the Ground Jury of Christina Klinspor (SWE), Xavier Le Sauce (FRA), and Robert Stevenson (USA), two were sent to the holding box: Cekatinka as well as Yoshiaki Oiwa’s MGH Grafton Street. It was then reported that Cekatinka had sadly been withdrawn from the holding box. MGH Grafton Street was re-inspected at the end of the trot-up and was subsequently accepted after a lengthy conferral amongst the Ground Jury.

Individual leaders Michael Jung (GER) and Chipmunk FRH. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

This means some big moves on the team standings. Japan will now have to activate Traveling Reserve pair Toshiyuki Tanaka and Jefferson to move a complete team to the final phase. This substitution will incur 20 penalties, putting Japan onto a team score of 113.0. This does not spell complete disaster, as the Japanese will now be in fifth position, but certainly makes the task at hand more difficult to move back up to the podium.

Switzerland will now move into bronze medal position with their team score of 102.4, while Belgium moves up to fourth on a 111.0. The remaining team standings, which can be viewed here, remain unchanged, pending any additional substitutions, of which we should see one or two yet.

Laura Collett (GBR) and London 52. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

In the trot-up, the only other hold we saw was Australia’s Shane Rose and Virgil, who were accepted upon re-inspection.

A handful of withdrawals were announced before the jog: Carlos Parro (BRA) and Safira, Sarah Ennis (IRE) and Action Lady M, Sanna Siltakorpi (FIN) and Bofey Click, and Carlos Diaz Fernandez (ESP) and Taraje CP 21.10.

Stephane Landois and Chaman Dumontceau. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

We do know that Germany will still send Christoph Wahler and Carjatan S, who parted ways on cross country yesterday, forward to show jumping rather than activating Reserve pair Calvin Boeckmann and Phantom of the Opera, incurring 200 penalties for failure to complete the cross country phase. Aofie Clark and Freelance will be activated as substitutes for Ireland after the withdrawal of Sarah Ennis and Action Lady M, incurring 20 penalties. Australia will also activate Reserve pair Shenae Lowings and Bold Venture after the retirement of Kevin McNab and Don Quidam on cross country, incurring 220 penalties. Brazil will activate Reserve rider Ruy Fonseca and Ballypatrick SRS after the withdrawal of Carlos Parro and Safira, incurring 20 penalties. Scratching your head on all these penalties? You can reference our Scoring Guide here.

Update: Poland has substituted Reserve rider Wiktoria Knap and Quintus 134 for Jan Kaminski and Jard, incurring 220 penalties as Jan retired on cross country yesterday and did not complete the phase.

Boyd Martin (USA) and Fedarman B. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Looking to the finale, which kicks off with the team final at 11 a.m. local time, followed by the individual final for the top 25 pairs at 3 p.m. local time, Great Britain will have a slim margin of 4.7 penalties over France after Ros Canter’s appeal to remove a missed flag (15 penalties) penalty yesterday was not accepted. France is in silver on a score of 87.2, followed by Switzerland on a score of 102.4. Full scores and standings can be found here.

We’ll keep you up to date on any additional changes, substitutes, and confirmations as the day proceeds. Stay tuned for our Companion Guide to show jumping coming later, as well as full reports on both rounds.

Update: Order of Go for show jumping in the first round can be viewed here. The Team Start List can be found here.

#Paris2024: [Website] [Equestrian Schedule, Timing, Scoring] [Peacock for U.S. Viewers] [How to Watch Guide] [Ticket Resale Market] [Spectator Guides] [EN’s Coverage]

Monday News & Notes from FutureTrack

By Abby Powell on Jul 29, 2024 12:01 am -

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A post shared by Boyd Martin (@boydmartineventing)

Out of all the photos I’ve seen from cross country day at the Paris Olympics — and I’ve seen some incredible shots, both from our own Tilly Berendt and other talented photographers — I think this one hits the hardest. That’s the late Annie Goodwin’s father looking on as her horse, “Bruno”, runs around the cross country at the Olympics with Boyd Martin in the stirrups. If that doesn’t leave a lump in your thoat, then I’m not sure you have a soul. And I’m sure that the connections of Stéphane Landois and Chaman Dumontceau felt much the same way yesterday. Both Boyd and Stéphane paid incredible tributes to their horse’s former riders by delivering beautiful clear rounds on the world stage.

Looking ahead now, we’re in for one heck of the show jumping finale. Don’t forget — we’re going to see two rounds of jumping today! In case you need a refresher on how the eventing show jumping works in the Olympics, here you go.

U.S. Weekend Results

Millbrook H.T. (Millbrook NY) [Website] [Results]

Hunt Club Farms H.T. (Berryville, VA) [Website] [Results]

UK International Events

Burgham International (Northumberland) [Website] [Results]

Major International Events
#Paris2024: [Website] [Equestrian Schedule, Timing, Scoring] [Peacock for U.S. Viewers] [How to Watch Guide] [Ticket Resale Market] [Spectator Guides] [EN’s Coverage]

Your Monday Reading List:

In case you’re new here and not familiar with Boyd and Bruno, USA Today published a really nice article on their bittersweet partnership subsequent to the death of Annie Goodwin in 2021. Grab a box of tissues.

The most serious injury on cross country yesterday, to my knowledge, was sustained by Don Quidam, the mount of Australia’s Kevin McNab. Kevin jumped off the horse as he felt a lame step towards the end the of course. Don Quidam is expected to make a full recovery.

The crowds were INSANE! Check out just a couple of neat snapshots to get a feel for the number of spectators that were out and about and cheering on their favorite pairs.

After watching show jumping today you might be a little inspired. At least that’s how I often feel after watching a big event! If you’ve got the urge to saddle up and pretend you’re riding in the ring at Versailles, considering implementing a few lessons that Olympian Laura Kraut shared with a group of lucky young riders at the recent USEF Horsemastership Training Session.

Morning Viewing: Take a look inside the Great Stables at Versailles (not where the competition horses are being housed) and hear from Canadian eventing team manager Emily Gilbert about the logistics it takes to get to the Games.

A Shake-Up at the Chateau: The Paris Olympics Cross-Country Day Report

By Tilly Berendt on Jul 28, 2024 4:19 pm -

Switzerland’s Mélody Johner and Toubleu de Rueire cross the pontoon in front of the Chateau de Versailles on a thrilling day of cross-country at the Paris Olympics. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Update: Since the writing of this report, it’s been confirmed that Britain’s appeal to remove Ros Canter’s 15 penalties has been unsuccessful. You can see the results in full here.

We knew, well ahead of time, that the atmosphere at Versailles for the Paris Olympics would be something beyond words on cross-country day – after all, France is arguably the country that loves eventing, and its home riders, more vocally than any in the world. There’s not many places that you’d see groups of teenage girls bursting into a busy flurry of snotty tears because Astier Nicolas galloped past them on cross-country (which we’ve witnessed at Pau, not just once) or adults hurling small children out of the way so they can hoik their iPhones across the roping and get a video that they’ll… never watch again? Watch every night before they go to sleep for the rest of time? It’s unclear. But what is clear is that they love eventing, and today’s cross-country day was always going to be their magnum opus, their piece de resistance, their Mecca.

And thus unfolded the most deafeningly loud cross-country day we’ve ever had the privilege of reporting on. It began with a general level of overarching madness that sat on the moderate to extreme end of the spectrum; it ended with full-on, balls-to-the-wall, red-faced and wild-eyed insanity.

Nicolas Touzaint and Diabolo Menthe. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Nearly four hours in, we at EN, and our colleagues on the course and in the mixed zone with us, felt fairly well ready to drop from the fast-paced intensity of it all. But not the French, who were just getting started, nor the strong contingent of British supporters, who’d shown up wearing Union Jacks from top to tail, and brought their own faintly horrifying Charles and Camilla (if Camilla was styled by Ginger Spice, that is).

Somewhere in the distance, a small child shrieked “allez! ALLEZ! ALLEZ!” with such ferocity that we couldn’t initially worked out whether the screaming had stopped because she’d finally ruptured a vocal cord, or whether she’d somehow opened a portal to hell and been swallowed up by her demon brethren. People weren’t just shouting: people’s eyeballs were straining out of their skulls and veins were protruding from their foreheads as they fought to be the very loudest, very French-est French person of them all.

The fervor didn’t just stop with the fans, who’d packed into the Versailles estate by the tens of thousands. It also extended to France’s home riders, who triumphed as a trio over Pierre le Goupil’s influential track, logging three quick clears in spite of – or perhaps helped along by – the roars of approval, which began when they were specks on the horizon and only increased in intensity as they approached and tackled each fence. You could log their movement around the parkland just by listening to how the collective roar shapeshifted and relocated; when team pathfinder Karim Laghouag returned home clear and inside the time with Triton Fontaine, despite a very near disaster at the tricky drop-to-ditch-to-brush combo at 16ABCD, you could also log his movements by his interview style. Here’s a snippet from our transcription app for some clarity on the matter, and how he felt about it all:

That clear round, and the two very swift ones to follow from his teammates, Stephane Landois and Nicolas Touzaint, have propelled France one spot up into silver medal position overnight on a two-phase team score of 87.2 – and at the time of writing, that means that they’re just a whisper away from taking over the gold medal position, still held by Great Britain at the end of the day, though not without a hitch in the plan.

The Brits could, in theory, still finish their day on a score of 67.5, which would see them head into the final day of competition with 19.7 penalties, or four rails and nine seconds in hand. But for now, they hold onto a team score of 82.5, which gives them just one rail and one second in hand.

The reason for that variable margin? A flag, deemed to have been missed by team anchors Ros Canter and Lordships Graffalo, initially reported to have been at the combination at 16ABCD, and then revised to within those reports to have been at the final element of 21ABC. At the moment, we’re awaiting updates from the appeals process – we’ve seen at least one other flag ruling appealed and removed very quickly earlier in the day, for New Zealand’s Clarke Johnstone and Menlo Park, but this one, which has such significance for the team, and for Ros as an individual, is taking its sweet time. If it stays in place, the Brits have that shortened margin, and Ros will go into the final day in 24^th place; if it’s taken away, they have a much more favourable margin and Ros moves up to fifth place and remains on her dressage score of 23.4.

It is, perhaps, the most significant drama of the day at this moment in time – but the rest of the day certainly hasn’t been short on surprises. Germany, second as a team after dressage, is now 14^th out of 16 after their second pair, the hugely consistent Christoph Wahler and Carjatan S, were eliminated at the ditch element of fence 16ABCD, which came after a significant drop and wasn’t well-read by several horses in the field. Though Carjatan made a game effort to pop it neatly, his back legs slid off the lip of the ditch and he stumbled, depositing Christoph in a perfect-form forward somersault onto the ground. Despite a clear with just 4.8 time penalties for pathfinders Julia Krajewski and Nickel 21, and a clear inside the time for Michael Jung and fischerChipmunk FRH, the three-to-a-team format here at the Olympics renders them wholly out of the hunt for a team medal.

Similarly affected is the Australian team, who logged 2.8 time penalties via their pathfinders, Shane Rose and Virgil, and a clear inside the time for anchors Chris Burton and Shadow Man, but lost Kevin McNab and Don Quidam, who pulled up mid-course after Kevin felt the horse take a misstep. It’s since been announced by the Australian federation that the gelding sustained a soft tissue injury, from which he’s expected to fully recover. Australia are now 15^th of 16 teams.

Alex Hua Tian and Jilsonne van Bareelhof. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

New Zealand, previously fourth, slipped to sixth when their first rider, Jonelle Price, picked up 20 penalties with Hiarado; similarly experienced four-time Olympian Alex Hua Tian and Jilsonne van Bareelhof, who were third after dressage, fell foul of the flag rule and dropped to 32^nd as a result. And for the USA, who had been sixth after dressage, 20 penalties for Caroline Pamukcu and HSH Blake means they’ll have to work their way up from eighth, having already moved up one placing since the close of play due to a substitution announcement from Ireland. The Irish, sitting ninth after taking on those 20 substition penalties, will slot Aoife Clarke and Freelance in for Sarah Ennis and Action Lady M, who completed with just 3.2 time penalties today. The Irish federation announced this afternoon that the mare has picked up an injury on course.

They battled enormous atmosphere, changes of light, traitorous flags, and the colossal weight of pressure on the world stage – not to mention a Pierre le Goupil track that walked as much less challenging than it ultimately ended up being – but ultimately, so many constituent parts of the field of competitors also logged huge victories today. Take team Japan, for example, who now sit in bronze medal position after outriding all their Tokyo demons today; or upward rising Switzerland and Belgium, who are fourth and fifth, respectively, after excellent rounds for all their riders. And the Netherlands, too, has much to celebrate: they might sit tenth as a team, but for the first time in Olympic history, they had a rider clear and inside the time, thanks to Janneke Boonzaaijer and ACSI Champ de Tailleur.

Janneke Boonzaaijer and Champ de Tailleur. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

63 combinations started today – China’s Huadong Sun withdrew Lady Chin Van’t Moerven Z this morning, thinning our field by one – and 56 ultimately completed, giving us an 87.5% completion rate, and 41 of them, or 64%, jumped clear. An impressive ten combinations went clear inside the time; a further two – Ros and Lordships Graffalo, and Swedish pathfinders Sofia Sjoborg and Bryjamolga van het Marienshof Z – were inside the time but had flag penalties.

Michael Jung and fischerChipmunk FRH. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Atop the pack at the end of the day? Well, you might think that breaking an Olympic record with a score of just 17.5, and then adding just 0.8 time penalties across the country, would be quite enough to hold onto gold, but first-phase leaders Laura Collett and London 52 will have to settle for a very close overnight second instead.

Those two seconds of time left the door open just enough for Germany’s Michael Jung and fischerChipmunk FRH to overtake them when they sailed their way to a clear inside the time in the final hour of competition. That leaves them on their dressage score of 17.8, giving them a one-second buffer – but nothing even close to a rail in hand – going into tomorrow’s final phase.

“Today there was quite a lot of moments to enjoy,” says Michi, who put his Tokyo MIM-clip penalty firmly in the past with today’s excellent round. “Chipmunk made it very easy for me — every time, the jump was easy. He was listening so well and connected to me, and he was so powerful galloping. I checked the time and said, ‘Okay, we have more time on the next fence. Slow down, slow down.’ It was an unbelievable feeling.”

Michi confesses that even he – a four-time Olympian and the most successful eventer of all time – felt a bit of stage fright heading down to the collecting ring from the stables today.

“So many people are here watching the course — it’s fantastic. Especially in the warmup – there’s many people. I was a bit scared at first, but they are quiet [there], so it’s a very good place to warm up the horses. Outside they are very loud and everywhere on the course, but in the end, you see more when you look on television than when you’re on the course.”

Today’s 5300m course, which had a 9:02 optimum time, was on the shorter side for a four-star long, and didn’t have much in the way of terrain – but one of the major surprises of the day was how many horses appeared to tire in the final stages.

Michael Jung and Chipmunk FRH. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Chipmunk wasn’t one of them, despite a slow start to his season thanks to Europe’s ongoing deluge of rain.

“[For Chipmunk’s fitness, he does] a bit of everything. He is a bigger horse — he needs for sure endurance and muscles, and I started a bit later into the season, with a smaller show,” he says. “The focus was absolutely the Olympic Games this year, so I was — with the conditions and everything — a bit quiet in the beginning of the season. But he’s a horse with so much talent. In the dressage, in the jumping. He’s so brave in the cross country. He makes everything, for the rider, a bit easier.”

Now, two-time Olympic individual champion Michi’s looking ahead to tomorrow’s showjumping phase – a phase which has seen him miss out on some major wins with this horse, including individual gold at the 2022 World Championships and the CCI4*-S at Luhmühlen this summer. He’s determined, though, not to spend too much time worrying about what could come tomorrow.

“If you are in front, it’s fantastic, for sure. At the moment it’s time to enjoy – it’s a dream,” he says. “Today, just today; tomorrow, it’s a new day. I try to really focus — I try to go step by step through the day, not thinking to prize giving or something after. I just concentrate to the vet check, to the first jumping, to the second jumping, step by step. And I have a great feeling. He’s super fit in the finish, is not a little tired. He’s looking like he can go again, so this is very good for tomorrow.”

Laura Collett and London 52. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Snapping at his heels is one of the very best showjumping partnerships in the field, though a pair who have their own Tokyo demons to overcome in that phase. Laura Collett and London 52 had a hugely uncharacteristic two rails down there; this year, though, the three-time five-star champions are taking that as a learning experience to propel them to greater heights.

“He’s a very good jumper, but anything can happen, as we saw in Tokyo,” she says. “Being in an Olympic stadium is a completely different experience to anything that [the horses] have ever seen before. He was very spooky in Tokyo and there were no crowds, so I’m just hoping he likes the crowds — hopefully he’ll show off tomorrow like he has done for the last few days.”

In the meantime, she won’t get much sleep.

“I was buzzing after yesterday, and then the thought of today — it definitely wasn’t very many hours sleep. I’ll sleep for a week when I get home,” she laughs.

That lack of sleep came down to “a lot of head scratching, to be honest” about which routes she’d take in some of the key combinations on course. She ultimately opted to go the ever-so-slightly longer route at 16ABCD, where so many horses misread the ditch, which may have added her marginal time penalties, but also kept her and ‘Dan’ well in the hunt when others had faltered.

“I was always very much wanting to jump left off the drop — I just felt like the ditch was a bit of a nothing ditch and there were too many unknown circumstances for how they would read it and jump it — and with only two strides to the triple brush, I just thought that was an unnecessary risk,” she says. “I think we saw that with quite a few of the first ones that went — they didn’t really make a mistake, but they didn’t understand the question. For me, that was always plan A, and I stuck to it and it rode really nicely.”

An early lost front shoe also meant she had to ride conservatively in some of the twistier parts of the track.

“[The time] is quite tight. There are a couple of places where you can really let them gallop, but there’s an awful lot of twists and turns,” she says. “He lost a shoe and we were slipping all over the place, so I had to be quite careful on those turns and really kill the speed a bit to get around the trees without doing anything stupid.”

Where fitness was concerned, though, Dan certainly didn’t struggle, thanks, in part, to a system well honed over the last five seasons at the top levels of the sport.

“He doesn’t have very much blood, so he’s had to build it up over the years and learn to go that extra distance,” she says. “We’ve learned over the years that it’s actually the runs that get him fit. He finds going up a gallop very, very easy. He’s run quite a few times – he’s done four four-star shorts this year — so we use the runs to really get him extra fit. It’s good because then he doesn’t get too keen like he did at the at the Worlds in Pratoni, where he got to thinking he knows everything. Today he was perfect.”

In the aftermath of her round, she says, she “can’t really believe it, to be honest. I’m just relieved that it’s over and I haven’t let anyone down. London is just my horse of a lifetime. He’s just incredible; he’s just so talented. I think for me, knowing what he was like as a young horse and knowing how much he’s had to trust me and believe in me — he’s not an actual cross country horse, and then he goes around a course like that on railway tracks — it just shows what years of partnership you can build up. You can make him believe in you, and I have full faith in him now, – and then you can go and enjoy yourself out there.”

Chris Burton and Shadow Man. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Australia’s Chris Burton continued his sterling comeback to eventing after several seasons focusing on pure showjumping by delivering a speedy clear inside the time with Shadow Man, retaining their first-phase score of 22 and the bronze medal position overnight.

This is just the seventh FEI run for the pair since they joined forces over the winter, the second long-format run – and the first time Chris has really let the handbrake off in a long format with him, too. For that reason, and because Shadow Man hadn’t evented since the spring of 2022 when Chris took him on, there was something of a question mark hanging over them going into today’s competition. There isn’t anymore.

“You always worry — it’s hard, and then you worry that they get a bit tired and you hope you have them ready and fit enough, but the crowd really sort of picks them up,” muses Chris, who expressed that he has ‘mixed emotions’ after an excellent individual result, but a tough day for his team.

Chris Burton and Shadow Man. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

“Shane [Rose] rode a lovely round this morning and did his job as the pathfinder, and he was outstanding. [But] I’m so sad for Kevin and his beautiful horse. I always want to ride well, but you have in your mind that you have to put up a good score for the team. I wasn’t always thinking, ‘I’ll go slow and clear’ — I was always thinking, ‘I’ll go clear inside the time.’”

The performance also proved to Chris that he hadn’t lost his grasp on riding quick clears in his time out of the discipline.

“I wasn’t out of the sport,” he points out. “I’m still riding jumps; it’s fundamentally all the same. I will tell you, there was a few times this year I woke up a bit nervous thinking, ‘Oh you know what, this might be stupid’. But I’ve always loved jumping — and jumping the Grand Prixes like I’ve been able to do this year actually helped me. I’m lucky enough — thanks to the Australian High Performance program — to train with Nelson Pessoa, so we work together with the jumping and we work together with the cross country. First show I came back to, he rang and said, ‘You think it makes you better?’ I said, ‘I think it does; I feel like I’m riding well,’ and he said, ‘I think so too.’ Eventing is its own sport; show jumping is its own sport. They’re different animals, and it’s a different game. I’m not going to compare them [except to say] – these animals are beautiful, and look what they’re out there doing.”

Felix Vogg and Dao de l’Ocean. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Switzerland’s got plenty to celebrate in camp tonight: the team, which has been on such an upward trajectory over the last five seasons or so, sits fourth in the overnight rankings, while their anchor rider, Felix Vogg, is also individually fourth after a determined clear sans time with Dao de l’Ocean that belied the horse’s relative inexperience – he’s done just one CCI4*-L prior to this, and began his campaign this week, too, with one of his best-ever dressage tests.

“Yesterday he just gave his best again — he’s so clever,” says Felix, who explains that the round really came to fruition when he figured out that he needed to let the gelding make his own decisions.

“I tried to disturb him at the beginning of it, but I had a couple of bad jumps. He made the best out of it — and after a while, after like [fence] 12 or 13, I just said, ‘Look, whatever you do, do it. I’m just a passenger.’ I showed him the way, but the rest he did. He just did what he should do.”

Felix’s round came in the final team rotation near the end of the day, when plenty of trouble had already unfolded. But he was blissfully unaware of much of it.

“I cannot answer who fell or struggled. I saw a couple of struggles at the beginning, and then I went into the lorry and slept a bit,” he says. “The course was, in part, difficult because we didn’t have a test event, and it’s not a usual event where we go often, so the first riders found out a little bit how it’s going and how to the ground is and how fast you can ride. That was the only information we had, and that’s what made it really difficult. The track was really intense — the time was really tight, so it made all of it a little bit tough in this way. Then you had a lot of combinations in between really fast, so there was no time to mess around and think about it.”

Yoshiaki Oiwa and MGH Grafton Street. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Yoshiaki Oiwa and Pippa Funnell’s 2019 Burghley champion MGH Grafton Street lead a provisional third-place charge for Japan after crossing the finish line three seconds inside the time – and giving a great show of partnership despite only half a season, and a few runs, together.

In getting ‘Squirrel’ prepared for today’s challenge, he had plenty of help from the gelding’s former rider, with whom he’s now based.

“[Pippa] gave me a lot of advice, so many things — make sure my balance is back, not pointing down. It is a little thing, but this is very helpful — just to remind me a lot. I think Pippa is always with me as [MGH Grafton Street’s] ex-rider, and she is giving me all the advice — where is the button, and he’s like this, this, this. All the instruction I get from her all the time makes it possible for me to do this,” says Yoshi, who has had an impressive, if short, string of results with the historically tricky horse.

Tom McEwen and JL Dublin cross the finish line with one of the rounds of the day behind them. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Tom McEwen and JL Dublin climbed from eleventh to sixth after delivering a clear inside the time in the British team pathfinder position. Far from being put off by the hugely vocal spectators on course, they relished every moment of the chaos.

“[It’s an] amazing crowd, all the way around the course,” he says. “It’s absolutely wild — not just at the fences, it’s in between the fences, in every single area. The horses love it even more – there’s nothing irritating about it, and even more people would be better! It’s amazing; they’re cheering for you before, over, and after the fence, and it’s just a lovely start, and the horses really pick up.”

He was full of praise, too, for Pierre’s track, after a tough previous experience battling the designer’s efforts saw him fall at last year’s European Championships.

“It’s a fantastic Olympic course. It allows you to be really open and free to begin with, and then requires the riders to think where you need to close up,” he says. “Actually, it’s been such a great course that I changed my mind on some of the elements, just as we were about to start, from how they were jumping. It was great, and for me — I call it the leaf pit — the two drops where there’s an option [at 16ABCD], that’s a big question.”

Their round was masterful, but it wasn’t perfect: I had a huge slip just on the flat coming out of a combination after a lovely ride through there. You’ve got to stay with them; you’ve got to stay connected and give them all the confidence.”

Now, the Tokyo individual silver medallist is within breathing distance of the individual podium once again.

