I think the weather all Spring is showing its influence. Thank goodness the course was made more manageable over the course of the week.
I don’t think the course as-is looks to be too hard or trappy or tricky. It’s the ground that’s making horses quit.
But while there were some refusals, there were also a higher number of falls than would be expected. Fortunately everyone seems to be OK.
Lillian and Barnaby clear go!! with some time 2.0 I believe (I can’t find all the scores just the top 10, but 2.0 for the xc and conditions is an excellent ride). I read that Lillian was just after the unfinished business from last year.
Katherine and this fabulous one handed ride save!
So is anyone else seeing that Katherine’s horse looked like it’s head got pulled by something in midair, causing it to land funny? I’ve watched that replay 20 times and can’t figure it out. A caught martingale?
Watch the rear end, not the head.
Ah, yes. Thank you.
Horse landed off on the front left foot and dropped the fetlock, twisted a bit. May come up sore.
A lot of chat from the commentators about the leader’s weight. I think the woman commenting at the time guessed 7 to 8 stone for Canter. Made me wonder if some owners might look for smaller jockeys as less weight to carry around would be advantageous.
Though there are some pretty big blokes out there - and tall, too - who are successful. I wonder how much difference it makes. I guess if a heavier rider loses, say, 10 kgs that’s 10 kgs the horse doesn’t have to pack around. But within, say 15 kgs I wonder how much difference it makes.
I was wondering that when Buck Davidson went around LRK3D. It’s certainly true in racing that jockey weight is important so why not in eventing?
Had to google a conversion for that.
Yikes that is tiny. 98 to 112 pounds. She is very short (5’ 2” or 157 cm according to media reports, though for comparison Emily King is 158 cm).
With weight, I would guess that lower weights help for stamina and endurance, but a lot of the guys with more torque and weight get to influence more to balance. For better or worse, I guess. If you’ve got a bit more heft you can place their feet as you need them. I personally (being relatively short at 5’4”) like taking lessons with riders my size. More transferable, in a sense.
A lovely round for Lillian but NOT 2.0 time penalties. She had 48.
oh sorry I only saw 2.0 on EN ride feed. Everyone had time?? I think. So hooray clear round… EN only posted top 10.
2 minutes over it said, closest to time was Ros with Lordships Grafallo at 29 seconds over 
Correction it was Austin O’Connor at 27 seconds
1 stone = 14 lbs
1 kg = 2.2 lbs
Thank you. I googled it.
Austin O’Connor fastest round of the day, 2 seconds quicker than Ros 
Of course weight matters… that’s the whole point of handicap races and why horses used to carry lead on xc for a long time.
Why did I think he was 2 seconds the other way! 
absolutely it is easier for the horse to carry 100 pounds rather than 160 pounds across XC, but it takes an exceptionally talented tiny rider to balance, ride and control the large horses that Ros seems to ride.
my 5’4" 115 pounds is perfectly matched for my 15.2 mare. I would be hopeless on a 17 hand horse.
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