Lizzie Baugh and Piltown Concorde. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
This might be a really unwelcome insight into my algorithm – and the really boring ways I spend my time behind closed doors – but late last night, I was scrolling on Instagram and I rediscovered the poem (I know, I know, just bear with me, okay?) Go To the Limits of Your Longing by Rainer Maria Rilke.
The main thrust of it is this:
You, sent out beyond your recall,
go to the limits of your longing.
Embody me.
Flare up like a flame
and make big shadows I can move in.
Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror.
Just keep going. No feeling is final.
Don’t let yourself lose me.
Nearby is the country they call life.
You will know it by its seriousness.
It’s that last bit that stuck out to me, some hours before a pre-dawn alarm to get ready for a long day of five-star cross-country. Let everything happen to you. Beauty. Terror. No feeling is final. Nearby is the country they call life.
Because you do have to, don’t you? You have to throw yourself into your fear and your feelings and trade off the risk of being hurt in exchange for the reward of euphoria. And when you strip away the many layers of complexity of cross-country riding, of the ongoing developments in how safe we can make it and how cleverly it can develop, it really all comes down to that. Do you dare? Will you keep going?
I was thinking about that beauty and that terror when I bumped into the preternaturally sunny Emily King, our overnight dressage leader, at the coffee van. Her cappuccino was cold but she was still smiling; somewhere deep inside she must have been incubating a hard molten core of dread, but she was still making the people around her laugh. She had a course to rewalk and she still made the time to find me a pair of her rain boots, and to put them out for me, so I – literally just a journalist who was about to stand in a lake like a lemon all day – could have a nice day. Talk about containing multitudes.
By the time she left the start box, hours and hours later in the middle of the afternoon, so much of both ends of the beauty and terror spectrum had already played out. On the left hand of the spectrum, classic cross-country climbs from the very bottom of the leaderboard to near the top of it for Jonelle Price and Grappa Nera, Great Britain’s Lizzie Baugh, and Sweden’s Sofia Sjoborg and Bryjamolga van het Marienshof; a gleeful caper around the course for France’s Julie Bilquez, who smiled so broadly over each fence that she looked like she might take flight like one of the happy little unicorn balloons dotted through the crowd; a Labrador having perhaps the very best day of his life, swimming jolly circles in the far end of the water complex, in carousel with two bemused swans and eight increasingly irate geese.
And then, on the other end of the spectrum, the bad: seven non-completions at that stage, including early retirements for French World Championships pathfinders Benjamin Massie and Figaro Fonroy; a surprise horse fall for Caroline Powell and High Time, who were unharmed but for some nasty bruising for the rider; several slips and scrambles on the slick ground, which had a firm underlayer but had received a huge dumping of rain on top yesterday; and no shortage of dropouts from the top ten as horse after horse ran out at the seemingly innocuous B element at the first water, the first of two in a line of skinny arrowheads. Worst of all, a horror fall at the final combination for Yasmin Ingham and Gypsie du Loir, who had sat fifth after dressage and were bang on their minute markers in one of the rounds of the day before their tumble. Luckily, both horse and rider are, we’re thrilled to report, completely fine. The same could not be said for Ego des Cabanes, the 12-year-old mount of France’s Luc Chateau, who hit a front leg hard against the B element of that first water after an unconventional approach, and was subsequently euthanised.
But regardless of what had happened before her; regardless of what had happened in her own previous runs at the level – a plot-twist rider fall at fence two here last year; a second place finish at Luhmühlen this summer; placings at Badminton and beyond – Emily still had to leave the start box. She still had to give herself over to the thing she longed for. To become a five-star champion, she had to accept the risk of being bitterly disappointed, or worse.
She will not be this year’s Pau winner. After a beautiful, efficient clear through the first third of the track, which wends its way through the wooded parkland of the Domaine de Sers, and through the second third, with its achingly tricky twists and turns through Pau’s racecourse training track, she steadied up for the leaf pit-style drop at 24AB, popped neatly down it, avoiding the ice-rink slick of footing that had caught several others out, and then found herself skipping out to the righthand side of the skinny at the bottom. Their chances gone, she put her hand up and opted to retire her 17-year-old partner. But by god, didn’t they give it a good go?