“The job isn’t done, and I’m very lucky my horse is a European champion in his own right with Nicola [Wilson] – he’s a phenomenal horse, and I’ve done enough five-stars on him now to have a lot of experience.”

Stephane Landois and Chaman Dumontceau. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

The cheers for each of the three French riders were deafening – but the loudest of all went to debutant Stephane Landois, who crossed the finish line with 2.8 time penalties aboard Chaman Dumontceau.

“For Thaïs, and for France,” said the announcer with palpable emotion, referring to Chaman’s former owner and rider, who lost her life in a cross-country accident while competing him in 2019. She was just 22 years old.

Representing Thais must add an awful lot of pressure to the already extraordinary weight of riding for France at a home Olympics – but if Stephane was ever going to falter, which he never looked close to doing, he’d have been picked up and carried home by the ferocity of his countrymen’s support. Step by step by step, though, he simply delivered.

“I stayed concentrated through the whole course, and went to my plan — the plan that was given to the whole team — and I did exactly what I needed to do,” he says. “There is so much atmosphere and the crowd is so loud that actually I couldn’t even hear my watch properly, which goes off every minute to give the time frame. I didn’t even have a moment to look at it to know exactly where it was — I just kept going and stayed concentrating on the course.”

Kazuma Tomoto and Vince de la Vigne. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Kazuma Tomoto, who was fourth in Tokyo with Vinci de la Vigne, added nothing to his first-phase score of 27.4 to climb ten places from eighteenth to eighth.

“He was amazing. I’m really, really pleased, and I’m proud of him,” says Kazu of his experienced partner, who was formerly ridden by France’s Astier Nicolas. “He knows everything: what he needs to, do what I want him to do, he’s absolutely a professional horse — especially in the big event, big atmosphere. At home, he’s a lazy boy, but in a big atmosphere, he’s like, ‘Come on, it’s my time’, so he was fantastic today.”

Tokyo was a disappointing experience for Japan as a team – but now, in bronze medal position and on superb form, Kazu’s focusing on taking his first step onto an Olympic podium after having been so achingly close as an individual three years ago.

“We have very good show jumpers, three of them. We are really, really hungry to get a medal and bring it back home, so we will try our best,” he says.

Tim Price and Falco. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Tim Price and Falco boosted a tricky day for team New Zealand by cruising around the track to climb from twelfth to ninth – though he rued his 2 time penalties after finishing his round.

“He was really good – just very focused, and he traveled beautifully, and had plenty of gallop at the end,” says Tim of his World Championships double bronze medallist. “It’s a little bit regretful to have the time faults on one hand, but there’s so many things to take care of to make sure you don’t have a silly moment, and that you jump cleanly and through all those pesky flags, which we did. I’ve had a couple of occasions where I’ve gone for it and then at the end I’ve regretted it a little bit. I didn’t want that to happen again. I wanted a bit of finesse available for the last couple of combinations, and I had that ,and had a really good final water and the one up and down the hill. And then when I galloped, he bloody motored down home. I think I probably made up 10 seconds, but I couldn’t make up 14 seconds. But he’s pulled up super, with a big smile on his face, and ready for tomorrow.”

Like Tom, Tim was full of praise for Pierre’s efforts.

“It felt like an Olympic track. [Pierre]’s done such a good job – I’m going to buy him a drink when I see him next, because it’s not easy to deliver the perfect kind of course. But in terms of being French – when I think French, I think twisty-turny, with lots of acute angles with a really searching distance. He had that a couple of places, that we had to arrive on the right distance to make the job easy. But that’s of the level, I think. The people that didn’t do that got a bit unstuck somewhere along the way, but in a safe way, so I think it was a great course all around.”

Tim and teammate Clarke, twelfth overnight, were able to keep cool heads after Jonelle’s run-out early in the day, thanks in part to prior frank conversation about Olympic fates and fortunes – both good and bad.

“We straightaway chatted [about Jonelle’s runout], the three of us and [team trainers] Jock [Paget] and Sam [Griffiths] — and it was a time to remain very staunch,” he says. “Last night over dinner, we talked about Olympics gone by where there’s been a 20 [penalty rider] put on the podium, on a couple of occasions over the last couple of Olympics. So it’s about being informed and reformed as a team and maintaining that through the whole thing. The mindset was the same really. We did think maybe we need to push a little bit harder.”

Karim Laghouag and Triton Fontaine. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

National treasure Karim Laghouag rounds out the top ten with Triton Fontaine, and in the end, he did say more than just a guttural roar after his clear inside the time.

“I was pretty sure about the course; it was always the number 16 obstacle that I was a bit wary of because of the drop,” he says, referring to the spot on course where he so nearly had an early finish when his horse stumbled in the ditch. “I was apprehensive in the beginning before coming up to it. It was always the one that I was wary of coming into the course. Once we got there, I was like, ‘You’re Triton — you do your thing, you’re Pegasus, so you get us over there and then we’ll keep going.’ But as I just said, it’s a sport for the two of us, so I let him do his thing and then we went on together to finish the course.”

“[The crowd] gives me goosebumps; it’s just amazing to be here,” he continues. “Even 30 seconds before coming into the course — before starting to gallop — I could hear the crowd calling my name. That really was just amazing; that is the most incredible feeling.”

Karim Laghouag and Triton Fontaine. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

This is another partnership that’s been forged through time, understanding – and friendship.

“It’s been seven years that we’ve been together. Already within the first six months of riding together, we won our first four-star. I just knew that this was going to be a partnership that was going to go a long way, and I could then already get into the five-star level and compete with this horse,” he says with a smile. “There was a little bit of Triton that just held back a bit before we got to that point — that’s probably why it took so long to get there — but once we did, then it’s been a perfect partnership. I don’t actually ride him a lot in big competition — it’s really doing a lot of preparation work with him. I take him to the beach quite a lot as well, to run him along the beach. There’s an area in France called Rouen where we go. It’s a lot of physical preparation together that we do, rather than being in big competitions all the time.”

The North American Update

The U.S. delivered strong performances today, but for an unfortunate error from pathfinders Caroline Pamukcu and HSH Blake (Tolan R – Doughiska Lass, by Kannan), in which they were assessed 20 penalties for a runout at fence 16C. Subsequently, Liz Halliday and Nutcracker (Tolan R – Ballyshan Cleopatra, by Cobra) as well as Boyd Martin and Fedarman B (Eurocommerce Washington – Paulien B, by Fedor) secured clear rounds with small amounts of time to put the U.S. onto a team score of 128.5. The withdrawal of Ireland’s Sarah Ennis and Action Lady M due to an injury sustained on cross country (and the subsequent addition of 20 penalties for Ireland to substitute in reserve rider Aoife Clark for the final phase) means the U.S. will move up one spot, from ninth to eighth, in the team rankings, though at the time of publication the team rankings had not yet been updated to reflect this.

Caroline Martin and HSH Blake. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

“[Blake]’s a phenomenal athlete,” Caroline commented. “The course was riding like a dream, and then we came to that bank and he fell in the ditch. When you fall into a ditch like that you only have a few options for what to do. The biggest thing is that I’m fighting for the team. I’m riding for the team. If I were individual, I’d fight and try to jump the skinny, but we’re on a team, so I did the best option I could.”

Caroline is currently in 47th individually on a score of 62.4.

Liz Halliday was over the moon with the performance of Nutcracker, who finished just off the podium in his CCI5* debut at Kentucky this spring and really stepped up to the plate in the biggest competition of his career to date. Liz thought this horse would be among her strongest contenders for Paris at the outset of this year, having really matured and gained strength over the last season, and he proved that he was fully prepared for the task at hand today.

“He’s kind of a freak of a horse — he’s just so powerful and he’s relentless; he can gallop forever,” Liz said. “He was plenty fit for Kentucky, so I just did a similar gallop plan without overdoing it — because I was a little concerned about him being too fit, if I’m honest. He had tons of running left [today]. I’m a little annoyed I wasn’t a bit quicker, but I know I rode smart too, and that was also important today. He had plenty of running left and is fresh as anything right now. The girls are struggling to hold on him — which is also how you want to be, you want to finish the Games with a horse who’s fresh and happy.”

Liz Halliday and Nutcracker. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

It’s been a mixed bag of emotions for Liz, who of course was slotted into the team competition at the midnight hour earlier this week. Realizing two-thirds of the Olympic dream today was an emotional experience for her. “I’ve dreamed of coming to this Olympics for a long time — and then when I was so close, but not quite there, and then suddenly I was there… It’s going to settle in more when I’m gone, and to recognize it. Just to walk around and be standing at a cross country jump and see the Palace of Versailles and recognize that we’re actually on those grounds, it’s something I will never experience again in my life. It’s a moment that I will cherish.”

Liz is currently in 22nd individually with a two-phase score of 34.0.

Boyd Martin and Fedarman B. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Boyd Martin was the last out for the U.S. and is now the top-placed for the country on a score of 32.1, sitting in 17th individually with Fedarman B.

“He is an absolute legend,” Boyd said of “Bruno”. “He just was brilliant every step of the way. I couldn’t have asked for anything more today. He gave me his heart and soul and got a little tired over the last three fences, but he just dug deep and kept going. Very, very pleased with him.”

On a day that featured somewhat slippery going on some of the turns due to yesterday’s day-long downpours, Boyd said he was grateful to be sat atop a “mountain goat” of a horse. “I was lucky, I got a few tips on which turns were the worst [from the other riders], and he’s surefooted as a mountain goat, old Bruno. So I didn’t actually have crazy studs in, and you know I protected him a bit through the sharp turns, which cost me a bit of time but, it would be a bugger to slip over, too.”

While the U.S. is lower in the team rankings that they would have liked, the influence of tomorrow’s show jumping phase should not be discounted (anyone remember a little show in Pratoni a couple years ago?). All of the U.S. horses have strong show jumping records, with just a handful of rails between them in recent competition. In particular, Fedarman B has never had a pole down in international competition. Both Liz and Boyd benefit from the tutelage of Peter Wylde, while Caroline Pamukcu has gotten mentorship from several riders, not the least being show jumping extraordinaire Anne Kursinski.

“I was obviously really looking forward to being in a much better position because we have very, very good jumpers,” U.S. chef d’equipe Bobby Costello said. “They all have shown time and time again, that they can jump clear rounds, and I expect that to happen tomorrow. It’s just a bummer that we’re not in a place right now it looks like we can use that to our advantage, but absolutely, anything can happen. Anything can happen overnight. Anything can happen. Just freak things happen, as we saw today, all the time. So we certainly are not going to you know crawl in a hole. We’re just going to come out tomorrow with a fresh mindset for the day and just finish up as strongly and in the best place that we possibly can.”

Mike Winter and El Mundo. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Canada also had a somewhat mixed bag of results, delivering two clear rounds from Mike Winter and El Mundo (Numero Uno – Calvaro’s Bria Z, by Calvaro Z) as well as Karl Slezak and Hot Bobo (Arkansas VDL – Taneys Leader xx, by Supreme Leader xx), while anchor rider Jessie Phoenix picked up an unfortunate 20 penalties at fence 7B with Freedom GS (Humble GS – Friedel GS, by Fidertanz). Canada will take a team score of 158.0 and 11th in the standings forward to Monday’s finale.

Jessie Phoenix and Freedom GS. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

“[Freedom GS] was a little bit within herself,” Jessie said. “She came up that bank and jumped beautifully out over the skinny, and I just didn’t have quite enough room to get her going forward and ahead of my leg again. She jumped up the next bank and just literally never saw the birch railing. Was it really a refusal? No, because she didn’t see it — everything she sees, she jumps. On a day like today, it’s just terrible timing because you feel like you’ve like your entire team and country down. Anyhow, after that we regrouped and she was pure class. I am so excited for this horse’s future. She just galloped around there with such speed and confidence and just got better and better as she went on. I’m really looking forward to show jumping her tomorrow.”

Karl Slezak and Hot Bobo. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Karl Slezak is the top-placed Canadian, bringing home Hot Bobo with just 4.8 time penalties to go into 27th individually on a 40.6.

“She was phenomenal,” an elated Karl said after his ride. “She just came out of the box on fire. And we were way up ahead on her minutes at minute two. So I had to back off a little bit. She was just cruising around, never had to kick her once. So, I mean, when she comes out of the box like that, I just know we’re gonna get around. And then yeah, just took that last long route at the end there just to make sure we didn’t have a pin at the corner. And so we had a little bit of time, but I was super thrilled.”

“I just love her so much,” Karl continued. “She loves this ride. I’ve been saving her a little bit this season. She’s just got to put the pedal down and go. She loves it. She eats it up.”

Ian Stark and Pierre Le Goupil’s Thoughts on Cross Country

We caught up with both U.S. cross country advisor Ian Stark as well as our designer in residence here at Versailles, Pierre Le Goupil, to find out their thoughts and reactions to the day.

“I think it was interesting really,” Ian reflected. “As the day started, the ground was a bit slippery and wet. It dried out as the day went on and I think the going — the footing — got better for the later competitors. I thought it was a really good track, I thought Pierre le Goupil designed a great track, it looked magnificent.”

Ian as well as Pierre echoed the thoughts we all had after the first handful of riders made the course look like a walk in the park.

“For a while, I thought it was going to just be a bit of a gallop round,” Ian said. “But you know, as always, the pressure on at an Olympics can cause its own problems. So there was trouble spread well out. The ditch after the big drop caused more influence than I thought it would do. But the horses didn’t really read it [the ditch]. Some of them jumped it beautifully, and others just ran through it. Most got away with it.”

“At the beginning of the course of the day, I was staying by the control center and everybody was going very well,” Pierre agreed. “Too well, I say to myself, ‘Oh, that’s gonna be too easy.’ The time has been obviously influential. My feeling is that they were all riding pretty well. And so that was very impressive. It didn’t look too dirty, like the time was tough. It’s difficult. Horses were jumping well.”

“You don’t have a crystal ball,” Pierre continued. “The problem is making things too easy, doesn’t make it safer. I will say that, it was not a very big course, it was not an enormous course. It was a course to give a chance to everybody. I think it has worked. There were plenty of little locations to make little mistakes.”

Nicolas Touzaint and Diabolo Menthe. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

And there is also the fact that on an Olympic venue, the designer generally has no historical data to draw from in terms of how the ground responds or how the track rides.

“The challenge here is that nothing happened here before and nothing will ever happen here again. For a century,” Pierre elaborated. “So, you have no return. I mean, when you organize on a regular basis at a venue, even if it’s only for one year, it’s really a different job. Because you’re always thinking about the next experience when you’re watching the horses. You prepare already the next course you’re going to design here and if not improve, you take lessons and you can refine your project and change it for the better. And get new ideas. Here is different. It’s one shot and there was no feedback from previous experiences.”

In general, today was a phenomenal display of sport and horsemanship, and at a time when equestrian sports are under a greater microscope than ever before, it was heartening to see the immense attention to welfare and horse (and rider) safety on cross country today. We do this, at the end of the day, out of love for the horse. From the throngs of spectators, to the keen horses, to the determined riders, we saw this in spades today. And may we never lose sight of this guiding moral, always seeking to improve our sport and the lives of our horses.

Go Eventing.

The individual top ten following cross-country.

The team top ten following cross-country.

Sally Spickard contributed to this report.

#Paris2024: [Website] [Equestrian Schedule, Timing, Scoring] [Peacock for U.S. Viewers] [How to Watch Guide] [Ticket Resale Market] [Spectator Guides] [EN’s Coverage] [Form Guide] [Team Form Guide] [Dressage Companion Guide]

FEI Issues Yellow Card in Response to PETA Complaint

By Shelby Allen on Jul 28, 2024 4:35 am -

Carlos Parro and Safira. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

This story has been updated with comment from the rider.

The FEI have issued a yellow card at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games to Brazilian team rider Carlos Parro in response to concerns raised by the animal rights group PETA.

A letter of concern and photographs were sent by PETA which appear to show Carlos hyper-flexing Safira to FEI president Ingmar De Vos on Friday.

“The FEI can confirm receipt of the letter and accompanying photographs from PETA highlighting the concerns about the conduct of Brazilian athlete Carlos Parro. The FEI Officials have issued a yellow warning card as the action of the athlete could have caused unnecessary discomfort to the horse,” The FEI said in a statement.

“Additionally, the Ground Jury has directly addressed the situation with the athlete and the chef d’Equipe of Brazil. The FEI Stewards are aware of this incident and will be vigilant at all times for any behavior that is not in line with horse welfare and are prepared to take immediate action if such behavior occurs.”

The four-time Olympian is ranked 51 after the first phase with his and John and Juliet Chambers’ Safira, a 12-year-old British Sport Horse (Spring’s Spirit – Hidden Sapphire, by Uptons Deli Circus), on a score of 37.7.

Following cross country, Carlos responded to the warning stating that the mare is an anxious type and “naturally” can move in that way when the reins slack. “The stewards were there. They could have seen if I was done anything wrong, and they didn’t. She will do that anytime. You let the reins go, the first thing she’ll do is put her head down,” he said, adding that on that day schooling he tried Safira in a double bridle, which he doesn’t normally employ.

“I did try a double bridle on her that day. I was suggested to try it because as I said she does tend to put her head down. It was suggested to me that I put a double bridle to help her come up a bit. It could have been that she didn’t want it, but I’ve never ridden in a double bridle before. It’s always on a snaffle. I put snaffle back, it’s fine,” he said. Carlos went on to complete his dressage test in his usual snaffle bridle.

“I think it’s it’s wrong that the governing body is accepting that and giving them wood for the fire. Because, as I said I was not riding her over-bent. She did it by herself. My hands were loose. The curb rein was loose. It’s not something I do. We love the horses. That’s why we do sport. When we were kids we rode every day because we wanted to be around them not to treat them badly,” he said.

Oo La Let’s Go! Your Follow-Along Companion Guide to the Olympic Eventing in Paris – Cross Country Day

By Cheg Darlington on Jul 28, 2024 3:00 am -

Have a good ride! Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Bonjour tout le monde! It is officially the best day of the entire Olympic Games, and yes, I am including the Opening Ceremony, the 100m final, the 4×100 relay, and the 50m freestyle in that bold statement, because, well, eventing is the best – cross country is the bestest of the best – and we all know it.

Oh yes, it’s cross country day at the Palace and the scene is set by the Grand Canal for an epic day’s sport. And I’m going to be here, with you ENers, for all of it. Welcome to our signature live blog, but not as you know it…

Just in case you missed yesterday’s explanation of why things are looking different in our live blogs for the Olympics, here’s what you need to know:

For those of you who are avid followers of our live blogs (we salute you eventing nerds!), you’ll notice that things are a little different this time around. In order to adhere to the strict media rules for the Olympics, we’re not able to bring you live commentary. We can, however, keep you totally informed with regards to who’s heading out onto the cross country course today, what their form is coming into the Games, their hobbies and favorite foods (amongst other, um, horseplay), and how they’re likely to perform in each phase based on the available data, so you’ll be securely in the know as you watch the live stream.

I’ll also be bringing you the riders’ reactions following their rounds, courtesy of our roving reporters extraordinaire – Sally Spickard and Tilly Berendt – who are somewhat inconspicuously scraping croissant debris from the roof of their mouths in the Chat Zone, probably. So buckle up and prepare to be hit with absolutely everything you didn’t know you need to know about the horses and riders of the Paris Olympic Games.

Before we get down to official Olympic business, here are some links of interest:

▶️ If you missed yesterday’s dressage companion guide,you’ll find it right here.

▶️ The substitute rule and scoring is, shall we say, a little complicated, at the Olympics, but never fear, EN is here with a natty explanation of how things will work should a team run into trouble on the cross country.

▶️ Here’s everything you need to know about the Olympic cross country phase.

▶️ There’s info and links galore in our Ultimate Guide to Eventing in Paris.

▶️ We’ve been chinchilla-ing away backstage to bring you all the Paris content you can possible handle, and we’re not done yet, oh no! For now though, click here for our view from between the flags – IYKYK.

Please remember to keep this page refreshed so that you don’t miss a thing. I’ll be adding in the riders’ reactions to their rounds as they come in, and the scores periodically, so keep flicking through to gather all the goodies.

*Updated to include scores below as things stand directly after cross country. There are potentially some reviews in progress.

Croissants a go go, let’s go cross country!

#Paris2024: [Website] [Equestrian Schedule, Timing, Scoring] [Peacock for U.S. Viewers] [How to Watch Guide] [Ticket Resale Market] [Spectator Guides] [EN’s Coverage]

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FIRST TEAM ROTATION

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🇩🇪 Julia Krajewski and Nickel 21

Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Julia is, understandably, very excited about this young horse, who, at just 10-years-old has already proven his talent in all three phases. He’s got just one non-completion with Julia on his record and no cross country jumping penalties. Oh yeah, he’s at the Olympics right off the back of a superb, winning run at Aachen.

Form, Facts & Stats:

Julia’s championships experience:

🔥 Individual 🥇 Tokyo 2020 – Team 🥈 Rio 2016
🗺️ Team 🥇 & Individual 🥈 Pratoni 2022 – Tryon 2018 (Team)

🔴 Julia has been presented with the highest sporting award in Germany – the Silver Laurel Leaf – not once, but twice.

Cross Country 📈 In 17 FEI runs with Julia, this guy has never had a cross country jumping, flag or frangible device penalty – not a single one. There is one – wet – blip on his record, courtesy of that water at Boekelo last season, which took the scalp of a number of combinations that day. Up until their dunking, they were in the lead. He hasn’t been inside the time for a good while, but he’s often very close, and time penalties are very much in the single figures. Trust me, this combination is one to watch 👀

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“It’s not Mandy [her Tokyo gold medalist], he’s not there to take me around — I’m there to take him around, and take his hand and make it happen.”

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How did things go out there for the reigning Olympic champion?

“I’m beyond proud of Nickel … You just set off on him and it’s as if you’ve done an Olympic course on him twice before. He’s such a genuine horse — he’s trusting. I maybe was a little bit careful in the beginning with the ground because it changes a lot. It’s not that it’s actually bad, but it’s a bit softer in the turns — there are little hills on the tracks, so you do lose bit of time here and there. For me, the most important was that he’s happy and fit for the last three minutes, so I didn’t want to push him too much in the beginning, and that worked out perfectly. He did everything actually perfect. In the last water, he took me along a bit; I was brave and said, ‘Okay, we do it on five and five’, and didn’t take the safe option because I thought, ‘Okay, the time’s running away’, and he just did it like a pro. That makes me very, very proud of him.”

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Score for Julia Krajewski and Nickel 21 – 4.8 XC penalties – Overall 31.7 – 14th

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🇦🇺 Shane Rose and Virgil

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A post shared by Shane Rose (@shane.rose.eventing)

Given that Shane is heavily involved in racehorses as well as being an eventing legend, you won’t be surprised that he’s no slouch out on the cross country. This long-term partnership had a superb spin ‘round the Tokyo course on their way to team silver. They contested their first FEI competition back in 2011 and we all know that eventing’s all about the relationship between horse and rider, which will stand them in very good stead as they look to add another medal to their haul.

Form, Facts & Stats:

Shane’s championships experience:

🔥 Team 🥈 Tokyo 2020; 10th individually – 🥉 Rio 2016 – Beijing 2008 (Team)
🗺️ Pratoni 2022 (Team); 13th individually – Tryon 2018 (Team) – Caen 2014 (Team) – Aachen 2006 (Ind.) – Rome 1998 (Ind.)

🔴 Shane’s a five-time winner of the Anna Savage Medal, presented to the best and fairest Australian eventing rider.

Cross Country 📈 They were clear inside the time at Tokyo and added just 2.8 time at the World Championships in Pratoni. More recently, they finished on their dressage at the Horse of the Year event in New Zealand on their way to taking the win, and were just one second over the time in the Adelaide 5*, which they also won. In 48 FEI competitions across his career, Virgil’s had a 20 out on cross country on just five occasions, with just one 11 for a breaking a frangible device, two eliminations and two withdrawals before cross country – seriously, this guy is one to watch 👀 He’s also speedy – the most cross country time he’s added since the beginning of the 2019 season is 5.6. Dependable, honest as the day’s long, and quick, all the attributes of the great event horse that this guy has proved he is, time and again, as Shane’s brought him up through the levels since his first event back in 2011.

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“He feels amazing; he finished like he could have gone around again. He was awesome.”

