Ros Canter and Izilot DHI. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
This time twelve months ago, Ros Canter and Izilot DHI cantered into the main arena at Pau – and then ceased motion abruptly when the young, notoriously spooky horse caught sight of the livestream cameraman on the long side of the ring. First, he darted backwards, and then sideways, head and long, long neck held sky high as his tiny rider tried to steady him and regain some semblance of the work she’d established in the warm-up moments earlier. The more she tried, the more Izilot – or Isaac, as he’s known at home – resisted her request to move past the offending camera. The murmurings around the arena increased: it looked very much as though it was about to be a seriously painful test to watch. Would they even make it into the ring? When they got there, would Ros stand any chance at all of navigating the test, or would they end up eliminated for resistance?
The bell rang, Ros turned Isaac away from the cameraman – who, unabashed and unaware, continued changing his jacket and adjusting his focal point – and headed down to A. They entered, the board was closed behind them – and then, inexplicably, Isaac got to work. It was as though the camera wasn’t even there. They ended the first phase on a score of 24.3 – good enough for second at the time – and went on to win the competition.
This year, it was a very different Isaac who entered the arena. He might still be a spooky horse at heart – although Ros’s season-long efforts, including only schooling him away from home, and letting him live out 24/7, have helped – but now, he’s also a horse who really wants to do his job right. That much was evident as Ros cantered him confidently down the chute from the warm-up ring, and when he strode into the arena, he didn’t bat an eyelid at the crowd, the big screen, the flowers, the decorative hedges and cross-country fences – or the cameraman, who was even scarier today in head-to-toe rain gear and a bright red coat. He didn’t even spook at the arena soundtrack, which got odder and odder as the day progressed, and meant that Ros did her test to something that sounded a bit like Enya, if Enya was mad about it.
Ros Canter and Izilot DHI. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
Instead, his entrance was notable for only the positives: push, power, and fluidity, which continued on apace throughout their test and saw them finish the day on an excellent 19. That’s Ros’s best-ever five-star score (she and Isaac also put a 19.9 on the board at Burghley, which does raise some concerns that they might post the 14.3 they were trending at in their trotwork today in twelve months’ time), and it’s also enough to give the pair a 5.6 penalty margin as they begin their campaign to defend their title.
But did the test feel as straightforward as it looked?
“It’s never easy with Isaac – it’s always a challenge!” laughs Ros. “It’s like, ‘did I do enough? Did I do too much [in the warm-up]?’ And actually, today I thought we’d done a bit too much, because he was a little bit heavy on the reins out there. But he really lifted when he came into the arena and heard the clapping for Boyd Martin, and then he was really, really lovely to ride.”
During that entrance, we certainly weren’t the only ones thinking back to last year.
“What I’m really delighted about is that last year, he came in here and found the camera quite spooky, but today, I went in and he just went straight past it,” says Ros. “It shows how much he’s come on in a year.”
Ros Canter and Izilot DHI. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
That progression over the last twelve months means, she continues, that “I suppose I’m starting to get confidence, in a way, in riding him a bit more [elastic]. And so today, I was really pleased with his balance in the medium and extended trot, because he’s got quite a narrow wheel base, and so sometimes he can feel a little bit young and wobbly in those. But today, he felt really stable in it, and that was lovely.”
Coming in as the reigning champion is always an interesting additional pressure, but for Ros, she knows that it’s best not to think too many steps ahead with Isaac – “it’s all still a fact-finding mission, in a way,” she says. “He’s desperate to jump between the flags these days, he really is, but it’s just all about if something else takes his eye and stops him from seeing the fence or takes him off his line. I know he wants to do the job for me, although the ground conditions would put a question mark in my mind – last year he was held, and we were on the top of the ground, so I was able to run him fast at the end. It’ll be interesting to see how he copes tomorrow. Sometimes we have good days; sometimes, we don’t, so we’ll just enjoy today.”
Ros Canter and Izilot DHI. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
Their run here is a reroute from a Burghley that ended early at the Defender Valley, where Isaac ran out at an angled hedge that caused several issues through the day. But, says Ros, the experience wasn’t a bad one – it was just a reminder that nothing’s ever to be taken for granted with Isaac.
“I was actually really happy with Burghley, on the whole – how he came out of the startbox, how he went through the main arena. He felt as settled and confident as he’s ever felt” she says. “I was happy with the way he took off over the ditch [before the hedge]. He just happened to jink sideways, and at five-star, you can’t afford to do that. You never really know with him – I predicted he’d spook at the stones on the left, and he spooked at the flowerpot on the right! I think my job as a rider has to just be to ride him like he’s not going to spook, and if he does and I can deal with it, great. If I can’t, well, I can’t change his personality, and I can’t change who he is, so I have to just go in with the confidence that he’ll stay on his line. It’s really a split second thing with him.”
