And how strange that the feed never showed Harry at all on course.
So so sad! another aneurysm?
3 fences in it.
[QUOTE=Secret Dove;7739103]
OMG, that’s so sad! My condolences go out to Harry and his team. What a heartbreak. Does anyone know why the horse died?
I don’t know much about XC but should these horses be conditioned enough to make it around the course without killing the horse?[/QUOTE]
Freak things can happen, especially after that amount of exertion. It happens to human athletes, too. The horse ran extremely well around a very tough track. They won’t know a cause of death until after a necropsy is performed.
It happens. Last year’s winner of the Iroquois steeplechase died in the winner’s circle.
It’s not normally an IDX sort of thing to do.
I am loving watching the replay. Only the horses who are very exciting or who help the their teams scores are being shown, and, knowing ahead what is going to happen at each fence, they can slo-mo the action so we can really see (e.g.) why Mark Todd’s horse caused him to fall (he went down on both knees on landing and, when trying to get one leg up he caught his toe and SIR (I did not know he had been knighted?) Mark Todd went “out the front door”. 
You know you have depth when William Fox Pitt is only 2nd on his team.
“Tate” was bred locally in Normandy.
One horse had been around a WEG before even being born. He was in utero when his dam jumped around.
One of our riders was having “wardrobe malfunctions” on course (first her pinney and then her medical armband kept slipping). Gotta love the announcer.
Hope Gin and Juice cools out ok–three stops does not seem to be her regular performance.
Has anyone/any site posted the x/c results yet? I cannot find them on FEI TV or on the Normandy site.
How sad about Harry Meade’s horse, Wild Lone.
[QUOTE=Lord Helpus;7739195]
Has anyone/any site posted the x/c results yet? I cannot find them on FEI TV or on the Normandy site.[/QUOTE]
http://www.normandy2014.com/live/3/concours-complet
Hawley and Ginny do everything spectacularly, whether for good or bad, it seems. They either tear up the course (usually, with amazing vigor!) or get eliminated (I think Hawley’s gone to the hospital twice falling from her at three-days?) She’s an amazing mare who has been around the world, but she’s a California girl at heart. Maybe the deep going threw her off her game? Will be interested to see what H says about today. Hope Ginny bounces right back to her normal self! Love them.
[QUOTE=Carolinadreamin’;7739203]
How sad about Harry Meade’s horse, Wild Lone.[/QUOTE]
Indeed, I always feel terrible when riders loose their partners
Condolences to all involved with the team
“Every line and stride pattern we thought would work just wasn’t [working], so I just went out and rode what I had.”
William Fox Pitt
[QUOTE=omare;7739186]
Hope Gin and Juice cools out ok–three stops does not seem to be her regular performance.[/QUOTE]
Seems to always crash and burn when she’s riding for the team. Really too bad was hoping Ginny could own that course!
So was the German horse currently 2nd (was in 1st after dressage).
British World Class performance manager Will Connell and rider Harry Meade spoke to the press this evening following the death of Harry’s ride Wild Lone (pictured above competing at Badminton Horse Trials) at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games.
Will Connell started by saying that these things are “never easy” and expressing sympathy for Harry, his wife Rosie, his groom Jess Harrington and Wild Lone’s owners, Peter and Charlotte Opperman.
He also thanked the event’s organising committee for “the way they reacted when the horse was in difficulty and the support they gave”.
“I know it’s very sad and difficult to deal with,” he continued. "But the horse had jumped a wonderful round with a wonderful athlete, who proved today he is very much part of the British team.
"Our aim is to stand on the podium tomorrow so Harry can receive his medal with the other athletes."
Will added that the organising committee had done everything possible for the welfare of the horses from the moment they arrived at the event until they leave tomorrow, saying the British had worked with the organisers for three years and everything they had asked for had been given.
“I hope you will report this as it is — a sad incident,” he said to the assembled press.
[h=2]Course and death were not connected[/h]Harry said: "Obviously my sympathies are with the owners Peter and Charlotte Opperman. They’ve been great supporters of me and the sport of eventing.
"I’m grateful to my groom Jess Harrington — she’s devoted her life to looking after our horses and Wild Lone was the most important thing in her life.
"I wanted to make a statement to say the ground conditions and terrain played no part in what happened. Wild Lone has completed five four-stars, he hasn’t missed any work and he was as fit as he has ever been. He gave me a wonderful ride.
"My only regret today from a competitive point of view was that I could have asked more — he had plenty in the tank at the end. Although I’m devastated by what happened, it was a good course and a good test.
"It would be sad if anyone drew any incorrect conclusions and if it was felt the tough, testing nature of the course had any effect on what happened — from the feeling I had, they were not connected.
"I’d like to thank the organisers and team here — I think the horse in no way suffered, it was all extremely quick."
Harry added that Wild Lone felt totally normal and perfect in every way until the moment he dismounted.
He paid tribute to Wild Lone, saying: "He was a wonderful horse. I’ve ridden him since he was a four-year-old and I said to my father [Olympic gold medallist Richard Meade] when he was a six-year-old that he could be the best cross-country horse in the world and I think he probably was.