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Virgil’s a veteran of the sport at nineteen, and it’s amazing to see these experienced horses come out looking so fabulous. Shane talked about how they’ve prepped for Paris and how things went out there:

“We had a really specific plan for this championship with him to try and get him so that he jumps as well as he can tomorrow — as well as today. So far, he feels amazing. He’s traveled really well — I think he’s carrying more condition, which is one of the things we’ve worked on, and I think he looks and feels much better for it. He was typical Virgil on course, keen to run and jump, not so keen to slow down and listen, but he was foot-perfect. The only fence that I would say wasn’t perfect was he just did not see the ditches at the bank. I don’t know whether it was [that] the ground line was a similar color to the rocks in the ground — he just did not see them. Luckily, at the first one I was a little more aware. I could get the distance that I chose, and the second one was a tight three, and I just expected him to back up and chip in and he just literally cantered across it — which was a little bit of a heart palpitation — but fortunately he landed quite well -balanced.”

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“He sees a jump and jumps it.”

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Score for Shane Rose and Virgil – 2.8 XC penalties – Overall 37.4 – 23rd

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🇨🇦 Michael Winter and El Mundo

Mike Winter and El Mundo. Photo by Shannon Brinkman Photography.

There’s nothing more important than the relationship between horse and rider as they’re galloping and jumping across the country, and this combination have one of the closest. ‘Roberto’ was supposed to be a produce and sell prospect, but Mike struggled to find a buyer for him, and then the gelding was injured and had to be put on box rest. Mike appointed himself full-time carer for the big guy and of course, selling was totally off the table after that. And here they are, at the Olympics. Bet Mike’s very glad that Roberto stayed firmly in his barn.

Form, Facts & Stats:

Mike’s championships experience:

🔥 Beijing 2008 (Team) – Athens 2004 (Team)
🗺️ Pratoni 2022 (Team)

🔴 Outside of eventing, Mike’s hobbies are snowboarding, and tractors.

Cross Country 📈 In 31 FEI competitions, this pair have had cross country jumping penalties on just five occasions, the most recent being at the World Championships in Pratoni in 2022. They added 7.6 time at the Pan-Ams in Santiago last season, where they won team gold, and are generally between about that and low-teens in terms of time penalties. They kept it to 10 in the 4*-L at Bramham last season, a notoriously tough track, and added 8.8 there in the 4*-S this year. The Olympics are kind of in between a long- and short-format in terms of number of jumping efforts, length and time allowed (it’s 4* in terms of the obstacles), so that gives us a bit of a picture of El Mundo’s relevant form when it comes to time penalties.

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Mike took on the role of pathfinder for the Canadian team, here’s what he had to say about what that meant to him:

“I tried to be a good caretaker of my position of going first and put a score on the board and a good caretaker of my horse’s wellbeing and give him the best possible ride I could around there and bring him home safely with a score that can contribute to the team.”

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What’s he taking back to the team after his trip ‘round the Olympic track?

“Some of the French crowds are really enthusiastic which is great. It gives us a lot of energy. It’s very exciting. And I think in the first part of the course it takes the horses by surprise, but later I think it encourages them on and they enjoy it. [I’ll tell them about] the crowds at the beginning, and that the middle section through the woods is a bit wetter, a bit slippery – be cautious there, but also keep the energy level up in your horses because at 21ABC, that’s a bit energy sapping through there with the wet ground — but then they get a second wind as they come out of there and back into the open.”

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And how did things go out there for him and El Mundo?

“I would say when it gets later on in the course, normally [El Mundo’s] turning isn’t as good; I probably was overly cautious there. He actually responded much better than I thought. I was worried I wouldn’t be able to bring him around in the six [strides], and instead I almost ended up there in five because he was so obedient and he turned so well. It’s information for the future, I think, as he matures, and the training and the strength. These horses are incredible natural athletes, but the time that goes into the training, the suppleness, the strength and conditioning training they have so that they can be their best athlete – year on year, they build in confidence and obedience and strength and it’s just an amazing thing.”

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“Everywhere where I was concerned that maybe was something he hadn’t seen or was difficult for him to pick up on, he was just amazing.”

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Score for Michael Winter and El Mundo – 14.4 XC penalties – Overall 49.6 – 38th

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🇮🇪 Sarah Ennis and Action Lady M

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Sarah’s a pretty speedy kind of lady, and she’s sat on another speedy kind of lady, so it seems like they make the perfect match. They sure are a mighty combination. It sure will be exciting to watch this pair – blink and you’ll miss ‘em!

Form, Facts & Stats:

Sarah’s championships experience:

🔥 Tokyo 2020 (Team)
🗺️ Team 🥈 Tryon 2018, 5th individually – Caen 2014 (Team)

🔴 Sarah will be totally fine galloping alongside and crossing the Grand Canal – she’s a qualified scuba diving instructor to dive master level.

Cross Country 📈 In 16 FEI starts this pair have sixteen completions, fourteen of them coming after jumping clear across the country. Add to that the fact that this pair are pretty quick, and you’re onto an eventing winner. They added just one second of time to their dressage score in the 4*-S at Ballindenisk this season, where they finished third. In their most recent long-format run, which came at Blenheim last year, they added just 3.6 time penalties on cross country day.

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Sarah sums up what it’s like out on cross country at a French Olympics:

“I have never seen so many people.”

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Action Lady M got a bit hot in the huge atmosphere yesterday, but today the crowd’s enthusiasm came in handy for Sarah:

“It’s funny, whereas the crowds weren’t good in the dressage ring, the crowds out there [on course] helped, because she’d be spooking at them it helped me in every turn because she backed away from the people, and I could ride her around the turn, saying, “You have to turn now,” and she’s like, ‘Woaooooh!’”

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Fair to say, the dressage was subjected to a deluge of rain all day yesterday. How’s the ground out on course?

“You could hear it [the ground] being a bit ‘ploggy’. The only place I slipped, and I actually saw somebody slip on the TV there, is that bit in the woods. We did the first skinnies fine, it’s getting to the second skinny and landing after is very, very slippy. I slipped just before that skinny, so I was lucky to get over. We went to get over it sideways. That’s the only really bad bit of ground, but the rest of it was grand. You can hear the wetness, but you weren’t disappearing.”

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Sarah, her leg, and Action Lady M were having a good chat on the way ‘round, it seems:

“All the way round, I stuck to Plan A. I think I was close to the flag at the corner coming out of the top water. My leg was like, ‘Uugh!’ and she went, ‘Like this!’ and I was like, ‘I’m not touching that!’”

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All in all, it appears Sarah had a grand ol’ time out there:

“I had walked six [strides] between the two houses along the canal and it was a moving six, and Dag [Albert] said ‘That could five,’ and I was like, ‘Hmmm, I think I’ll stick to my six.’ I came to it, I was like, ‘Oh my god there’s five!’. I was laughing to myself about that but he [Dag] was dead right.”

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“I’m very proud … She was on it all the way, she was incredible.”

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Score for Sarah Ennis and Action Lady M – 3.2 XC penalties – Overall 41.2 – 29th

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🇨🇭 Mélody Johner and Toubleu de Rueire

Photo by Tilly Berendt.

This horse is a cross country machine with so, so many clear rounds under his cinch over his decade-long career. It must feel so good to be sat on such an experienced horse as you leave the Olympic start box, and to be on one so consistently careful cross country, well, Mélody’s one lucky lady.

Form, Facts & Stats:

Mélody’s championships experience:

🔥 Tokyo 2020 (Team); 17th individually
🗺️ Pratoni 2022 (Ind.)

🔴 Mélody’s sporting motto is very apt for a team Olympian: “Do the best you can and give your best. For yourself and for your teammates.”

Cross Country 📈 Since this pair got together, they haven’t had a single cross country jumping penalty, not even a flag. In fact, this gelding has only ever had one 20 in ten years. Seriously, he’s a true eventer’s eventer. They were just one second over the time in Tokyo, and added 8 penalties at the World Championships in Pratoni. and just a few more at the Europeans last season, 15.6. There is some variation on how quick this pair seem to go, from very, to moderate. We’ll have to wait and see what plays out in Paris.

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Score for Mélody Johner and Toubleu de Rueire – 3.2 XC penalties – Overall 41.6 – 30th

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🇺🇸 Caroline Pamukcu and HSH Blake

Photo by Sally Spickard.

HSH Blake comes here in hot hot hot form 🌶️ He won the 4*-L in Tryon last time out, where he finished on his dressage. He was clear inside the time on his way to winning individual gold at the Pan-Ams in Santiago last season and clear inside the time at the Young Horse World Championships in 2022. This guy sure knows how to step it up when things get serious.

Form, Facts & Stats:

🔴 HSH Blake lost a shoe in the 4*-S at Kentucky and still pulled off a fast clear for fifth place.

Cross Country 📈In 22 FEI competitions, this pair have never had a cross country jumping penalty – not a single one. Totally clear, all the way. And they’re quick too. Since the start of the 2023 season, they have five clears inside the time on their record, and when the did have time penalties, they were very much in single figures. This is an exciting prospect for Team USA. Eyes on 👀

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“The biggest thing is that I’m fighting for the team. I’m riding for the team.”

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Caroline picked up penalties after taking a long route. Caroline explained what happened out there.

“[Blake]’s a phenomenal athlete. The course was riding like a dream, and then we came to that bank and he fell in the ditch — so I did the smartest option and said ‘Going long’ and jumped the different element. If I were individual, I’d fight and try to jump the skinny, but we’re on a team, so I did the best option I could.”

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Score for Caroline Pamukcu and HSH Blake – 32 XC penalties – Overall 62.4 – 47th

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🇵🇱 Malgorzata Korycka and Canvalencia

Photo by Tilly Berendt.

This pair have plenty of 4* experience, with twenty-one runs at the level since 2019. It must feel good to be setting off on your Olympic debut with so much practice under your belt.

Form, Facts & Stats:

Malgorzata’s championships experience:

🗺️ Pratoni 2022 (Ind.)

🔴 Malgirzata and Canvalencia were third at the 4*-L Olympic qualifier in Poland last season.

Cross Country 📈 This combination’s cross country record isn’t without its blips. They had an 11 for breaking a frangible device on their most recent run, one of two they’ve had this season. They also have the odd 20 on their record. They jumped a steady clear at the World Championships in Pratoni in 2022, where they added 32.4 time penalties. More recently they’ve been quicker, with time penalties ranging from 6.4 to 18.

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Score for Malgorzata Korycka and Canvalencia – 21.2 XC penalties – Overall 60.6 – 44th

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🇸🇪 Sofia Sjöborg and Bryjamolga van het Marienshof Z

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This pair aren’t here to win the dressage, they’re here to show their jumping mettle with the probability of a clear, and possibly quick, round in the cross country.

Form, Facts & Stats:

Sofia’s championships experience:

🗺️ Pratoni 2022 (Team)

🔴 Bryjamolga van het Marienshof Z’s name in the barn is ‘Belle’.

Cross Country 📈 This pair haven’t had a problem out on the cross country since 2021. They jumped clear at the European Championships last season and at the World Championships in Pratoni; they added 10.4 time at the Europeans, finishing up in thirteenth place; at the Worlds they added 14.8. In their three 4*-S runs this season, they’ve made the time once and added just a smidge at the other two events; they were also clear inside the time in the 4*-S at Luhmühlen last season.

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“That was very cool.”

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Sofia was totally delighted with her horse after their round:

“It was amazing. She came out the startbox — she’s always been a quick horse, but we’ve just put a little bit more gallop work into her, and she just flew, really. She’d be around 50% [blood] – around half, but she’s quite jumping bred. I think she just gets better and better cross country. I spent a lot of her youth riding quite slowly. She’s quite a hot horse and she could get strong. But she spent a lot of years consolidating, learning to wait for me and now, when she’s been going fast, the last two or three years, she’s really got quicker in her brain and quicker in her legs. Today, it really felt like we had another step forward.”

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And how did she find the ground out there?

“It didn’t feel bad — the horses felt quite surefooted. There was one turn into that first ditch at fence four in the woods — she just lost her backend a little bit there — but everywhere else it felt pretty good. If anything, they go to a few of the crossings and you almost feel like, ‘Whoa!”, but actually the going was very good.”

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Score for Sofia Sjöborg and Bryjamolga van het Marienshof Z – 15 XC penalties – Overall 48.3 – 37th

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🇬🇧 Tom McEwen and JL Dublin

Photo by Tilly Berendt.

‘Dubs’ finished on his dressage when he became European Champion with Nicola Wilson in 2021, with an incredible finishing score of 20.9. Tom’s not quite reached those levels with the gelding since taking over the ride in 2022, but it’s coming, that’s for sure. They’ve been second at Kentucky 5* twice and third at Pau. Tom knows what it’s like to win both a team and individual medal at a Games, and there’s no doubt he’ll be hankering for the same for Dubs, and Nicola, who he always credits for producing Dubs so beautifully.

Form, Facts & Stats:

Tom’s championships experience:

🔥 Team 🥇 & Individual 🥈 Tokyo 2020
🗺️ Team 🥇 Tryon 2018; 12th individually
3️⃣ Tom is currently World No. 3

🔴 Tom has been incredibly busy lately – he got married last year and is expecting a mini McEwen this year!

Cross Country 📈 Since having an unlucky, and surprise, rider tumble at the European Championships last season, this pair have finished either first, second or third in each of the events they’ve done – not a bad comeback at all. They had a 20 in the 4*-S at Aachen last year, but really, that should be put down to the pair learning one another’s ways in the early stages of their relationship. In their last five FEI competitions they’ve jumped clear on cross country day, with time penalties kept well and truly within single figures, and that includes two 5*s.

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“It is amazing; they’re cheering for you before, over, and after the fence.”

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Tom elaborated on how his round went with ‘Dubs’:

“I’m very lucky my horse is a European champion in his own right with Nicola — he is a phenomenal horse, and I’ve done enough five-stars on him now to have a lot of experience … It is a fantastic Olympic course. It allows you to be really open and free to begin with, and then requires the riders to think where you need to close up. Actually, it’s been such a great course that I changed my mind on some of the elements, just as we were about to start, from how they were jumping. It was great, and for me — I call it the Leaf Pit — the two drops where there’s an option, that’s a big question. I jumped through the two verticals and the two egg things — and I had a huge slip just on the flat coming out there after a lovely ride through there. You’ve got to stay with them; you’ve got to stay connected and give them all the confidence.

I was up [on time] all the way around. Obviously, having watched Sarah Ennis get time penalties — that was a bit of a shock — thinking, ‘Crikey, this is gonna be a very, very fast time,’ but actually, if you can keep a rhythm — which is obviously harder said than done. The time is obviously achievable; the ground is good. You’ve got to feel your way around, and I think for me as a kid and having so much experience in Britain with so many tracks, there’s plenty of fresh ground that’s actually really good.”

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“I must say a massive thank you to the whole team at Versailles. Considering we had not British weather, but Irish weather yesterday, they’ve done the most incredible job preparing the ground. Everyone’s worked unbelievably hard, so for the horses, it’s absolutely perfect.”

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Things must be feeling pretty cool in the Team GB camp right now. Tom talked a little about being part of the team that’s defending their title from Tokyo:

“Obviously, it makes the rest of the day for me less stressful, but I’m here now fully supporting the girls — giving them any support or words they need from me. It’s definitely easier being first than third — I can now chill out and watch the girls [Laura and Ros] do an incredible job — but the two girls are probably the two best riders in the world at the moment, so that will be fantastic to watch around this course.

I thought Laura’s dressage test was probably the best eventing dressage test I’ve ever seen — and by quite a long way, and I’ve seen some good ones. It was amazing. We know we’re a great team. It’s easy for me to stand here now and say I have a lot of confidence. The girls still have to get their job done, but they are amazing riders, so touch wood! Hopefully, I can give them some great feedback to maybe help their rides — or I’m sure they know what they’re doing without me to be honest.”

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Score for Tom McEwen and JL Dublin – Clear inside the time – Overall 25.8 – 6th

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🇧🇷 Carlos Parro and Safira

Photo by Tilly Berendt.

This pair have been together since 2018, but Carlos has taken his time with the mare, only stepping her up to 4* last season. And what a season they had – a team bronze medal from the Pan-Ams in Santiago must have them feeling good as they set out on their Olympic journey in Paris.

Form, Facts & Stats:

Carlos’ championships experience:

🔥 Tokyo 2020 (Team) – Rio 2016 (Team); 18th individually – Sydney 2000 (Ind.)
🗺️ Pratoni 2022 (Team) – Aachen 2006 (Ind.) – Rome 1998 (Team)

🔴 Carlos is part owner of this mare, along with John and Juliet Chambers of Springfield Stud, who bred her by their homebred stallion.

Cross Country 📈 In 18 FEI competitions, there’s just one rider fall is this horse’s list of clear cross country jumping rounds, and Carlos wasn’t in the irons that day. This pair were clear inside the time at the Pan-Ams last season, where they won team bronze, and they added just 2.4 time penalties in the 4*-L at Sopot, Poland, in their most recent run. They had 23.3 time in the 4*-S at Strzegom earlier this year, and as the Olympic course is a bit longer than a short-format, but not as long as a long-format, we can perhaps expect somewhere in between for this combination.

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Score for Carlos Parro and Safira – 22.4 XC penalties – Overall 60.1 – 42nd

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🇳🇿 Jonelle Price and Hiarado

Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Known as one of the fastest women on the eventing circuit, Jonelle sure doesn’t hang about when she’s galloping across the country. Hiarado wouldn’t be one of the faster horses that Jonelle’s piloted, but she’s proving to be very consistent in delivering clear rounds that are there or there abouts.

Form, Facts & Stats:

Jonelle’s championships experience:

🔥 Tokyo 2020 (Team); 11th individually – Rio 2016 (Team); 17th individually – Team 🥉 London 2012
🗺️ Team 🥉 Pratoni 2022; 10th individually – Tryon 2018 (Team); 19th individually – Caen 2014 (Ind.); 4th
8️⃣ Jonelle is currently World No. 8

🔴 In 2022, Jonelle and her husband Tim were the first married couple to be World No.1 and 2.

Cross Country 📈 This pair have one 20 on their card in eight FEI runs, which came at their second event together. They were clear with 12 time on the mare’s 5* debut at Pau last year and head to Paris with two clear rounds at 4*-S this season, one with 7.2 time and the other with 14. Their best result came at Kilguilkey House in Ireland, when they were second in the 4*-L last season, where they added just one second of cross country time to their dressage score to finish on 31.4.

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🇳🇿 Score for Jonelle Price and Hiarado – 28.4 XC penalties – Overall 59.2 – 41st

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🇯🇵 Ryuzo Kitajima and Cekatinka

Form, Facts & Stats:

This pair are coming to Paris in hot form, off the back of a second place in the 4*-L at Ballindenisk this season and a win in the 4*-S at the Spring Tour in Portugal. That’s gotta have you feeling good as you set out onto an Olympic cross country course.

Form, Facts & Stats:

Ryuzo’s championships experience:

🔥 Tokyo 2020 (Team) – Rio 2016 (Ind.)
🗺️ Pratoni 2022 (Team) – Tryon 2018 (Team)

🔴 Ryuzo’s based in the UK with Angela Tucker.

Cross Country 📈 They were clear inside the time in the 4*-L at Ballindenisk and jumped clear with 10 time penalties at the World Championships in Pratoni, before unfortunately withdrawing before the final horse inspection. This horse’s cross country jumping record is something to behold – in 32 FEI competitions there are zero jumping penalties on his card – zero. That’s with four different riders. The only blips on his incredible record are two rider falls, both Paris Olympian Ros Canter, way, way back in the day.

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Safe to say, Ryuzo is very, very pleased with Cekatinka:

“Oh she was amazing! It’s an amazing feeling. She’s so brave, with a big heart and she knows the cross country phase.”

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“Just at the beginning when we started, she was a little bit, ‘Whoa’, but after the first of couple minutes, she was like, ‘Oh cross country phase!’ She knows the job.”

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“She looks for the flags, boom, straight, and go.”

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Score for Ryuzo Kitajima and Cekatinka – 6.4 XC penalties – Overall 40.9 – 28th

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🇮🇹 Pietro Sandei and Rubis de Prere

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They may have had a slightly circuitous route to lining up as part of the Italian team, via the traveling reserve slot, but Pietro and ‘Rubis’ are ready to add an Olympics to their card, which already contains a European Championships, multiple Nations Cup appearances and two 5*s. Pietro has stepped up to the plate following the elimination of Emiliano Portales following his dressage test.

Form, Facts & Stats:

Pietro’s championships experience:

🗺️ Tryon 2018 (Team)

🔴 This combination have been together since 2011 and Pietro has brought ‘Rubis’ right through the levels, all the way up to 5*.

Cross Country 📈 This pair jumped clear ‘round the the 5* at Luhmühlen last month, adding 11.2 time penalties and finishing in the top-10. They were clear inside the time in the 4*-S at Pratoni the previous month, which they won. They finished up last season with another 4*-S win, so Pietro’s got to be feeling confident as he sets off out of the start box in Paris.

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Pietro’s stepped up for the Italian team following the elimination of Emiliano Portales after the dressage, and understandably, it’s been an emotional Olympic debut for him:

“Yesterday I was very disappointed for Emiliano, for this accident. I know that it’s difficult to to get over, but today is another day. Our team asked me to jump in the saddle and try to support the Italian Federation — I accept this and answer yes. Today the feeling was amazing, because it’s a mix of emotions — Olympic emotion, emotion with my old friend always, and also because at home, my girlfriend is pregnant.”

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He’s not displeased to have missed out on the dressage phase, fair to say:

“For me it is the best way, because I don’t like very much dressage! It’s the perfect Olympic games because I start in the cross country, tomorrow show jumping, and for me, it’s the best way. I am an eventer — I know that that dressage is a part of the competition — but I try to be focused on the on this day and tomorrow, and to try to do my best.

I try to walk the cross country like a normal competition, try to be relaxed, not too much problem if I ride or not ride. For me, it’s amazing, because when I walk the competition, I have an idea and then to end today, I made the idea true with my friend.”

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🇳🇱 Janneke Boonzaaijer and Champ de Tailleur

[caption id="attachment_378376" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Photo by Tilly Berendt.

This combination really did run into some eventing bad luck on their Olympic debut in Tokyo, having a 20, an 11 for activating a frangible device, and then being eliminated for missing a fence. But Jenneke’s a gutsy competitor and will be back to show the world just how things usually work out for her and her long-time partner, seventeen-year-old ‘Champ’.

Form, Facts & Stats:

Janneke’s championships experience:

🔥 Tokyo 2010 (Ind.)

🔴 As well as being an Olympic eventer, Janneke has a degree in Sports Marketing.

Cross Country 📈 Since Tokyo, there’s nary a cross country jumping penalty on this pair’s record; in fact, since this pair got together way back at the beginning of the 2018 season, they’ve only had jumping penalties on four occasions. They added 19.2 time at the European Championships, but that’s the most they’ve had in quite a long while. It does tend to vary between events, and swings back and to between low-single figures and low-teens, but there’s no difference between long- and short-format events, on the whole.

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Score for Janneke Boonzaaijer and Champ de Tailleur – Clear inside the time – Overall 31.9 – 16th

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🇫🇷 Karim Laghouag and Triton Fontaine

Photo by Tilly Berendt.

With five Europeans, two Worlds and two Olympics in his locker, it’s safe to say that Karim knows a thing or two about representing France. And now he’s in Paris, competing under the French flag at a home Games. Listen out for the cheers as he makes his way ‘round the course; he’s in for one heck of a ride today, whatever the outcome, but based on this pair’s form, they’re on track for a big one.

Form, Facts & Stats:

Karim’s championships experience:

🔥 Team 🥉 Tokyo 2020; 12th individually – Team 🥇 Rio 2016
🗺️ Lexington 2010 (Ind.) – Aachen 2006 (Ind.) 10th

🔴 This pair have been runners-up at Pau 5*, where they added just 0.4 show jumping time to their dressage score.

Cross Country 📈 You have to go back to 2022 to find a cross country jumping penalty on this combination’s record. They were clear inside the time at Pau 5*, where they were runners-up, and clear inside the time at Tokyo. They’ve had just a smidge of time at each of their two 4*-S runs this season, we’re talking 1.2 and 3.2 penalties. They did add 16.4 at the 4*-L European Championships last year, but that’s the most time added by quite a bit across all the competitions they’ve done. Clear inside the time coming up for them in Paris? Maybe so.

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EN’s boss lady and Paris roving reporter Sally Spickard has translated Karim’s reaction to his Olympic round:

“”SCREAM OF JOY*”

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… More to follow…

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“You’re Triton — you do your thing, you’re Pegasus.”

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Once he’d finished screaming for joy, Karim elaborated on what it was like to ride ‘round his home Olympics cross country:

“I was pretty sure about the course; it was always the number 16 obstacle that I was a bit wary of because of the drop. It’s something we’re not used to as well, so I was wondering how Triton was going to react. I was apprehensive in the beginning before coming up to it. It was always the one that I was wary of coming into the course. Once we got there, I was like, ‘You’re Triton — you do your thing, you’re Pegasus, so you get us over there and then we’ll keep going.’ But as I just said, it’s a sport for the two of us, so I let him do his thing and then we went on together to finish the course.”