Tonight’s post-cross-country party will be twice as full of commiserators as it is celebrators: after Emily’s sad adieu, there were two consecutive retirements for Aistis Vitkauskas of Lithuania and Mark Davidson of Great Britain; an early fall for Tom Jackson from last year’s runner-up, Plot Twist B; a fall on the flat while executing a turn for Ireland’s Joseph Murphy and Calmaro; a fall on the flat in a different area for Switzerland’s Mélody Johner and Erin; the same again for her countryman Felix Vogg and his second ride, Maryland 5* winner Cartania; a fall at the final fence for France’s Sebastien Cavaillon and his second horse, Elipso de la Vigne, with whom he’d been third after dressage – a placing that, perhaps, saw him push for just a hair more than his horse could give him.
In all, we lost a third of the field today, among them two of our three US riders: Tiana Coudray and Cancara’s Girl, equal fifth after dressage, had an early runout and subsequently retired, while debutants Alexa Gartenberg and Cooley Kildaire finished their day at the same spot after also running out at fence 8, though poor Alexa was popped out of the tack in the process.
Tim Price and Jarillo. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
The Price family, at least, will have something to smile about. Tim and Jonelle each came to this event with three horses; each has a former winner in their line-up. Both finish the day with all six of their horses – 12% of the starting field and nearly 19% of the remaining one – in the top twenty.
Foremost among those is Jarillo, the twelve-year-old reigning champion, with whom Tim stepped up from overnight second to the provisional lead today after adding just 5.2 time penalties in one of the quickest rounds of the competition.
“He’s just getting better and better – he’s a class horse, and now he feels like an established five-star horse,” says Tim. “He’s just a joy to ride. He’s a quirky animal – he spooks and he’s horse-shy and anything can catch his attention, but when he’s actually in the field of play and on his job, he’s incredible. I’ll forgive him for all those other things that can annoy him on a daily basis because he’s just so good and so lovely to ride.”
Tim Price and Happy Boy. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
Tim also sits fourth overnight with the often mercurial Happy Boy, who delivered the fastest time when adding just 3.2 time penalties. In 19th, the debutant Garcon added 15.6 time penalties and an 11 for a broken safety device.
“All three horses I was really happy with,” he says. “The first guy, Garcon, is very unproven, very unknown in terms of what he’s capable of. He’s tiny – I always feel like I’ve stolen him from some little kid. I see a picture and I’m like, ‘he’s too small for you!’ but he’s full of might and power and ego and aggression, and so I thought, ‘the sooner I get him into something that’s truly going to challenge him, the better.’ So here we are with him, on a journey to discover what he might be capable of.
“With Happy Boy, I’ve got to take the computer chip out and put a new computer chip in for the next horse, because they’re so different. He’s been good here before, but he’s a real on-off horse in terms of his performances. Now that he’s 14 or 15, I’m finally working out the Rubik’s cube, and he was fantastic today. I really know where his flaws are and what he doesn’t like, and he’s fast, which I’ve never really acknowledged because I’ve always been dealing with his naughtiness and runouts and silly things.”
That natural speed allowed Tim to opt for a long route at the tough final combination before the arena finish.
“Anything that allows for a left run-out is his nemesis, and I really didn’t want to take that on at the end with him. He’s fast, and so I set off like, ‘I’ve got to do what I can to be able to afford the long route at the end.’ I knew I probably couldn’t do it and make the time, but it was more important to go clear and do a good job. I’d be ruing it if I’d gone for the straight route and had a problem, because it’s the biggest left-handed corner we’ve seen all year, and I’d be taking it on a horse who’s notorious for running left. I had to ride with my head a bit.”
Bubby Upton and Its Cooley Time. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
Second fastest of the day was Bubby Upton and her second ride, the double Bramham winner Its Cooley Time, who added 3.6 time penalties in a much-improved, laser-focused round that had been finessed with the help of Andrew Nicholson, who has been coaching Bubby for this phase after a spate of mishaps at the top levels.
The zenith of those mishaps was, arguably, here twelve months ago. Bubby had three rides on that occasion – Its Cooley Time again, and first ride Cola, too, as well as the now-retired Cannavaro, but a combination of mistakes and bad luck meant that none of three finished the competition in what was an enormous blow for the young professional.
Now, though, she’s determined to rewrite this chapter and give her horses the results she believes they richly deserve. Her riding today proved that she’s willing to do the right things to get to that goal.
