FEI TV youtube is live streaming Boekelo for free!!
I do not plan to get up at 3:30 a.m. to watch XC, but looking forward to watching at least the 2nd half of the rides.
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The course looks incredible!
Lots of unexpected run outs and refusals so far.
live scores show a lot of problems at the last water including a fall by the dressage leader Julia K.
all before I started watching, what happened?
Pretty much thatā¦lots of stumbles upon landing. JKās horse was suuuuper bold and just didnāt get his feet under him.
The B part after the downhill seems to be getting lots of runouts, too.
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Iām watching now, just caught the last riders for the Nations cup.
The second water seems to be quite tricky. They come around that turn and a lot of the horses either lose their footing down the hill to the drop into the water or go āyeehawā too exuberantly then canāt make the next fence of the complex.
love Ros Canter on the little Dun horse
She has such a powerful string of horses this year
There is a freakin big hole at the second entrance in the final water complex. Too many world class horses have āoops, lost their balance a bit thereā - no way was that just bad luck with Jonellās horse, very scary. How about using a depth finder in the water to check for holes that might develop, with all the safety technology that we use now. How many more have to fall there, even an āalmost fallā is an indicator of problems - and there is no excuse to just ignore it.
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Commentator says it is raked regularly and has been checked out.
i was hoping to see Canadaās Kendal Lehari and Audacious. I think/thought Boekelo was their goal before returning home.
Heard her say that during the last few rides of the day - about the drop into water, though Iām sure they were checking the second entrance into that water as well. Still too many horse falls today if you look at the stats of the Eliminated ; riders falling off is one thing, but horses falling when they do as we ask, willingly going forward and then being punished with that kind of fall will bring about the end of Cross Country as we know it. Frangible devices are proving over and over now that the severity of the fall can be mitigated or even removed. Horses falling like that for taking an honest step into water must be discontinued before Cross Country becomes a thing of the past. Get it together CDs, Officials, and NFs before public outcry and social media decides to end it forever.
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Excellent commentary for Cross Country today
People having trouble in that water were mostly going fast. It comes up off a turn and surprises the horses, and they jump too big in and canāt keep on their feet.
Phillip Duttonās horse Denim is adorable.
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Yes, Nicole is such a professional!
Although I have to disagree with her on the āhorse didnāt get his landing gear outā which she commentated on the multiple falls into that water complex.
It was certainly untrue about Julia and Nickel.
Too many falls upon landing to not think there was an issue with the quality of the footingā¦
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I certainly donāt know the condition of the footing, but there seemed to be a lot of slipping and sliding around the course. My opinion as nothing but a viewer is that the footing looked deep and muddy at many parts, yet was kicking up dust on some of the gallops. It was such a tight and twisty course that I imagine the variable footing was extra hard to account for.
I watched about 1.5 hours. The horses i saw fall or almost fall in the water were going way too fast/riders asking for a flyer. Thatās not the courseās fault.
I thought the course was tough, but fair. I didnāt see any fences I disagreed with. I thought the footing looked good. I saw a few horses that made me cringe, with the way they were going. Some of them didnāt complete, some did. I havenāt heard of any injuries. All in all, I thought a pretty good day.
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A couple of horses went off and one was on three legs - left hind held up.
I remember one year at the Carolina we had a bunch of stumbles going through a big drop into the water. I was jump judging that fence, as was my husband and one other super jj. Will Coleman came up, he always stops to chat and check on problem fences with the JJ (such a nice human to talk to) and watched us take turns going in, checking the footing after every second horse, raking it and confirming there wasnāt any holes. I know folks were sure there was that day, but between the three of us we spent a ton of our day on there (even barefoot for most of it bc it was too hot for rubber boots) making sure nothing was going to hurt the horses.
I can guarantee you the quality of jump judges at an event like this are doing the same.
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A lot of riders underestimate the effect of entering water at speed. The horse suddenly slows up and stride length is significantly altered which can sometimes appear to be āa stumbleā even though the footing underwater is solid. One reason why there is now a maximum depth of water at such fences in FEI competitions. It isnāt really worth counting strides in a water jump because it is necessary to ride whatever is happening to the horse.
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