William took Cool Mountain for a nice canter up the hill after their pre-dressage ride
Great Britain seized control of Barbury in the third and final day of Barbury dressage on Saturday. 6 British riders jumped into the top 7, with Laura Collett and the beautiful Rayef ultimately taking a 1.4 point lead on a 34.8. Rayef finished 8th at Badminton earlier this year after getting a 36.5 in the dressage. Pippa and Billy Landretti are second with a 36.2, and everyone else behind them is in the 40’s. Remember that even though it is Saturday, we had to sit through one last boring day of dressage before the show jumping and cross-country doubles up for the exiting Barbury conclusion tomorrow.
Barbury Dressage Results:
1. Laura Collett and Rayef (GBR) 34.8
2. Pippa Funnell and Billy Landretti (GBR) 36.2
3. Emily Baldwin and Drivetime (GBR) 40.6
4. Piggy French and Jakata (GBR) 41.2
5. Rodney Powell and Happy Go Lucky (GBR) 44.4
6. William Fox-Pitt and Cool Mountain (GBR) 44.6
7. Francis Whittington and Easy Target (GBR) 44.8
8. WIll Coleman and Twizzel (USA) 45.0
[Full Barbury CIC3* Dressage Results]
—Will Coleman and Twizzel are the highest placed non-British pair here at Barbury. They hung onto 8th place with a 46.0 from Friday. A test that I felt was only decent for them beat 107 other competitors here at Barbury, which is a big positive for Will. Will’s goal is to get to Burghley, not win Barbury, so I expect him to take his time around the cross-country tomorrow.
Piggy French and Jakata finished 2nd at Badminton this year and moved into 4th today on a 41.2:
–WEG silver medalists William Fox-Pitt and Cool Mountain sit in 6th after the dressage with a 44.6. Personally, I am not the biggest fan of how Cool Mountain moves because I think he is built a bit downhill. But William does a fabulous job of making it look elegant and the judges seem to like the horse. William is the only rider with two horses in the top 10–Navigator is tied for 9th. Rodney Powell has two horses in the top 12.
–Barbury 2012 will be the final selection trials for the London Olympics for the British team, and likely many other teams. That is one of many fabulous facts I learned from the team of Barbury announcers–two on the XC and one in the dressage. A good announcer can really make the spectating experience twice as fun and Barbury has some of the best in the business.
–Julian Stiller of the USA has two horses in the CIC3*. Enjoy Me “Elmo” is an incredibly impressive horse with loads of potential. Julian was unhappy with their today, which is pretty impressive considering they scored a 48.0 and go into the jumping in 15th. Julina’s other ride, Axel Rose, scored a 60.4. Julian was kind enough to chat with me about her dressage rides, Elmo’s history, and eventing in England:
–There were about 10 times as many spectators at Barbury today compared to Friday. Although I would have trouble putting an exact attendance number, there were certainly at least a few thousand people in attendance. Fear not, one of our worst videos ever is on the way.
–It’s good to see Zara Phillips out with High Kingdom. This pair finished 5th at the Saumur CCI3* earlier this year, and they go into the jumping phases in 33rd with this test:
–Overall the CIC2* cross-country course rode pretty easily today. I haven’t seen a final scores sheet, and we left before the final few rides, but the day went quite smoothly. The water jump caused some very sticky moments as the horses tended to over-jump into the water. I expect the CIC3* course to be much more of a challenge tomorrow.
–I walked the CIC3* course with Mark Todd, Julian, and Will Coleman today, which has to rate as one of the top 5 eventing experiences of my life. I’ll have more on the XC course later this evening.
–Remember that the CIC3* horses will do show jumping in the morning on Sunday and then cross-country in the afternoon. The cross-country will run in reverse order of placing and then finish in the main arena, creating a great atmosphere of suspense for the crowd. It’s a very cool format that I think should be really considered by larger events in the US.
A typical lunch break at Barbury involves aeronautical stunts from parachutists
We’ll have more Barbury excitement throughout the day and I hope everyone is having a great day of eventing back in the States. Go eventing.
