Allison and Arthur conquered the angry birds in the arena! You can just see them in the bottom right hand corner, they had been there all day, flying up and squeaking, they sound a bit like seagulls, and could well have been the undoing of the notoriously spooky Arthur but instead he rose to the occasion and pulled a 22 out of the bag, good enough to lead the Advanced Division B. Allison said she specifically picked this class to support the World Cup and to do this test, and so far it seems to be paying off! Her plan for cross country is to go fast and clear, in this obviously her final run before Rolex, she loves the course and the footing here, feels like it asks all the right questions going to a four star, she told me Arthur is feeling great, he certainly looks it, and she said she intends to put her foot down on saturday.
Boyd and Neville did a nice test, very respectable with flashes of brilliance, but unbelievably in a testament to the strength of the section, a score of 26.7 was only good enough for 4th place today.
Meanwhile, last to go in the adjacent arena for the CIC***, Michael Pollard and Jude’s Law performed a stunning test to take the lead. Michael said later that he’d left some marks on the table which he’s excited about, naturally, but watching it with Canadian Dressage Olympian Jaquie Brooks, neither of us saw much not to like. That seemed to be a common theme today, perhaps as the CCI’s get close and many riders have their final run, and because this is the personality of a top class competitor anyway, but you are all so hard on yourselves! Riders are definitely their own harshest critics!
Karen O’Connor, who led the CIC*** for most of the day on Veronica, was denied a whitewash of the first day of dressage at The Fork by Michael, and similarly said she was thrilled especially with Veronica’s trotwork, but still feels like she has a better test to come from her. 
It was nice to see Twizzel back in action, and I think he thought the same thing; he did some lovely trot work and some rather exuberant changes. Will Coleman might not have been very happy with him afterwards but there were definitely nice moments, and he scored a 28.7 to sit in 6th place.
Sinead equally was unhappy with her test, it actually looked really nice but she told me he wasn’t taking the contact forward at all, and like so many other riders, she found herself a little surprised this weekend at just how fit her horse is, and in hindsight wishes she had perhaps taken him for a little hack in the morning.
I felt for Colleen – Shiraz was tense and uptight, and what makes him such a phenomenal jumper and cross country machine works against him a hundred fold in the dressage arena. It must have been a disappointment to her after all the work she’s put in over the winter when he coiled up in his little tight neck, and botched his changes, but I know how tough she is mentally, and this is part of a bigger plan. I look forward to seeing them fly round on saturday, and also more importantly, that first weekend in May.
I have lots more pictures and videos to come including some Insanity in the Middle with Brian O’Connor so thank you again for being a part of the Eventing Nation, and please continue to do so! Go Eventing!
