From Heather Reimer of GermanEventing.de:
All the riders were in good form today having had a great time at the team party last night where France won the Magnum bottle of Veuve Cliquot for their presentation of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
The vet check took place this afternoon under a bright blue sky and sunshine. Pawel Spisak (POL) was the only rider not to present his horse to the vets. Maria Sendagorta’s Windsor H (ESP) and Marco Cappai’s Dourango (ITA) both had to go into the holding box but were passed without problems the second time around. This means there are 70 horses starting in the Dressage tomorrow and Friday.
[Live Scores, XC Course Photos]
During the press conference today course designer Capt. Mark Phillips said the footing is perfect on the cross country course, even though there has been a lot of rain. The rain had made working on the course quite difficult at times because they couldn’t use any heavy tractors close to the jumps; however the team has done a great job. He also said designing the course had proved to be quite a challenge for him as he had to take into account all the different levels of ability which the riders, who are competing in Luhmühlen for the medals, have. This no doubt explains why most of the big complexes have alternative routes.
