
Look at that swamp. That is a niiiiice swamp. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
72 horses and riders completed Adrian Ditcham’s tough course yesterday at Military Boekelo CCIO4*-L, but just 70 of them would come forward for this morning’s final horse inspection, held practically under the cover of darkness (at 8.30 a.m.; we’re not in the business of being morning people in this corner of the EN office, frankly).
The overnight withdrawals came from Ireland’s Lexi Kilfeather and Lord of the Morning, who were 65thovernight and Switzerland’s five-star champions Felix Vogg and Colero, who’d been sitting 50th.
Of the remaining 70 who presented in front of the ground jury, comprised of Laure Eslan (FRA), Angela Tucker (GBR), and Stuart Bishell (NZL), two were sent to the holding box, which makes the first horse inspection look even more wildly overdramatic in hindsight, really. (We’re kidding, don’t come for us – obviously any decisions made in the interest of horse welfare are commendable. Also if anyone else is mean to me on the internet this flu might just finish me off, so… don’t be, I guess?)
The first of those was the USA’s Cassie Sanger, who also paid a visit to the holding box in the first inspection with Redfield Fyre and must be, at this point, fairly sick of being penned in by metal barricades. Fortunately, both she and Italy’s Giovanni Ugolotti, whose Cloud K was called upon for further inspection, were ultimately accepted into the competition.

Giovanni Ugolotti and Cloud K. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
Now, we’re bowling on towards the showjumping finale, which will begin at 11.30 a.m. local time (10.30 a.m. BST/5.30 a.m. EST) with the most extraordinarily daffy order of go I’ve ever set my feverish brain towards unravelling. From 11.30, we’ll get most of the individual riders, though not the top six, and the fourth, third, and second rider rotations for each team, in reverse order of team merit. Look, if I could find a way to explain that in a clearer way to you, please know that I would do it.
Then, from 14.30 p.m. (13.30 p.m. BST/8.30 a.m. EST) we’ll get… seventeen more horses and riders, because why not! That’ll be the top six individual riders, which is to say, those not on teams rather than simply those well-placed as individuals within the competition, and the last rider rotation for each team in reverse order of merit. Which means that the last rider in the ring won’t be two-phase leaders Laura Collett and Dacapo, who are actually fifth from last to jump because the British team is in fifth place. Instead, it’ll be Aoife Clark, who’s the best-placed rider on the Irish team, who currently lead the Nations Cup competition, in which the USA is second. If you’ve ever wondered why Boekelo is such a party event, I’d suggest it’s because we all need a stiff drink early in the morning after trying to work out whatever all this is. Hook me up to a Grolsch IV; I’m cooked.
FEI TV will once again be livestreaming the competition (which sometimes, in my experience here, features hussars and cannons, so it’s worth tuning in for the possibility of a total descent into chaos, if nothing else), and we’ll be back later on today to bring you the story of Boekelo 2024’s movers, shakers, and champions.
For now, here’s a look back at the two leaderboards as they stand overnight:

The top ten at the end of an influential cross-country day at Boekelo.

The Nations Cup standings going into showjumping.
And here’s a look at the times for today, if you were the kind of kid who liked, say, Magic Eye pictures and I Spy books. We’ll catch you on the flip side of this shindig. Go Eventing.
Military Boekelo Links: Website | Times & Live Scores | Live Stream | EN’s Coverage