by Nancy Jaffer | Jul 30, 2024
The Cinderella story of dressage did not have a happy ending, as the USA’s Marcus Orlob and Jane were eliminated in their Olympic debut partway through their Grand Prix test after a judge spotted a nick on the mare’s right hind leg. Although it was small, it showed up on the front of her white fetlock. Had the leg been brown or black, the scratch likely wouldn’t have been obvious from the judge’s booth.
The 10-year-old mare had whirled after entering the arena, trying to follow the previous horse who was leaving. For eventing dressage, horses entered and exited through separate gates, but that was not the case for Grand Prix. It is believed Jane cut herself as she spun quickly and half-reared.
Marcus has a cool head and did a great job of calming her down and getting her into the ring, where her test was going well, with marks as high as 7.6 for half-pass. But it was in the zig-zag that the horn sounded for him to stop, and judge Suzanne Baarup, president of the ground jury, came out to tell him why he was being excused.
The U.S. Equestrian Federation reported that after Jane returned to stabling she was relaxing in her stall and the cut was no longer bleeding.
Recalling what had happened, Marcus said, “I was excited to go down center line; clearly Jane, too.
“I believe she maybe nicked herself in the entry, because I never had this issue. She felt in the ring amazing, I was super happy with her once we went down center line. She settled nicely and unfortunately, due to blood, we are eliminated. It’s like a very minor cut, almost like a mosquito bite,” he noted.
“We showered her, nothing to see anymore, she’s happy, she’s healthy. It was bad luck. Unfortunately, that’s our sport.”
Although the crowd made her nervous in the beginning, “Once I got going, she got more and more relaxed,” commented Marcus, who said he was thinking, “Okay, I’ve got this now. I was really sad to hear the bell.”
Marcus Orlob and Jane in their test. (U.S. Equestrian Photo)
That marks the end for the U.S. team in Paris, since there are no drop scores in the Olympics and teams have only three members. Although the U.S. was not a candidate for a medal, it was expect to finish in the top six or seven in the field of 15 countries.
Adrienne Lyle and Steffen Peters, the other team members, are continuing to ride, trying to qualify for the freestyle, which will accept 18 entries. Adrienne scored 72.593 percent Tuesday percent with Helix. That is on the cusp of what is believed will be the qualifying score for the Freestyle. Six-time Olympian Steffen rides Suppenkasper on Wednesday.
Marcus, who only began riding Alice Tarjan’s Jane in March, just made the cut for the U.S. contingent that went to Europe, where competition there would help determine who would be on the U.S. team.
A native of Germany who is a naturalized American citizen based in Annandale, N.J. Marcus had been Alice’s coach. But she turned over the mare she had trained to him because she wasn’t strong enough to show Jane at her best.
The thought of being in the Olympics with such a short run-up was amazing, especially since Marcus had never been on a U.S. team. But the combination had amazing performances in the observation trials in Germany and won a team place on the basis of those scores and the potential they showed.
Adrienne only began riding Helix this year, but she is a two-time Olympian and the horse had been competed previously in European Grands Prix by a Swedish rider.
Adrienne Lyle and Helix against the backdrop of the chateau at Versailles. (U.S. Equestrian Photo)
Having Marcus eliminated before her ride was bad timing, and Adrienne felt for her teammate at the same time she knew she had to focus on her own ride. But of course, she was sad.
“My heart just broke for him,” Adrienne said.
“I thought he was riding so beautifully and that’s such an incredible horse and combination coming up. To be having such a great ride and hear the bell ring, none of us knew why at first. Sometimes those things happen. The good thing is the horse is fine. Hopefully, he left a nice impression on everybody to see what they’re capable of.”
In terms of her performance, Adrienne said, “I am thrilled with my horse out there. He was really excited at first and the fact that he settled down and trusted me means everything.”
Taking the ride on a horse trained by someone else, when she usually does her own training, “was a challenge and not something I’d done before. It was learning to speak each other’s language.”
Her score was “about dead-on with our average when qualifying. I’m excited for the future.”
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by Nancy Jaffer | Aug 1, 2024
The U.S. made it into Friday’s Olympic team show jumping competition by finishing second in Thursday’s qualifier, which sorted out the 10 countries that will ride for medals Friday from the 20 entered in that discipline at the Games. Those competing start with a clean slate.
There was intense pressure on the U.S. squad after the country’s eventing team failed to medal in Paris and the dressage team was eliminated. Show jumping is “it” If America is going to get a medal at Versailles (and not go home empty-handed, as U.S. equestrians did from London in 2012.).
In the qualifier, Germany was the only team to finish on 0 penalties. The U.S. had 6 faults; clear rounds by Laura Kraut and last-minute sub Karl Cook, while anchor rider McLain Ward collected 4 penalties for a rail at the tallest jump on the course, a vertical standing 1.63 meters, and 2 penalties for going over the 79-second time allowed.
But McLain had no worries about his performance on Ilex, a horse he has been riding for only a few months.
“I was thrilled,” he said after his trip over the fences in a stadium that was packed with fans, as it has been every day of the Olympics.
“I knew going in we had a pretty big margin of error, so I made a plan to be a little conservative and make sure there wasn’t a big blow-up,” he said.