Emily King and Valmy Biats. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
Also rerouting from Burghley, and starting her campaign very happily, is Emily King and her French-bred partner Valmy Biats, who sit equal second with Oliver Townend and his Kentucky winner Cooley Rosalent on a score of 24.6.
“I’ve had him for a while now, and he just keeps getting better and better,” says Emily (who did her test to ‘Bet On It’ from High School Musical 2, if the day’s weird music is what you’re here for). “He knows everything in the test now. He’s so sensitive and such an overthinker that when he was a young horse and still learning stuff, he’d go in and just get tense and strong because he tried so hard. Now, I think he’s getting relaxed, and because he knows everything, I’ve got the confidence to just go in and breathe and show him off, softly, without having to override him, and without him getting strong and jeopardising the movement.”
Like Ros and Isaac, Emily was able to eke another 5% out of Valmy simply by making use of Pau’s buzzy atmosphere.
“He felt awesome in the warm-up, and when he went in the ring, the cameras and the crowd really lifted his frame without making him go hot,” she says. “I’d say it was the best feeling I’ve ever had in a test with him, and there were no big mistakes, so it was so nice to be rewarded with a good mark. I’m just so pleased with him.”
Emily King and Valmy Biats. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
Pleased, too, no doubt, are brand new owners Paula and David Evans, who are an enormously welcome addition to Emily’s team. Not only have the couple, best known for owning Andrew Hoy’s Vassily de Lassos, taken the reins (so to speak, anyway) on Valmy, they’ve also provided a new ride for Emily in Creevagh Cooley, who was previously campaigned by Andrew.
“They’re absolutely lovely new owners who were really keen on the idea of having a five star horse, and it’s just lovely for them,” says Emily. “This is their first show owning him, so I really want to get off on the right foot. We’ve done the first phase, and now we’ve just got to try and see it through – but I’m really excited for them, and I hope that Val can give them some great years of fun.”
Though most competitors are looking ahead to tomorrow’s tough conditions with grim resignation, Emily is, perhaps, the most fortuitously mounted rider in the field: not only has Valmy got form in the mud, winning Thoresby’s CCI4*-S two years running in questionable ground, but he also lives out in it year-round, merrily mooching around on his own patch of hill in the Cheshire countryside, which lends him an innate sure-footedness no matter what sort of going he encounters.
“Val loves the mud, he lives in the mud, he is mud,” laughs Emily. “But I’ll still really have to ride how he’s feeling. It’s not a Burghley or Badminton track out there but there are serious accuracy and precision question, which will be really tough if it’s deep and the going is getting turfed up while you’re trying to stick to your lines. It’ll be a proper course and I’ll just ride what I’m feeling underneath me.”
Oliver Townend and Cooley Rosalent. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
That’s much the name of the game, too, for Oliver and Rosie, who sit on the same score – though, Oliver says wryly, “we’ll probably still see some mad Frenchman having a go at turning a three-and-a-half strides into three!”
But for Rosie, and his two other rides, debutants En Taro Des Vernier (15th on 29.4) and Crazy Du Loir (57th on 36.3), he’s keeping their inexperience at the forefront of his planning – which might sound slightly odd, considering that the Irish-bred mare is already a five-star winner. But she’s also only a ten-year-old, and Oliver hopes to keep her coming out at the top for many seasons yet.
“She’s not actually seen as much as most of the field, but she’s top, top class, and she’s not a foreign horse, so hopefully that’ll work in our favour tomorrow,” he says. “She’s still green and a baby – I know she’s a Kentucky winner, but normally, when they’ve had a result like that, they need time to recover mentally. But I think she’s very good in the brain, and taking it all in her stride.”
Her lineage, he continues, is another asset in her pocket – even if it means that this phase has taken a little bit of time to come together.
“Her mother was a Scottish Grand National winner, so she’s 70% Thoroughbred. She’s not bred to do a dressage test, but she’s getting stronger all the time, and she’s getting more confident,” he says. “She’s very, very sensitive, and you’ve got to work around her, but at the same time, she’s definitely one that’s worth working around.”
Yasmin Ingham and Rehy DJ. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
Day one leaders Tom McEwen and Brookfield Quality sit fourth overnight on their 25.8, while yesterday’s runners-up, New Zealand’s Clarke Johnstone and his Paris mount Menlo Park, are fifth on 26.3. World Champion Yasmin Ingham moves into sixth place with her two-time Luhmühlen podium-placer Rehy DJ, who delivered a charismatic test with one jolly, celebratory explosion after his final halt to score a 26.5 – “I gave him a fun jump this morning to put him in the right frame of mind for today, and I’m really happy with how well he held it together in there,” she laughs – while New Zealand’s Sam Lissington takes provisional seventh on a 26.7 with Lord Seekonig.