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“It’s been seven years that we’ve been together. Already within the first six months of riding together, we already won our first four-star. I just knew that this was going to be a partnership that was going to go a long way.”

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The home crowd gave Karim “goosebumps”. Us too, Karim, even sat at home around the world watching through the screen, it’s fabulously electric:

“Even 30 seconds before coming into the course — before starting to gallop — I could hear the crowd calling my name. That really was just amazing; that is the most incredible feeling.”

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Score for Karim Laghouag and Triton Fontaine – Clear inside the time – Overall 29.6 – 10th

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🇧🇪 Karin Donckers and Liepheimer Van’t Verahof

Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Karin’s championships experience speaks for itself; she’s a total stalwart of Belgian eventing and has been a superb representative over her long career, taking on her first international event in 1988. That was around the time I started following eventing, so I literally don’t know an eventing without Karin being an eventer. This combination are coming in hot for a clear round, with ‘nil points’ added for jumping penalties across their 28 FEI competitions together 🌶️

Form, Facts & Stats:

Karin’s championships experience:

🔥 Rio 2016 (Ind.) – London 2012 (Team); 15th individually – Beijing 2008 (Ind.); 9th – Athens 2004 (Team); 16th individually – Sydney 2000 (Team); 9th individually – Barcelona 1992 (Team); 8th individually
🗺️ Pratoni 2022 (Team) – Tryon 2018 (Team); 17th individually – Caen 2014 (Team); 5th individually – Lexington 2010 (Team); 4th individually – Aachen 2006 (Team); 13th individually – Jerez de la Frontera 2002 (Ind.); 19th – Rome 1998 (Ind.) – Den Haag 1994 (Ind.)

🔴 Liepheimer Van’t Verahof is the only stallion in the field.

Cross Country 📈 In 28 FEI competitions, there’s nary a cross country jumping penalty on this combination’s card. They do add a handful of time, which, interestingly, doesn’t alter much between long- and short-format competitions. In their two FEI runs this season, both 4*-S, they added 8.4 and 8.8. In the 4*-L at Boekelo last year they kept it to 6.

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Even the super experienced Karin Donckers has never seen a crowd like the French at their home Games:

“What a crowd there is! It’s unbelievable. We walked this course between 7 and 9 am, and there was nobody and then when you come out now, there are people everywhere.”

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She talked about how her round went with the only stallion in the field:

“Personally, I hoped to be maximum, between 10 to 15 seconds over the time. I’m 18 [seconds] out, so I am a little disappointed maybe, but in the end, you have to ride it clear, you’re the first one to go. We didn’t see much from other people, you don’t have so much information, so you have to ride your own course and I think [Leipheimer Van’t Verahof] did very well.

I think course-wise, it rode like I expected, but I think the crowds and everything around was very impressive to me. Especially when you start, the noise everywhere, but then — especially when you came out of fence four and you come more into the open area — that was really where I felt a bit like, “Whoa,” and I picked it up that it’s not a normal cross country.”

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Every day’s a school day and Karin’s already reflecting on her own performance:

“There were one or two fences where I maybe didn’t ride good enough — to ten a, b for example, I didn’t show him the line so well. But he clicked on straightaway and he said “Okay, if you tell me a real line, I still solve it for you.” So in that way, I’m very proud of my stallion. You have to ride every combination well. You need a straightforward horse that trusts you and it’s important as a rider to tell your horse very clearly and show them very clearly what to do. That’s where I maybe blame myself a tiny little bit, that I could have done that better [shown her horse where to go] but I’m very proud of how ‘Leipy’ helped me with that.”

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Score for Karin Donckers and Liepheimer Van’t Verahof – 7.2 XC penalties – Overall 33.8 – 21st

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INDIVIDUAL RIDERS

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🇪🇸 Carlos Diaz Fernandez and Taraje CP 21.10

Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Carlos is making his Olympic debut with his World Championships ride, ‘Taraje’. They’re in Paris off the back of some decent recent form, with a win, a sixth place, and two thirds coming in their last four FEI events.

Form, Facts & Stats:

Carlos’ championships experience:

🗺️ Pratoni 2022 (Team) – Tryon 2018 (Team) – Caen 2014 (Team)

Form, Facts & Stats:

🔴 Carlos has represented Spain at three World Championships and four European Championships.

Cross Country 📈 This combination were clear inside the time at the 4*-L in Romania last fall, which set them up for the win. In 26 FEI competitions, there’s just one cross country jumping penalty on their record, which came way back in their first ever event in 2019. There’s also a fall on their card, which came at the World Championships in Pratoni. Other than that, their clear cross country jumping rate is really excellent. They’re fairly quick too. They added just 6.8 time in their most recent run in the 4*-S Nations Cup leg in Montelibretti on their way to third place, and 4 time penalties in the 4*-L at the same venue last fall. Apart from one short-format competition, time penalties have been firmly in single figures since 2021.

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Score for Carlos Diaz Fernandez and Taraje CP 21.10 – 17.6 XC penalties – Overall 47.8 – 35th

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🇭🇺 Balász Kaizinger and Herr Cooles Classico

Photo by Tilly Berendt.

This pair are, for sure, here for the cross country (aren’t we all?) and we’ll likely see them climb the leaderboard after today’s competition, all being well.

Form, Facts & Stats:

Balász’s championships experience:

🗺️ Pratoni 2022 (Ind.)

🔴 Balász is the first Hungarian eventer at an Olympics since 1996.

Cross Country 📈 In 14 FEI runs together, this combination have had cross country jumping penalties on just one occasion, and one 11 penalties for breaking a frangible device. They’ve jumped clear at both 4*-L and 4*-S, although they don’t have a ton of 4* experience, having stepped up to the level just last season. They incurred just 4.8 time penalties in the 4*-L at Sopot, in Poland, this season, but that was pretty quick for them; they added 17.6 in the 4*-S at Luhmühlen last month.

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Score for Balász Kaizinger and Herr Cooles Classico – 16 XC penalties – Overall 61.8 – 45th

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🇨🇿 Miroslav Trunda and Shutterflyke

Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Miroslav and Shutterflyke are making their second Olympic appearance in Paris, making this the third time they’ve been on the world stage under the Czech flag, having also contested the World Championships in Pratoni in 2022. They haven’t had a cross country clear jumping round at a championships, yet, despite having plenty in other competitions. Will today put that right?

Form, Facts & Stats:

Miroslav’s championships experience:

🔥 Tokyo 2020 (Ind.)
🗺️ Pratoni 2022 (Ind.)

🔴 Miroslav is one of a few riders in Paris who have full-time jobs outside their eventing career. In Miroslav’s case, he’s an equine veterinarian, specializing in soundness problems.

Cross Country 📈 This pair had a 20 at Tokyo and at the World Championships in Pratoni, but these seem to be unfortunate blips in an otherwise pretty clear record. They’ve jumped clear at both 4*-L and 4*-S recently. In terms of time, they obviously added a fair bit in their two championships appearances due to those 20s, but generally they’re around the mid-teens. They can be quicker, we’ll just have to wait and see where they land in Paris.

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Score for Miroslav Trunda and Shutterflyke – 72 XC penalties – Overall 125 – 56th

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🇪🇨 Ronald Zabala Goetschel and Forever Young Wundermaske

Photo by Leslie Threlkeld.

Ronald is a self-confessed horse nut (aren’t we all ‘round here?!) and has come to Paris with his veteran eventer, who is 21-years-old, yet ‘Forever Young’. Despite that, he’s not actually a full-time eventer, instead spending his days heading up several businesses and finding time to, you know, qualify for the Olympics outside of office hours. There’s nothing like having an experienced old pal beside you as you set out of the start box on cross country day, and Ronald’s guy has got 50 FEI competitions under his cinch as he makes his Olympic debut.

Form, Facts & Stats:

Ronald’s championships experience:

🔥 London 2012 (Ind.)
🗺️ Tryon 2018 (Ind.)

🔴 At 21, Wundermaske is the oldest horse in the competition by two years.

Cross Country 📈 This pair have had a bit of a spate of eliminations and withdrawals recently, with just one completion in five starts this season. He was pretty consistently clear cross country jumping last season though, and he went clear in his most recent run in the 4*-S Nations Cup event in Avenches last month. Realistically, we can expect time penalties in the high-20s, at least.

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Score for Ronald Zabala Goetschel and Forever Young Wundermaske – Eliminated XC (rider fall)

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🇫🇮 Veera Manninen and Sir Greg

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There’s nothing quite like taking to a cross country course with a long-time partner, and Veera’s in that enviable position as she makes her Olympic debut. Together since Juniors, Veera’s brought Sir Greg right up through the levels and it’s safe to say that this pair know each other inside out, a real advantage when it comes to their biggest test yet.

Form, Facts & Stats:

🔴 Veera’s just 24 but her and Sir Greg have been going eventing together for almost a decade.

Cross Country 📈 This pair consistently pull out clear cross country jumping rounds, with just three occasions when they’ve incurred a 20 and one elimination in 29 FEI competitions. They were clear inside the time in the 4*-S at Sopot, Poland, last season on their way to fourth place, but generally they do tend to pick up time. It was 12.8 penalties in their most recent run in the 4*-S Nations Cup event in Strzegom, where they finished sixth, and 16 in the run before that.

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Score for Veera Manninen and Sir Greg – 18.4 XC penalties – Overall 55.2 – 39th

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🇩🇰 Peter T. Flarup and Fascination

Photo by Tilly Berendt.

This pair have been on a run of very hot form over the last season, with 8 FEI runs and results in the top-8 in all of them. They honed their skills going arena eventing over the winter and come to Paris on a streak of 8 cross country clear jumping rounds. If you’re into numbers games, check out all those eights.

Form, Facts & Stats:

Peter’s championships experience:

🔥 Tokyo 2020 (Ind.) – Beijing 2008 (Ind.)
🗺️ Caen 2014 (Ind.) – Lexington 2010 (Ind.) – Aachen 2006 (Team) – Rome 1998 (Team)

🔴 Fascination is known as ‘Cooper’ in the barn.

Cross Country 📈 This combination haven’t had a cross country jumping penalty since 2022, and that includes at both long- and short-format events and arena eventing. They had 14 time penalties in their most recent run, the 4*-S Nations Cup event in Strzegom, but they can be quite a bit quicker than that, and added just 2.8 in the 4*-L at the same venue last season. They did have 40 jumping penalties in Tokyo, and added 27.2 time, and they retired after 20 jumping and 11 for breaking a frangible device on their 5* debut at Luhmühlen in 2022. But more recent form suggests that they’ve put all that behind them and will be going for the clear in Paris.

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Score for Peter T. Flarup and Fascination – 33.6 XC penalties – Overall 66 – 48th

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🇪🇸 Esteban Benitez Valle and Utrera AA 35 1

Esteban’s here as an individual after a Herculean effort by Spain to have a team in Paris that, sadly, didn’t quite come together in the end. But it’s great that there are two Spanish representatives, and although he’s making his Olympic debut, Esteban has European and World Championships experience on his side.

Form, Facts & Stats:

Esteban’s championships experience:

🗺️ Pratoni 2022 (Team)

🔴 Esteban’s World Championships horse is now going eventing for fun, doing 1*s with Esteban’s girlfriend.

Cross Country 📈 This pair only have one cross country jumping penalty on their card from 23 FEI competitions. That came in the 4*-S Nations Cup leg in Arville last season. They’re pretty speedy to boot; they went clear inside the time in the 4*-S at Kronenberg last year, where they finished third, and added just 4.8 in the 4*-L at Strzegom a little later in the year. We only have that one long-format run to go off, although they’ve been quick enough to pick up just 2.8 time penalties in the 4*-S Nations Cup event at Montelibretti this year.

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Score for Esteban Benitez Valle and Utrera AA 35 1 – 29 XC penalties – Overall 68.9 – 50th

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SECOND TEAM ROTATION

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🇩🇪 Christoph Wahler and Carjatan S

Photo by Shelby Allen.

Christoph and Carjatan S played a huge part in Germany’s team gold medal at the World Championships in Pratoni and will no doubt be aiming for more of the same as they take to the course by the Grand Canal. This really is an exciting horse to watch – he’s striking, gutsy and classy, a real eventer’s eventer. Eyes on 👀

Form, Facts & Stats:

Christoph’s championships experience:
🗺️ Team 🥇 Pratoni 2022

🔴 Christoph doesn’t just have a senior medal in his bling cabinet, he also has a bunch of Junior and Young Rider medals too.

Cross Country 📈 In 48 FEI competitions this pair have had problems out on cross country on just six occasions. They activated two frangible devices in the 4*-S at Marbach this season, but before that we’re going back to 2021 to find cross country penalties – a rider tumble at the Nations Cup event in Arville. They jumped clear at the European Championships last season, adding 13.2 time and finishing 4th; were clear at the World Championships in Pratoni, where they incurred 9.6 time penalties; jumped clear at Badminton in 2022, where they had just 3.6 time, and were clear inside the time at Luhmühlen on their way to second place in the 5* in 2021. They looked to be producing a very classy round in their final run prior to Paris, the 4*-S at Aachen, before pulling up on German team orders. Saving the very best for when it matters most, it seems. Shrewd.

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Score for Christoph Wahler and Carjatan S – Eliminated XC (rider fall)

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🇦🇺 Kevin McNab and Don Quidam

Photo by Shelby Allen.

Here with his Tokyo Olympics and Pratoni World Championships mount, Kevin took team silver at the last Games, with a clear and quick round on cross country day contributing to their success. He’ll be hoping for more of the same as he takes his turn in Paris.

Form, Facts & Stats:

Kevin’s championships experience:

🔥 Team 🥈 Tokyo 2020; 14th individually
🗺️ Pratoni 2022 (Team)

🔴 This pair suffered a tack malfunction at the World Championships, where a broken cheek piece resulted in 20 penalties and a slew of time faults.

Cross Country 📈 This pair had that 20 out on course at the World Championships in Pratoni, but were clear and quick in Tokyo, adding just 2.8 time faults and finishing 14th individually, an expensive second round of show jumping dropping them down the order. He very nearly finished on his dressage at his most recent complete run in the 4*-S at Marbach, where he was two seconds over the time to add 0.8 to his dressage of 33.9. Since Kevin took on the ride in 2018, he’s had 16 clear cross country rounds from 21 competitions. This guy’s got 5* form as well – he jumped clear inside the time at Kentucky in 2021 on his way to sixth place.

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Score for Kevin McNab and Don Quidam – Retired XC

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🇨🇦 Karl Sleazak and Hot Bobo

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Hot Bobo already has a gold medal to her name, after triumphing with the Canadian team at the Pan-Ams in Santiago, and Karl will be itching to add another, this time of the Olympic variety. Incredibly, Karl had planned to sell Hot Bobo on, but she was so spooky it was tough to find a buyer and now, well, Karl must be very, very pleased about that.

Form, Facts & Stats:

Karl’s championships experience:

🗺️ Pratoni 2022 (Team)

🔴 Hot Bobo was actually an impulse buy when Karl’s hand ‘slipped’ at the Monart Sale seven years ago.

Cross Country 📈 Hot Bobo sizzles on the cross country on her day. This pair were clear inside the time at the Pan-Ams in Santiago last season, on their way to winning team gold and coming fourth individually, and they won the 4*-S at Kentucky after finishing on their dressage score. Time penalties can rack up into double figures, but that’s at short-format competitions, at every long-format event they’ve done, they’ve either been clear inside the time or just a couple of seconds or so over. There are a couple of jumping penalties on their record; in 15 FEI competitions, they’ve had jumping penalties on four occasions – a 20 in a 4*-S this year and 60 in their season opener, the 4*-S at TerraNova, as well a 20 in the same event last year. The other one’s way back in her first everf FEI run. So a clear round isn’t a given, but is likely. When she’s hot, she’s hot. Is she hot for Paris?

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Score for Karl Sleazak and Hot Bobo – 4.8 XC penalties – Overall 40.6 – 27th

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🇮🇪 Susie Berry and Wellfields Lincoln

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Susie’s making her Olympic debut for Ireland but she knows a thing or two about being on the team, having represented Ireland at every stage of her career, from Ponies to Young Riders through to Seniors. She’s been on the path to success for some time, having been in the first cohort of riders selected for the Wesko Foundation program, where she was mentored by none other than every horsegirl’s eventing hero, Pippa Funnell. So it may be her first time, but she sure is well-prepared.

Form, Facts & Stats:

Susie’s championships experience:

🗺️ Pratoni 2022 (Team)

🔴 Wellfields Lincoln is known as ‘Slinky’ to his friends.

Cross Country 📈 This pair have been prone to the odd 20 in the cross country phase, but they’re on a streak of four clear rounds coming into Paris, their longest streak yet. They’ve had three FEI runs so far this season, showing a speedier turn of foot at short-format than long-format. They had 7.6 and 3.6 time penalties in their two short-format runs, and added 20 in the 4*-L at Kronenberg, which was still good enough for fourth place.

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“The amount of Irish flags I saw when I was cantering round — it was really special; it was class.”

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Susie talked about her Olympic round:

“I had to do a long route at the end; that definitely wasn’t Plan A — I just landed a little bit more left than I needed to over the first log. I probably could have done it as a risk if it was doing it for myself, but as a team, you need to get home. I felt a little bit frustrated [crossing the finish line] if I’m honest. We’re so competitive by nature — I could have just been a bit quicker, but it was a matter of getting around and putting a clear round down.

[Wellfields Lincoln] was incredible — I could have gone another five minutes. But he is like that — he’s quite chunky to look at, but he’s a lot of blood; he gallops really well. He just felt a little bit like he was running a bit away from me to start with. Not that he was strong, just the atmosphere — he was like, ‘Go, go, go!’. I just had to take a little bit of time in the middle to be like, ‘No, you have to come back and listen, and look where you’re going.” He was so straight everywhere — he was brilliant. He was really full of running. I had to be like, ‘Whoa,’ to finish, which is a lovely feeling. He’ll go back to the stables now and Crisy [Salmon] — my head girl — she’ll make sure he has everything he needs. A lot of ice on and washed, and have a little lunch, most importantly! He felt brilliant finishing, so I really am happy.

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And what’s it like in the Team Ireland camp?

“The support network has been incredible this week. These three riders are three riders I’ve looked up to from being quite young. To ride alongside them and learn from them has been an experience in itself.”

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Score for Susie Berry and Wellfields Lincoln – 15.2 XC penalties – Overall 48.2 – 36th

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🇨🇭 Robin Godel and Grandeur de Lully CH

Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Robin and ‘Grandeur’ are here on hot form, having won their two most recent runs 🌶️ They’ve been together since 2015 and there’s no denying the power of a long-term partnership when it comes to going cross country, particularly at the Olympics.

Form, Facts & Stats:

Robin’s championships experience:

🔥 Tokyo 2020 (Team)
🗺️ Pratoni 2022 (Team); 15th individually – Tryon 2018 (Team)

🔴 Robin says the most influential person in his career is his mom.

Cross Country 📈 This pair jumped clear at the World Championships at Tryon and Pratoni, and also pulled clear rounds out of the bag at all three of their European Championships appearances. In 44 FEI competitions, they have just one non-completion which came waaaaay back in 2017. There’s a 20 on their card from 2021 and then you have to travel back in time to 2016 to find another one. This combination really are clear round machines. They do add time, most of the time. It was 7.2 penalties at Tryon and 20.4 at the Europeans last season. In their two 4*-S runs this season they’ve kept time faults to single figures though.

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Robin talked about his Olympic round:

“I’m very happy. For sure, we could be faster, but we know that he’s not the fastest horse. He was a lot behind me because of the people — he was a bit surprised. He’s used to doing championships, but it’s the first time with so many people. At the end, he was very fit — he was not so tired at the end. I’m happy with that, and sure we have some [time] points, but we did our best — and it’s not finished yet.”

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Score for Robin Godel and Grandeur de Lully CH – 9.6 XC penalties – Overall 38.7 – 26th

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🇺🇸 Elisabeth Halliday and Nutcracker

Photo by Sally Spickard.

Liz hasn’t had a lot of time to get her head around the fact that she’ll be leaving the start box on cross country day, but boy, I best she’s so ready for it. This pair have had eight top-9 finishes since stepping up to 4* and jumped clear ‘round Kentucky 5* in the spring.

Form, Facts & Stats:

🔴 Speed demon Liz isn’t just quick on cross country, she’s also competed in motor racing, including the 24 hour race in Le Mans.

Cross Country 📈 In 21 FEI competitions, this pair have just one non-completion, two 11 penalties for breaking a frangible device, and no other jumping penalties. That’s nine clear jumping rounds, including one at Kentucky 5*, where they finished eighth. They haven’t always been super speedy, Nutcracker’s just a ten-year-old, but just 6.4 time penalties in your first 5* ain’t half bad. They added 9.6 in the 4*-L at Galway Downs on their way to the win last fall, and just 3.6 in the 4*-L at Tryon a little earlier in the year, which they also won.

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“I’ve dreamed of coming to this Olympics for a long time.”

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Liz talked us through her round with Nutcracker:

“The ground is definitely influential — I had huge studs in, and he still slipped on me pretty early on .. that’s where I would say all my time faults came from — just being a little bit careful on the turns, because he’s a big powerful horse and power’s up behind, and I really wanted to get the job done well [but] it’s also his future. Honestly, all the jumps rode to plan, and he was outstanding.

There weren’t any instructions other than to stick to the plan. We had discussed maybe going the opposite way, or the left side of that bank. Actually, I had a split second in my brain — because he tripped in the first ditch — I went, ‘No, he’s careful, that’ll tune him up for the next one,’ and he did it perfectly. I think it’s the design of it, and maybe the color as well — there’s this ditch, and then there’s just this bright sand and I don’t think they understand what they’re supposed to be doing. I think they look at the white, and they don’t think about the ditch.”

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“I’m a little annoyed I wasn’t a bit quicker, but I know I rode smart too, and that was also important today.”

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Liz also noticed the awesome crowds lining the course at Versailles:

“They’re immense — the crowds are incredible! I will say he noticed it between fence 2 and 3. He’s a sharp, sensitive horse, and I just gave him a bunch of pats and I talked to him — I just said, ‘You’re alright buddy, we”ll settle in, it’s okay.’ I was a little slow to fence 3 because I just gave him a bit more time and that kind of suited him there, but once he did the first water, he settled in and he never looked at them again. He was just on his job, one hundred percent.”

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“… you want to finish the Games with a horse who’s fresh and happy.”

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And how did Nutcracker seem after his efforts for the team?

“He’s kind of a freak of a horse — he’s just so powerful and he’s relentless; he can gallop forever. He was plenty fit for Kentucky, so I just did a similar gallop plan without overdoing it — because I was a little concerned about him being too fit, if I’m honest. He had plenty of running left and is fresh as anything right now. The girls are struggling to hold on him…”

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“Just to walk around and be standing at a cross country jump and see the Palace of Versailles and recognize that we we’re actually on those grounds, it’s something I will never experience again in my life. It’s a moment that I will cherish..”

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Score for Elisabeth Halliday and Nutcracker – 6 XC penalties – Overall 34 – 22nd

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🇵🇱 Jan Kaminski and Jard

Photo by Tilly Berendt.

This duo jumped clear ‘round Tokyo but had a 20 in Pratoni. Jan’ll be channeling those Tokyo vibes as he heads out of the start box in Paris.

Form, Facts & Stats:

Jan’s championships experience:

🔥 Tokyo 2010 (Team)
🗺️ Pratoni 2022 (Ind.)

🔴 Jan and Jard (say it fast, it’s fun) won the 4*-L at Baborowko in Poland last season, which gave them their Paris chance.

Cross Country 📈 They’ve had a bit of a mixed bag of results thus far this season, with falls in two of their five FEI runs; they jumped clear in the other three events though. They were clear cross country jumping at Tokyo, adding 12.8 time penalties, but had a 20 at the World Championships in Pratoni, and 25.2 time, and ended up withdrawing before the final horse inspection.

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Score for Jan Kaminski and Jard – Eliminated XC

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🇸🇪 Frida Andersén and Box Leo

Photo by Tilly Berendt.

This pair have finished in the top-25 in all of their FEI starts together and have just one cross country jumping penalty on their record. They can be relatively quick too, although not often inside the time. Will they manage it in Paris?

Form, Facts & Stats:

Frida’s championships experience:

🔥 Rio (Team)
🗺️ Pratoni 2022 (Team)

🔴 Frida and Box Leo jumped clear with just two time penalties at the World Championships in Pratoni, finishing 17th individually and best of the Swedes.