Of his knockdown at the eighth of 14 obstacles, which had wings commemorating the clock on the Musée d’Orsay, he commented, “It was a very light rub and not a big deal. I think all the team performed brilliantly and look very good going into tomorrow. It’s a whole new competition. The horses feel great.”
He added, “I think it’s not only obviously important `job one’ is to qualify. We don’t want to take that for granted, the sport is strong.”
He pointed out that Sweden’s Tokyo Olympics team gold medalist Peder Fredricson, one of the most experienced riders, on one of the most experienced horses, Catch Me Not, had a run-out at the spooky-looking Graffiti Wall fence, so nothing is a given. (Luckily for Sweden, its pathfinder, World Number One Henrik von Eckermann, was fault-free on King Edward.)
Henrik observed, “I always think the first track is the worst one because you’re not really sure. I mean, I know my horse very, very well, but still, you never know — it’s animals, not machines, and you just want to have a good feeling, and you don’t know how it is going to be before you do it.”
What’s important to consider for the U.S. in addition to faults, McLain said, is “How did the horses feel? They felt fresh and jumped well. The time wasn’t super tight today. I made the time always with him, I didn’t put a lot of concern on the time. I didn’t want to have too many (time faults) but there were a couple of places I took my time, especially at the end.”
Karl, riding Caracole de la Roque, had been the alternate but was called off the bench when an alllergy-related question arose about team member Kent Farrington’s Greya. With no drop score under Olympic rules, the team couldn’t take any chances on a horse who might be sub-par.
And the pinch-hitter was ready for his big moment.
“It was very clear, obviously, that I was the alternate, and very clear how late I could be called,” pointed out Karl, who had everything packed and was ready to ride if needed.
“We knew that going in, so it was important to act, all of our prep, everything, last night, this morning, was as if we were showing, because it’s too hard to do that after the fact. We were on the team the whole time, mentally.
Karl Cook and Caracole de la Roque at the macaron fence. (US Equestrian Photo)
He added, “I’d be lying if I said it was easy, but that’s what you’re here to do. It’s not supposed to be easy, it’s supposed to be challenging, it’s supposed to test you, and I’m just so appreciative for the opportunity. I feel proud that I could do that for team USA and my other team members.”
Admitting there was a feeling of pressure before his round, he noted, “Once you pick up the canter, then everything kind of just goes away. I don’t have enough mental ability to do both of those (worry and ride), because it takes so much focus.”
Of his Selle Francais mare, one of the fastest horses in the world, he commented, “She loves this. This is all she loves to do. She gets so excited; I would say she’s zero percent stressed and 100 percent excited.”
He noted with a smile that attitude gives her an edge over her rider. Interestingly, he does most of the warm-up in a different bridle than the hackamore she wears in the show ring.
Laura acknowledged the pressure, saying it was a relief to have produced a perfect trip with Baloutinue, the only horse on the 2024 squad who also competed at the last Games in Tokyo, where the U.S. earned silver.
“I wasn’t 100 percent sure what my plan was going to be,” Laura admitted, “because, to be honest with you, the course wasn’t really suited to him, but going first I just thought I’ve got to go in and be quick, since time is going to be such a factor, and just have faith that he’ll clear the fences. And he did!
“It was pretty nerve-wracking before I went in,” said Laura, who had support from her partner, Nick Skelton, winner of individual gold for Britain at the 2016 Games in Rio.
“It’s never a low-stress event at the Olympic Games,” Laura observed.
Laura Kraut and Baloutinue. (U.S. Equestrian Photo)
Discussing the route designed by Spain’s Santiago Varela and Gregory Bodo of France, she said, “The course was very technical and big. Bodo is a brilliant course builder. I’ve been jumping his courses quite a bit lately. He has a way of sneaking in things that are far more difficult than they appear to be, as he’s done today.”
The course certainly was beautiful, with themed fences including a combination where the most faults were incurred, the Olympic triple of medals and an image of Olympics founder Baron Pierre de Coubertin (wonder what he would have thought of the opening ceremonies); L’Opera, complete with paintings of comfy theater seats on the jump standards, a water jump honoring French oceanographer Jacques Cousteau and a triple bar with a Champs Elysee street sign.
“I’m just very fortunate I have an absolutely amazing horse. He was in the zone and he was on it,” Laura said.
“The water (jump) is quite big, it’s going away from the gate it comes on a bit of an awkward angle and I think some of the horses aren’t quite getting up to the front of it as much as they’d like. Even my horse landed shallow a little bit.”
She also noted the third fence, topped with a gray plank, is difficult and hard to see. Her horse touched it, but luckily it stayed up.
“There’s a lot out there,” Laura observed.
Karl had noted that course designers these days are “playing with color” (the candy-striped rail at the macaron and pastry A element of the double and the pink rail in the middle of the triple came to mind when he said that.) He mentioned it’s hard for both horse and rider to focus on those kinds of poles.
“So making it harder makes it more careful, and that’s what increased the difficulty without having to make it massive,” said Karl.
“It’s a good way the sport is going.”
Laura had only been riding Baloutinue for two months before her last Olympics and hardly knew him at all, but now she has had time to build a partnership.