Samantha Lissington and Lord Seekonig. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
“I was a bit playing catch-up, because the first centerline was lovely, and it was a lovely halt, but then I struck off in a muddle,” says Sam. “So I was having to claw back the rest of the test, but I think the score is pretty good considering that. But he was really good, and stayed with me the whole way. He’s quite a shy person, so it’s nice for him to be brave and show off.”
Selina Milnes and Cooley Snapchat. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
Eighth place overnight is held by Britain’s Selina Milnes and Cooley Snapchat on a score of 27.1.
“He’s usually quite consistent with me on the flat,” says Selina, who handed the reins to Tom McEwen for the trot up as she continues to recover from a skiing injury sustained last winter. “At home he’s been diving – and he was doing it here as well – in his first half pass to his change on the straight line, so from left to right. He’s been diving left and just anticipating it, so I’ve done nothing [in the schooling ring] with it at all, and then he was on the aids in there.”
Tim Price and Jarillo. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
Tim Price debuted smart youngster Jarillo at the level today, and was happy to wrap up his test on a score of 27.2, which is good enough for ninth overnight – and earlier marks, which nearly put the pair in the lead overnight, show just how much promise the ten-year-old has for the future.
The busy nature of this particular five-star test, and of the step up in complexity on the flat generally, suit Jarillo’s quick, similarly busy brain, says Tim.
“It’s quite good for him – he’s sharp and he looks at things, so it always gives him something to think about. You have to have your leg on around every corner and constantly be positioning him to go. I quite like this test for a youngster, actually.”
Piggy March and Halo. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
Piggy March and the young stallion Halo round out the top ten on their score of 27.4, and while Piggy was thrilled with her former Blenheim champion’s performance, she was frustrated by some of the broad margins between judges at various points in the test.
“I can’t figure it out. As a rider, we train, we do analyze test results and the same thing happened at Blenheim [with the judge at B not liking it],” she says with a sigh. “I thought maybe at Blenheim, I had him too up and out. So this time, I thought I’d keep him a bit more round at the base of the neck, and he was very in front of my leg. He was very on the buttons. I don’t know whether I’m just getting something wrong, but I’m not understanding it at the minute. We’re meant to be top athletes, we’re meant to analyze things, and you think, ‘Well, what’s right, what’s wrong?’ I know it’s personal opinions, but it’s nearly a 10% difference. So I’ve come out actually a little bit lost about what I have to do. I’m not being a dick here, but I’m not coming out going, ‘Oh, thank God, I got a good mark.’ I don’t care about the rest of the competition, it’s a complete other thing. It’s going to piss with rain. It’s going to be horrendous! It’s his first 5*. It’s irrelevant! But he’s a lovely little horse and he felt like he gave it all, so what’s my problem? We’re fine tuning the whole time. It’s like, a bit more nose, a bit more pace, a bit more…?”
Her remarks raise a good point about the clarity with which marks are given – after all, the name of the game is constant education and progression, and for a seasoned professional to be left flummoxed about how to move forward shows that there’s work that can be done all around to make sure that that transparency is readily available within the constraints of time and manpower that prevail at events. But scoring aside, Piggy was thrilled with the feeling she got in the ring.
“I’m delighted. Oh my God, he was amazing. His brain was incredible. So rideable! He wasn’t dropping me at all. He stayed with me like, ‘I’m here to show myself off,’” she beams.
Boyd Martin and Miss Lulu Herself. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
Boyd Martin came forward with his second ride of the week – and another application of concealer – to score a 30.1 with Miss Lulu Herself, putting her into 21st position after the first phase of her five-star debut. He also sits sixteenth overnight with yesterday’s ride, Fedarman B, on a score of 29.5.
Will Coleman and Off The Record. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
It was a tougher day in the office for Will Coleman and the ordinarily very consistent Off The Record, who broke to canter in the medium trot and then continued on into a test that was peppered with small mistakes. They ultimately earned a 33.2 for 39th, which might feel rather off the boil at this stage, but come tomorrow, it’ll see them well in the hunt. Yesterday’s glorious sunshine didn’t do much to firm up the already deep footing, and today, we’ve been heaped upon by the rain, which is set to continue through the night and into tomorrow, and has already prompted several changes to the tough, twisty, achingly precise course designed by Pierre Michelet. We’ve got more insights into the challenge to come ahead of tomorrow’s sport beginning at 11.30 a.m. local time (10.30 a.m. BST/5.30 a.m. EST) here – but for now, suffice it to say that tomorrow’s leaderboard will be like today’s, if today’s got stuck in a tumble dryer for a couple of hours and then spilled out onto the kitchen floor, probably into a puddle of leakage. Nice stuff! Delightful! Weird sport, this!
The top ten at the end of dressage at Pau.
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