Engage the Elbow Aids: Monday XC Links

Boyd & Phillip with last minute strategy, photo courtesy of Keith Brady @eqdvm1

Well, we’ll never be accused of being a boring sport, thats for darn sure. Today was full of slip-ups, pop-outs, mis-haps and elbow flapping (to varying degrees of effectiveness). The course was deemed “easy for the level” at the outset, with the only concern being the time. Some people are eating their words tonight for dinner, as the time was maybe the cause of some higgledy-piggledy riding, but certainly Sue Benson’s course held its own amongst even the best of jockeys. NBC reported over 50,000 spectators on XC, which is amazing. The top three riders are separated by .2 points.

My favorite story of the day is the Algotsson sisters, who are competing for Sweden together this year. Sara is currently tied for first on her mare Wega, while her sister Linda is in 43rd place on her mare La Fair. Here’s the catch: not only are they sisters, but La Fair is the mother of Wega!! How often do you see that?

Success stories include our girl Nina Ligon, who jumped a professional clean round with only 16 time penalties to finish the course with a giant smile on her face. Of course Boyd smoked his way around the course as the pathfinder on Otis and made it look like child’s play. Swedish riders made their presence known, having 3 riders in the top 13 after XC. Jessie Phoenix and Exponential positively cruised around the course, and almost made time despite a lengthy hold on course. My man Ronald Z-B cantered around the course making it look easy, but picked up a few time penalties on “Big Boy”. Andrew Nicholson made the course look like a hunter round, and hopefully will stop breathing fire from now on. Of course, the finish with Mark Todd was something to remember, and for my feelings on that I refer you to Salt’N’Pepa’s 1994 hit, Whatta Man.

Unexpected disappointments were there in spades today though, and my heart goes out to all of them. Team Canada had a truly rough day, with Hawley having a rotational fall at #3, Peter falling at the last of the coffin, and Rebecca popping off after losing her reins at the sundials. I shed a tear for Will when Twizzel was completely surprised by the big drop, and he picked up a 20 there. Team Fredericks had a bad day as well, as Lucinda picked up a 20 when Flying Finish mis-read the bank out at the 2nd water, and Clayton’s horse Bendigo slipped and fell on his side coming off the bank. The dressage leader Yoshi Oiwa had a “guilty saddle” and popped off after leaning a bit forward over the big bank. Stefano Brecciaroli had a great round, but unfortunately 11.2 time penalties dropped him from 2nd to 16th. Carl Bouckaert fell at fence three, which turned out to be the most troublesome fence on course.

[Individual Results]

[Team Results]

Missed the NBC Coverage?? [Full Replay Here]

Lovely Links:

H&H XC Recap

Toddy in contention for 3rd Olympic Gold

Boyd’s Blog

FEI Report on XC Day

Slippery Slope for Eventing Cross Country Competitors

GB Women Shine on XC Day

Australia suffers a disastrous day, falls out of team contention

Fall at 20th ended Clayton’s hopes