“It’s really comforting to come here this time knowing the horse. He trusts me and I certainly trust him.
“He has it all, he’s got personality in the stables. When you get on to ride him, he’s all about the business. He’s brave, careful and scopey. That’s kind of what you need when you go to the Olympics.”
“I felt completely confident that he could go in there and do it today,” Laura noted.
He walked into the ring, looked around and saw his fans.
“Even he was excited about it,” she said.
“I think he thought, this was it.”
Coach Robert Ridland was understandably proud, saying, “Our team jumped really well today and executed our first goal of qualifying through to the team final.
“We have another day, though, and need to be prepared for a tough day of competition tomorrow. We obviously had a change to the team this morning, putting Karl and Caracole into the line-up and they really stepped up to the plate for us in a big atmosphere. Laura and Baloutinue are veterans and set the tone with a clear round right off the bat. Karl and Caracole have been on a hot streak and rode a well-executed round for our second clear. McLain and Ilex are looking strong and the entire team is feeling ready for tomorrow’s final.”
The other teams that qualified were Britain, Belgium and the Netherlands, all with 8 penalties. Ireland, favored by many to win the team title, collected 9 penalties to wind up sixth after Shane Sweetnam had a rail with James Kann Kruz and anchor Cian O’Connor dropped the pink rail at the B element of the triple combination with Maurice. Cian also had a time penalty. The third team member, Daniel Coyle, was fault-free with Legacy.
France and Sweden had 12 and 17 penalties respectively, while Israel and Mexico wound up with 20 each to round out the starting list for Friday. Switzerland, usually one of the strongest countries, failed to qualify, finishing twelfth.
Ties were decided by which country was fastest. The U.S. was faster than the others, but that didn’t matter because it was the only one with 6 penalties so a tie did not have to be broken. But speed ability could be handy when it counts for the medals on Friday.
McLain’s buddy Richard Vogel of Germany rides the spectacular United Touch S and is among those touted as an individual medal possibility. But before that, he’s thinking about his team.
“All riders performed well today. I think all three German rounds were smooth, so that makes us optimistic for tomorrow. But we’re also aware that it starts from zero, and besides a good starting position there’s not so much achieved yet – we will see,” he said.
Defending Olympic individual gold medalist Ben Maher of Great Britain and Dallas Vegas Batilly after their clean round. (Photo Jon Stroud Media)
Britain’s defending individual gold medalist Ben Maher made an eleventh-hour swap out of Point Break and put in Dallas Vegas Batilly. Point Break is only 10 years old, and Ben felt with the atmospheric venue and the heat, he needed a horse with more mileage.
“Experience will carry us forward,” he said, noting that as his mare continued her round, “She grew in confidence and really found her feet, so to speak.”
“That was a great start and it’s good just to get going; to be honest, there’s a lot of waiting around and not knowing what’s coming on the first round, but it’s a big enough test today and Dallas Vegas was listening and really on point for me,” Ben commented.
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by Nancy Jaffer | Jul 30, 2024
While the elimination of Marcus Orlob’s ride, Jane, for a tiny cut on her fetlock was the biggest news as the Olympic dressage competition got under way in Paris (click here to read the story), the big picture of the discipline there was quite compelling.
In his seventh Olympics, Carl Hester headlined for the British team on Fame, earning 77.345 percent. He was chuffed, as the British say, meaning they are delighted.
“It’s a good score. The horse went really well. I haven’t competed for a few months, I’ve got some more tweaking to do,” said Carl, who is bent on qualifying for the Freestyle so he can ride to his new music, saying its character reflects his age, which is 57. By Sunday, he said, he’ll be ready to “step on the gas and go for it” with “one of the most fun horses of my career.”
He was third, not very far behind Denmark’s Nanna Skodborg Merrald on Zepter (78.028) and the Netherlands’ Dinja van Liere with Hermes (77.764).
Nanna Skodborg Merrald of Denmark and Zepter.
Nanna mused, “I think I had a really good solid test without big mistakes but also plenty of room for improvement. I think in my changes I couldn’t have done a lot better, but in piaffe-passage and the pirouettes there’s still room for asking for more.”
Cooling stations for horses were set up across the venue as temperatures soared well into the 90s, but despite the heat, there was a packed house for dressage, as there had been for eventing on Monday. Carl was glad to see it.
He believes that indicates, “There is hope equestrian can survive (in the Olympics. There are huge amount of people enjoying it. We have to show the positives of the sport.”
Carl well knows that horse sport is under fire, because he is the mentor of Charlotte Dujardin, who became the center of a viral scandal when a video emerged days before the Games of her using a longe whip to hit a horse repeatedly during a lesson at a private stable. As a result, Charlotte bowed out of the Games, where she was to have ridden on the British team. Her presence (if there were no scandal) would have given her country a chance of edging Germany for the gold medal. Without her, that outcome seems unlikely.
Carl Hester and Fame. (Photo Jon Stroud Media)
“I think now we’re probably looking at bronze, if it goes well,” Carl mused, noting reserve rider Becky Moody was thrown into the fray with 17.3-hand Jagerbomb in the absence of Charlotte. Becky did well, earning 74.938 percent, ahead of Sweden’s World Cup Champion Patrik Kittel on Showdown (74.317).
