Erin Gilmore, EN’s good friend and now official guest writer, is on scene at Greenwich Park. Erin was kind enough to write to us today from the hills of Greenwich. Thanks for writing this Erin and thank you for reading.
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From Erin:
I’m sitting here at the top of a hill in Greenwich Park, tapping this message out on an iPad. There are a few workers putting the final touches on bleachers and galloping lanes, and riders are walking the cross-country course in small groups. There’s a complete media center back down near the main stadium, but at the moment, this lush green corner of the Park has sucked me in. It’s not crawling with the thousands of people expected to turn up on Monday for cross-country; it’s not busy with the sound of galloping hooves flying by. In fact it feels like the very opposite of a venue that’s about to host an Olympic level equestrian competition.
Maybe it’s the jetlag talking (14 hours on planes and trains), but while looking out over the city of London, it was, more than anything, Greenwich Park’s silence that made the biggest impression today.
Of course, that will all change tomorrow.
Today, I felt lucky to be here, and that feeling will surely repeat with every day of Olympic competition that passes. I also feel incredibly lucky to be writing for Eventing Nation, since any self-respecting journalist knows that one hasn’t truly made it until EN John asks you to contribute. I didn’t think my time would ever come, as I’m more a “you people are CRA-zy” eventing spectator, rather than a legitimate eventing expert. And, I’m a show jumper to boot. But when John asks, you answer, here I am all the same. Look for my inexpert but highly entertaining reports from London throughout the week.
Back to the cross-country course. Once I was able to tear myself away from the spot on the hill, I walked most, ok fine some, of the course in order to gape at the many enormous tree trunks and other solid obstacles constructed specifically for horses and riders to hurl themselves at.
That’s right, you people are CRA-zy!!
The course is everything that you’ve been hearing; big, hilly, technical, hilly, and oh yes, did I mention the hills? I found Will Coleman near the top of one at fence 20, sitting on a tree branch while he retied his shoelaces. Cool as a cucumber, he casually remarked, “we knew it was going to be like this, so we’re not surprised. Our horses are as fit as they can be. We feel ready.”
Will said this while gazing calmly at fence 20, a four-foot suicide drop (that’s what we show jumpers call it) that is followed by a skinny brush about five strides later. There will be some prime photo ops here on Monday, as downtown London looms in the background.
The other fences I saw were slightly less terrifying but impressive all the same. Captain Mark Phillips and Phillip Dutton also had the “we’re ready for this” game face on when I passed them by, and then there was this entertaining French rider taking a practice jump at that terrifying down bank.
See, they do have a sense of humor.
Back down near ground zero, the stabling area, practice arenas and main stadium are nothing if not intricately designed. Everything everywhere is lined with very important white fences to keep horses in, people out, let horses go up ramps, let people drive tractors in, and so on. All very functional though and unless there is a monsoon I can’t image there will be an issue with the footing, which appears to be in perfect shape both in the arena and throughout the cross country course.
The platforms are interesting. I’m from California and can’t help but wonder how they’d hold up if an earthquake hit.
Let’s be honest, it is pretty weird to see a horse chillin’ on a raised platform four foot high in the sky.
For now I need to go banish my friend Mr. Jet Lag with a little sleep, but in the meantime I’ll leave you with a few more images from today. Well done Great Britain, the views are gorgeous, and they’re sure to only get better. All the horses have passed the jog, the weather is perfect for riding (crossed fingers), and I can’t wait to watch some eventing dressage in the morning.
William Fox-Pitt chats away as he turns Lionheart toward one of the practice rings for a hack.
A minute later these riders, one French, one Italian, turned around and galloped all the way up this track.
