I think in total horse years team GB were the youngest. 9/10/11/15. Good stuff !
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I don’t think this is because I’m American, but I honestly thought Laura’s ride was better than Isabelle’s. Happy with silver though.
And, I agree, Team GB is going to be a force again at next Olympics!
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I think Bronze is in the force field !!
Her score was better than Isabelles, but the little spook at the walk killed her. I think she should have scored higher again after that, too.
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And team USA is now qualified for the 2020 Olympics.
If I understand correctly, there were two slots assigned to our group this time instead of just one, so the US and Canada already both had a shot at going, as opposed to when they were 4/5 at WEG and only the US made it to the Olympics.
I don’t remember if the division is “the Americas” or how it’s split - who do we think will be the other team to make it, if it’s not North America?
I pretty much agree with you. I was doing side by side scoring in my head and thinking about it. Laura did get a 9+ on her first halt, but Isabel clearly got an 8.5 with one foot back and slight crookedness. Laura’s extensions were conservative, but better. Laura’s halt and back and walk were better. Isabel’s p/p were better, They were about equal on half passes and changes.
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I had Isabell on top in my head as soon as Diddy spooked in the walk. Laura’s test was absolutely lovely, but Diddy doesn’t have conventional technique in the piaffe, and I didn’t think she had any points in the bank to give away with that spook.
There’s almost no spectators.
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Add also Adrianne Lyle’s Salvino. He is 11, new to Grand Prix this year. I love his brain, still needs to build some strength.
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Canada needed to finish in the top 6 teams to earn an Olympic spot. Now we will have to try to qualify a team via the 2019 PanAms.
Agreed with all of the comments so far.
To me the true star was Sonke and Cosmo.
I didn’t love the top two rides nearly as much as his.
In a close second was Daniel Anderson and Blue Hors Zack. A few costly mistakes took them down a bit but I adored these two. His extended trot had so much power without becoming downhill and running. His two tempis had so much jump and his extended canter was like rocket.
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I saw Daniel Anderson and Blue Hors Zack in Paris at the WC final and they were absolutely amazing. I think Daniel Anderson is an amazing rider and presents Zack perfectly!! Hope there will be a video of their ride!!
Hoping to see a video of Therese Nilshagen and Dante Weltino… He’s such a lovely horse, I always enjoy watching them ride. They lack some of the dynamism of the top ten types, but he’s so correct with such a pleasant expression and way of going. If anyone comes across this, do let me know! (And many thanks, preemptively.)
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OK I will say it. I am really disappointed with the Canadian riders. We should be at least able to crack a 70 ffs. It is not lack of money (trust me on that one), or lack of training,or lack of access to good horses (I know a couple of them from way back and they’ve been riding with top Germans every day of their lives on lovely horses) so WTF?
The rides I saw were generously scored in the high 60s…low 60s would have been more in line. I don’t know why we can’t cut it internationally, but clearly we can’t. Do we need to base them exclusively in Europe so they can be out there every weekend showing in top level comps? I wonder?
I almost hope we don’t make the Olympics. I am sick of sending Canadians over to various games to finish up way down the pack. And these are professionals who log zillions of hours on good horses every single day and still can’t beat some Russian teenager or whatever.
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Ferro S! Beautiful horse. Long stride, elegant and lovely.
Er…all I can say is WOW to the negativity and armchair quarterbacks.
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Agreed, Sonke and Cosmo are a lovely combo!
I’m not a fan of IW, though this ride was less… rough… than I usually see from her.
My favorites are always Charlotte and Carl, and Laura and Kasey are lovely as well! Freestyle has gotten A LOT stronger in the p/p work, she used to struggle going from piaffe into passage too so now she just has blips on the way in. That will only get better, as C&C work on those transitions regularly. Her extended trot is to die for… watching so many of the horses that just throw their front legs and score well (Bella Rose is one that comes to mind), I’m thrilled to see Freestyle have a true extension!
I’m hoping to watch the Special rides today, but I’m really looking forward to the Freestyles tomorrow! I think that’s when the best riders really shine, because they can design the tests to their horses’ strengths.
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Does anyone know of a link that shows the scores for individual movements for each test? I found one for the eventing dressage, but can’t find the same for the Grand Prix dressage.
I watched Isabelle’s, Charlotte’s, and Laura’s rides and saw no true extended trots. Extension (i.e., flipping) the front legs yes, but no sit down and overtrack from the hind. Other than that, the rides were beautiful and Laura’s ride brought tears to my eyes. I loved the close ups of the canter half passes. Lovely sweeping movements.
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And on the comical side, we watched some of the rides last night (recorded - TIVO rocks) and a rider came along with a tense and jittery horse. Then they came across in the Piaffe/Passage from H to M. And each time he went from piaffe to passage he LEAPED. My SO blurted out “that was awesome!” And I had to break it to him how very not awesome such things are in this setting.
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