Becky called riding her own horse in the Olympics, “An amazing experience. What a horse! He is so special to me. I bred him, so we have done everything together.
“I think we both went in there a little nervous and apprehensive, but we helped each other out,” said the former Pony Clubber. She is now qualified for the Freestyle along with Patrik, Nanna, Dinja, Fredric Wandres of Germany and Daniel Bachmann Andersen of Denmark. Carl is first on the waiting list for the six extra places, with the rest of the field yet to ride on Wednesday.
“I’m just so proud of him,” said Becky.
“It’s an incredible venue and we’ve got an incredible team around us.”
Becky Moody of Great Britain with her homebred Jagerbomb. (Photo Jon Stroud Media)
Team spirit is important, as the margin is very close after day one of competition among Denmark (154.938), Britain (152.238) and Sweden (145.870). The Dutch are also a big threat. Only the top 10 teams among 15 nations (now 14, since the U.S. was eliminated, read the Orlob story) move on to compete for the medals in the Grand Prix Special on Saturday. But the scores are indicative of what’s ahead.
“We’ve got to fight for any medal now,” Carl noted, then mentioned that World Champion Lottie Fry is still to come for Britain on Wednesday in part two of the Grand Prix with Glamourdale, whose long stride just eats up the ground.
The FEI has suspended Charlotte and is investigating the situation depicted in the video. It is a real concern for many reasons, but also under the current situation of social license to operate, which seeks public approval for the sport. Dressage has come under criticism with several public instances of problem training practices, though none is higher profile than Charlotte.
Carl was unaware of the existence of the video — calling it “a huge shock” — before a lawyer made it public on behalf of a whistleblower. Carl has concern for Charlotte, Britain’s multi-gold medalist, who trains at his barn.
“I’ve known her for 17 years. She’s a mom, she’s got a small child and she’s paid very heavily for this in a way you just wouldn’t believe. I know she will have to accept what the FEI gives her, and she will. I hope she’s strong enough to come back from that,” he said.
Carl noted he had never before seen what she was doing on the video. At the same time, he mentioned she has apologized and “she’s surrounded by people trying to help her. She obviously accepts what she did, which she had to do, and I’m glad she’s done that. It’s four years ago,” he said of the date of the video, though it actually appears to be two-and-a-half years ago.
“People do make mistakes. What do we do, never forgive people for all the things that happen in life? it’s going to be a long road for her…and everyone in the horse world.”
“We’re all in shock,” commented Carl, who is on the board of the International Dressage Riders Club, which condemned the whipping. For his part, Carl emphasized, he has an open yard (stable) “where people can see horse welfare to be at its highest by the way I keep my horses.”
click here for team results. Click here for individual results.
by Nancy Jaffer | Jul 31, 2024
It was disappointment on top of heartbreak for U.S. dressage during the final day of Grand Prix competition Wednesday, as six-time Olympian Steffen Peters put in a test that didn’t come close to breaking 70 percent, uncharacteristically finishing on a lackluster 66.491 percent with his veteran mount, Suppenkasper.
“That was tough,” said a discouraged Steffen after his turn in the packed stadium, where spectators busily waved hand-held fans to ward off the oppressive heat.
“He was a little too much on fire. He’s been in places like this before and I thought right up to the walk I had him,” Steffen recounted.
“Then he got more and more excited, even on the last extension. He was drifting a little right. He saw something on the short side and that gave him from behind so much energy for the last passage. I knew that could be trouble for the last piaffe. He’s 16 years old and still has endless energy. I sit almost a little bit in a two-point (position in the saddle) even that was not working today. Unfortunate, very unfortunate.”
Suppenkasper, who gained fame and followers as the “Rave” horse from his 2021 Tokyo Olympics freestyle, got marks as low as 2 and 3 for some movements. On the final center line, he looked odd, with his right front leg pointing awkwardly before he got himself together for a halt where his marks ranged from 2 to 5.
This followed Tuesday’s shocker, when Marcus Orlob was putting in a promising test with Jane when the judge stopped him, pointing to a tiny scratch on the mare’s right hind fetlock. The mare must have scratched herself when she spooked and whirled around after entering the arena, but Orlob had her in hand once he went between the white fences and she was performing well when the judge intervened. The scratch only showed because her fetlock is white. If it had been black, like her body, it wouldn’t have been noticed. With only three members to a team and no drop score under Olympic rules, the U.S. was eliminated.
Steffen Peters and Suppenkasper.
Three-time Olympian Adrienne Lyle, the third team member, had a nice test Tuesday with Helix, a horse she has been riding only since January, but their score of 72.593 percent didn’t make the cut for her to be among the 18 riders who will compete for individual honors Sunday in the Freestyle. She finished twentieth. Steffen was fifty-first.
“I deeply share Steffen’s disappointment with his ride today, especially taking into consideration what this combination has done for this sport, the country and worldwide, bringing so much positive engagement to our sport over the past few years,” said Chef d’Equipe Christine Traurig.
“It became obvious to me during their test, Mopsie was not himself. After returning to the stabling, he was taken care of by his team and our team USEF veterinarian and he is starting to feel more himself, which is the important thing.”
