Welcome to sunny Pau, where the palm trees and the beachy arenas certainly aren’t the hottest thing about this year’s competition. We’re looking at a compact but absolutely world-class field, featuring an absolutely dribble-worthy line-up
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We’re sure if you read between the lines enough there’s a bit somewhere in The Killers’ Mr Brightside (a wholly overrated bop at this point, let’s be honest) about coming out your cave and doing just
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Bonsoir, readers, and welcome to the dark side. I’ve been seeing the word ‘blog’ chucked around like a searing bit of weaponry lately, and as is my wont, I’ve decided to embrace that which is
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Did we ever, truly, think we’d make it to this point? Probably not — but from the rubble of the 2020 calendar rises Les 5 Etoiles de Pau, the one and only CCI5* of this
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For those in need of a glimmer of hope in these funny old times, look no further – we come bearing the happy news that Les 5 Etoiles de Pau, France’s autumn CCI5*, is still
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It would be tempting, when writing about Toledo de Kerser and Tom McEwen‘s first CCI5* victory at Pau today, to suggest that it’s been rather a long time coming. But Tom is quick to dispel that notion
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We’re devastated to report that Archie Rocks, ridden by Switzerland’s Felix Vogg, has been euthanised following a fall late on course at Les 5 Etoiles de Pau yesterday. The pair had enjoyed a clear round up until the final
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If you’ve been following along with Les 5 Etoiles de Pau – or, indeed, have nipped onto social media over the last 24 hours – it’s likely you’ve come across a widely-shared video of an incident
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And so the final battle commences, but not before Sunday’s horse inspection – and true to Pau form, that, too, brought its fair share of drama. After the overnight withdrawal of Gemma Tattersall‘s two rides, Jalapeno and Chilli Knight,
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A curious thing happens at the beginning of cross-country day at a major three-day event: either the first riders out of the box make the whole shebang look laughably easy, and then a false sense
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Cross country action is underway at Les 5 Etoiles de Pau, the final European five-star of the year, and while you need a subscription to Horse & Country TV to watch today’s phase with English commentary, the event
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You’ve heard of show condition, but let us tell you something: there should be a spot on the equine body-scoring chart called Pau condition. This year’s course, designed by Pierre Michelet –– affectionately dubbed Michelet
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And so the sand-dancing comes to a close, and the wine-quaffing begins in earnest – and at the culmination of a day and a half of closely-fought competition, a French horse sits in the top
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After this morning’s first horse inspection, we were treated to a teeny-weeny, dainty little dressage session in the drizzle this afternoon, which saw the first fourteen competitors deliver their dressage tests for judges Katrin Eichinger-Kniely (C), Tim Downes (B),
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There are some things the French do very well: kissing, bread, excellent aphorisms (‘ah, la vache’ – literally, ‘oh my cow’, instead of ‘oh my God’), cinema, full fringes, a Breton stripe, and truly unique
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The first horse inspection got underway this morning at Les 5 Etoiles de Pau, mercifully not in the dark for the first time in recent memory. This is partly because of our friends and neighbours the
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Started from bottom (March) and now we here (the tail end of the European eventing season, sobbing into a bottle of cheap red). But what better way to cap off a whirlwind season than at
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For those of you fearing the swift approach of the end of the season, take heart: we’ve still got some jolly big competitions to look forward to before we all go into hibernation for the
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In an emotional retirement ceremony on the final day of Pau, France’s Astier Nicolas said a fond farewell to Piaf de B’Neville, the fifteen-year-old Selle Français with whom he recorded his first four-star win and considerable success at
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Great Britain’s Tom Crisp has earned himself an interesting and impressive statistic this season: he’s the only rider to complete all four of the European four-stars in 2018. Two of those were on his top
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One thing was for certain after last year’s Pau CCI4*: if you hadn’t previously been paying attention to the French four-star, tucked away in the foothills of the Pyrenees and the tail-end of the eventing
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Is anyone else suffering from horrendous Pau withdrawals? It’s a funny old time of year; for those of us on this side of the pond, the final four-star wrapped up eventing in 2018 and placed
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Let October 28th forever be remembered as the date when the young and the restless take over the world. In 1216, a nine-year-old Henry III became the King of England, and a mere 802 years
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