Well if one thing is for sure, the weather gods were definitely with us today at Millbrook Horse Trials. The temperatures stayed cool and there was a nice breeze the entire day. Sadly, when John’s weekend ended at the coffin, mine ended as I galloped by Fence 16, completely unaware that it even existed!! Needless to say, I had plenty of time to watch the rides today, and there were many excellent ones to watch.
Nate Chambers and Rolling Stone flew around the Advanced and were the only pair to make time, so they retain their lead in Advanced Division A. Peter Barry and Kilrodan Abbott move to second with .8 time penalties added to their score of 38.9. Buck Davidson leads the Advanced Division B with Ballynoecastle RM, and is in second with Titanium and fourth on May I Tell Ya. All the WEG shortlisters had great performances as well, Last Monarch is in 8th with four time penalties. Neville Bardos is saving his running shoes for a bigger event later this fall, as evident by the 18.4 time penalties he had today. My Boy Bobby was withdrawn, as he too obviously has bigger plans for the fall. In Advanced Division B, Connaught and Phillip had 12.4 time penalties and are currently lying in 9th. Remington and Pawlow had strong performances in the intermediate as they come back from summer holiday. Buzzterbrown was out filming today so we will surely post those videos when we get them.
The time was very influential on the course today, but there were minimal problems with the fences. All the riders I saw go today looked really well prepared for the level at which they were competing, and the “nailbiters” kept to a minimum. I think it is important to point out that the divisions are all very large in size, and competitive with the horses and riders in them. To win or place well in one of these sections will require that you have three really good, consistent performances. I think that there is probably nothing worse in terms of a rider’s mental state to put forth only a mediocre performance, and by virtue of the scoring or other competitors misfortunes, come away with a result that doesn’t match up to the performance.
The Show jumping course looks beautifully layed out and hopefully tomorrow will produce some really good jumping from the horses, with a little help from their riders of course!
Till’ next time
Annie