So far, it’s an understatement to say it hasn’t been a lucky Games for the Americans.The eventers had a couple of mishaps and missed a medal and now dressage is finished without that squad even qualifying for the team competition Saturday in the Grand Prix Special. It never had a chance at medals anyway, but there was hope the U.S. could finish in the top five or six of the 15-nation field.
Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour and Freestyle.
World number one and defending Olympic champion Jessica von Bredow-Werndl of Germany and TSF Dalera BB predictably finished first in the Grand Prix on a score of 82.065.
“It was a fantastic feeling inside the arena and breathtaking to see how the audience carried us into the ring,” said Jessica.
“I’m happy because I had some hiccups in the Grand Prix at the German Championships in Balve, which was the rehearsal for here. But sometimes when the rehearsal is bad then the performance is good, and that’s how it worked out.”
Dalera, light and lovely as always, is 17, and the question of retirement will soon be answered. So enjoy watching this star in her last Olympics. She is really a treat. The 10s among her marks came in piaffe and a transition. She got a 5 in the collected walk, so she’s not perfect, although you’d likely get an argument from many of the spectators about that.
Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour of Denmark, who just missed the podium in Tokyo when she finished fourth, is second on Charlotte Dujardin’s former ride, Freestyle (80.792).
Freestyle hasn’t been competing at the top of the sport much recently. So Cathrine explained, “My plan today was to not push her but just see what she offered. When I picked up the first passage I said to her `You just give me whatever you want and then I’m just gonna say what we are supposed to do.’
“So I’m really proud of her, and I think it was a perfect start for me and her at the Games here in Paris,” said Cathrine, who took team gold and double silver at the FEI World Championships in 2022 with Vamos Amigos.
Talking about building an understanding with Freestyle, she explained, “the main thing has been to really create a proper friendship with her, not just like pretending, but really see if she could allow me in there, which she did quite quickly.
“I was quite amazed. Animals are amazing if you treat them well and show them trust. Another key word for me has been respectful leadership. Because in some way, I had to be the leader to show her around in a dressage test. But at the same time, respect where she’s coming from, because she’s a skilled young lady. She has done a lot and she has been educated amazingly, and she is a performer.”
Germany’s Isabell Werth came in third with 79.363 aboard her new mount, Wendy de Fontaine. All scores now go back to zero for the next competitions.
Of Wendy, Isabell commented, “She was so focused and so with me that it was amazing. We have only done six or seven Grand Prix, but it’s so amazing how we are growing together and how honest she is to me.”
Isabell, competing in her seventh Games, is determined to help the young mare develop, improve and reach her maximum potential.
“You can only do that in competition, so Aachen (where Wendy was a star) was really helpful, with three competitions there. She is only a 10-year-old horse and as they get older, they get more muscles, they get more power, they get more experience, so everything works together. Riding her is really a pleasure.”
Fourth in the Grand Prix was Britain’s world champion Lottie Fry and Glamourdale (78.913). She was in the unenviable position of being the pathfinder for Wednesday’s group of riders.
“To go first on day two is always a little bit more challenging, but he was absolutely incredible in there,” said Lottie, who noted that because of the heat, going early could be considered an advantage.
“I had a great ride, a great feeling, and he just loved it. I think you could see that by his face at the end when everyone is cheering for him. He just loved every second of it, and was taking it all in. It’s really an honor to ride down the center line at the Olympics in Paris and I think what we’ve done has put us in a really good place as a team.”
Lottie Fry and Glamourdale. (Photo Jon Stroud Media)
“We had a little moment in the rein-back, (she was marked at 5.9) which was a shame, but apart from that, I couldn’t fault it – he really gave everything. He’s improved a lot, he’s got much stronger, and when he was in there, he just performed at his best, and I couldn’t ask much more.”
Britain is third in the team standings, behind Germany and Denmark, but that’s just a way to gauge the countries’ strengths, since they start from scratch in the next two competitions. The other teams that qualified for Saturday’s Special for the team medals are the Netherlands in fourth, followed by Sweden, Belgium, France, Austria, Finland and Australia.
Jessica von Bredow-Werndl topped the dressage standings on Wednesday with TSF Dalera BB.
Show jumping begins Thursday with the USA’s strongest team in Paris taking the field. Olympic team gold medalists Laura Kraut (Baloutinue) and McLain Ward (Ilex), are on the squad with first-time Olympian Karl Cook (Caracole de la Roque), subbing for Olympic veteran, Kent Farrington (Greya). The last-minute change had to do with an allergy-related situation with Greya, and considering there is no drop score, the decision was to be “erring on the side of extreme caution” with the switch, said coach Robert Ridland.
by Nancy Jaffer | Jul 28, 2024
After the first few competitors finished the beautiful Paris Olympics cross-country course on Sunday, from an armchair perspective it may have seemed almost too easy, like a trail ride with challenges.
Britain’s pathfinder, Tom McEwen, completed within the 9-minute, 2-second optimum time to remain on his dressage score of 25.8 penalties. By the end of the day, that would be good enough to move him up from eleventh to sixth with J.L. Dublin. And Germany’s Julia Krajewski, in the unenviable position of being first to embark on cross-country, had just 4.8 time penalties for a total of 31.7 with Nickel 21, a younger horse, therefore not one you’d want to push for time. She wound up fourteenth; most respectable, considering her horse’s lack of experience at the sport’s highest level.