Cross Country 📈 This pair are incredibly consistent on cross country day. They were clear with 14.4 time at the European Championships last season and were just five seconds over the time at the World Championships at Pratoni. They haven’t had a jumping penalty since 2022, and then there’s just the one on their record. All those clears include long- and short-format events and time penalties are generally kept well in single figures. They made the time in the 4*-S at Sopot in Poland this season, on the way to third place.

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Score for Frida Andersén and Box Leo – Clear inside the time – Overall 33.3 – 20th

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🇬🇧 Laura Collett and London 52

Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Three-time 5* winners with an Olympic team gold medal in their bling cabinet, this pair know what it’s like to come to a Games and deliver the goods. This horse has been such a dream for Laura, and I’ve no doubt she’s in no hurry to wake up. He’s finished on his dressage in two 5*s and added just one second of show jumping time in the third; he’s contested three 5*s and won them all. He’s not infallible, but he’s a darned good eventer who deserves all the glory that’s been bestowed on him thus far in his career, and more besides.

Form, Facts & Stats:

Laura’s championships experience:

🔥 Team 🥇 Tokyo 2020
🗺️ Pratoni 2022 (Team)

🔴 Laura has limited vision in one eye due to a serious fall in 2013 – that’s why she wears goggles when she’s going cross country.

Cross Country 📈 A random 20 penalties stands out on this pair’s record, because, well, they don’t have a 20 very often. It came at Pratoni and happened as the result of a drive-by at the skinny after the slide. They weren’t the only ones to pick up penalties there that day. Another unfortunate event was a 15 for going the wrong side of a flag at the European Championships, putting them out of contention when they’d been sitting on a dressage score of 22.4. But why do we notice these blips? Because there are so very few blips in their form. In their 16 FEI runs since 2020, they are the only cross country jumping penalties on their card; in 32 completions they’ve been clear inside the time at fifteen events, including at 5*s and the Tokyo Olympics. That’s a heck of a stat right there – almost half the time at the competitions they’ve completed they’re clear inside the time (sorry EquiRatings).

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“London is just my horse of a lifetime. He’s just incredible.”

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You’d may think that London 52 was born a champion, but it’s taken years of relationship-building to get him to where he is today:

“He’s just so talented. I think for me, knowing what he was like as a young horse and knowing how much he’s had to trust me and believe in me — he’s not an actual cross country horse, and then he goes around a course like that on railway tracks — it just shows what years of partnership you can build up. You can make him believe in you, and I have full faith in him now, and then you can go and enjoy yourself out there.”

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Laura picked up a smidge of time and has slipped behind Michael Jung in the standings going into tomorrow. How did Laura find the time?

“There are a couple of places where you can really let them gallop, but there’s an awful lot of twists and turns. He lost a shoe and we were slipping all over the place, so had to be quite careful on those turns and had to really kill the speed a bit to get around the trees … I don’t know where he lost a shoe — I think quite early because of the amount he was slipping – a front shoe, which is a bit annoying – not ideal, but it just shows what a good horse he is.”

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Team GB look to be in very strong shape to defend their title:

“At the end of the day, looking forward and just trying to get the job done — we’re here as a team and we want the team to do really well. We actually just focus on our team, not what everyone else is doing. We’ve got our plan and we stick to that.”

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Score for Laura Collett and London 52 – 0.8 XC penalties – Overall 18.3 – 2nd

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🇧🇷 Rafael Mamprim Losano and Withington

They may be a new combination, with Rafael having taken over the ride on Withington from Britain’s Sam Ecroyd just last year, but they’ve already got a team bronze medal in their trophy cabinet – that came at the Pan-Ams in Santiago in the fall, after they delivered a clear inside the time on cross country day.

Form, Facts & Stats:

Rafael’s championships experience:

🔥 Tokyo 2020 (Team)

🔴 Rafael was just 24 when he competed in Tokyo.

Cross Country 📈 They had an 11 penalties for activating a frangible device in the 4*-S at Marbach, after posting a PB in the dressage. Before that though, the gelding was on a streak of ten clear cross country rounds. They were clear inside the time at the Pan-Ams in Santiago on their way to team bronze, where they were 9th individually, at 4* though, we’re looking at double figures in terms of time penalties. They added 18 in the 4*-L at Montelibretti this season and 17.2 in the 4*-S at Marbach.

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Score for Rafael Mamprim Losano and Withington – 9.2 XC penalties – Overall 41.6 – 30th

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🇳🇿 Clarke Johnstone and Menlo Park

Photo by Eventing Nation.

UK-based Kiwi, Clarke, knows just what it’s like to take a medal home from a championships, having won team bronze at Pratoni. This pair have only had cross country jumping penalties once since teaming up in 2021 and have proved that they’re capable of finishing on their dressage. Will they pull off this elusive feat in Paris?

Form, Facts & Stats:

Clarke’s championships experience:

🔥 Rio 2016 (Team); 6th individually
🗺️ Team 🥉Pratoni 2022 – Lexington 2020 (Team)

🔴 Clarke was the highest-placed Kiwi at the Rio Olympics.

Cross Country 📈 They had a 20 at the World Championships in Pratoni, as well as 11 penalties for breaking a frangible device. But they’re the only cross country jumping penalties they’ve had in twelve FEI runs together. They finished on their dressage in the 4*-L at Kilguilkey House in Ireland last season, securing the win. More often than not, they do add time however, but it only ever converts to penalties in the single figures.

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“He honestly just skipped around and gave me a dream ride.”

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Clarke talked a little about his ride with Menlo Park:

“I had no idea how he was going to cope with the crowds being so loud and so close to the fence, and if anything, it helped me, because he just felt so motivated all the way around the course. Even towards the end of the course when I was asking him for a bit of extra effort, he was really giving it to me.”

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“I couldn’t fault him at all. He just left the start box and jumped every fence how I wanted. He was just on the job.”

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“It was so cool. It’s hard to pick out a voice in the crowd, but I did hear a couple of familiar Kiwi voices actually when I was going around. Weirdly, about the third minute marker, I made eye contact with a lady that was sitting on the ground beside the track. I don’t know why.”

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Score for Clarke Johnstone and Menlo Park – 4.8 XC penalties – Overall 30.5 – 12th

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🇯🇵 Yoshiaki Oiwa and MGH Grafton Street

Yoshiaki Oiwa and MGH Grafton Street. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Yoshi and MGH Grafton Street contested their first FEI event together this season and have just four runs under their cinch before embarking upon the Olympic Games. They’ve been good ones though.

Form, Facts & Stats:

Yoshi’s championships experience:

🔥 Tokyo 2020 (Team) – Rio 2016 (Ind.); 20th – London 2012 (Team) – Beijing 2008 (Ind.)
🗺️ Pratoni 2022 (Team) – Tryon 2018 (Team); 20th individually – Lexington 2010 (Team) – Aachen 2006 (Ind.); 18th

🔴 Yoshi’s taken on the ride on MGH Grafton Street from Great Britain’s Pippa Funnell.

Cross Country 📈 This new partnership have jumped clear in each of their four runs together this season, at both long- and short-format. They’ve steadily got quicker as they’ve gone, starting out with 12.4 time in the 4*-S at Kronenberg in the Netherlands, and finishing up with 3.2 in the 4*-S at Bramham in the UK, taking in the 4*-L at Ballindenisk in Ireland along the way, where they added 4.8 on their way to fourth place.

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“Everybody’s watching, cheering, the atmosphere is amazing.”

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Yoshi’s taken over the ride on ‘Squirrel’ from none other than British eventing hero Pippa Funnell, who’s a pretty cool source of info to have on your side:

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Score for Yoshiaki Oiwa and MGH Grafton Street – Clear inside the time – Overall 25.5 – 5th

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🇮🇹 Evelina Bertoli and Fidjy des Melezes

Photo by Tilly Berendt.

This combination are on a streak of ten cross country clear jumping rounds – that includes both long- and short-format, Nations Cup events, and European and World Championship appearances. Will they make it eleven alongside the Grand Canal on their Olympic debut? Time will tell.

Form, Facts & Stats:

Evelina’s championships experience:

🗺️ Pratoni 2022 (Ind.) – Caen 2014 (Team)

Form, Facts & Stats:

🔴 Sporty siblings alert – Evelina’s sister represented Italy in modern pentathlon at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

Cross Country 📈 Clear jumping isn’t a worry for this pair, in 36 FEI competitions there are just two cross country jumping penalties on their record. They’ve had the odd flag penalty and a broken frangible device, but there are many, many, many more clears on their record than anything else. Time can be their undoing; it’s fair to say that they won’t be the quickest ‘round the course on cross country day. They added 21.2 time penalties at the World Championships in Pratoni and 20.4 at the 4*-L European Championships last season. They have proved they can be quicker over short-format courses though, as they were in the 4*-S at Pratoni del Vivaro this season, where they added 8.8 on the way to third place.

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Score for Evelina Bertoli and Fidjy des Melezes – 6.4 XC penalties – Overall 33 – 19th

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🇳🇱 Sanne de Jong and Enjoy

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This pair have yet to come home clear on cross country day at a championships, so now’s the time to put that right. That’s not to say they don’t often jump clear, because they absolutely do, t just seems to be the luck on the big days that catches them out and upsets their long record of, otherwise, smart clear rounds.

Form, Facts & Stats:

Sanne’s championships experience:

🗺️ Pratoni 2022 (Ind.)

🔴 Sanne’s mom went eventing with Enjoy’s dam and granddam.

Cross Country 📈 This pair are a class act on the cross country and have the results to prove it. Unfortunately, the mistakes come in places you’re going to notice them – a 20 at last year’s Europeans, another one at the World Championships in Pratoni, a technical elimination at the Europeans in Avenches. In between though, they’re clear all the way. They won’t be the quickest out on course, but are unlikely to be the slowest, with time penalties recently ranging from 6.4 to 15.6 when they’ve jumped clear.

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Score for Sanne de Jong and Enjoy – 48.2 XC penalties – Overall 83 – 53rd

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🇫🇷 Stéphane Landois and Chaman Dumontceau

Photo by Tilly Berendt.

This pair know what it’s like to take a team medal home from a championships, having been part of the bronze medal winning French team at the Europeans last season. He’s not just here for himself though, there’s three people in this relationship, as Stéphane rides in honor and memory of his friend Thaïs.

Form, Facts & Stats:

🔴 Stéphane’s sporting motto is: “You have to be rigorous and work a lot. It’s really the work that pays off”.

Cross Country 📈 Since Stéphane began riding this gelding, they’ve had 14 FEI completions together, and within those competitions they’ve had cross country jumping penalties just once, back in 2020 during their first season as a pair. Going clear inside the time at both long- and short-format competitions isn’t outside their reach, and when they do have time penalties they keep them in single figures.

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Stephanè talked us through his Olympic experience:

“I stayed concentrated through the whole course, and went to my plan — the plan that was given to the whole team — and I did exactly what I needed to do. There is so much atmosphere and the crowd is so loud that actually I couldn’t even hear my watch properly, which goes off every minute to give the time frame. I didn’t even have a moment to look at it to know exactly where it was — I just kept going and stayed concentrating on the course.”

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Score for Stéphane Landois and Chaman Dumontceau – 2.8 XC penalties – Overall 27.2 – 7th

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🇧🇪 Tine Magnus and Dia van het Lichterveld Z

Photo by Tilly Berendt.

This combo is one to watch, both now, on cross country day at their Olympic debut, and in the future 👀 This is one of the really exciting pairings in eventing right now, with plenty of quick, clear round form. And Tine’s here as, essentially, an amateur – in her real life she works on her family’s farm.

Form, Facts & Stats:

🔴 Tine was Belgian national champion in 2022.

Cross Country 📈 In 26 FEI competitions, this pair have just one rider fall on their entire cross country record. They added 2.4 time penalties on their way to winning the 4*-S at Strzegom and 4 in the 4*-L at Saumur this season. Time faults have stayed in single figures for their last seven FEI runs.

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“I was like, ‘Come on, don’t f*** it up! Do your job!'”

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Tine talked about her talented mare and how she found the Olympic cross country:

“My mare was wonderful — she’s so, so good. If she sees a fence, she wants to jump. She was a bit impressed with the people — so many people, I never had that before and I don’t think I will have that again. It’s good for the sport to have so many people and you hear a name screaming all the time all the time. My horse a little bit like, What’s this?!’ but she was wonderful. I’ve had her from four years old. A friend of mine bred her and then I brought her in and did the championship five-, six-, or seven-year-old [Championships] in Belgium, and she won that. I did the World Championship twice and then she won twice also at four-star. We had a nice building up to here. She’s really a cross country machine.”

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“She’s so nice; she’s so beautiful, she’s really something special.
“

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Score for Tine Magnus and Dia van het Lichterveld Z – 2 XC penalties – Overall 46 – 34th

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INDIVIDUAL RIDERS

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🇫🇮 Sanna Siltakorpi and Bofey CLIck

Photo by Tilly Berendt.

There’s nothing quite like a long-time partnership on cross country day, and Sanna and ‘Click’ have been together for almost a decade. Until their most recent run, they hadn’t been placed outside the top-10 in an FEI competition since 2022, so they’ll chalk that 19th place in April down to experience, remember that they haven’t had a jumping penalty since 2015 – yes, really – and head out of the start box knowing that they’ve totally got this.

Form, Facts & Stats:

Sanna’s championships experience:

🗺️ Caen 2014 (Ind.) – Lexington 2010 (Ind.)

🔴 Sanna’s friend has been selling team merchandise to help raise the money needed for Finland to get to Paris, as well as helping to raise awareness of eventing in Finland.

Cross Country 📈 You have to go all the way back to 2018 to find anything like a problem out on cross country for this pair, and even then it was a retirement without penalties. In 43 FEI competitions they have just a single cross country jumping penalty on their record. Just one. And that came way, way, waaaaay back in 2015. What’s more, they’re pretty speedy too. They were just one second over the time in their most recent 4*-L run, and had 6.4 time penalties at their latest short-format event. This pair may well be ones to watch 👀

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strong>Score for Sanna Siltakorpi and Bofey CLIck – 21.8 XC penalties – Overall 57.2 – 40th

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🇿🇦 Alexander Peternell and Figaro des Premices

Photo by Tilly Berendt.

British-based South African rider, Alex, comes to his second Games with relative new kid on the block ‘Norman’. They have just 10 FEI competitions in their locker, and nine completions, so today’s cross country will very much be an educational opportunity, but what an exciting one!

Form, Facts & Stats:

Alexander’s championships experience:

🔥 London 2012 (Ind.)
🗺️ Caen 2014 (Ind.)

🔴 Alexander was the first South African rider to compete at Burghley (2009) and Badminton (2010).

Cross Country 📈 This combination have only had cross country jumping penalties once in their 10 FEI starts, a 60 in the 4*-S at Bicton this season, which saw them retire out on course. Other than that it’s been clear all the way for them at this early stage in their career together. ‘Norman’ is just a nine-year-old so Alexander has been taking things steady thus far, picking up time penalties in the twenties at all of their 4* runs.

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Score for Alexander Peternell and Figaro des Premices – 33.2 XC penalties – Overall 72.2 – 51st

🇨🇳 Alex Hua Tian and Jilsonne van Bareelhof

Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Alex is an excellent ambassador for equestrianism in China and is very passionate about improving access to horses, and inspiring Chinese riders to follow their dreams, just as he did when he set himself the goal of representing China at his home Olympics in 2008, a dream he realized. He won the Asian Games in Hangzhou last season and comes to Paris for his fourth Olympic appearance.

Form, Facts & Stats:

Alex’s championships experience:

🔥 Tokyo 2020 (Team) – Rio 2016 (Ind.); 8th – Beijing 2008 (Ind.)
🗺️ Pratoni 2022 (Ind.) – Tryon 2018 (Ind.) – Caen 2014 (Ind.)

🔴 Alex has set up a charity in the People’s Republic of China connecting kids to riding schools to help more people get into horses.

Cross Country 📈 You have to go back to 2021 to find a cross country jumping penalty on this pair’s card, although they do tend to take things a little steady out on course. They picked up 23.2 time penalties in their latest run in the 4*-S at Bramham, but kept it to 10 at their most recent long-format completion, the 4* in Montelibretti last year.

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Score for Alex Hua Tian and Jilsonne van Bareelhof – 20.6 XC penalties – Overall42.6 – 32nd

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🇵🇹 Manuel Grave and Carat de Bremoy

Manuel is making his Olympic debut with a late-allocated place, thanks to some changes in the qualification places. He’s got dad/coach/former Olympic eventer Carlos by his side as he takes on Paris with his twelve-year-old gelding.

Form, Facts & Stats:

Manuel’s championships experience:

🗺️ Lexington 2010 (Ind.)

🔴 Manuel’s dad represented Portugal at the Athens Games in 2004.

Cross Country 📈 They’ve jumped three clear cross country rounds this season, including both long- and short-format events. They have had their fair share of troubles out on course though, with five eliminations and a retirement after a 20, in 27 FEI competitions, and a further four cross country jumping penalties on their record. They added 6 time penalties in the 4*-L at Kronenberg in their most recent run, and just 2.4 in the 4*-S event at the Spring Tour in Portugal. They were clear inside the time in the 4*-L at Sopot, Poland, last season on their way to eighth place, and clear inside the time in the 4*-L at Montelibretti a little earlier in the year, where they finished ninth.

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Score for Manuel Grave and Carat de Bremoy – Eliminated XC

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🇲🇦 Noor Slaoui and Cash In Hand

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Noor is making history for Morocco as she takes to the course in Paris, as the first-ever international eventer from the country. She’s been learning the trade from Aussie eventing stalwart Bill Levett, so she has plenty of experience to draw from as she takes on her first Olympic cross country.

Form, Facts & Stats:

🔴 Noor didn’t start eventing until she was 19, after driving past a Horse Trials in the UK, where she was studying at University.

Cross Country 📈 Since stepping up to 4*, this pair have jumped clear in five out of eight FEI runs. They had 11 penalties for breaking a frangible device in the 4*-S Nations Cup leg at Avenches on their most recent run, but went clear at both long- and short-format events in their two runs prior. Time does tend to clock up for them, particularly at short-format, with 23.6 added in the 4*-S at Ballindenisk this season and 12.8 in the 4*-L at Montelibretti last season.

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Score for Noor Slaoui and Cash In Hand – 24 XC penalties – Overall 60.4 – 43rd

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🇦🇹 Harald Ambros and Vitorio du Montet

The galloping dentist is back at the Games, this time with ex-French horse ‘Vitorio’. This is an exciting prospect for Harald, and Austria, who has some great form behind him, including finishing on his dressage score at Pau 5* two years running and earning an eighth and a fifth place finish.

Form, Facts & Stats:

Harald’s championships experience:

🔥 London 2012 (Ind.) – Beijing 2008 (Ind.) – Athens 2004 (Team)
🗺️ Pratoni 2022 (Team) – Lexington 2010 (Ind.) – Aachen 2006 (Team); 19th individually

🔴 ‘Vitorio’ partnered up with Harald to represent Austria via Spain and the Czech Republic, after leaving French rider Maxime Livio.

Cross Country 📈 This horse has proven to be incredibly reliable out on the cross country course. His best rounds have come with Maxime Livio, who rode him for five years, but Harald’s been putting in the miles since starting out with him last September and in six FEI runs they haven’t had a cross country jumping penalty. Most recently, they had 19.2 time penalties in the 4*-L at Baborowko, Poland, where they finished fourth, and 6 in the 4*-S at Sopot, where they were fifth.

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Score for Harald Ambros and Vitorio du Montet – 6.8 XC penalties – Overall 43.3 – 33rd

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🇨🇿 Miroslav Příhoda and Ferreolus Lat

Photo by Tilly Berendt.

This pair have a hattrick of championships experiences in their locker, having represented the Czech Republic at the Tokyo Olympics, the World Championships in Pratoni, and the European Championships in Avenches. The had 11 penalties for a frangible device at Tokyo, and a 20 at Pratoni, but secured a smart clear in Avenches. What will they pull out of the bag in Paris?

Form, Facts & Stats:

Miroslav’s championships experience:

🔥 Tokyo 2020 (Ind.)
🗺️ Pratoni 2022 (Ind.)

🔴 Ferreolus Lat is known as ‘Ferda’ in the barn.

Cross Country 📈 This combination jumped clear in the 4*-L at Strzegom in Poland in their most recent run, where they finished third. They’ve also jumped clear in a 4*-S event this season. Really, they most often jump clear, those penalties at Tokyo and Pratoni are blips in an otherwise clean record. They added 19.6 time at Tokyo, and 21.2 at the European Championships in Avenches, another long-format competition. They kept it to 6 time penalties in their most recent 4*-S run though, and do tend to have a swifter turn of foot at short-format.

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Score for Miroslav Příhoda and Ferreolus Lat – Eliminated XC

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🇪🇨 Nicolas Wettstein and Altier d’Aurois

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Nicolas sure is a busy guy, what with being a CEO and Olympic eventer all at once. He’s one of those people who jumps out of bed in the dark to go ride his horses before work, then heads to the gym on the way home from the office. Which is why he’s an Olympian and I’m definitely not.

Form, Facts & Stats:

Nicolas’ championships experience:

🔥 Tokyo 2020 (Ind.) – Rio 2016
🗺️ Pratoni 2022 (Ind.) – Tryon 2018 (Ind.) – Caen 2014 (Ind.)

🔴 Nicolas’ dad is Swiss and his mom is French, but his ex-wife was Ecuadorian, which made him eligible to compete for Ecuador.

Cross Country 📈 Things aren’t always plain sailing for this pair out on cross country, but often they are. They had an early 20 in Tokyo and followed that up with another one in a 3*-S competition a few months later. They retired out on course twice last season; after racking up a slew of penalties in a 4*-L in September, and having a 20 and breaking a frangible device in a 4*-S in April. Aside from that though, you’re looking back to 2020 to find another cross country jumping penalty on their card, and they jumped clear at the Pan-Ams in Santiago. Time is a funny thing, particularly for this pair. At 4*-L they’ve been inside and they’ve also had almost 30 time penalties. So, somewhere in between that is where they’ll probably be in Paris.

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Score for Nicolas Wettstein and Altier d’Aurois – 65.4 XC penalties – Overall 107.7 – 55th

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FINAL TEAM ROTATION

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🇩🇪 Michael Jung and Chipmunk FRH

Photo by Tilly Berendt.

We all know how Tokyo played out. But surely, surely, you can’t be that unlucky twice. This horse deserves to totally showcase his talent this time around, and well, there really is no better pilot. Fingers crossed the frangibles behave themselves.

Form, Facts & Stats:

Michael’s championships experience:

🔥 Tokyo 2020 (Team); 8th individually – Team 🥈 & Individual 🥇 Rio 2016 – Team 🥇 & Individual 🥇 London 2012
🗺️ Team 🥇 & Individual 🥈 Caen 2014 – Individual 🥇 Lexington 2010

🔴 Michael is one of only two riders to win the Rolex Grand Slam of Eventing, with consecutive Badminton, Burghley and Kentucky victories (the other’s Britain’s Pippa Funnell).

Cross Country 📈 They’ve been clear inside the time at World Championships (Pratoni 2022), European Championships (in 2021) and 5* (Kentucky 2022), but a heartbreaking frangible device scuppered their chances of a gold medal in Tokyo. Michi had an unlucky ducking at the European Championships last season and they had a 20 in a 4*-S run in Strzegom, not to mention that Aachen flag. What I’m getting at is that we all know there’s the aspect of a little luck on the day needed in eventing, and thus far, Michi and Chip have been on the wrong side of it seemingly more times than they perhaps deserve. But look past that and you’ll find just two 20s, one flag, one frangible device and one rider fall in 33 FEI competitions together. You’ll also find an awful lot of inside the times on their record, notably at Tokyo, Pratoni and Kentucky.

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“Today was quite a lot of moments to enjoy.”

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Michael heads into tomorrow’s show jumping as the leader of the pack. He’s chasing down yet another championships title and has only one second in hand:

“Chipmunk made it very easy for me — every time the jump was easy. He was listening so well and connected to me — and he was so powerful galloping. I checked the time and said, ‘Okay, we have more time on the next fence. Slow down, slow down.’ It was an unbelievable feeling. He’s so brave in the cross country. He’s a horse with so much talent – in the dressage, in the jumping – he makes it for the rider a bit easier, everything. I’m so thankful to have such good horses and to be at my fourth Olympic Games. It’s a dream, and it’s always a special feeling.”

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Score for Michael Jung and Chipmunk FRH – Clear inside the time – Overall 17.8 – 1st

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🇦🇺 Christopher Burton and Shadow Man

Chris is comin’ in hot 🌶️ He was clear inside the time at Millstreet, Ireland, on the way to the win in the 4*-S Nations Cup leg in his latest FEI run prior to Paris.

Form, Facts & Stats:

Chris’ championships experience:

🔥 Team 🥉 Rio 2016; 5th individually – London 2012 (Team)
🗺️ Tryon 2018 (Team) – Caen 2014 (Team) – Lexington 2010 (Ind.)

