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Thursday morning at Maizey Manor, Wiltshire was the first day of work for the Canadian Olympic Eventing squad since arriving in England on Monday. Canadian Chef D’Equipe Graeme Thom shared that he first discovered this training paradise in 1993 when he came over for Blenheim, and this is the Canadians’ fourth year here. After a rest day on Tuesday, and a hack on Wednesday, they’ll set out the dressage arena Friday in honour of Canadian Olympic Dressage Superstar Jacquie Brooks who’ll be teaching all day, and then Saturday is a gallop day; just a 20 minute hack away the squad can use a six and a half furlong uphill grass gallop that boasts wonderful going. The horses all look remarkably well, and the mood is upbeat, relaxed and quietly confident. In fact, the horses may be feeling fitter and better than expected – both Hawley and Jessie told me their horses were pretty fresh out hacking Wednesday.
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I missed Hawley’s ride, she was first to go with David O’Connor in the secluded arena, but caught up with her for a quick chat afterwards. Hawley was thrilled with her ride and told me she really feels as if she’s had a breakthrough with Ginny these last couple of weeks, and is very excited about the Games.
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Ginny traveled in a pallet on the ‘plane with Tucker aka Exponential, Jessie Phoenix’s horse and they make quite a nice matching pair! Dr Christiana Ober was overseeing the Canadian event horses every step of the way, and was regaling us with stories of the the six US Olympic Team Dressage horses being on the same plane, enormous in comparison, and that they weighed exactly twice as much as her six horses! Christiana was laughing when she told us about the NBC reporter waiting on the tarmac to “interview” Rafalca who came straight up to Ginny and Tucker and asked if one of them was the right horse?! Hawley, meanwhile, is convinced that Ginny was so good because The Wizard and Ravel, traveling just behind her, had been whispering in her ear throughout the journey and telling her how to do proper dressage! All joking aside, Dr Christiana Ober deserves an enormous pat on the back for delivering the horses in such fine form, especially as they undertook a large bulk of the journey in the extreme heat of the United States. Christiana explained that it’s all a matter of making sure they have plenty of fluids and keeping a close eye on them. We also discussed how these Games will be the ‘cleanest’ yet; the FEI are making it clear that there will be zero tolerance and increased monitoring and testing, including video surveillance in the barns. To ensure there are no mistakes, they are allowing sample testing 14 days from arrival at the Games and you can hear a brief interview with Dr Christiana Ober explaining the protocol on next week’s Eventing Radio Show, online Thursday 19th July.
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Exponential looks a million dollars and super fit. Jessie warmed him up with some counter bending, and leg yielding in trot and canter, and then let David get on. David worked him pretty hard, and is strict about everything. I also watched him ride Peter’s horse Eddie (Kilrodan Abbot), and both times was reminded of Alison Oliver telling me, “Every time you let a horse get away with something, you’re training him to do it.” In his very calm, quiet but equally strong and disciplined way David instinctively knows when to ask for more, how much to push, how to resolve any argument or when to reward wonderful work, and it’s a treat to watch. Both Jessie and Peter got back on their horses after David, and I spoke to Jessie back at the barn.
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I also spoke to Peter for the Eventing Radio Show and you can hear that interview on next week’s episode as well. Peter, as a lifelong amateur and one-horse operation, confided that he’d had some some anxiety beforehand about immersing himself in the team culture, but said he is absolutely loving it; he told me this is the first competition he’s done outside of North America and it’s a huge relief for him to have the Team handle all of the logistics, and indeed there is no stone left unturned – the whole operation that is Team Canada Eventing runs like the proverbial well-oiled machine.
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Not only that but the energy within it is wonderful too, very supportive, very easy-going but uber efficient and top notch. Maizey Manor couldn’t be a more perfect base – quiet and ideally situated with just two barns, one of which now belongs to the Canadians.
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A lovely outdoor arena, a walker, turn- out, amazing hacking and access to gallops, and especially the combined bonus of gracious hostess Catherine Burrel who by all accounts is an outstanding cook, and Jacky Green who hardly needs an introduction, but who I was very happy to meet in person finally – a canny place to base your team before a major Championship.
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I’ve been a huge fan of Shandiss’ horse Rockfield Grant Juan since I first saw him at Poplar Place early this year, and he continues to improve all the time. An enormous bay who looks like he’ll never stop trying his very hardest, and with jump and brains to match he still looks as if he has some growing into his frame to do so perhaps it won’t be the worst thing in the world if he doesn’t get the run this time. I talked briefly to Shandiss about her plans as an alternate.
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Michelle Mueller’s Amistad is an interesting horse – on the flat Thursday, even just on what is supposed to be a gentle training day he is seriously impressive, and could easily be mistaken for an upper level pure dressage horse. Weaned from his mother at a week and a half, Michelle will explain in the video below, he suffered an injury before the WEG in 2010, and Michelle gave him a whole year off to make sure that he came back as good as new. Megan, who has come over to England to groom at the Games for Amistad told me, “He knows he’s the Prince, he doesn’t like other horses going by his stall, he can be a little grumpy.” Originally purchased by one of Michelle’s clients as a lesson horse, when she went to University she offered the ride on Amistad to Michelle for five years, and luckily, the relationship between horse, rider and owner blossomed, and Michelle has kept the ride, obviously, ever since.
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Michelle explained a little bit more about Amistad being a “bucket baby” after she’d ridden him, and by the way she was one of the select riders to earn a highly coveted “high five” from David that morning!
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I hope that Marlborough enjoyed better weather yesterday afternoon than we did in Henley-on-Thames for Michelle and Megan’s sake as we endured incessant pouring rain which lasted well through the night, about the same amount of time it took to upload the videos! I chatted with Rebecca Howard about her plans after the Games for she will, of course, be staying here in England, and she told me that contrary to her nature, she doesn’t have much planned as yet. Hopefully after a good run, Rupert (Riddle Master) will have a rest, and she hasn’t committed to any barn long-term yet she said, but will shop around a bit before making up her mind.
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Rupert looked very professional after Rebecca managed to convince him there really were no tigers in the far corner of the arena! David is so soft-spoken it was impossible to hear what he was saying to each rider, but every horse worked on collection, and then lengthening within the paces and then each ride was tailored to that horse’s particular needs. I’ll be sorry to miss more of the intense training later this week, and next, but was incredibly impressed by what I saw today, not only in the ring, but in the barn and just in general.
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He already had the best hair in the business, but now Graeme Thom adds a puppy to his arsenal! Many thanks to the entire Canadian Team for welcoming me and my children so warmly, and showing me a glimpse of such a first rate operation. It was a fascinating and highly enjoyable morning and I wish the Canadian Squad nothing but the very best of luck as they make their final preparations and at the Games themselves. Go Canada and Go Eventing!