But Tom was a member of the gold medal team at the Tokyo Olympics and Julia is the defending individual gold medalist (with a different horse) from Tokyo. In the early going, their expertise made Pierre Le Goupil’s course look less difficult than it was. Artful in both appearance and design, it took the measure of many in an appropriate way as the hours went by. Six of the 62 starters were eliminated or retired; a host of others couldn’t make the time and accumulated penalties that changed the placings they had earned in Saturday’s dressage.
Tom McEwen and JL Dublin (Photo Jon Stroud Media)
“It is the most amazing crowd all the way around the course. They’re cheering you before, over and after,” said Tom, noting his horse “was phenomenal from start to finish.”.
As the morning went on at Versailles, with a shoulder-to-shoulder enthusiastic spectators who lined the winding route, it turned out that the layout was not only entertaining for fans but was perfect for the job with which the designer had been tasked. And it was safe. There were no ugly falls.
Record-setting Laura Collett of Great Britain and London 52 on the cross-country course, with the palace behind them at Versailles. (Photo Jon Stroud Media)
The changes on the leaderboard were dramatic, with the exception of favored Britain, seeking to defend its Tokyo gold. It continued to head the standings with 82.5 penalties. But instead of being closely pursued by Germany, it was France – with the incentive of competing at home — that moved up to challenge on 87.2 penalties, a little more than the difference of a fallen show jumping rail.
Germany, second after dressage, is now fourteenth on 278.9 penalties. Team member Christoph Wahler had a fall from Carjatan S in the Belvedere complex and was eliminated.
There is no drop score at the Games, which has only three-member teams. Christoph popped out of the saddle when his horse stepped in a ditch after a drop and before the first chevron in the Belvedere complex, obstacle 16 of 28. Carjatan wasn’t the only horse who had trouble reading the ditch.
The USA’s pathfinder, Caroline Pamukcu, ran into a problem there when her HSH Blake got his hind end stuck in the ditch, which she had expected him to jump, but she stayed on and took an optional route to continue. However, she was charged 20 penalties for a refusal, and also accumulated 12 time penalties. She is forty-seventh with 62.4 penalties as part of the U.S. team that was in ninth place after cross-country.
If she were riding as an individual, she would have protested the penalty, she said, but since she is riding for the team, she knew she couldn’t do that. Ironically, she won individual gold at the Pan American Games last fall over a course designed by Le Goupil.
As for her horse, Caroline said, “He was fabulous, answered all the questions. What a brave horse he is, he’s fearless.”
U.S. Chef D’ Equipe Bobby Costello said, “I don’t believe in luck that much, but whatever it was that happened to Caroline at that ditch… It was early on when she didn’t know that all the horses were going to be more or less falling into it, and I don’t for one second put that on her at all. It was just a real unfortunate turn of events. As the day went on…it became clear either to go left or there was a more specific way to ride that right-hand side. It was just a real shame for Caroline that happened to her.”
And the team’s slide from sixth after dressage to ninth was a real dampening of expectations.
“We’re incredibly disappointed at the final result,” Bobby continued.
“I think it shows why this Olympic format is, for better or for worse, intense, it’s completely unforgiving. But that’s the game we came to play today and it didn’t go our way.”
The U.S. may move up a bit in the final show jumping phase, but the podium seems out of reach, even though the team’s horses are all good jumpers.
“We’re not in a place right now where it looks like we can necessarily use that to our advantage,” Bobby pointed out.
“But absolutely anything can happen overnight. Freak things happen, as we saw today, all the time. So we certainly are not going to crawl in a hole. We’re going to come out tomorrow with a fresh mindset for the day and finish up as strongly and in the best place that we possibly can.”
And just as he said, on Sunday night, the U.S. moved up from ninth to eighth after the Irish had to sub Sarah Ennis and Sporfsfield Freelance for Aiofe Clark, after her mare, Action Lady M, “picked up an injury” on cross-country. The additional penalties incurred under Olympic rules moved Ireland down a spot and boosted the U.S. one placing. The official team standings had not been updated to show that change late Sunday.
Britain’s Ros Canter, ranked number one in the world, was charged 15 penalties for a missed flag on course at fence 12D, the triple brush.. She said she did touch a flag there, but added, “I would never have imagined I didn’t jump the jump.” However, an appeal of the penalty by the British team was denied and the score remained the same.
Calling her ride, Lordships Graffalo, better known as Walter, “the horse of a lifetime,” she said of his performance,”Walter absolutely loves to run and jump. He loves the crowd.”
After London 52 lost a front shoe early on and began slipping, Ros’s teammate, Laura Collett, had to be cautious and take a more sweeping line from the final water combination at 23ABCD, which made it tough to finish without time penalties. She had set an Olympic record in dressage with a mark of 17.5 penalties, but the 0.8 time penalties added to that score put her second, just 0.5 penalties behind Germany’s Michael (Michi) Jung. He took the lead with his perfect trip on Chipmunk FRH (one of Julia Krajewski’s former mounts).
But never mind, Laura was so happy with her partner.
“London 52 is just my horse of a lifetime, he’s incredible,”said Laura.
