Boyd and Otis, photo via Samantha
I was stationed in the steeplechase infield all day Saturday near the horse transport team ambulance. It was a fantastic place to watch much of the action, particularly the coffin (excuse me, the “HSBC Question”). And with the advent of technology, I was able to see much of the rest of the course via my laptop, following along on the USEF coverage like many of you at home. At times I felt like a border collie watching two (or three) tennis balls, with a horse passing on the way from the first water, a horse coming through the angled tables on the way home, and simultaneously watching a different rider on delay jumping the hollow (or “holloe” if you prefer) on the computer screen. Hard to keep up with all the action! The delay was nice to have an “instant replay” of live action as many horses struggled at the coffin.
Speaking of the coffin, the definite bugaboo fence of the day. Clearly it caught out the first few riders– it appeared no one expected so much difficulty there. But as word got back to the barn, and riders watched a few gos on the video feed, it became much more successful throughout the day. I saw all sorts of riding there — a classic coffin ride: major downshift gears, rebalance, and send forward to the first element; not enough rebalance, on-the-forehand barreling to it; too much whoa, stiff backwards ride to the first rails; hang on, kick and pray; and all methods seemed both effective and ineffective depending on the horse/rider combination.
Doug Payne rode the coffin very classically, with a sharp “Whoa” to set the horse on his hocks, then a nice forward ride in… and still got caught out on C. Allison had a slightly “picky” ride in, and weaved her way through it, but was successful. Becky was smooth as glass on both horses. Jordan was more of the “point and shoot” ride on Hawkwind, who was gloriously honest, pricked his ears and did the job. Mojito and Kilrodan Abbott were similar to Hawkwind, just super brave, genuine horses who read the question and sorted it out with a smile and “I got this!” attitude. Peter Barry gave a nice ride there, but I think Kilrodan Abbot would have jumped through fire if needed. William Fox-Pitt was, well, William, same as around the rest of the course.
I don’t particularly know why the C element caused so much trouble; I saw horses get both long and short distances, mostly 3 strides, and the impossible distance (combined with the very narrow face) led to most of the runouts. Many horses seemed quite surprised by the steep downhill to the ditch, and dropped their landing gear early over A, causing a rough landing. This resulted in a very awkward leap over the ditch (though awkward ditch leaps are fairly common anywhere), and horses who landed “dead” in momentum leading up to C. I think the riders had to really kick hard over the ditch, ride very straight, and, frankly, the horse had to have his mind on business and want to do it. It was not a jump that you could purely “muscle” a horse through; good riding was important, but there was an aspect of the horse understanding the question and willingness that seemed to go a long way.
I have to agree with John in that Clark Montgomery’s Loughan Glen did not have a serious impact at the A element of the coffin, and I think the pin broke a bit easily. But perhaps that could have been expected, as the pin had also broken (and the cable tie, as well) after Andrew Nicholsoln and Calico Joe hit it first thing out. While Calico Joe certainly chested it a bit, the force didn’t even jar Andrew loose in the slightest. I think the safety measures are great, and possibly did prevent some dangerous falls…but I think our understanding of the technology will improve as more data is collected. Such as: how many “taps” can a pin incur before the final rub causes a break? And, in Andrew’s case, the deformed fence forced him to go the long way…he couldn’t have tried the short route again if he wanted to. What if there wasn’t a “long route” available? Would he have to sit for 30 minutes while they repaired the obstacle?
One thing the trouble at the coffin did: it weeded down the field. Perhaps it reminded riders to be more careful, to ride more positively and accurately, leading to an improved ride around the course (as Emily Beshear). Or, perhaps it caught out those who weren’t quite ready, and prevented a possible fall later on in the course by sending them home a bit earlier. It didn’t seem to negatively affect all the horses– several had a stop/runout there, but went on to do well. But you could also see the problem coming for some riders, who would later not complete the course.
I think most would agree that William’s ride was the smoothest of the day, but that was to be expected. What I most enjoyed was Erin Sylvester and No Boundaries– at a time when the course seemed unrideable (even for the Big Names), she stepped up and delivered a whopping round and looked fantastic. Her horse looked super galloping through the infield the second time, not laboring or tired, and she has to be incredibly proud of herself and No Boundaries. Of course you have to be happy for Will Coleman and Twizzel, who looked so comfortable together; and for Allison Springer and Arthur, who put a lot of demons to rest. Allison rode her tail off– Arthur was good, but she certainly had to work for it. Boyd was Boyd; Remington was slow but successful, and Otis stepped up like a man. Phillip was Phillip; yawn, another two clears in a day’s work.
It was disappointing to see Loughan Glen fail to finish; I have to say he did look a bit labored passing the infield the second time, but Clark was doing his best to nurse him home. I didn’t see the fall, but I hope he is ok and returns to his previous brilliance. I was LOVING Pepper Anne through the first half of the course– she’s so catty, so light on the ground, athletic in the air, and just droolworthy. But Oli’s riding left a bad taste in my mouth to finish the course…he was pushing her quite hard at the angled Horse Park tables heading home, and she appeared to be struggling at that point, before they later retired at the angled ditches; she had tried so well her whole way around, and it appeared to me he could have taken better care of her at the end (as Clark tried to do with Glen).
I know the scoreboard shows it to be a day of carnage, but I do think it was a successful day. Until Parker, the horse ambulances didn’t move all day. Riders tumbled at times, but the horses were landing safely and everyone made it back to the barn under their own power (Parker had a trailer ride, of course). From witness reports that I heard, I think Parker hit his rear legs on fence 2, causing him to fall on landing and he may have rolled on James. It apparently looked very scary, though as reported earlier both were up and alert following the incident. Parker was tended to immediately; I’m sure many of you know, but there are certified veterinarians at every obstacle, in addition to two or more chief vets that “roam” on course. The veterinary team is absolutely fantastic, and kept a very careful watch on every horse as it went around. A small amount of blood on Can’t Fire Me was noticed before the Head of the Lake, and appeared to possibly be getting worse as he went, and I think that spurred the decision to take a closer look. I think it probably looked more noticeable since he’s gray, but you cannot fault a decision to act in the best interest of the horse. The Vet Control team is incredibly experienced, and does not “sweat the small stuff” of common cross-country knocks; but when a situation arises, they will take appropriate measures for safety as needed.
Some things to take away from the day:
1. This is eventing, and it’s not a dressage competition. Thank goodness for that!
2. Some riders/horses were not as prepared as they hoped to be, and it was discovered early on course (perhaps avoiding disaster later on course, as horses were tired and prone to dangerous mistakes).
3. Some horses and riders really stepped up to the plate and showed they are who we thought they are…or better.
4. It was an accomplishment just to finish, and I think it was a nice learning experience out there. Perhaps not a competitive one, but educational nonetheless.
5. Many thanks to all the volunteers, staff, and crew who made this event possible. It truly took an army and the event ran quite smoothly aside from frangible pin fixing.
6. How about a cheer for the weather?! While a bit nippy in the morning, it warmed up, then sprinkled a bit, then the sun shone the rest of the day. It was almost hot in the afternoon, but most horses handled it great.
