I also wondered about the blood on several horses’ mouths. Don’t they disqualify you if there’s blood in the mouth like they do in dressage? Or is there no one checking the horses right after the finish line? I’m genuinely interested, eventing is not my area of expertise even though I do like watching it.
I saw it too. I would assume that vets checked the horses as soon as they came into the vet box. I think it is at the discretion of the GJ to pull up and they probably chose not to because the rides did not appear to be overly rough. The horses I noticed it on did not get their mouths wiped the moment they came off the course (no grooms with black towels, just grooms rushing to untack) so I’m not too concerned. More worried that something about the course could have caused it.
I didn’t see the dog, as I was nipping in and out 'cuz the farrier was here. But am I the only one who saw the swans in the lake? They were pretty close to at least one of the riders…
Zara and he commentators made many good points, repeatedly, about the riders needing to make good decisions. That it’s the riders responsibility to set up a proper coffin canter, the proper pace, etc.
Ill admit I didn’t think this course suited Veronica at all so I can’t fault her for going quite slow. That mare doesn’t jump well from speed. I was surprised she didn’t ask for more on landing because riding away from the fence with authority is important but they are an experienced pair at this point so that’s just some armchair quarterbacking lol.
Im sad that Donner lost a shoe because he’s a proper 4* horse & we don’t have too many of those in the US.
1 Like
friends, give me the quick&dirty synopsis! couldn’t livestream this AM and the replay isn’t available on YT yet. 
how was Jonty’s ride? Klimke? Terminator? Wallace?
Jonty was going well until he missed a corner.
Klimke moved into 1st.
Terminator (might have been the only one who) finished within time.
Wallace…well…just look over the past few pages…not a good day for her horse.
Jonty has one stop but otherwise a great round. Klimke had a wonderful ride and was 8 seconds over the time, 9 seconds over she would have been tied with MJ! MJ’s ride…I am still speechless. He made it look like a hunter round while nearly everyone else was crashing and burning. Just incredible. Wallace. Ugh. She started out great, then poor Johnny ran out of steam big time at about the last third of the course. She was using her stick just to keep him moving when galloping between fences then at the last fence, he just couldn’t do it and crawled over it and she fell and poor Johnny just stood there completely gassed. MJ and Tim Price were the only 2 to go double clear
2 Likes
My recollection of the rules in eventing that blood on the flanks is disqualifying, but blood in the mouth is at the discretion of the Ground Jury. There is definitely an equipment check at the end of the jumping phases, per the FEI rules. The check of noseband tightness comes after XC, because I remember thinking that after, not before, doesn’t protect the horse.
1 Like
Wow, that is a head scratcher. Pretty pointless to check it after the round is over, surely?
ETA: one last worry about Emily Gilruth, the rider who was airlifted out to the hospital – really hope she is ok. Would be nice to hear something about how she is doing.
Daily Mail UK
Elsewhere at Badminton Horse Trials today, British rider Emily Gilruth was airlifted to hospital by helicopter after a tumble on her horse Topwood Beau.
The Cheshire-based rider, 40, was taken to South Meade hospital for observation but Topwood Beau was said to be uninjured.
A spokesman for Badminton Horse Trial said that there were no reports of injuries to horses at the event.
1 Like
It almost does not matter what the FEI does to Elisa Wallace, doing what she did in front of the crowd in Britain and on international TV will be more than enough punishment. At this moment her reputation as a caring horse owner is in question by other professionals, officials, the world, I I would hope, her self.
There was a determination you could see in her on that second to last and last fence, but I don’t put all the blame on her. For 10 years I read, watch, listened to folks here, on TV and else where talk about whatit takes to ride at the 4* level. The drive, the effort…“Suck it up cupcake”, “We use to ride in pain”. Instead of commenting on how bad a course is we here people say “it was a tough course, but we made it” and everyone cheers while behind them another horse flips over a fence.
Eliza made a very bad choice, but buzzing around her head was all that. “If I can get him over one more fence we’re home free, we’re tough” because we applaud the true grit and mildly put down the early retire or even later. Jeloushe talks about a teaching moment and I would hope Eliza accepts a yellow card from the FEI (at the least), but more important, takes the blame full on. She can start to preach that retirement is not a negative mark, a lack of courage as some may think deep inside, but a smart decision to say “Not today” and more should use it. We blasted the dutch guy who withdrew from the event, but now in hindsight, looks like he was making a smart decision for his horse, like he said.
That was not the horse’s fault for it gave it all and more. Right now she fell into a deep hole and only time and her actions after will tell her character.
I’ll present an alternate thought as to what happened after she fell, even though it is contrary to my first. She got up and walked away because she could not look at her horse and what she did to him. To turn around at that moment would have broken her heart and she didn’t need that. The camera turns away soon after and we don’t know if she turned backed or what she did unless someone from the finish line was there to watch.
21 Likes
JP60, Tell me about the Dutch guy, I didn’t hear about that!
I have groomed at multiple FEI events through the 3* level, including the 1* and 2* level this year under the current rules and have never had the equipment checked by anyone at the end of XC. We take it off immediately as the rider gets off, and the vets get the horse’s stats. They do check noseband and bit after dressage and make you pull bonnets. They weigh hind boots after SJ.
1 Like
I don’t have the details handy but he decided that this was the not the course for his horse, and chose not to compete.
1 Like
Perhaps the course didn’t suit Lauren since she had two rides and the first didn’t complete, the second was running out of gas and had to be helped through the rest. Reads either way.
I think BFNE commented that our exhausted US horses are such not because they don’t condition well, but that our riders don’t know how to ride cross country. I was going to go all contrary on that till I talked with a good friend that gave me a better explanation that still agreed with BFNE. There is a style in the US we’ve picked up that is along the likes of Run and stop, run and stop. Maybe it’s the courses, but when you watched the top rides, they mostly were smooth. MJ finished under time yet he hardly looked like he was moving, but it was because he found a pace that didn’t require a lot of extreme changes. Basically his differentials from the average he kept was much tighter then those with more tired horses. Chris Burton came just over 35 sec and he had a runout and looked like he was coasting. Run really fast, slow way down, adjust, jump, repeat for 11 combinations and questions = tired horse.
So I agree with BFNE, but I also feel we don’t condition as well. I’ll stand on the notion that the business model in the US precludes the same attention to small details that are left to working students, not the primary rider. I think back to when Sinead and Allison got rejected by the USET in 2012. Best thing that happened to them for they got to spend weeks in England doing pretty much nothing but ride their horses. Look at the results at Burghley. When a pro comes to a show with 9 horses, he or she is riding to “just enough” and you cannot do that at the 4* level. Personally, bringing even two horses to Badminton is not the best decision since it splits attention away from one or the other.
We need to learn to ride smarter, smoother, less run and stop and more smooth an steady for the Germans are certainly showing the rest that is how it works.
13 Likes
Some updates from H&H: http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/videos/horse-sport-videos/badminton-horse-trials-cross-country-2017
2 Likes
Glad to see that EW got a yellow card. Very disappointed in her–I always admired her horsemanship.
2 Likes
Is there a video of Elisa’s cross county round online??
I’ll not pretend I have any experience about conditioning a 4* horse, but I wonder if the shift of so much focus to improving dressage, the phase everyone constantly complains we’re so far behind in, has had an unintended impact on conditioning and fitness.
Oh no. It’s sounds as if Shanghai Joe was hurt. Looked after by vets and then transferred to an orthopedic center.