“He’s just so talented and I think, for me, it’s knowing what he was like as a young horse and knowing how much he’s had to trust me and believe in me… he’s not a natural cross-country horse, and then he goes round a course like that on railways tracks – it just shows what a partnership you can build up if you make them believe in you.”
Japan is in podium position, third with 93.8 penalties, so it’s pretty close among the current contenders for the medals, with Switzerland fourth on 102.4.
Michi had a blast while finishing well within the optimum time.
“Today was a lot of moments to enjoy. Chipmunk made it very easy for me. Every jump was easy — he was so well listening and connected to me, and so powerful galloping,” Michi said.
After checking his watch, he told Chipmunk “Okay, we have more time at the next fence so slow down, slow down!’ It was an unbelievable feeling. I’m so thankful to have such good horses, and to be at my fourth Olympic Games is a dream. It’s always a special feeling (at Olympic Games), even if it’s the first time here.”
In fact, he said Chipmunk felt so good that he wanted to do it all over again.
The best American performance belongs to Boyd Martin, who was disappointed in his dressage score Saturday after having flying change problems with Federman B. Cross-country made up for that.
Boyd called his horse, known as Bruno, “An absolute legend, a spring in every step of the way. I couldn’t have asked for anything more today.”
He moved up from twenty-sixth to seventeenth, with just 1.6 time penalties for a total of 32.1.
“He gave me his heart and soul,” said Boyd about his horse, noting that even when Bruno was a little tired near the end, “he kept going,” saying the few slippery spots in the footing didn’t faze a horse who is “sure-footed as a mountain goat.”
Boyd Martin and Federman B on course.
He was buoyed by the crowd’s enthusiasm, noting “I heard more cheers going `Bruno’ than `go Boyd.’” He called it, “one of the most memorable cross-country rounds in my life,” citing, “the venue, the crowds, the moment. I’ll remember this one forever.”
Boyd is optimistic about Monday’s show jumping finale, contending Bruno is is “probably the best jumping horse in the field. I’ve just got to ride well, stay calm and rely on our thousands of hours of practice.”
His other teammate, Liz Halliday, is twenty-second with Nutcracker on 34 penalties.
On a sad note, the oldest horse in the event, Forever Young Wundermaske, finished his Olympic quest at the third water obstacle. Rider Ron Gabala of Ecuador tipped off there from the 21-year-old horse, who has been retired twice but wanted to go back to work.
Click this link for individual standings. Team penalties were not updated Sunday night to show that Ireland had moved down a place.
| 2 |
|
|
|
87.20 |
|
| 3 |
|
|
|
93.80 |
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| 4 |
|
|
|
102.40 |
|
| 5 |
|
|
|
111.00 |
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| 6 |
|
|
|
118.20 |
|
| 7 |
|
|
|
120.10 |
|
| 8 |
|
|
|
121.10 |
|
| 9 |
|
|
|
128.50 |
|
| 10 |
|
|
|
147.50 |
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| 11 |
|
|
|
158.00 |
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| 12 |
|
|
|
177.40 |
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| 13 |
|
|
|
229.10 |
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| 14 |
|
|
|
278.90 |
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| 15 |
|
|
|
294.30 |
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| 16 |
|
|
|
391.10 |
|
by Nancy Jaffer | Jul 27, 2024
The Phantom of the Opera, a funky fashion show, that mechanical horse with a silver-clad rider galloping down the Seine, where boats full of jubilant athletes celebrated the glory of being Olympians. A rare performance by ailing Celine Dion, a tortured torch relay that attempted to include as many French competitors as possible and a one-of-a-kind lighting of the cauldron with the Olympic flame, sending a hot air balloon skyward. And the first time the bells of Notre Dame rang out since a devastating 2019 fire. Wow!
With the memory of Friday evening’s crazy and colorful opening ceremonies lingering, the Paris Olympics got down to business Saturday morning as eventing dressage began, showcasing a quick, intense 3-minute, 50-second test (it doesn’t even include the customary initial halt) that had never been performed in competition prior to these Games.
There were 64 competitors crammed into one day of dressage, so three-day eventing really goes on three days, and not four, as is usual elsewhere in high-end events. The International Olympic Committee has strict guidelines to which eventing must adhere, so it can be included in future Olympics. There’s always a danger of all horse sports being dropped, which means one day of eventing dressage it is! (Someone on social media suggested the mechanical horse is the only horse that should be included in an Olympics, so you can see the perception problem.)
Britain went right to the forefront, with an amazing 17.5-penalty ride by Laura Collett and London 52. That’s an Olympic record for international test number 390 on Laura’s resume. Is it necessary to say that her horse didn’t put a foot wrong? Her marks for individual movements soared into the 80s, with 85 percent for her entry and 82 for shoulder-in. (Percentage points are converted to penalties for the standings.)
Record-setting Laura Collett and London 52. (photo Jon Stroud Media)
“That’s pretty cool,” Laura said when informed of her record. (The previous record is 19.3 penalties, set in 2000 at Sydney by Olympic individual gold medalist David O’Connor of the USA and adjusted so that test score jibes with current parameters.)
