Three down for both Vermiculus and Thomas. Ariel’s horse jumped great as did one of Wills
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Off The Record had a pole down, no? Of the Pratoni horses, Ariel and Tamie were the only double clears.
Any intel on when the 4* CC will start. KOC mentioned “around lunch”?
1:15 according to the order of go recently posted on the web site
I am crushed after the sj. If it hadn’t happened before wouldn’t be a big deal, but this is a recuring theme with Thomas. It doesn’t matter if you get a great dressage score if you lose it in sj. I am such a big fan of Boyd and Thomas. But for TWO riders on the team to have 3 rails is just a very bad look.
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I am surprised the team horses were jumping at GMI. I figured they would do dressage and that would be it. I was actually surprised they would do an event basically two weeks before Pratoni. I really question the decision making on that one.
Tsetserleg has never been a great horse on stadium. Vermiculus has a record of dropping rails. So the results at GMI should not been terribly surprising. Also consider these results came without running XC first.
ETA: If I were either Tamra or Ariel I would be fighting like hell to be the individual competitor for Pratoni. If I were the PTB I would make Ariel the individual because she has a proven record in big overseas competitions.
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Yeah I agree. And if the SJ-first format is the excuse for the number of dropped rails, which I understand, then why would you use an event that runs that format as your test event?
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Did anyone else suddenly lose their livestream a few minutes ago? All I’ve got is the logo. I’ve logged out & back in too. There were a lot of horses left to go so count have been a break.
Mine is gone also
Looks like the photo they are showing is from early morning before all the people came and the competition started
Back now
as I get older, I am more nervous watching. It has started but after watching Badminton with so many falls I can barely watch.
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$20 a person yes. I have to say, advertising around here was basically non existent. Even entry signage was pretty bad. How can I ever convince friends around here to pay that for a day with not a whole lot offered? People around here love their horse events but they need to make this event so much more user friendly, cheaper and better publicized and they would get huge crowds! Upperville horse show dropped their parking cost and they pulled in the crowds this year. GMI should have done the same. We need the public or how else are we supposed to get sponsorship dollars?
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GMI caters to the crowd that is going to buy tailgate spaces etc. When we went last year, they had zero information available (e.g., course maps, order of go, etc.) when you came. The only way I got that was to walk into the officials house and wander around until I found them. The course was really poorly marked and in some places not at all. We almost got run over twice because the course was not roped or signed to where the galloping lines were. They are so invested in the tailgate space that the tents block la lot of the viewing of jumps.
The first three years they ran I jumped judged for XC. After that it was a no because volunteers, at least jump judges, were a clear afterthought.
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I actually think it’s good they had some rails, gives them a good idea what to work on coming up to Patroni. I’m so excited about this team.
Patroni is going to be an insane XC course. Time will matter too. Don’t be discouraged!
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Commenting so potential volunteers know there hasn’t been an improvement as of yet. I jump judged this weekend and the lack of interest in volunteer health and safety (especially today) was shocking. The juxtaposition of “can’t be bothered to bring water to JJs for literal hours” next to the high-dollar tents was a particularly bad look.
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That’s really unacceptable.
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That is surprising to me because I volunteered the last two years and they had someone going around in a golf cart with drinks and snacks. I found it very well organized for volunteers. They set up a volunteer tent where you check in to get your t-shirt, Mars lunch box and you are able to pick up snacks and drinks for the day. I would let Lindsey Swann know so she can work on it for next year. It is one of my favorite events and I thought they made many improvements this year.
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Went and watched XC yesterday and it was a ghost town for GA. Lots of tents, but not a lot of people. I really felt for the vendors…
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Yeah - after finding no information online for GA pricing - when I looked last Saturday morning - I stopped by the event. Just pulled in and walked over to the XC field. It really was a ghost town and hot/nasty af with the direct sun beating down on the field. I am assuming they prepared the footing (I didn’t actually walk the course so IDK) b/c the ground was SO HARD. I was AMAZED at how poorly organized the whole thing was - at least for the GA crowd. Well, there was no “crowd.” And I hate to say it, but I was also just a little bit taken aback that riders/trainers/owners were competing horses at that level in that heat/humidity with that strong of a sun coming down on them. Why anybody thinks the middle of August is a good time to run an FEI event in Virginia is something my pea-brain just can’t grasp. Poor horses - they have no say in the matter. They looked pretty bad walking back to those tent barns. And I hope they put down rubber mats on top of the asphalt parking lot that they set stabling up on. Good grief. What happened to horsemanship in this sport.
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