Yeah I had that same problem, then couldn’t get the video to come back. So I missed at least the first half of the rides. Horrible planning/execution by NBC.
I’m not a fan of Parzival either. What little I saw of his test, he seemed really tense, fighting her hands, and I thought I heard him grinding his teeth on a few occasions. Not my ideal. :no:
ARGGGG!!! I’m trying to find Carl’s ride but am not having luck on the streaming video - around what time marker does he go? And Fuego?
Anyone paying attention to the international scene shouldn’t be surprised - the Brits have had the top riders and scores all year and have been at the top of the international standings. I expected them to win gold! They’ve been ramping up big time since WEG two years ago - started their ascent. Not a surprise at all.
Pocket Pony: Fuego goes about 2:00:00 in the video right after Ravel. (His being gray makes him easy to find). Try about 4:30:00 or so for Uthopia. +/- a little on my math. 
Perhaps this is not PC, but I have to ask — are people thinking the judging was biased, or did GB really outperform the rest of the world to that extent?
Did you even watch all the rides before saying this?
This medal was well deserved and if you have been following international competitons over the last year it would not come as a surprise at all.
Wonderful that it happened in London but would have happened wherever Olympics hosted. Perfect Storm.
Well deserved gOLD:cool:
Apologies in advance
Ok everyone, I’ve finally stopped trembling and blubbering and I can finally try to string together a semi-coherent post. I’m sure there are others on this board who can express these same thoughts more articulately, but please forgive the following over-the-top joy from one extremely proud British Dressage rider.
I started studying dressage seriously when Chris Bartle and Jennie Loriston Clarke were our real inspirations, and the victory today just feels so right. It’s been a long time coming, but British dressage training has been capable of producing this result for a long time… finally, we have the horsepower to make it happen!
Someone said the judging may have been biased… well, perhaps Charlotte’s test was a percentage point or three too high, but please bear in mind that this actually wouldn’t have made a difference to the final order!! Every rider today played their part: Richard Davison put in a solid individual test and his experinece was no doubt a great help to the team; Carl’s 80% allowed the girls to relax a bit; Laura’s solid ride left little doubt of who would win gold; and Charlotte’s wisely conservative ride showed that we can do the job even when we don’t push too far out of our comfort zone. Also everyone behind the team from start to finish deserves a heap of credit.
Also, our results haven’t been exactly lacklustre in recent years… remember, Laura B has been in the 2/3 spot for several years; Hester has been knocking on the door for years with a succession of successful horses; we WON the European Championships in Rotterdam; and don’t forget our WEG perfomance! The British team has depth too, with a range of experienced and emerging talents waiting in the wings. With Farouche potentially in our line-up in years to come, look out for us in Rio!!!
I wish all of the riders from all countries well in the Individuals… now I’m going to indulge in several celebratory drinks and probably start crying again as the team interviews continue. Apologies again for this joyous outburst. :D:D:D
A well-deserved gold IMHO. Agree with Lost_at_C on all counts. I expected the British team to win and am glad they did. Just wish the U.S. had placed better.
BRAVO YOU BRITS! AN HISTORICAL AND COMPLETELY DESERVED GOLD!!!
I did not see Carl’s ride - I love Carl. I will say that IT IS WEIRD to me how one judge gave him a 86.667 and two gave him a 77 and another a 79. Those are all great scores but to see such a swing. I saw swings in all scores but that was a big one.
I also watched Steffen on NBC Sports and it was of course a replay because I knew the score he got long before Jan’s ride was shown and they played it AFTER Jan’s ride and right before Laura B.'s ride. I am talking about the order they showed it on TV.
She (Laura) did fine - but when I was looking at my notes - I thought overall, Steffen made some small mistakes and she did too - I felt like his overall was slightly better as it was more forward and her 18 year old DWB was not even in the hind and there were a few other things… I guess I am just on my Steffen Peters soap box! I was just bummed her ride bumped him out of third - though he did eventually drop to 7th which is not terrible going into freestyle. Not great. Not terrible. Could be worse.
I am so not surprised by the medals today though - Maybe that GB ended up over Germany but still I am happy with the medals.
I just wish the US could step it up. I love Jan - but we need more than one Steffen. Jan is great. I have clinicked with him - love him. But its like Germany, NED and GB all have a lot of top notch riders at every international event and we have SO many more riders and are such a big country - why cant we have more top notch? AND HECK STEFFEN IS FROM GERMANY for crying out loud! LOL
I am really excited to watch freestyle. I was working out at the gymn and a lot of people had no idea what musical freestyle was nor that there were even equestrian events in the Olympics - so now they are all excited to watch it.
IT HAS GOT TO WOW them more than table tennis or water polo. No offense - just like baseball, might be fnu to play but WATCH for 2-3 hours? I AM SICK OF HEARING HOW BORING DRESSAGE IS to people. GLAD that musical freestyle is now in the Olympics.
Amazing win for GB. 3 stunning horses and 3 amazing riders. I don’t think there has ever been a team with 3 such strong contenders, including some of the amazing German teams that have won gold in past Olympics.
But there were some really beautiful pairs from other teams, too! Damon Hill is, of course, drool-worthy, as is Fuego and Painted Black (kudos to a relatively young rider on a hot horse!). And Steffen and Ravel are spectacular, but I knew that before. I was totally swooning over Don Auriello from Sweden. Totally my kind of horse-bay with an adorable snip! Not to mention the fact that he’s a stunning mover. Make him a mare and I would probably kill for him. The horses from the Netherlands are beautiful, but I think I would not like riding them so much-very strong and tense. Although it was wonderful to see Salinero win yet another medal. I’m very excited to see what happens in the freestyle!