“That horse is one in a million,” Laura emphasized, saying he can handle the presence of a crowd, but hoped she hadn’t misspoke when she saw the size of the crowd at Versailles. She hadn’t. He was cool, calm and listening to her.
“He’s an absolute show-off and he loved being in front of a palace with crowd of people cheering him on, so I’m just so lucky to sit on a horse like that,”
She added, “That horse is unbelievable – what he’s done throughout my whole career is just amazing and he just keeps on delivering. I’m just very, very grateful to him. It’s safe to say that I’ve never enjoyed a dressage test more in my life.”
Combined with a score of 25.8 from early leader Tom McEwan on JL Dublin, and 23.4 from Ros Canter (favored to win the individual title) on Lordships Graffalo, Britain was well in the lead for team standings and in fact set a record for the lowest score after dressage at the Olympics (66.70). The previous record of 68.6 was set in Hong Kong in 2008 by Australia, according to our friends at EquiRatings, who are doing a great job of keeping everyone updated on analytics.
Ros Canter and Lordships Graffalo.
Germany’s star, Michael Jung, just missed out on setting a world record of his own. His score with Chipmunk FRH was 17.8 penalties, a mere 0.3 back of Laura.
Tom McEwen said he had “a little bit more electricity” under him than usual with JL Dublin, as the horse took in the impressive Versailles vista. (photo Jon Stroud Media)
Germany’s Julia Krajewski on the 10-year-old Nickel 21, rode first in the competition and was very composed, considering her horse’s age and lack of experience. Nickel’s previous exposure to the big time stardom came at Aachen earlier this month, where he and Julia won.
Julia Krajewski and Nickel 21.
The only woman ever to earn Olympic eventing individual gold (2021) was a late call-up to the team, replacing Sandra Auffarth and Viamant du Matz who was deemed not fit. Her mark of 26.9 penalties offered flowing but controlled flying changes and was good enough for fifteenth place.
Despite a flurry of anticipation that broke up the walk segment, Julia’s teammate, Christoph Wahler on Carjatan S, pulled into twenty-first place with 29.4 penalties. Germany stands second overall on 74.10 penalties. France edged into the top three with 80.7 penalties and the support of the flag-waving home crowd.
Where is the U.S. in all this? Sixth (88.9 penalties) behind New Zealand (83) and Japan (87.4).
Things didn’t go as hoped for the Americans, who lost a top prospect when both of Will Coleman’s horses were not fit to compete. That being said, the rider who replaced him, former traveling alternate Liz Halliday, was the highest-ranked for the U.S., in nineteenth place on Nutcracker with 28 penalties in her first Olympics.
Anchor rider Boyd Martin thought his mount, Federman B, was set for a special performance, but noted the left to right flying changes became “a bit of a muddle” leading up the event.
He called his ride “an awesome test, except for two moments which were disastrous.”
The number six-ranked rider in the world added with a resigned tone, ” l sort of felt like I gave my all. It would have been awesome to have four great changes, but it wasn’t to be today.”
Boyd is twenty-sixth on 30.5 penalties and looking forward to Sunday’s cross-country, saying “I’ve got complete belief in Bruno,” as his horse is known.
His plan calls for him to go “fast but calm at the beginning. There’s nothing I see out there he can’t do, but I see a lot of jumps he could have a mistake at.”
Boyd Martin and Federman B.
“It’s a hell of a course out there, but I think my horse is tailor-made for this track. I’ve got to stay switched on for every jump, every stride. I feel like the American horses are in a great place and this is our opportunity to have a crack at this.”
The first U.S. rider to go, Caroline Pamukcu, made a nice impression in her Olympic debut, where she has said her focus is entirely on the team, not individual glory. The Pan American Games individual gold medalist kept the lid on HSH Blake when he spooked during the half-pass, and one flying change was a bit of a scramble. But a score of 30.4 for twenty-fifth place was admirable, considering the imposing atmosphere in the arena at Versailles.
Caroline Pamukcu and HSH Blake.
She repeated that old saying, it’s not a dressage competition, and knows the cross-country test is demanding. There are, she said, no “gimme” fences on the route designed by Pierre Le Goupil.
Liz Halliday triumphant after her test on Nutcracker.
Liz produced a very determined test with Nutcracker from the get-go, receiving a mark of 80 percent (that’s Isabell Werth territory) for her entrance into the arena. Finding out at the last minute that she would be riding in the Games after all left Liz with a feeling of sadness for Will Coleman and his disappointment. Then her mood went from “shock, to oh my gosh, to okay, `now I’m just going to be a competitor again.’ ”
Getting to ride in the Games was emotional for her; she sheepishly admitted she cried on Olympic TV.
Liz Halliday and Nutcracker. (US Equestrian Photo)
We should mention Australia’s Shane Rose, who many thought would not make it to the Olympics after enduring fractures to his elbow, femur, pelvis and ribs following an accident during training in March. But they didn’t know Shane. He is very much in Paris and was riding well despite what he’d been through, standing thirty-eighth aboard 19-year-old Virgil.
Shane Rose and Virgil.
Click here for individual results. Click this link for team results.
There is much more to come. Keep returning to this website, where we will tell you what happened on cross-country, where the action begins Sunday at 4:30 a.m. Eastern time.