🔴 Chris has won Adelaide 5* twice, as well as taking the Burghley title.

Cross Country 📈 You have to go all the way back to 2018 to find a cross country jumping penalty on this gelding’s record, and that’s the only one – in 33 FEI runs. He made the time on his most recent run, but before that it’d been a few years since he last stopped the clock without penalties; although Chris is known as one of the fastest riders in the world, this pair have added between 16.8 and 28.4 in their six FEI competitions together. But those runs were very much a getting to know each other exercise – doing what was needed to qualify for the Olympics without risking any mishaps – and their blistering run at Millstreet is surely the kind of determination we can expect from them moving forwards.

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Score for Christopher Burton and Shadow Man – Clear inside the time – Overall 22 – 3rd

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🇨🇦 Jessica Phoenix and Freedom GS

Photo by Shelby Allen.

Jessie must be feeling pretty good on cross country day, knowing she’s sat on a mare who’s never had a jumping penalty out on course. Jessie’s no stranger to the world stage and will no doubt be fully prepared to use all of her vast experience to steer the relatively inexperienced Freedom GS ‘round the Paris track.

Form, Facts & Stats:

Jessie’s championships experience:

🔥 Rio 2016 (Team) – London 2012 (Team)
🗺️ Tryon 2018 (Team) – Caen 2014 (Team) – 2010 Lexington (Ind.)

🔴 Freedom GS is Canadian-bred and is the product of four generations of Canadian breeding.

Cross Country 📈 In 13 FEI runs this mare has no cross country jumping penalties, but has had 11 for activating a frangible device on three occasions. She hasn’t been inside the time since 2* and time penalties do tend to vary – she added 19.8 on her latest run in the 4*-S at Bromont, and 4.4 in the 4*-S at TerraNova on the way to second place. In her last long-format run, the 4*-L also at TerraNova in November, she added 4 time penalties.

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“This is the best Olympics I have ever taken part in. The venue, the jumps, the design, the people, the way this country is so welcoming — it is second to none. To be able to gallop through Versailles is undescribable.'”

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Jessie explained what happened in her round with Freedom GS:

“She] was a little bit within herself — she came up that bank and jumped beautifully out over the skinny, and I just didn’t have quite enough room to get her going forward and ahead of my leg again. She jumped up the next bank and just literally never saw the birch railing. Was it really a refusal? No, because she didn’t see it — everything she sees, she jumps. On a day like today, it’s just terrible timing because you feel like you’ve let your entire team and country down. Anyhow, after that we regrouped and she was pure class. I am so excited for this horse’s future. She just galloped around there with such speed and confidence and just got better and better as she went on. I’m really looking forward to show jumping her tomorrow.”

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Score for Jessica Phoenix and Freedom GS – 32.4 XC penalties – Overall67.8 – 49th

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🇮🇪 Austin O’Connor and Colorado Blue

Photo by Tilly Berendt.

If you love cross country, make sure you watch this guy, because ‘Salty’ loves it too (and so does Austin). Man, there’s nothing better than seeing a true cross country horse do its thang, and that’s exactly what you get with this talented, plucky gelding. He’s got scope and power and speed and… well let’s just says he’s the whole package when it comes to cross country day. Enjoy.

Form, Facts & Stats:

Austin’s championships experience:

🔥 Tokyo 2020 (Team); 13th individually – Beijing 2008 (Team) – Sydney 2000 (Ind.); 17th
🗺️ Pratoni 2022 (Team); 18th individually

🔴 Austin drove his own horse lorry to Paris.

Cross Country 📈 In 28 FEI competitions, this combination have had cross country jumping penalties just twice – that’s a total of 26 clear rounds. This guy is an eventing machine. He was clear inside the time in Tokyo and just two seconds over at the World Championships in Pratoni. He added just 1.2 time penalties at Maryland 5* on his way to the win.

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Score for Austin O’Connor and Colorado Blue – Clear inside the time – Overall 31.7 – 14th

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🇨🇭 Felix Vogg and Dao de l’Ocean

Photo by Tilly Berendt.

‘Dao’ may be making his championships debut in Paris, but Felix has two Olympics, four World Championships, multiple European Championships and a bunch of Nations Cup appearances in his locker, as well as having completed at Badminton, Pau, Kentucky – where he was sixth – and Luhmühlen – which he won on his birthday. Huzzah!

Form, Facts & Stats:

Felix’s championships experience:

🔥 Tokyo 2020 (Team); 19th individually – Rio 2016 (Ind.)
🗺️ Pratoni 2022 (Team); 14th individually – Tryon 2018 (Team) – Caen 2014 (Team)

🔴 Felix and his brother, Ben, both represented Switzerland at the Rio Olympics.

Cross Country 📈 This pair had a bit of a rocky start to their relationship, picking up plenty of cross country penalties at the beginning of their time together, but practice makes perfect and all that and they’re now on a streak of twelve clear rounds. They were clear inside the time in the 4*-L Nations Cup event at Boekelo last season, where they finished ninth, and added just 6.8 time penalties in the 4*-S at Wiesbaden this year on their way to the win. Felix hasn’t pushed for the time on this horse though, so it’ll be interesting to see what happens if he decides to unleash the beast in Paris.

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“I showed him the way, but the rest he did.”

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“The track was really intense — the time was really tight, so it made all of it a little bit tough. You had a lot of combinations really fast, so there was no time to mess around and think about it.
“

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Score for Felix Vogg and Dao de l’Ocean – Clear inside the time – Overall 22.1 – 4th

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🇺🇸 Boyd Martin and Fedarman B

Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Boyd’s bling cabinet has a silver from the World Championships, and a team and individual gold from the Pan-Ams in it, and he’d very much like to add an Olympic medal to his haul. He’s known to take an ice bath on cross country day and often shows up at events with his guru. Boyd may be a bit of a character and game for a laugh, but put him on that pony and he’s one hella fierce competitor.

Form, Facts & Stats:

Boyd’s championships experience:

🔥 Tokyo 2020 (Team); 20th individually – Rio 2016 (Team); 16th individually – London 2012 (Team)
🗺️ Team 🥈 Pratoni 2022 – Tryon 2018 (Team) – Caen 2014 (Team); 7th individually – Lexington 2010 (Team); 10th individually
6️⃣ Boyd is currently World No. 6

🔴 Boyd’s been named USEA Rider of the Year six times.

Cross Country 📈 They were clear in the 4*-S at Kentucky this season, and just two seconds over the time, finishing up fourth overall. In 11 FEI runs together they’ve had jumping penalties just twice, once in a getting-it-together round right at the start of their journey and an 11 for breaking a frangible device at Pau last fall, where they finished eighth. We all know Boyd’s a fast rider, and Bruno’s a pretty quick horse. They were clear inside the time at Luhmühlen on their way to eighth place and were inside the time at Pau, despite that pin. So, long-format clears inside the time – check; achingly close to the time at short-format – check. What more do you want as you head out onto an Olympic cross country course?

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Score for Boyd Martin and Fedarman B – 1.6 XC penalties – Overall 32.1 – 17th

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🇵🇱 Robert Powala and Tosca del Castegno

Photo by Tilly Berendt.

This mare stepped up to 4* last season and has gained a fair bit of mileage since then, with eight FEI runs at the level, including two Nations Cup events.

Form, Facts & Stats:

🔴 Robert is based in Italy, a childhood dream of his that came true.

Cross Country 📈 This combination are on a run of six clear cross country jumping rounds, including both long- and short-format events. In 24 FEI competitions they’ve had jumping penalties on five occasions. They tend to go for steady-ish clears, although time penalties recently have come down into single figures sometimes at short-format. In their last long-format run, the 4*-L at Montelibretti last season, they added 15.6 time.

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Score for Robert Powala and Tosca del Castegno – 60 XC penalties – Ovearll 94.7 – 54th

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🇸🇪 Louise Romeike and Caspian 15

Photo by Tilly Berendt.

This pair have some very hot form across the country 🌶️ Louise has produced this guy through the levels herself, so it’s safe to say they know each other really well, exactly the kind of relationship you want with your horse as you set out from the start box onto the Olympic cross country course.

Form, Facts & Stats:

Louise’s championships experience:

🔥 Tokyo 2020 (Team)
🗺️ Tryon 2018 (Team)

🔴 Louise’s father-in-law is none other than 2008 Olympic individual and team gold medalist Hinrich Romeike.

Cross Country 📈 In 24 FEI runs this pair have never had a cross country jumping penalty, not one or any, zero. And they’re pretty speedy too. They added just 2 time penalties in the 4*-L Nations Cup event at Boekelo last season and were two seconds over the time in the 4*-S at Marbach this season.

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Score for Louise Romeike and Caspian 15 – 0.8 XC penalties – Overall 38.5 – 25th

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🇬🇧 Ros Canter and Lordships Graffalo

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European Champion ✅ 5* winner ✅ Making his Olympic debut ✅ ‘Walter’ really is living the eventing dream right now. Ros was traveling reserve for Tokyo, a role which she stepped up to heroically, supporting the team to the gold medal, but this time she’s not watching from the sidelines on cross country day – she gets to ride the wonderful Walter ‘round the Olympic track. Walter, who’s never had a cross country jumping penalty. Walter, who very often makes the time. What a lucky woman Ros is!

Form, Facts & Stats:

Ros’ championships experience:

🔥 Team 🥇 Tokyo 2020 (as traveling reserve)
🗺️ Pratoni 2022 (Team); 4th individually – Team 🥇 & Individual 🥇 Tryon 2018
1️⃣ Ros is currently World No. 1

🔴 Ros is a bit of a smart cookie and has a degree in sports science.

Cross Country 📈 In 22 FEI competitions, Walter has had cross country jumping penalties a total of zero times. None. He’s been inside the time on nine occasions, and one or two seconds over on a further two. According to my math, that’s almost a 50:50 clear inside the time rate, give or take a second or two. This horse is just something else. And really, the times where the penalties have been a few extra can be explained by planned steady runs and the Badminton mud. Blink and you’ll miss ‘em, which you won’t want to do, as this pair are ones to watch 👀

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“He was nicely tucked up in bed about an hour ago having a sleep, so I had to get him up to get ready for the cross country. It’s been a good day for him in France, I think.”

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Ros explained how she got on out there with ‘Walter’:

“I don’t think there’s many horses like that — that can come back into balance and come down again easily. But that’s where I haven’t sat on another horse like him – that can go to the big gears and then come back to the steady gears as easily as he can.
I had to keep chugging on, it certainly wasn’t a breezy walk in the park at all — but there are so many lovely galloping stretches. I had to get Walter back a little bit more sometimes than I have done in the past. He’s definitely come out this year a little bit stronger in the bridle than he has been; he hasn’t run as much and he’s a bit fresher, but he came back to me really well, and he was an absolute superstar.”

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There is flag penalty on their score as things stand right now, but we’re still within the review period at time of writing. This is what Ros had to say:

“I did touch a flag coming out of the triple brushes at the end, but I would never have imagined [that] I didn’t jump the jump, to be honest. I didn’t come back and think I’d done anything but go clear inside the time. Hopefully not.”

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“Walter was his usual, incredible self. He absolutely loves to run, he loves to gallop and jump, and he loves the crowds. He was in his element today.”

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Score for Ros Canter and Lordships Graffalo – 15 XC penalties – Overall 38.4 – 24th

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🇧🇷 Marcio Carvalho Jorge and Castle Howard Casanova

Photo by Shannon Brinkman Photography.

This combination have just 15 FEI starts behind them, but they brought home a team bronze and individual silver medal from the Pan-Ams last season, so have at least experienced the buzz of a big occasion and stepped up to the plate. Marcio knows his way around an Olympics, or two, so he’ll be there to guide, relatively young at eleven, ‘Howard’ ‘round the Paris track.

Form, Facts & Stats:

Marcio’s championships experience:

🔥 Rio 2016 (Team) – London 2012 (Team)
🗺️ Pratoni 2022 (Team) – Tryon 2018 (Team)

🔴 Marcio’s been based in Britain since competing at his home games in Rio.

Cross Country 📈 They added just a smidge of time in both the cross country and show jumping at the Pan-Ams last season on their way to a silver medal. In 15 FEI competitions there’s nary a cross country jumping penalty on their record – not one, or any. The only mark on their card is a technical elimination in 2022. And they’re rather swift of foot to boot. They finished on their dressage in the 4*-L at Sopot, Poland last season and were just four seconds over the time in Santiago. In their two 4*-S runs this season, they added 12.4 at Kronenberg and 7.2 at Luhmühlen.

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Score for Marcio Carvalho Jorge and Castle Howard Casanova – 42.2 XC penalties – Overall 75.7 – 52nd

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🇳🇿 Tim Price and Falco

Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Smooth and quick, Tim always makes cross country day look so easy. Seriously, this is one classy rider to watch in all three phases, but especially when he’s galloping and jumping – it all just looks so effortless. Sit back and enjoy this one 👀

Form, Facts & Stats:

Tim’s championships experience:

🔥 Tokyo 2020 (Team) – Rio 2016 (Team)
🗺️ Team 🥉 & Individual 🥉 Pratoni 2022 – Tryon 2018 (Team); 8th individually – Caen 2014 (Team)
9️⃣ Tim is currently World No. 9

🔴 Tim has achieved the rare feat of completing all seven of the world’s 5*s.

Cross Country 📈 This pair have had their fair share of problems out on course over the years, most recently in the 4*-S at Bicton in May, where they picked up 11 penalties for breaking a frangible device and retired. They had 40 jumping penalties in the 4*-S at Aachen last year and 20 the year before. It seems they have penalties out on cross country around once a season, and they’ve had them this year, so based on those stats, it’s safe to say they’ll pull out a clear in Paris (sorry EquiRatings, for my clunky data analysis). But seriously, they were clear inside the time at Pau 5* and at the World Championships in Pratoni, and when they do add time, it’s single figures.

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“He’s pulled up super with a big smile on his face and ready for tomorrow.”

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Tim explained how he got on out there with Falco:

“He was really good – just very focused, traveled beautifully, had plenty of gallop at the end. It’s a little bit regretful to have the time faults on one hand, but there’s so many things to take care of to make sure you don’t have a silly moment, and jump cleanly and through all those those pesky flags, which we did. I’ve had a couple of occasions where I’ve gone for it and then at the end I’ve regretted it a little bit. I didn’t want that to happen again. I wanted a bit of finesse available for the last couple of combinations and I had that and had a really good final water and the one up and down the hill. And then when I galloped, he bloody motored down home. I think I probably made up 10 seconds, but couldn’t make up 14 seconds. I’m really happy with him.”

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Score for Tim Price and Falco – 2 XC penalties – Overall 28.5 – 9th

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🇯🇵 Kazuma Tomoto and Vinci de la Vigne

Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Kazuma started out in the show jumping ring and didn’t ride around a cross country course until 2016. He learned his trade from none other than Mr Eventing himself, William Fox-Pitt, so there’s no doubting his pedigree when it comes to classy cross country riding.

Form, Facts & Stats:

Kazuma’s championships experience:

🔥 Tokyo 2020 (Team); 4th individually
🗺️ Pratoni 2022 (Team); 8th individually – Tryon 2018 (Team)

🔴 Vinci de la Vigne is known as ‘Vince’ at home.

Cross Country 📈 They were bang on the same dressage score in Tokyo and the World Championships in Pratoni, and were very close in the cross country too, with two jumping clears and 1.6 time in Tokyo and 1.2 in Pratoni. Seriously, this is a consistent combination, and consistently excellent too. They’re not always super quick at short-format events, but get them running and jumping and they really show what cross country riding’s all about. They have had a fall this season, which is a blemish on a very clean cross country sheet, but after his stellar performance in Tokyo, where he finished just off the podium individually, he’ll be yearning to take that extra step in Paris.

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“He was amazing. I’m really, really pleased. I’m proud of him.”

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Kazuma was really pleased with ‘Vince’:

“He knows everything: what he needs to do, what I want him to do – he’s absolutely a professional horse, especially in the big events, big atmosphere. At home he’s a lazy boy, but in a big atmosphere, he’s like, ‘Come on, it’s my time’. He was fantastic today.”

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Score for Kazuma Tomoto and Vinci de la Vigne – Clear inside the time – Overall 27.4 – 8th

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🇮🇹 Giovanni Ugolotti and Swirly Temptress

Photo by Tilly Berendt.

This combination has been together from the start, with Giovanni bringing the mare up through the levels from 1*. They have an enviable record across the country, although they’ll need to step it up a bit in terms of time if they’re going to catch the clock alongside the Grand Canal.

Form, Facts & Stats:

Giovanni’s championships experience:

🗺️ Caen 2014 (Team)

🔴 At home, Swirly Temptress is known as ‘Swirl’, because, why not?

Cross Country 📈 Apart from two rider falls and a flag penalty, this pair’s cross country record is remarkably clean over 28 FEI runs. They do tend to add time, although they finished on their dressage in the 4*-L at Ballindenisk in 2022 on their way to the win, a career-best finishing score and result. They added 18.8 time at the European Championships last season, a long-format competition, and 9.6 in their most recent run, the 4*-S at Luhmühlen.

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Score for Giovanni Ugolotti and Swirly Temptress – 36.4 XC penalties – Overall 62.1 – 46th

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🇳🇱 Raf Kooremans and Radar Love

This horse has a remarkably clean score sheet when it comes to cross country jumping, which must have Raf feeling positive as he sets out of the start box at Paris.

Form, Facts & Stats:

Raf’s championships experience:

🗺️ Tryon 2018 (Team)

🔴 Raf’s daughter has competed for the Dutch eventing team at Ponies, Juniors and Young Riders.

Cross Country 📈 This combination had an 11 penalties for breaking a frangible device in the 4*-S at Bicton, but in their five other runs together, they’ve jumped clear. They may not have many runs as a pair under their cinch, but Radar Love has 31 FEI starts on his card, and there’s just that one 11 penalties, a 20 back in 2022, and a fall on his record, that’s it. Other than that it’s clear all the way, although it has to be pointed out that there are only a handful of 4* runs on that list. This gelding is a steady clear kind of guy, with time penalties generally racking up into the mid-teens or a bit higher.

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Score for Raf Kooremans and Radar Love – 5.6 XC penalties – Overall 32.6 – 18th

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🇫🇷 Nicolas Touzaint and Diabolo Menthe

Photo by Eventing Nation.

Nicolas knows just what it’s like to take the metalware home from the Olympics, having won team gold in Athens and team bronze in Tokyo. He’ll be itching to add to his collection with this talented gelding at his home Games.

Form, Facts & Stats:

Nicolas’ championships experience:

🔥 Team 🥉 Tokyo 2020; 6th individually – London 2012 (Team); 17th individually – Beijing 2008 (Ind.) – Team 🥇 Athens 2004 (Ind.) 8th – Sydney 2000 (Ind.)
🗺️ Pratoni 2022 (Team) – Aachen 2006 (Team)

🔴 In 2008 Nicolas became the first French rider to win Badminton.

Cross Country 📈 In 15 FEI competitions this pair have had zero cross country jumping penalties, not a single one. They were clear inside the time at the Nations Cup event at Boekelo last season, finishing on their dressage and taking the win, and at the Young Horse Championships in 2020 they added nothing on cross country day on their way to third place. They’ve had two 4*-S runs this season, incurring 7.2 time in their season opener and 2 in their most recent run. They can be clear and quick at both long- and short-format, and this pair could very well be ones to watch in Paris 👀

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Score for Nicolas Touzaint and Diabolo Menthe – 3.2 XC penalties – 11th

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🇧🇪 Lara de Liederkerke-Meier and Origi

Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Lara had no fewer than five horses qualified for the Olympics. She’s in Paris with ten-year-old gelding, Origi, who was top-10 at the Young Horse World Championships as a seven-year-old. Incidentally, Lara was seven when she got her first pony. She hasn’t had a whole lot of Championships luck in the past few years, with a really, really unlucky fall at the first fence in Pratoni and withdrawing after the dressage in Tokyo, but she turned all that around when she became the first Belgian to win a 5* at Luhmühlen last month. Here’s to continuing on her most recent trajectory in Paris.

Form, Facts & Stats:

Lara’s championships experience:

🔥 Tokyo 2020 (Ind.)
🗺️ Pratoni 2022 (Team) – Tryon 2018 – Caen 2014; 18th Individually – Lexington 2010
4️⃣ Lara is currently World No. 4

🔴 Lara’s sporting heroes are Swiss tennis player Roger Federer and, of course, eventing magician Michael Jung, who she’s competing against in Paris.

Cross Country 📈 They had an uncharacteristic 20 in their most recent FEI run in the 4*-S at Luhmühlen. In their 25 competitions together, they’ve had cross country jumping penalties on just three occasions and one rider fall. They can be quick on their day too. They were clear inside the time in the 4*-L at Montelibretti back in November, the last long-format run they’ve had, and one of only three. They’re no slouches at short-format – even with the 20 at Luhmühlen they only added 8.8 time penalties.

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Score for Lara de Liederkerke-Meier and Origi – 1.2 XC penalties – Overall 31.2 – 13th

Sunday Links from EcoVet

By Diana Gilbertson on Jul 28, 2024 12:01 am -

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We are only on Day 2 of the Olympics and I don’t know about you, but I am already exhausted. Maybe that is a result of several last minute team changes, or maybe we can put it down to an absolutely mammoth day of dressage yesterday, with all 64 tests being crammed in to one day. Or maybe it is a combination of both, but whatever the reason, we had better dust ourselves and prepare for another day of highs, lows, and everything in between as the cross country gets underway.

In fact, it is probably already well underway by the time you read this, with the defending Olympic champion Julia Kraweski and this year’s Aachen winner, Nickel 21 (one of the afore mentioned last minute swap ins) due to leave the start box at 10.30 am local time (4.30 am ET/9.30 am BST) You can find the rest of the start times here.

This may not be the toughest course some of these horse and rider combinations have faced – don’t forget there are several 5* winners in this field – but it is certainly going to be another level of intense, with 28 fences – 45 jumping efforts – crammed into Pierre le Goupil’s 5149m, 9.02 minute course. Add to that the pressure of an Olympics and the stage is set for another thrilling day of sport.

Once again, we will be bringing you the very best of coverage and updating you as the competition unfolds – or at least, as much as we can whilst remaining within the strict media rules that apply at the Olympics. Just like yesterday, we will have a Companion Guide, compiled by the incredible Cheg Darlington, complete with facts, stats and trivia, and once it is all over, Tilly and Sally – our eyes and ears on the ground in Versailles will be filling you in on the days events.

If you want to refresh your memory as to what happened yesterday – though I don’t know how you could forget that Laura Collett broke an Olympic record – then check out all of our coverage thus far.

Once again, all of the action will be available to view live – find out how to watch here – and you can keep an eye on the live scores, too.

So consider yourself prepped and ready for Olympic Cross Country Day – see you on the other side!

#Paris2024: [Website] [Equestrian Schedule, Timing, Scoring] [Peacock for U.S. Viewers] [How to Watch Guide] [Ticket Resale Market] [Spectator Guides] [EN’s Coverage]

U.S. Weekend Action

Millbrook H.T. (Millbrook NY) [Website] [Entries] [Ride Times] [Volunteer] [Scoring]

Hunt Club Farms H.T. (Berryville, VA) [Website] [Entries] [Scoring]

UK International Events

Burgham International (Northumberland) [Website] [Entries] [Volunteer] [Scoring]

Links to Start Your Sunday:

There may be records being set in Paris, but there are sub 20 dressage scores being recorded at Burgham International Horse Trials this weekend, too.

Arguably one of the hardest positions to be in at an Olympics, read more of what it is like to be a Travelling Reserve.

I’m not crying, you’re crying. There have already been tears aplenty after just one day of Olympic action. Ben Hobday – former rider of Chris Burton’s horse, Shadowman – is certainly not afraid to show his emotions following his former 5* partner’s 3rd placed test.

If you’re not already overloaded with information ahead of today’s cross country action, then check out EquiRatings’ Cross Country Form Guide, full of every fact and stat you could ever want to know – and some more besides.

If you struggle to sleep tonight after an adrenalin filled day of sport, then why not Irish eventer and EquiRatings co-founder Sam Watson read you a bedtime story…?

Sponsor Corner:

Ecovet ambassador and 5* eventer Sara Kozumplik deals with a lot of bugs and pests down at her Florida farm, Overlook South. Here’s what she has to say about how Ecovet works for her.

Morning Viewing:

All eyes may be on Versailles this weekend, but there is all sorts of fun going on at Hickstead this weekend, too. Alex Bragg and Quindiva won the Eventers Challenge there earlier this week – think arena eventing, but on double speed…!