Brits have ruled the roost in team equestrian so far! 2 golds and a silver.
[QUOTE=beckzert;6484441]
Amazing Although it was wonderful to see Salinero win yet another medal. I’m very excited to see what happens in the freestyle![/QUOTE]
I’m confused Salerino was 12th. Wasn’t he?
Lord Help Us. To funny but I think that you’ve been living under a rock when it comes to the Brits in dressage. Did you get to watch the WEG?
Today was the team finals, and the Netherlands finished 3rd, so he got a bronze.
Congrats to the Brits on three absolutely lovely tests. Valegro was fabulous, and so nice to see his rider in a helmet! I thought our team was pretty solid, and am rooting for Steffen in the individual finals
So glad GBR took it!
I was a little teared up and everything LOL
Way to go, GB! I’m definitely popping out the record tab on that tape!
I rarely post but I feel like I just sat in my living room and watched with all of you! 
Just adding in my random 2cents… I would have loved for the U.S. to do better – I think Ravel and Steffen were lovely, soft and relaxed yet expressive - inspiring I will be rootin’ hard for them tomorrow!!!
I also just don’t get the appeal of Parzival to the judges?? The tightness, teeth grinding and lip flapping just don’t say happy to me, and don’t look like something I would want to emulate.
I got totally choked up when Charlotte patted Vallegro after the tempis!! I loved how quiet her leg was, if you watch during the piaffe for example it doesn’t even move, no spurring, so nice to see! I am in awe of her position. Bums (and confuses?) me that Parzival did so well, but so glad for GB and Germany.
[QUOTE=Casimira;6484939]
I rarely post but I feel like I just sat in my living room and watched with all of you!
Just adding in my random 2cents… I would have loved for the U.S. to do better – I think Ravel and Steffen were lovely, soft and relaxed yet expressive - inspiring I will be rootin’ hard for them tomorrow!!!
I also just don’t get the appeal of Parzival to the judges?? The tightness, teeth grinding and lip flapping just don’t say happy to me, and don’t look like something I would want to emulate.
I got totally choked up when Charlotte patted Vallegro after the tempis!! I loved how quiet her leg was, if you watch during the piaffe for example it doesn’t even move, no spurring, so nice to see! I am in awe of her position. Bums (and confuses?) me that Parzival did so well, but so glad for GB and Germany.[/QUOTE]
I think Parzival is very active and active minded. I think people underestimate the amazing ability Valegro has and thinks that most others can crate that quiet of a ride with tht much energy… Its rare and difficult. Someone posted above that he was a head shaker… So that is something to think about.
Horses trained to this level are thinking. They are not robots, and they are even GASP anticipating and individualisic. Parzival in his own right is incredible, his piaffe has so much action behind and his passage is out of this world! But mayhap not as muscle bound and quiet minded as some of our recent giants ont he scene (valegro/totilas/ravel).
My thought is that they are a breath of fresh air, but so are the very sparkly active horses that realistically are probably a bit tougher to keep together
I like how high his poll is and how open he is and how active he is. The judge probably like that too seeing as how the really heavy horses are becoming a “thing”.
I like variety in my dressage
When I watched Parzival this morning the sun kind of glared out the top half of the TV so mainly just watching body and legs. There is certainly a precision about the Dutch team’s tests that lacks in some of the Germans, etc. Anky, Adelinda, and Edward all seem to have a metronome built into their bodies and a more meticulous presentation of the movements in general. Perhaps that is what the judges are rewarding.
Still haven’t ever caught Carl’s ride, but it is interesting to compare tests simultaneously, tv and iPad. You can better see why one scores higher overall even when another’s overall softness and aesthetics seems much more pleasing in impression.
Now when you get the precision without too much tension you get sublime as in Charlotte with Valegro! Although the Dutch team was third, I do believe the KWPN were gold. Can you imagine if Edward and Toto had been in there? Now that would have been too close to call!
Oh, my horse must be a GP horse.
[QUOTE=NOMIOMI1;6484960]
I think Parzival is very active and active minded. I think people underestimate the amazing ability Valegro has and thinks that most others can crate that quiet of a ride with tht much energy… Its rare and difficult. Someone posted above that he was a head shaker… So that is something to think about.
Horses trained to this level are thinking. They are not robots, and they are even GASP anticipating and individualisic. Parzival in his own right is incredible, his piaffe has so much action behind and his passage is out of this world! But mayhap not as muscle bound and quiet minded as some of our recent giants ont he scene (valegro/totilas/ravel).
My thought is that they are a breath of fresh air, but so are the very sparkly active horses that realistically are probably a bit tougher to keep together
I like how high his poll is and how open he is and how active he is. The judge probably like that too seeing as how the really heavy horses are becoming a “thing”.
I like variety in my dressage :D[/QUOTE]
Parzival and Addelinde had my vote a long time ago. I saw that action in the hind as well! That’s a tough one. I thought that Charlotte and Valegro were awesome in the GP and deserved the win. In the GPS, it looked like she had a bit of a problem keeping him collected-maybe tired?
So in the GPS, I would have put Parzival first. It was all beautiful tho!
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