“Last year Its Cooley Time gave me a flawless round in his first-ever five-star at ten years old, but then I made a mistake at the last combination and just over-pressed him coming into the same exact house that I was delighted to see there again this year, and in a very similar line and combination,” she laughs. “I would say it’s even more difficult than last year, actually. So that took quite a lot of time and focus to make sure I didn’t make the same mistake again, because I felt like I really robbed him of a top result in his first five-star. He’d been up on the clock the whole way, and we know he’s a good jumper on the final day, so that was a very tough pill to swallow, and this year was what we call redemption.”
Its Cooley Time, too, demonstrated the solid foundations he and Bubby have laid in their partnership over the last year when he took the wheel through the first water complex, allowing Bubby to focus on orchestrating arguably the save of the day.
“Fair play to the horse, because he was still looking at the flags while I definitely wasn’t – I was very much seeing water for a long time, and then I got back in the saddle and it was one stride and bam, the second fence. He was extraordinary in that moment.”
Jonelle Price and Señor Crocodillo. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
Third-placed is Jonelle Price on the third of her three rides, the stylish grey Senor Crocodillo. They climbed from eleventh after dressage when nipping around 4.8 time penalties, and are joined at the business end of the leaderboard by pathfinder Grappa Nera, the 2022 Pau champion, who was electric for 6.4 time penalties and moved up from 40th place to 7th. Jonelle’s middle ride, Capitaine de Hus Z, sits eleventh after a steadier 12.8 time penalty round.
“Obviously I’m in the top three because of the round with Senor Crocodillo, but it’s not to be overlooked that I got off to a really good start with Grappa Nera,” she says. “She gave me a fantastic ride – I think one of our best rounds yet, and so that gave me a really good insight into the course and I was able to capitalise on that from that moment on.”
It’s not, Jonelle says, “my first rodeo” where being pathfinder is concerned.
Jonelle Price and Grappa Nera. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
“I’ve been here before, and I know Grappa Nera inside out, and she’s experienced at the level and so nimble and athletic that you’ve got options. There’s an element of cross-country riding that has to be reactive, and it’s all well and good having a plan and having walked it four times, but at the end of the day you’ve got to be able to respond in those moments. I know with her that I have options, which is a really nice feeling to have on a course that’s quite unpredictable, like Pau can be. So she just set me up for the day, really.”
Of Senor Crocodillo, her 2026 World Championships ride, she says, “I’m just delighted for him, really. He’s been on a good upward trajectory for a couple of years now, and I just felt so sad for him at the Worlds when we had a blip late in the course, coming home after he’d had a hold. It was sort of easy to look at it and think it was a bad mistake, but I truly believe it was a result of the hold, and so it was so nice to be able to come here today [and prove that]. He was on the job and very good on all his lines, and I’m just happy for the horse that he was able to come out and show himself in a great light today.”
Tom McEwen and Quintus. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
Tom McEwen’s oversized nine-year-old Quintus continued to impress and deliver performances beyond his years and will head into tomorrow morning’s final horse inspection in fifth place after adding 8 time penalties. Just behind him, Izzy Taylor’s comeback from a broken leg is confirmed by an excellent 9.6 time penalty round aboard SBH Big Wall, which moved them into sixth place and redeemed an early retirement for Barrington Alice, who had two run-outs at that influential B element at the first water, and PSH Encore, who picked up a 20 en route to completion.
Izzy Taylor and SBH Big Wall. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
Eighth place is held by Lizzie Baugh and Piltown Concorde, who, like Jonelle and Grappa Nera in seventh, climbed a huge 30-place stretch of the leaderboard after adding just a smattering of time penalties.
The sole remaining US representatives in the competition, Hallie Coon and Kapriccio, look set to add another five-star placing to their resume and will head into tomorrow’s final day in ninth place, having added 12.8 time penalties. The top ten is rounded out by Great Britain’s Willa Newton and the former Izzy Taylor ride Hartacker, who stepped up from 20th place.
Hallie Coon and Kapriccio. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
There are just 33 horses and riders remaining in the competition as we look ahead to the final horse inspection, which will take place from 11.00 a.m. local time (10.00 a.m. British time/6.00 a.m. EST) tomorrow. We’ll be back with the full story from the trot-up, and, of course, from the showjumping finale thereafter.
Nearby is the country they call life (and/or the off-season, frankly). Go chase it down — and Go Eventing.
The top ten after cross-country at Pau.
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