Meghan O’Donoghue and Palm Crescent Gallop to the Lead at Millbrook Horse Trials

By Amber Heintzberger on Jul 27, 2024 7:11 pm -

Meghan O’Donoghue and Palm Crescent. Photo by Grosserhode.

Time was the biggest factor on the Advanced division cross country phase today at the Millbrook Horse Trials. Meghan O’Donoghue, Round Hill, Virginia and her Thoroughbred gelding Palm Crescent had the fastest round of the day to add six time penalties and move into the lead (35.3). Allison Springer, Middleburg, Virginia, riding No May Moon, a ten-year-old Connemara Sport Horse mare, finished close behind in second place (38.2). She moved up from a tie for 16th place after dressage.

There was not much breathing room for the leaders, as only fractions of a penalty separated most of the top placing horses after dressage, so a few time faults really shook up the standings today. Overnight leader Phillip Dutton and Possante, a KWPN gelding owned by The Possante Group, are currently in 3rd place (39.9) after Phillip said he rode a bit conservatively due to the hilly terrain.

No one finished within the time allowed. While it was a warm, sunny day, riders agreed that the weather was much better than it has been lately, with a heat wave affecting much of the East Coast, so temperatures in the 80s were actually a relief. O’Donoghue pointed out that Millbrook tends to be the first event back for many upper level horses preparing for the fall season, after they’ve had a rest following their spring three-day events, so riders tend to not push too hard to make the time. Out of 39 starters, seven horses had jump faults, one was eliminated, three retired and one withdrew. The rest finished clear but with time faults.

O’Donoghue and Palm Crescent, 18, have a longstanding partnership, and after a at the fell off halfway around cross country at the Badminton CCI5* in England this spring, she is hoping to take him back across the pond to contest the Burghley CCI5* in September.

“I was thrilled with him today,” she said. “We’re old friends now, he’s an older horse and I’ve been campaigning him for a while and we know each other very well.” Regarding today’s cross country course she said, “I thought Morgan [Rowsell, course designer] did a great job. I’ve been coming to Millbrook for many years now and I love the terrain, I think it’s a fabulous fitness test. It’s also nice to see green grass after a very hot, dry summer in Virginia. I think he does a good job using the land and building the course up enough as we look into what we’re doing to prepare for a three-day.”

Springer rode two horses in the Advanced today and one in the Intermediate. “My horses were super; this was their first event back since Bromont (Canada) in June,” she said. “I was really pleased with [No May Moon], she’s been really fun at this level. She’s a very quick mare, and the ground was a little hard today but I just let her cook it when she’s happy and the thing with her is, she’s really looking for the flags and is really efficient. She’s got a lot of gears – there were a couple of questions out there that they had to reach for the make the strides and she’s just been awesome.”

Springer’s student, Katie Lichten, rode three horses in the Intermediate today and leads Division A with Roman Code Red and is second riding HTS Jensen R, and also has the lead in Division B riding Fast Company.

“All three horses were really good today and I thought the course rode well,” she said. “Roman Code Red was pretty strong – it was his first time out since Bromont and he was excited to be out there. She’s owned two of the horses for the past year and a half and one of them for about eight months. Originally from Massachusetts, she moved to Middleburg, Virginia about a year and a half ago. She said the cooler temps this weekend worked to her advantage with all three horses.

“It’s been so hot in Virginia, my horses were very fresh this morning,” she said. “I took them out and longed them and they were all bucking. It got hot as the day went on, but we have big hills in Virginia and they are all big horses with really big strides. Sometimes they can be a lot to contain, but they’re really good cross country horses.”

The Advanced, Intermediate and Preliminary divisions conclude tomorrow with show jumping. General admission and parking are free, and there are a number of options available for an elevated experience. This morning, patrons enjoyed brunch at the Yellowframe Farm Waterview Tent overlooking the water complex. On Sunday morning, a luncheon overlooking the show jumping will take place in small tents around the main arena.

Social events are always a highlight of the Millbrook Horse Trials. On Friday evening guests enjoyed a “Sip and Shop” event with shopping in the Millbrook Market tent, tastings from local purveyors of wine and spirits, and featured guests Mrs. Barbara Tober and Candace Bushnell, who discussed growing up as girls who loved horses – the theme of Mrs. Tober’s sponsored, signature pink fence on the cross country course.

#Paris2024: [Website] [Equestrian Schedule, Timing, Scoring] [Peacock for U.S. Viewers] [How to Watch Guide] [Ticket Resale Market] [Spectator Guides] [EN’s Coverage]

‘An Absolute Masterpiece – Technically and Aesthetically’: Riders React to the Olympic Cross Country

By Cheg Darlington on Jul 27, 2024 7:03 pm -

Where it begins. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Oo la la baguette! The Olympic cross country has got the riders pumped and ready for action.

There are the usual discussion points:

☔ the weather, more specifically the incessant rain that drenched dressage day;

🌱 the ground, because of said rain;

⏳ the time, because, “If you’re not thinking you’re late when you leave the start box, you’re not going to be making the time”.

One thing the riders all agree on is that the course is totally stunning – “the most beautifully-built cross country course” dressage leader and record-breaker Laura Collett has ever seen.

Pierre le Goupil’s designed a “creative”, “fair” and “flowing”, “impressive” track – the perfect mix for an Olympic Games.

Check out all the fences for yourself in Tilly’s course preview.

Who’s “gonna say I love it”? Who thinks people may be feeling a little too unsuspecting? Who’s “100 percent ready to go and give it a crack”?

Is Chris Burton back for good?

Find out all this, and more besides, straight from the horse’s mouth, so to speak…

#Paris2024: [Website] [Equestrian Schedule, Timing, Scoring] [Peacock for U.S. Viewers] [How to Watch Guide] [Ticket Resale Market] [Spectator Guides] [EN’s Coverage]

🇬🇧 Laura Collett and London 52 – 17.5 – 1st

Olympic record breakers Laura Collet and London 52. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

There’s lots of [fences] that need a lot of respect. The water at the top of the hill has a lot of options, and there’s a fence jumping into water [the horses] have not really seen before with the shape of it. It’s gonna come up very quickly because it’s at the top of a long pull up a hill. To be honest, I think it’s as tough any other cross country course. You’ve got to be on your A game from start to finish, and you’re not home until you’ve gone through the finish flags.

I’ve been walking it every day since Wednesday; it’s the most beautifully-built cross country course I think I’ve ever seen. It gives it a really nice feel because you want to get out there and attack it, and I’m looking forward to the pictures afterwards.

🇩🇪 Michael Jung and fischerChipmunk FRH – 17.8 – 2nd

Michael Jung and fischerChipmunk FRH. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

I really like the course, it’s a super nice build. Every fence is very nicely built and the gallop track is so nice. I’m really looking forward to tomorrow. I think the rain is good for the ground — before, I thought maybe it’s a bit hard somewhere, but we will see tomorrow. We [do not] have not much experience here. We will know tomorrow after maybe 20 to 30 horses, but my feeling is that cross country will be amazing tomorrow.

I really try to concentrate to give the same feeling to my horse like at every other competition. It doesn’t work all the time, but I try to ride him to the same feeling with him, the same fun with him, to enjoy and let him gallop We need to stay concentrated. We need to do everything 100% perfect. But I try not to give the horse a feeling that it’s something special to make him more nervous.

🇦🇺 Christopher Burton and Shadow Man – 22 – 3rd=

Chris Burton and Shadow Man. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

We have to go clear first, and Pierre has built a really tough track out there, so we’ve got to do our job. We’ve got to keep our head in the game and stay focused — step by step. Luckily for me, he’s got a real turn of foot, so we’ll do what we can do.

I think parts of the ground actually needed [the rain]. I think now it might be a bit skatey, I hope by tomorrow it dries out a bit and it might be good going — we will wait and see.

[We asked him if he’s back for good?]

Stop asking difficult questions! We will see. Do you want to buy him for me?!

🇨🇳 Alex Hua Tian and Jilsonne van Bareelhof – 22 – 3rd=

Alex Hua Tian and Jilsonne Van Bareelhof. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

I think it’s an absolute masterpiece — technically and aesthetically, it’s stunning. I think the weather is going to play a big role; we’ll see how much it dries up tomorrow with a bit of sunshine. I think the time is going to play [its part] — the big boys and girls in the big nations, I think, will breeze around, but the rest of us have got to have a pretty good go.

🇨🇭 Felix Vogg and Dao de l’Ocean – 22.1 – 5th

Felix Vogg and Dao de l’Ocean. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

It’s the prettiest course I ever seen — I think it’s maybe a little bit too pretty. Everyone feels comfortable. If you have the line, you maybe forget a little bit to ride, but I think that’s where it gets you. If you are not really focused and riding like it is a cross country, I think it will be tough. The time I cannot say, you’ll see after first riders.

🇬🇧 Ros Canter and Lordships Graffalo – 23.4 – 6th

Ros Canter and Lordships Graffalo. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Plenty to jump, plenty of places where you’ve just got to be on your game the whole way around. The time is going to be a big factor, of course, and that’s where mistakes creep in. I’ve got a plan, I’m open to that plan changing, but I’m going to try and stay in my bubble. I’ve got a fantastic team around me and hopefully we can get the job done tomorrow.

🇳🇿 Clarke Johnstone and Menlo Park – 25.7 – 9th=

Clarke Johnstone and Menlo Park. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

I think it’s great compared to what I expected. I’ve never been here before, but it’s a bit more strong than I expected, and more undulating. There’s a lot of terrain — they’re not huge hills, but there’s a lot of terrain everywhere, testing that you can keep your horse balanced going uphills and downhills — and the water jumps are all pretty strong. I think [Pierre’s] done the most wonderful job designing it that it feels — certainly to walk — like it has a lot of flow to it. It doesn’t feel twisty to walk. I think it’s got beautiful flow [and] the jumps are great. I think it should be well suited to our team.

🇮🇹 Giovanni Ugolotti and Swirly Temptress – 25.7 – 9th=

Giovanni Ugolotti and Swirly Temptress. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

I think it’s a lovely track, beautifully built. Now with this rain, I don’t think it will be heavy, but it probably will be quite slippery and you know speed with slippery ground is never ideal. I think mistakes probably will come, but hopefully not. That’s my guess, because especially under the trees, is very squashy.

🇳🇿 Tim Price and Falco – 26.5 – 12th

Tim Price and Falco. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

It’s a proper challenge. This rain that has been quietly falling all day, I think it’s probably going to have a bit of a toll on the ground; we’ll see if that plays into the advantage of the Kiwis or not. We’ve got good cross country horses and it’s a great course, beautifully presented, some nice big, open gallops, and then some very difficult patches as well. Seems like there are options everywhere — it’s always like that at Games, isn’t it? Mark Phillips, I remember, having ‘ABCDE’ and things like that, but once you get your head around it, you can see why the options are there. I wouldn’t say that the options are Get Out of Jail Free cards anywhere though; there’s still a challenge in those. But there’s the obvious straight routes, a few options, and it’s just our job to make a good plan to know what’s important in terms of results, and ride the horse underneath you.

🇮🇹 Evelina Bertoli and Fidjy des Melezes – 26.6 – 13th=

Evelina Bertoli and Fidjy des Melezes. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

[I don’t watch] too many [riders before cross country]. I’ve got my plans and I think there are no so strange things that you have to see. Normally it’s about the horse, because there are no lines that you say, ‘I do that or I do the opposite’ — I think it’s quite clear. The time will be difficult. I have to be focused on not looking around me. I have to be focused on my plans and my course and don’t get butterflies.

🇧🇪 Karin Donkers and Liepheimer Van’t Verahof – 26.6 – 13th=

Karin Donckers and Leipheimer Van’t Veraho

It’s very fairly built, the cross country fences are clear – I think the horses will read it well. When I walked it, I felt very ‘Woah” [it’s] a lot of fences’ – you really have to know your lines very well in case of something going wrong. You definitely have to pay really good attention. Good riding, being prepared – it’s definitely not going to be a dressage show.

It’s a nine minute course, but I think they have the maximum fences allowed, so that makes it already tight enough. Lots of combinations, a lot of choices you have to make, in combination with the crowds — the people always make it extra tense and more difficult to ride. I think it will be tough enough to go around clear and in the time.

🇩🇪 Julia Krajewski and Nickel 21 – 26.9 – 15th

Julia Krajewski and Nickel 21. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

It’s impressive as always, beautifully presented. Everything is being asked; I think you actually cannot say it’s in any way easy [or] to be underestimated. The course is very clever. I think if you ride forward and brave and have an honest horse, you probably will do well.

🇺🇸 Elisabeth Halliday and Nutcracker – 28 – 19th

Liz Halliday and Nutcracker. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

I think it’s beautifully presented; it’s a gorgeous course. I think it’s difficult, it’s tough. There’s definitely some five-star questions on the track, but everything’s been built in a way that’s fair. I think the distances are there to be ridden. They’ve worked incredibly hard on the ground — already out there today, they’re spreading gravel and doing everything they can. It’s very impressive, what they’ve presented us with here. It’s a it’s a joy to be able to be here.

🇨🇭 Robin Godel and Grandeur de Lully CH – 29.1 – 20th

Robin Godel and Grandeur de Lully CH. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

I think it’s a very beautiful course. The time will be very difficult, and now with the rain, the ground will be softer, so it makes the time even more difficult. I’m very happy with the jumps and we are very confident with my horse; it is our [best] discipline. I will try to be in the time — I know that he’s not the fastest horse but I can take the turns sharp.

There are a lot of combinations that we have to be careful at, but I think the most difficult one technique-wise is at the end — the last water –because the angle is not so easy to ride and it’s [at] the end, after eight minutes; we have to pay attention. Also, when the horse is a bit tired and long, we have to react and be ready.

🇩🇪 Christoph Wahler and Carjatan S – 29.4 – 21st

Christoph Wahler and Carjatan S. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

It is absolutely beautiful; the way it’s designed and everything, it’s outstanding. We will have to wait and see, with the rain, whether that will affect the ground maybe, or not, because I think they’ve done loads and loads of work already over the last two years to prepare the ground. Nobody knows — we’ll have to find out, and I think Julia [Krajewski] has the best possible option to find out and give us the best of information on how we can react.

🇺🇸 Caroline Pamukcu and HSH Blake – 30.4 – 25th

Caroline Pamukcu and HSH Blake. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

It’s easy to make a mistake at any jump. Every jump is hard because either they’re under shadows, the design of the jump, the terrain — there is no give away jump. Even with the footing now, with all this rain, it’s beautiful turf, but it is new turf in some places, so it’s quite easy to slip. I was fortunate to run around Tryon because I feel like it’s the same sort of terrain and it has similar bridges, which is great for America, to have another course of [preparation] for this. But it’s not gonna be easy, and if other people are saying it’s easy — no way.

I think it’s a fantastic course. If I compare it to Tokyo, it’s slightly different with the ideas and questions, but I think it very cleverly opens you out. There’s galloping areas — it’s not just twisty — but then I actually think at the end, that’s when you’re going to slightly get caught out. There’s lots of twists and turns, not just the fences, but obviously the land as well, and actually, I do see the time being quite tight. I see it riding quite intense — a little bit like a nine-minute Luhmühlen type of idea. I sort of see that as a comparison, really. It’s a great course, really well designed, beautiful.

Like all cross country courses, it’s actually sort of a state of flow. If you can get the flow and the idea of the course, then it should go [well]. Sometimes you can get away with something that looks quite simple, but will catch you up later. For me, I think a big question — and I think it’s a big jump in — [is] the direct route up at the second water, the highest point of the course – that’s tough. I think there’s a few different questions elsewhere. I think it’s accumulation — you can build the easiest course in the world, but it’s the Olympics and people will make some mistakes with the pressure.

🇺🇸 Boyd Martin and Fedarman B – 30.5 – 26th

Boyd Martin and Fedarman B. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

It’s a hell of a course out there, but I feel like my horse is tailor-made for this sort of track. I’ve just got to stay switched on for every jump, every stride. I’ve got complete belief in Bruno in the cross country — he’s ready to go. Every jump counts, every moment counts. You can learn a bit by watching some of the others and getting feedback. But then this rain, the ground will be a bit ripped up, and that could be an extra challenge going later.

I think I have just got to work at obviously going flat out, but then trying to keep him settled in the first mile. That’s when he gets really fired up and so I’ve got to try and ride him fast but calm at the beginning. I think that there’s tough combinations the whole way around. There’s nothing I see out there that we can’t do, but there’s a lot of jumps you could have a mistake at.

‘ve got confidence that we’re going to get through it well, but by no means am I going to be losing concentration ‘til I get through the finish flags. I think I’ve made a couple of mistakes in the past at this level, by going too fast and flying jumps and then getting caught out by not not getting him back to the correct speed on a few of the accuracy fences. So that’s my moment that I have got to concentrate on.

I rode a bit out on the cross country this morning, and it [the ground] felt fantastic. There will be parts underneath the trees that will get muddy, but the bulk of the course will be fantastic. It should be fun.

🇳🇿 Jonelle Price and Hiarado – 30.8 – 27th

Jonelle Price and Hiarado. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

I think Pierre has done a fantastic job. It’s not an easy brief, I don’t think, building an Olympics where you’ve got the world’s best combinations, and then you’ve got some of the lesser [established] nations as well, but I think he’s done a really good job. There’s some things we haven’t really seen before – he’s been creative.

It’s got to be fast and clear – there’s a reason I’m out first for the Kiwis! Well, there’s only one Olympics I haven’t gone out first, so [it’s] pretty standard practice — and I actually quite like being done early.

[In] the third minute, I think the key is you’ve got to be as conservative as you can — you look at the second minute, I think there’s seven jump efforts. Number one, you could be cruising quite happily; you could come out at minute two, and find yourself 10 seconds down, and then there’s not going to be a whole lot of places to catch it up. I think it’s going to be about minimizing the damage in those busy patches.

🇮🇪 Austin O’Connor and Colorado Blue – 31.7 – 28th

Austin O’Connor and Colorado Blue. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

I certainly wouldn’t get lulled into a false sense of security with the man that’s designing it. He [Pierre] is a very, very clever course designer — fair, but clever. It’s quite intense; nine minutes is going to be quick. I think it’ll be good safe ground, but it’s certainly going to be on the softer side.

🇳🇱 Janneke Boonzaaijer and Champ de Tailleur – 31.9 – 29th

Janneke Boonzaaijer and Champ de Tailleur. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

I think it’s really friendly for the horses. It has a lot of questions, but [is] also quite readable — so if you ride well, it’s really good to do, but if you make a mistake, then you’ll have a run out. I think that’s really clever. With the options, it’s maybe a little bit longer or you can do what suits your horse. I think the time will be hard. For sure, we’re gonna try and chase it, but in the back of our heads and minds, we want to do it safe as well. I’m gonna say I love it. It’s really nicely built, nice details, and in this garden, it’s amazing.

🇩🇰 Peter Flarup and Fascination – 32.4 – 30th=

Peter Flare-up and Fascination. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

The first time I saw [the cross country course], I thought, ‘Oh, this is too much’ – they really squeezed it to the highest level. But after walking it a few times, I think it looks more doable. I have the feeling that if you get out of the start box with a good, positive feeling, and you can get that into your horse, I think they will fly around. But if you start having concerns at the beginning of the course, then it’s going to be tough.

I know it’s a 4* course, but you cannot be closer to a 5*. The distance is only nine minutes but you have the same amount of fences [as over a longer course], and that makes it really compact. One, two, three, four are really nice, and gets them going, and hopefully that makes them more positive for the rest [of the course]. It’s really nicely built, and I’m looking forward to riding it. When we walked [it] yesterday, it was already a little bit slippery in places, but I’m quite sure they will fix it, I have no concern about that; I’m quite sure that we are in really good hands [and] they will do the best they can.

🇧🇷 Rafael Mamprim Losano and Withington – 32.4 – 30th=

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I’d love to ride cross country on that course. Absolutely, 100 percent ready to go and give it a crack. I think it’s big — we are at an Olympic Game, so that’s exactly what we expected — and I’m sure there’s lots of room to go wrong. We need to walk it five, six times — make sure we’ve got a plan A. It’s only nine minutes, but I think it’s gonna ride pretty fast.

🇧🇷 Marcio Carvalho Jorge and Castle Howard Casanova – 33.3 – 33rd=

Marcio Carvalho Jorge and Castle Howard Casanova. Photo by Shannon Brinkman Photography.

To be honest, I don’t think much about [the order.] Going first or last, it’s about the same for me. Of course, if you go last, it’s good for you. You can watch some and then that helps a bit, but we walked the course many times, we have a plan and it doesn’t change much.

🇸🇪 Sofia Sjöborg and Bryjamolga van het Marienshof Z – 33.3 – 33rd=

Sofia Sjöborg and Bryjamolga van het Marienshof Z. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

It looks really nice. There’s a few tough questions at the end, just where they jump in and don’t know what’s coming until quite late. If you’ve got a bit of a tired horse, a mentally tired horse, then you just have to really make sure that you show them where they’re meant to be going and you help them as much as possible. It looks testing, but it looks fair, and it’ll be hunting down the clock.

It is very mental. I think the horses don’t get many rests, because even though there’s a few galloping parts, I think they’re always turning in the woods, out of the woods. I think they will need a few breaths around there to carry on.

🇦🇺 Shane Rose and Virgil – 34.6 – 38th

Shane Rose and Virgil. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

I think there are some some really strong elements to it. I think the time could be could be tight as well; it does flow a little better than perhaps we thought, but I think the first couple of minutes — certainly that second minute — is going to take a lot of time and a lot of thought process to get through. Overall, I think it’s definitely stronger than Tokyo. It seems quite similar, potentially, to Rio. Certainly in that second minute, there are a lot of influential fences that are going to shape the way the competition runs, and then you need a bit of force at the end of the course to negotiate the last couple of lines.

🇨🇦 Jessica Phoenix and Freedom GS – 35.4 – 43rd=

Jessica Phoenix and Freedom GS. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

I am pumped. I cannot wait to leave the start box on that horse, like from start flags to finish flags. It is game on. I am so excited to take her out there tomorrow. Normally I’m the pathfinder at these things, so having the ability to just watch some of the key combinations to see how the flow goes, see how the striding is, see how the horses are interpreting the different jumps out there, is going to be a huge advantage before leaving a start box tomorrow.

The course designer is brilliant. What he has set up out there is next level, he’s just put so much thought into it – into the design and to the layout, using the terrain. It’s pretty exceptional to walk around a course like that. From the start flags to the finish, there’s not going to be any letting up out there, or you’re going to be having time faults. It feels like a four-star short over nine minutes. It’s a lot of jumping efforts in a short space with a lot of turns. If you’re not thinking you’re late when you leave the start box, you’re not going to be making the time.

🇨🇦 Karl Sleazak and Hot Bobo – 35.8 – 46th=

Karl Slezak and Hot Bobo. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

I’m looking forward to seeing how [teammate] Mike [Winter] has a good go out there, but I’m optimistic. It looks like a great course. I think that you have got to get their focus early, but then it opens up and we can fly.

I was never concerned about coming here, because it is the Olympics. You just put your heart and soul into it, and so you come out of the [start] box hard. I think it’ll be good for [Hot Bobo] and it will be good for me to get focused in on the job right away.
Certainly, you are going to be slow at the beginning, but there are some stretches where there are only one or two fences, so there are opportunities to catch up a little bit. I do think it’s going to be difficult [to get the time]. I don’t think it’s going to be easy, but I am curious to see. We will see after the first few horses.

I like to have my plan and stick with it. Obviously, if things are going haywire out there I will adjust it, but for the most part, I like to stick to my plan and not get too too focused on whatever anyone else is doing.

🇪🇨 Ronald Zabala Goetschel and Wundermaske – 37.7 – 51st

Ronald Zabala Goetschel and Forever Young Wundermaske. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

I think maybe five or six riders will make the time, but the question is will those horses be sound the next day? You have to plan and see; you need to know your horse well. I know that people will be like, ‘I can make the time’, but I think they will be surprised the next day. This is a challenging course — it’s not hilly, but it’s challenging. There’s new grass in some areas, so the roots will not be long enough, so here we need to use bigger studs — besides, it’s been raining a lot.

🇧🇷 Carlos Parro and Safira – 37.7 – 51st=

Carlos Parro and Safira. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

When I first walked it, I thought it was nice — I thought it was really jumpable. Then the more you walk it, the more you see problems that could occur, but she’s jumped the level before. I think this course, if you ride well on a good horse, you’ve got a great chance of getting good results.

The last water is quite tricky, being [at] the end of the course. The middle water, we don’t know how the horses are going to react to the new development, jumping into the water. But this horse and most of the horses here have jumped courses like this. If I can ride well, get in a good spot, in a good rhythm and let her read the question, it’s very likely the horse is going to jump. Some of the horses here have a lot of experience and they’ll be able to get the time.