"He gave me a wonderful ride round Badminton to finish third and today he felt like he was cross-country schooling the whole way round."
[h=2]‘Let’s remember what our athletes did’[/h]Will concluded by saying: "I’ve been chef de mission for Great Britain for 11 years and what we saw today was British athletes showing what cross-country riding is all about.
"The memory of today for Britain will be sadness for Wild Lone, but mainly what our athletes did on the field of play. It was a great day for eventing, though a sad one for Harry.
"We must move forward and remember how well our athletes performed on the cross-country course because they made me bloody proud."
Read more at http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/weg/weg-news/harry-meade-wild-lone-tribute/#jV4BYW3SeFCQ7sZo.99
I’m not unhappy with the US results. Comparing the 4* / European experience of the top ranked riders and horses, as of today post-XC, with the US team, I think this is a very reasonable result. About what we can expect at venues like this. It would be great to have riders finishing as Sinead and Allison did at Burghley 2012, but overall the stats don’t indicate that’s a reasonable expectation.
[obviously I have not been drinking Team USA Koolaid 
]
[QUOTE=Madeline;7738755]
Would you really have used her before Buck and Philip Dutton?[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=wanderlust;7738984]Completely agreed. I would have used both Sinead and Kim ahead of Lynn and Buck, and said so on Thurs, so it isn’t hindsight. Sinead had our best international finish in many many years at Burghley, and Kim and Sparky are XC machines, never mind Kim’s amazing years with Winsome Adante.
That said, this is by far the best team we’ve fielded in a very, very long time. There is a lot of depth we haven’t had since probably the 80s.[/QUOTE]
Well said.
In my teeny tiny opinion, the anchors are Boyd and Sinead.
PD is a brilliant rider and I loved watching his round until he retired. BUT his team record for the USA at the Olympics and WEG has been dismal, for the most part. Any number of reasons, not all his fault, whatever. It is what it is.
And now - he doesn’t have finished 4* horses under him. We bring him to WEG on a recently borrowed horse who is new-ish to the level. Really? This is our team? and our team ‘anchor’? It’s almost worse that yes, they are probably one of our best pairs. That is NOT a good thing, when one compares the horse/rider’s 4* experience in the last 2-3 years with the depth of the currently top ranked international teams. Good for PD to have the strength to decide for the horse and retire, even though it’s WEG and he’s on the team.
PD used to maintain a string of made international horses, in some years so many he couldn’t ride them all at Rolex KY, but no more. After the London Olympics suddenly people are saying Mighty Nice is ‘green to the 4* level’. OK, we took PD to the Olympics on a recently bought and promoted green-to-4* horse. IMO the record to date say PD shouldn’t have an automatic spot on the roster, especially on ‘green to 4*’ horses. What he does at US *'s clearly isn’t an indicator of what happens when he’s on the US team. Not blaming him. Just speaking objectively.
When it’s time to fill in the US team roster for the first draft, it should come blank and the first few drafts should be in pencil. The roster should not have PD’s name printed in ink at the top. He’s a great rider and I look forward to seeing him go around many more top level courses, but maybe it’s time to give the team spot with an eye toward younger riders building for the future.
Just my opinion, not expecting to hear from the selectors about it.
[QUOTE=Drvmb1ggl3;7738999]There’s only 0.5 of a penalty point separating 2nd through 5th:eek::eek:
It will squeaky bum time in the showjumping tomorrow.
.[/QUOTE]
Noticed that! 
The top 20 or so were pretty close after dressage, and now cross-country kind of mashed the scores of this leading group all into one heap. I hope all the horses recover well overnight to have a good round tomorrow, although there is usually some overnight attrition at these big gigs.
I’m so sorry for the connections of Wild Lone. He has seemed to be such a wonderful horse, I was looking forward to seeing more of him. I do hope it was painless and immediate.
Godspeed, Wild Lone.
Honestly. I’m not questioning the team selection. Phillip was correct to retire. His horse was done (I may question sending him with that horse instead of Mighty Nice). Same with Buck. Both riders rode well and their horses jumped well until they ran out of gas like most of the horses. They were not ones who picked up 20 early in the course or had issues or looked sketchy throughout.
We do not have all the information of the selectors. Most importantly soundness issues. The only US rider who had a good day was Boyd.
The NZL team only got one rider home and one individual rider. Many other strong countries are out or down to 3.
I personally think they they sent the best team we could. And I will NOT compare the results with those running Burghley with those that ran WEG. Like 2012 when Sinead did so well there, it will be a much weaker field than today and actually normally. Just like 2012 when the top horses/riders had run in London. The best of the best were out there today on a damn hard course and will not be at Burghley. I was very impressed with the horses and the riders today. Everyone was as prepared as possible. It really just came down to a test of stamina. And those horses who had natural stamina and dug deep when it got hard (they needed both) are the ones that made it around.
Anyone else in love with Karin Donckers horse FLETCHA VAN’T VERAHOF? I feel like VIGO D’ARSOUILLES is an unusual sire for an eventer. He’s certainly not got a lot of blood but he certainly passed on a ton of scope to Fletcha.
