Doug Payne, who is electing to just ride dressage with the stunning Crown Talisman this weekend, was kind enough to walk some of the cross country course with me yesterday morning. There is a lot to do on Derek di Grazia’s course this year, and I would expect there to be plenty of interesting fences to keep an eye on throughout the day on Saturday. Doug and I stopped by the Land Rover Hollow (Fence 14), the Offset Brush (Fence 16), and the Rolex Head of the Lake (Fences 18 & 19). Many thanks to Doug for taking the time to give us the insider scoop on how these fences should ride.
Side note: I apologize in advance for any wind interference in these videos. There was a light breeze coming through while we were walking, and sometimes even the slightest breeze can cause some issues.
Doug Payne comments on the Land Rover Hollow — an inviting but solid keyhole fence down a steep hill to a right hand corner and then out over a skinny oxer. There is an option available, but as Doug comments it will take quite a long time to get it done; the option is there for any riders who may not have a good ride into the combination.
Next up is the Offset Brush, which ride at quite an angle. I presume this is a nod to Pierre Michelet’s courses, which utilize many angled brushes. Fence 15, the Sheep Shelter, looks to feed the riders onto a good line, but the combination of fences 15 and 16 will require a very accurate ride in order to make it through the brushes. Again, there is an option available, but as usual it will take a few extra of those precious seconds and still requires the A element of the Offset Brush to be jumped.
Finally, we stopped by the Rolex Head of the Lake, where Lauren Kieffer was checking her minute markers. This fence comes up right around 7 minutes and 30 seconds into the course, and as stated before there is plenty of work to do here.
