Quick Friday Morning Barbury Update

Phillip Dutton rode a consistent, smooth rhythmical test on Mystery Whisper, with just one very small mistake in the first canter changing early  turning down the centre line which he corrected immediately so that it was barely noticeable. Otherwise it was a joy to watch,- even, forward and correct and of course Mystery Whisper has those beautiful, elastic paces with such suspension. Even more impressive was the fact that just half an hour earlier he’d been showing off some rather swanky but completely uncalled for piaffe and passage when he came back down to the warm-up and saw the cross country running next door. Phillip said that’s the first time he’s been really “high” in the warm-up, a misnomer if ever there was one, (it’s really cold, blustery wind and driving rain makes it feel like April – flaming June? Ha! To all my friends sweltering in Kentucky , be careful what you wish for! We are wearing thermal underwear!) although the rain has stopped for now. Phillip had ridden him earlier this morning while Will Faudree did his test but said that in between then and his dressage time, the novice cross country started right by the warm up area, and MW had been standing in his stall watching with interest!  Phillip’s mark was definitely disappointing, and as of now he has scraped into the top 10 with a 48.

Andromaque/Missy thinks she did a good test!

Will Faudree rode in the worst of the weather this morning, and I spoke to him briefly after his test,

“She tries 100% all the time, and with the wind flapping and the cold breeze she just got a little tight in her back. You can’t control the weather so I’ve got to learn to ride her through that.  She has a great walk and she’s had a ten for her extended walk before but she was a little tight through her back and I think my tails were flapping in the wind against her so I probably got a five or a six on that which hurt my score. Her canter work definitely got better although I did miss one change, so for the amount of mistakes we made today I’m happy to come out with a 52 – if I make the Olympic team and come out with a 52 in four weeks time I’m going to be pissed! One thing that makes this arena very hard is that it’s very claustrophobic, it’s very tight in there and there’s incredible atmosphere with the flags flapping etc, and having ridden at the test event last year that ring is much bigger and much more spacious and not as claustrophobic which is a little bit how she felt for me today, but she’s perfect there’s nothing that mare could do that could be wrong.  She’s like Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada, she’s so incredibly businesslike and so incredibly stylish in the way she does it, even if she’s having a bad day she carries it off with class, and I love her!”

I also asked him what he thought about the cross country course, “I like it, I was lucky enough to ride here last year; these hills get to them and the jumps come up quick. You need to hold your line and it’s going to be a good test and a good preparation for London, and even for Burghley for those of us who may end up going there (Will confirmed that is the plan B with Missy). If I make the Olympic team on Missy I’ll be sitting in the start box revving the engine because she is a very fast horse that doesn’t pull and is easy to control. Time faults will be a huge factor at the Games, she’s a good cross country horse, everything suits her as long as I give her the tools she needs to answer the questions.”

The CIC***, which includes all the Americans, show jump on Saturday and go cross-country in reverse order on Sunday, but we still have Tiana’s dressage shortly, and then Boyd’s test on Remington later today. Go away rain, thanks for making Eventing Nation part of your day, and go Barbury Eventing!

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