Kristin Bachman and Gryffindor
With only 12 riders on the schedule, dressage flew by Thursday morning here at the Kentucky Horse Park. The loyal fans who got out here nice and early today were rewarded for their effort because the first ride of the morning was the best. Allison Springer and Arthur stayed calm, cool, and collected to produce a lovely test. They scored a 42.3 and I bet it would have been 2-3 points better if they had been the last ride rather than the first.
Rolex Thursday Morning Scores:
1. Allison Springer and Arthur 42.3
2. Mary King and King’s Temptress 47.7
3. Will Coleman and Twizzel 48.2
4. Michael Pollard and Icarus 50.5
—Mary King and King’s Temptress moved into a distant second behind Arthur on a solid veteran test that we would expect from Mary. Will Coleman and Twizzel had a decent test but I expected a better score from them today because Twizzel is such a nice mover. Michael Pollard did a great job keeping Icarus calm and, although Icaraus can score better than 50.5, Michael can breath easy now and look forward to his test tomorrow with Wonderful Will.
–Most of the riders this morning had accurate tests but the the top 4 horses were just significantly better movers than everyone else in the field.
–Kelly Prather and Ballinakill Glory had a super test to score 53.7. If you remember from last year, Ballinakill Glory didn’t want anything to do with the dressage and we spent the test wishing them through it. This year was completely different and the pair went out and put together a very professional performance.
–Diana Burnett and Manny of Canada are in 6th at lunch time. Manny is a strong horse in both the dressage and jumping but Diana kept him as light as possible. Trust me, when you see Manny on Saturday you will know who he is–he loves to run.
—Martha McDowell is doing her first 4* at 50 years young this weekend. She had a solid test with Gaelic Marriage and we’ll be rooting for her to move up this weekend. Martha entered the arena after the count down clock had expired so she was assessed an error.
–Joe Meyer and Susan Beebee helped us out with the live blog courtesy of PRO, and both were wonderfully nice. I was incredibly impressed with how knowledgeable Joe was and how enthusiastic he was when he has talking about the dressage. As two of the riders I don’t know very well, I was super impressed with Joe and Susan and became a fan chatting with them today.
–25% of the way through the Rolex dressage, the score board is wide open. Only one test scored under 45, so look for big changes to the leader board this afternoon and tomorrow.
That’s all for now, we’ll be back after lunch with more from the live blog. Until then, go eventing.