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Go eventing!

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Laura Collett Breaks the Olympic Dressage Record Amid Full Paris Leaderboard Shift

By Tilly Berendt on Jul 27, 2024 3:49 pm -

Laura Collett and London 52. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Perhaps this was always going to be the way of things, with 64 tests crammed into one day – but when the morning dressage leader at the Olympics is someone like Great Britain’s Tom McEwen and JL Dublin, and they’re sitting on a score of 25.8, you start to convince yourself that perhaps only a few competitors will be able to best them in the afternoon.

But there was something in the water over that lunch break, evidently, even though Paris is operating an almost entirely dry venue here. (Well, we say dry – it’s certainly alcohol-free, though after a full day battling the elements, we’re not sure anyone can really use the word dry with a straight face.) In the early afternoon, we saw the ground jury of Christina Klingspor, Xavier le Sauce, and Robert Stevenson enter a period of next-level joie de vivre, and suddenly, records were being smashed, leaderboards were being overturned in rapid succession, and enough excellent scores were being thrown around that we’ve ended the day with a sterling 22 competitors coming in under the 30 barrier – and a top ten that features absolutely none of our morning riders.

Tom’s not far off the pace, though, and a gold medal still feels well within his grasp: he and ‘Dubs’ now sit eleventh on that 25.8, and have contributed to the best post-dressage team score ever recorded at a Games. The Brits go into tomorrow’s cross-country on an aggregate score of 66.7, smashing the previous record of 68.6, held by the Australians since the 2008 Beijing Games.

Laura Collett and London 52. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

But the rider who had the biggest part to play in that overnight success for her nation also finds herself so close to individual gold that she can taste it. Laura Collett and London 52 are certainly no stranger to extraordinarily competitive first-phase marks – nor, even, to scores that dip below the 20 barrier. And today, in her 389th career international test, the Tokyo team gold medallist and her three-time five-star winning partner truly put the pedal to the metal to deliver Laura’s best-ever score – a 17.5 that also sets a new Olympic record by nearly two points.

“I loved every second of it,” beams Laura, whose incredible finish was met with a sea of Union Jack flags from the strong British support front in the stands. “That horse is unbelievable. What he’s done throughout my whole career is amazing, and he just keeps on delivering. So I’m just very grateful to him. I had the time of my life, to be honest. From the moment I entered the arena, he had his ears pricked and loved it, and so did I.”

Laura Collett and London 52. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

On this, the beginning of their second Olympic adventure, Laura’s taking everything she’s learned over the years with ‘Dan’ to try to coax his very best out of him – going back to Tokyo in 2021, where they were individually ninth after an uncharacteristic couple of rails, and further, too, to his early years at the top levels peppered with genuine, though achingly high-profile, teething moments.

But time, and patience, and learning from both the great days and the tough ones, has been the making of the now very nearly infallible partnership.

“It takes years and years of hard work [to develop a relationship], and he’s a horse that’s actually very shy,” she explains. “It’s taken him quite a long time to understand cross-country, mainly because he’s a very shy horse. In 2019, we had a roller coaster year, and at the end of the year, he won a four-star long and went into a prize giving, and that, for me, was the turning point. He really believed in himself; he had full trust in me, and I can feel it on top of him.”

In today’s consistent downpour, Laura had to rely on that trust in the fishbowl of the main arena, where the stands were full of people utilising any method possible to try to stay dry.

“He doesn’t like umbrellas and things like that, so it’s about reassuring him every step of the way and making him believe, because then you can go and do a performance like he did there,” she says. “You never really think you’re going to do it, but everything’s been gearing towards this. It’s been three years in the making, since the moment we stood on the podium in Tokyo. We thought there, he’s still young enough to aim for Paris, and I’ve been very lucky that everything’s gone to plan in the lead up. He’s just a horse that luckily gets better and better with age.”

Laura Collett and London 52. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Laura’s continued remarkable reign of domination in the sport isn’t just impressive because of ‘Dan’s’ wobbly 2019 season; it’s also a testament to the force of her will, which saw her battle back from a nearly catastrophic injury eleven years ago that left her in a coma and took the vision, irreversibly, from one of her eyes. Her motivation then was much the same as it is now: to keep moving towards the next goal, the next step, the next dream, whether that dream is learning how to see a stride again or hunting out an individual gold medal.

“I look back it only to see how lucky I am and just to be here, let alone be literally here. It’s in the past and we try not to dwell on the past, but I know full well that I was very lucky to walk away from that and be able to carry on doing the job that I love. It’s my life, and I love these horses and love working with them day in and day out, and being able to come perform on a stage like this with a horse like London 52… I’m very, very lucky,” she says. “To be honest, I don’t think about [my impaired eyesight]. There’s no other option than to carry on. It’s amazing how quickly my body adapted, and depth perception was very difficult to begin with, but the only thing I wanted to get to do was get back on and ride horses. You have to find a way, and for me it’s normal now to only have one [working] eye. I might be better if I had two, but we’ll never know!”

Michael Jung and fischerChipmunk FRH. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

You’d be forgiven for thinking that a 17.5 would lend a commanding lead and perhaps a fair chunk of time in hand in tomorrow’s cross-country phase, but no such luck: sitting second overnight is Herr Gold Medal himself, Germany’s Michael Jung, who delivered a 17.8 to slot in just three-tenths of a penalty behind Laura and helms the German team into second place, too.

This is a personal best at four- and five-star for the sixteen-year-old gelding (Contendro I x Havanna, by Heraldik), but, remarkably, not an all-time international personal best – that came earlier this year in a CCI3*-S at Radolfzell, where the pair put a 17.3 on the board. We’ve heard of aiming to make your bank account balance match your phone number, but inching towards making your dressage score match your horse’s height is a whole new set of niche goals, frankly.

“It was an amazing feeling to gallop into the stadium — it was a goosebump feeling, but at the same time a really great feeling, because Chipmunk was so well concentrated and so good with me, so well listening,” says Michi. “It was so nice to ride every second — and directly before I started the dressage, I knew I could take all the risks and I could try everything.”

Michael Jung and fischerChipmunk FRH. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Like Laura and Dan, Michi and Chip are tackling their second Olympics together – they finished eighth at Tokyo after a contentious safety device activation. Now, five years into their partnership after Michi took the ride over from teammate Julia Krajewski, he’s ready to throw all his own considerable experience (Michi’s won three Olympic golds already, in case you’d forgotten that reign of domination) at the job at hand – and the years of learning he’s done to unpack the inner workings of his horse, too.

“At every competition, everything I did was experience and learning, trying to get a better partnership with him together and get information, and everything was training for this competition,” says Michi. “I think everybody had the same idea because the Olympic Games are such a special competition and everyone is really, really well prepared.”

Alex Hua Tian hears his score as he leaves the arena with Jilsonne van Bareelhof. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

China’s Alex Hua Tian and Jilsonne van Bareelhof didn’t match their four-star personal best today, but for a first crack at a five-star test, they certainly acquitted themselves admirably. They sit in equal bronze medal position going into cross-country on a score of 22, the same score as Australia’s returning eventer Chris Burton and Shadow Man.

“He’s good in this space, but you never know going into arena like that — especially with a horse like ‘Chocs’,” says Alex, who tells EN that his horse’s stable name was chosen because he’s ‘big, brown, indulgent chocolate.’ “He’s very extravagant, and he knows it, and he’s very arrogant; he loves the attention. I think for him, he was always going to trot in there and think, ‘Oh, I finally found a venue of similar majesty to myself!’ That was either going to go this way, which thankfully it did, or it was going to go the other way, and he was going to get over the top about it. He’s done a 21 at four-star, so he can do a really good test – it’s mainly whether he walks, basically!”

Alex Hua Tian and Jilsonne van Bareelhof. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Now-four-time-Olympian Alex has primarily targeted Chocs at CCI4*-S format, with his last long-format run coming in March of 2023 at Montelibretti’s CCI4*-L – and that, he explains, is largely a management decision.

“He’s jumped around a lot of four-shorts, but he’s a horse that I always liken to a human athlete that’s at Olympic level — weightlifting, marathon running, and gymnastics — one body cannot have that much talent and that much range,” says Alex. “Chocs is the most talented horse I’ve ever sat on in my life. There are other very talented horses that have been more consistent, or more successful than him over years, but if you look at him in each phase, he just goes extra — and I think because of that, through his career he’s picked up little bits and pieces on his way to big events, and so he’s quite often not made it. Last year, he was our first choice for the Asian Games, and picked up a little injury in the month beforehand, and that would be his story.”

But if the gelding isn’t historically easy to manage, he does, at least, have the great benefit of having been built up, trained, and strengthened in order to hit his peak this weekend.

“For me, this has always been his goal and his target. We’ve saved him for seven years to come here, and tomorrow we unleash the beast and see what happens!”

Chris Burton and Shadow Man. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Unleashing the beast is no doubt exactly what Burto, historically dubbed ‘the fastest event rider in the world’, has in mind with his new partner, the former Ben Hobday ride Shadow Man. The fourteen-year-old Belgian Warmblood (Fidjy of Colors x Favorite van de Keezerswinning, by Winningmood) joined his string just before the mid-winter Olympic transfer deadline, and marked Burto’s return to eventing after swapping to pure showjumping for several seasons – and getting himself shortlisted for the Australian showjumping team here, to boot.

Today’s 22 was the horse’s career-best international score – and the key to it, it appears, was riding the wave of the colossal buzz in the ring after the previous rider, Michael Jung, laid down a game-changing score.

“Shadow Man was on his toes,” laughs Burto. “He’s a very relaxed horse, and he got really excited because some guy went before me that the crowd liked to cheer for, but then I was just delighted with him — he went back to work, showing what a lovely gentleman he is and showing how well-schooled he is. That was a real treat for me, and it’s always a buzz to be at the Olympics. He’s a pretty cool guy — if they are a good nature, they’re a good nature.”

Taking on the gelding, who Ben rode up to five-star, was a no-brainer for his return to the sport, he says.

“I said to my vet when we went up to Ben’s to ride him and vet him — in the same day! — I said, ‘I feel like I know him already,’” he explains. “We were made for each other the day we were both born. This horse came over the tables, like: ‘Would this be a suitable one for that client that someone was speaking about the other day, for a Championships?’ I said, ‘No,’ and walked straight in and saw my wife, and said, ‘How do you feel about going eventing again?’ She said ‘No, absolutely not. No way.’ I rang our High Performance Manager, Chris Webb, and thanks to the support of Geoffrey Guy at Chedington Equestrian, I was able to secure the ride on Shadow Man for the season, and it’s been a delight. I’ve loved it – I really enjoy eventing him.”

The strength of the partnership has been a massive boon in his return to eventing, but ultimately, says Burto, “riding doesn’t change, does it? Riding horses is riding horses. I was away from [eventing] for a while, and I was delighted when I got back to it. Your skill set doesn’t leave you. I got very nervous at Aachen actually, because I thought, ‘What if I ruin my career and what if I’m old and I can’t go fast anymore?’ But that was nice to see that it doesn’t leave you. I am old, though.”

Felix Vogg and Dao de l’Ocean. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

This is a truly international top ten – which is particularly nice to see in the flag-collecting atmosphere of an Olympics – and at this point in the competition, we’ve got nine different nations within the top ten. One of those is Switzerland, whose ongoing upward trajectory is led by five-star winner Felix Vogg, who rides the relatively inexperienced Dao de l’Ocean this week. Today, the eleven-year-old gelding (Kannan x Heddy, by Heraldik) posted a best-ever international result – yes, another one – to sit fifth overnight.

“He gives me so much confidence, because I know when I do it right, he’s doing it right, and I give him some confidence, I think,” says Felix, who has had the Olympics in sight for this horse, rather than his more experienced team horses Colero or Cartania, since last season.

So far, that call is paying off.

“It was pretty awesome. I think I could have done some stuff a little bit better, but it’s always like this,” says Felix. “I think what we had outside, I got 90% inside, and that’s all I could ask him. I know he’s not as far as other horses here, maybe like Chipmunk or London, a horse like that — he still needs the strength and everything — but I’m happy to think about the future now.”

Ros Canter and Lordships Graffalo. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

After those huge tests from Laura and Michi, there was plenty of buzz throughout the stands about what British team anchor – and reigning European Champion – Ros Canter might throw down with Lordships Graffalo. The pair posted a 21.3 at last year’s European Championships en route to the win, and there was plenty of speculation that they could dip into the teens for the first time today – but no such luck.

Their test, though, was smart, polished, and cadence, with just one slightly laboured flying change and a late halt dropping their marks down slightly. They ended up on a final score of 23.4, good enough to clinch overnight sixth place.

“Mark-wise, I had no expectations,” says Ros. “I kept in my own little bubble, really, apart from watching my guys and a couple this morning. I’ve very much tried to stay process-driven today.”

With a competitive start in the bag, she says, “I’m over the moon with him. We all forget that ‘Walter’s’ actually only twelve years old; that, yes, he’s won Badminton and the Europeans and everything else, but he is still a green horse. I still very much feel like we’re only scratching the surface, particularly in a test like that, which is significantly harder than the tests we normally see. I’m absolutely delighted that he got all four changes and everything, because he’s still not fully matured yet, and I do think there’s much more to come from him. We halted a bit late and it had a bit of an effect, unfortunately, on the two movements. But these things happen with horses, and the rest of it, he was spot on.”

Ros Canter and Lordships Graffalo. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

The imposing grandstands towering overhead – and the vocal British cheering sections scattered around them – worked in favour of the British-bred gelding (Birkhof’s Grafenstolz x Cornish Queen, by Rock King).

“He absolutely loves attention. So, yes, he lifted, but only ever so slightly; he just seems to kind of revel in it, and he’s so self-confident and so self-assured that I think he thought he was well up for being there,” laughs Ros. “He was quite happy. I think when I finished him patted him, he had a little scratch, and then looked up and thought, ‘Yeah, I’m all right.’”

While she may have been able to avoid the pressure of trying to mark-match today, Ros has certainly felt the effects of expectation in the longer term as she’s approached an Olympics at which she’s a hot favourite to win.

“Oh yes, I’ve had plenty of wobbles — but actually, the closer it’s got, the better I felt,” she says. “Everybody knows me so well; we’re so grateful to the National Lottery for all the funding we get and the staff that we have around us — Ian Woodhead, Chris Bartle, Richard Waygood — they know me inside out, they know what the wobbles mean. Ian was delighted that I snapped at him yesterday, apparently, because apparently that means that I’m getting towards being on my A game. So I’ve had a few wobbles, but once I got on today, I felt very clear minded.”

Over the last few seasons, Ros has taken more and more of the pressure off her top horses at home, and Walter, like Pau winner Izilot DHI, spends more time hacking than he does schooling. But nailing a test like today’s does still take mileage in the ring running through the movements, and Ros has a secret weapon in her pocket where that’s concerned.

“I’m very lucky I’ve got my old five-star horse Zenshera at home — he’s 20 years old now, so he’s always in work, but often only light work. The last month, he’s been working hard as well, helping me to practice the test and make sure I know it inside out. He’s absolutely amazing, and to be quite honest, I think he would have stood in for Walter if we needed him this week, he thought he was about ready to go!”

Overnight seventh place goes the way of Olympic debutant Stephane Landois, who is the best of the home nation at this stage of the competition, and whose 24.4 with Chaman Dumontceau was arguably the most poignant moment of the day. He took the ride on after the tragic death of the gelding’s former owner and rider, Thaïs Meheust, who lost her life at the age of 22 in 2019 while contesting the French seven-year-old national championship with the horse.

Since then, they’ve been part of the bronze-medal-winning French team at the European Championships last year on their Senior Championship debut, won Chatsworth’s tough CCI4*-S last spring, and now, made Thaïs’ dream come true by representing her, and their country, at the Paris Olympics – a competition she had dreamed of for so long.

Stephane Landois and Chaman Dumontceau ride for Thaïs. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Stephane Landois and Chaman Dumontceau. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

As they finished their test, Stephane bowed his head down to Chaman’s gleaming grey neck, held him in a tight embrace for a moment, and then looked up, somewhere beyond the low-hanging cloud cover, and blew a kiss into the sky as the crowd roared for him, for his horse, for France, and for their much-missed Thaïs.

“I am very, very happy with my ride. There’s a lot of emotion in this place, so coming here has been really quite special — all of us are feeling it,” says Stephane, who guides his team into overnight bronze medal position with his result. “There’s really an emotion that we’re all feeling as we come into the arena. I was really emotional, but proud that there’s a crowd out there that really appreciate the sport and appreciate everybody that comes in. I’m just full of emotion for it, and actually, [the significance of this selection with this horse] has probably given me more strength to come out and to perform well, knowing the history of all of this and the ride.”

Yoshiaki Oiwa and MGH Grafton Street. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Japan’s Yoshiaki Oiwa is very familiar with the business end of Olympic leaderboards – he made history in 2012 by leading the first phase at the Olympics and making the first steps towards putting Japan on the map as an eventing nation. These days, they’re much closer to superstar status – they currently sit fifth of sixteen as a team – and Yoshi’s still here, making it all happen for himself and his country. He sits eighth overnight on a score of 25.5 with MGH Grafton Street, the former ride of Pippa Funnell, with whom he won Burghley in 2019.

“He knew that today, it was the time, you have to show something, so I’m very happy with this,” says Yoshi, who has just four FEI runs under his belt with the sixteen-year-old (OBOS Quality 004 x unknown dam). “It’s a very new partnership, actually. My first competition with him was this year — February or March — so only a few months. It was challenging for us, but it went well, so I’m very, very pleased.”

Yoshiaki Oiwa celebrates his test. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

While ‘Squirrel’ has historically been a mercurial ride, the ability for the pair to build a solid partnership so fast has come down to a couple of factors – Yoshi’s experience, of course, but also the help of Pippa, whose condition for the sale was that the horse would have to stay on her yard, where Yoshi, too, is now based after years in Germany at the yard of Dirk Schrade.

“I went to the previous rider’s place, so the system, everything is the same. She is kind of a legend, Pippa Funnell — so she is the coach for me now, and so his routine is the same as before,” says Yoshi. “Basically, all the team members have been based in Europe for a long time now. We don’t have big shows in Japan, so we all have to come to Europe or another country. This is something that makes it difficult for us to make it. But we all came to Europe long enough now, and everybody is a very experienced rider now. So we hope we can do something here.”

Clarke Johnstone and Menlo Park. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

New Zealand’s Clarke Johnstone and his 2022 World Championships ride Menlo Park (Berlin x Faerie Queen, by Rock King) put a 25.7 on the board, bettering their four-star personal best of 27 and guiding the Kiwi team into overnight fourth, to boot.

“He’s been training so well. He’s so with me, he feels amazing in his body, he’s fit but calm, and I’ve been thinking he could do a test like that — to actually do it, I’m just so, so proud of him,” says Clarke. “He’s been to the World Championships, but that was nothing like this. I bravely decided not to pre-ride him this morning, because that’s normally what I would do to get the best out of him — he’s really solid, he always walks — and after I watched the first few go, I thought, ‘Well, that looks very electric in there. Maybe I should pre-ride it.’”

Clarke Johnstone and Menlo Park. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

But, he says, “we decided to stick with what we’ve been doing, which has been steadily getting the scores lower and lower over the last couple of years – and he was just so with me. He did have a little look at the gate stewards when I went about to go into the ring, and I thought, ‘Don’t let me down, Jacko.’ He pulled it back, and he was just a delight to ride in there, really on the aids, and just giving me everything.”

That puts him into equal ninth place with Italy’s Giovanni Ugolotti, who has been on an undeniable upward trajectory with the elegant – if slightly inelegantly named – Swirly Temptress. Though this is her first test at the five-star level, their 25.5 bests their form across her four-star career, too, and gave Italy much to celebrate after a heartbreaking morning following Emiliano Portale’s elimination after his ride, Future, bit his tongue in one of the half-passes.

The individual top ten at the culmination of the first phase at Paris 2024.

The North American Update

The U.S. riders delivered solid tests today, though certainly some points were left on the board. A collective three-rider score of 88.9 sees them slot into sixth place in team competition, sitting just 7.7 penalties off the podium and 22.2 penalties behind Great Britain in current gold position. Despite any marks left in the dressage ring today, we all well know by now that those could well be long forgotten when the dust and leftover mud from today’s rain settles after cross country.

Liz Halliday and Nutcracker. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Latecomer Liz Halliday, who was added to the team after Will Coleman’s withdrawal of Diabolo, secured the top standing for the Americans with The Nutcracker Syndicate’s Nutcracker on a score of 28.0 as the second pair to go for the team. You can read more from Liz’s ride, as well as our pathfinder Caroline Pamukcu, in our midday report here. After starting the day within the top 10, the Liz will be the top-placed in 19th individually, followed by Caroline in 25th and Boyd Martin in 26th.

Boyd Martin and Fedarman B. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Boyd was the sole U.S. rider of the afternoon rotations, securing a 30.5 to sit just behind Caroline Pamukcu and HSH Blake in 19th overnight. After enjoying a trending score hovering in the mid-70s percentage during the trot work, Boyd lost ground with two mistakes in the four flying changes that feature in the test. Boyd admits he’s “probably done 20,000 flying changes” in practice, but has historically struggled with the left to right change on this horse.

“We’ve been getting it really good at home and in training, but just when the atmosphere is a bit electric out there,” Boyd said. “He’s got a bit of anxiety, and I think I’ve mistimed my aids a little bit. The same thing happened a Pau. He does get a little bit more electric in the flying changes and it’s a shame. I felt like I gave my all, and it would have been awesome to have four great changes, but it wasn’t to be today. I felt like we still came out of it with a respectable score. But today wasn’t our day in the flying change department. Other than the flying change, I think it was our best work ever.”

Caroline Pamukcu and HSH Blake. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

“Overall our horses did some very fine work, but it was very competitive and I think it showed that we just weren’t going to be in the top tier today, but I’m still very proud of our athletes and horses,” U.S. chef d’equipe Bobby Costello commented. “The amount of work that they’ve put in this year has been immense and all of these horses will just keep getting better and they will have to be because the world is getting better as well.”

The riders will follow the same rotation they did today on cross country. Bobby explained a bit about the strategy behind the U.S. running order. “I believe that the first two slots in the running order could be very much interchangeable between Caroline and Liz. I think Caroline actually quite likes not to have too much information in her head going out there, so I think that would be a great slot for her, and Liz you could honestly put anywhere and she’s going to perform. I don’t think it was ever a question that Boyd would be our anchor rider with all of his experience of being in that position.”

Mike Winter and El Mundo. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Canada currently sits in 14th position as a team on a collective score of 106.4, with Mike Winter and Jonathan Nelson, Emma Winter and his own El Mundo (Numero Uno – Calvaro’s Bria Z, by Calvaro Z) currently the top-placed of the team in 42nd on a score of 35.2. Jessica Phoenix and Freedom GS are in 43rd on a score of 35.4 and Karl Slezak and Hot Bobo sit in 46th on a 35.8.

Jessica Phoenix and Freedom GS. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

“I was so proud of the composure that she had going into that ring,” Jessie said of the 14-year-old Freedom GS (Humble GS – Friedel GS, by Fidertanz), who is owned by longtime supporter Charlotte Schickedanz. “It’s her first time doing a test at the five star level, and it is by far the biggest atmosphere she’s ever felt. And I was over the moon with how much composure she showed in there, and honestly, how much brilliance she showed in the movements that she’s really solid in. Her future looks bright. She’s one of the most straightforward, competitive thinking mares I’ve ever ridden. Like she fights to do the right thing, and sometimes she just doesn’t have the strength to be able to carry through the movement yet. But like she has the heart, she’s 100% in it, and she’s mentally fighting for you.”

Karl Slezak and Hot Bobo. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

“I was pleased with [Hot Bobo], she was such a good girl — she held it together,” Karl Slezak said of his test with Hot Bobo (Arkansas VDL – Taneys Leader xx, by Supreme Leader xx). “We all know that she can get a bit spooky in the dressage ring, and I thought that she held it together really, really well… Just a little tension [in the flying changes], and specifically the left lead to right lead.”

In terms of the cross country, we’ll have more from the U.S. riders and beyond in Cheg’s Cross Country Riders React column coming later. We’ll be back tomorrow with another Companion Guide to cross country, as well as much more from Paris. In the meantime, you can check out the cross-country ride times in full here and have a walk around the course with us in our full preview here. Cross-country will begin at 10.30 a.m. CET (9.30 a.m. BST/4.30 a.m. EST) with Germany’s Julia Krajewski and Nickel 21 (15th on a 26.9) pathfinding. This is a tightly packed field with 22 horses and riders sitting sub-30, so we’ll be expecting a huge amount of movement across the leaderboard throughout the day.

Stay tuned, and Go Eventing.

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