Congrats and a restful evening/night to all the riders and horses. I’m looking forward to the replay tomorrow night.
Besides the few falls and refusals all seemed well out there.
One question though - the last French rider didn’t go. Is that because his team stands no chance and it’s not worth the risk?
I remember watching Philip finish XC at Rolex and thinking the same thing you guys are saying. Phillip jumped off really quickly and looked worried. The horse looked exhausted and maybe even like something was really wrong. He jogged and showjumped beautifully the next morning, so hopefully the same thing will happen!!! Keep your fingers crossed!!!
Absolutely!! What a relief that all went so well, a few glance offs and such but nothing terrible and although a few horses and riders were certainly spent at the end there were no huge wrecks.
Great watching! Love the internet!
Actually he went, but fell early on, 5th fence maybe
I thought that was the other French rider??? Nicolas something is the one I was looking for. Hmm. Oh well. It makes no nevermind really. Was just curious.
Oh, hey, I could be wrong. Maybe he just turns himself off as soon as he’s done his job. I hope I AM wrong.
That said, though, there’s gonna be a lot of tired horses doin’ stadium tomorrow, ya think?
Glad all went well :yes: I’m guessing the pollution helped tire everyone out more quickly.
Well, that would be what I am hoping!! But I don’t doubt what you saw, hopefully he recovers fast.
I bet there will be some tired horses and riders tomorrow- wonder how many will go out in the inspection?
What a disaster for Team USA.
Congrats to Gina and Phillip though! Fingers crossed for the SJ!
Poor Amy, Becky and Karen! 
Nicolas Touzaint withdrew before dressage.
My vote for best performance of the day goes to Mike Etherington-Smith, for a truly wonderful course, a crunch performance if ever there was one. Well done.
Is anyone else disappointed in the course. It seemed to really punish riders who let their horses do any of the decision-making. All the leaders except LF on Headlley Brit. are on really reliable really steady, not hot-at-all, jumper types. In the horses it seemed to test instant obedience and willingness to be placed exactly in the right spot to set up for the next jump more than anything. I don’t think it tested boldness or endurance at all. Someone compared it to a long stadium jumpoff and I kind of agree with that.
OH! He’s that guy. Ok. He was listed on the cross country entrants that’s why I was confused. Ok. Thanks!!
I too think it was more like a stadium course than what I always thought of as a XC course, and I think it did take a certain toll on horse and rider. The rider sure had to be focused and thinking ahead, every second the mind had to be working. I think the horses had a lot going on as well, not much time for them to settle into a pace, lots of jump, turn, angle, move on, set up, land and hustle etc.
However, it seems that this is the wave of the future and if that is so, I think the course in that respect was quite good. You can only design the course according to the parameters you have to stay within, and I think that was done.
[QUOTE=J-Lu;3431639]
take it back! I guess All Luck just hates halfpasses. Wow! Fastest time yet![/QUOTE]
Not so, that’s the tragedy. All Luck is normally a safe mid to low 30’s horse in dressage, and has great half pass. He had something go wrong that day is all. The saddest thing is Shane has had some really bad luck oevr the years, from serious illness, bad accidents and being dropped from previous Olympic team because horse went unsound, now a weird reaction to something in a test he’d normally eat for breakfast. If Lucky gave him his usual performance in dressage Shane would now be in the box seat. But you know what they say, excuses are like aholes, everyone has one!! And Shane is surely not the only rider this event to have some bad luck, that’s for sure. That’s horses for you.
What happened to Becky?
I only saw Comet have one refusal, yet the official scoreboard has her listed with 60 penalties. What happened? NBC wasn’t great following the US riders.
Go Marius…I would sell my soul (doubtful that I’d have any buyers) just to have a gallop on that horse.
the course…
I was lucky enough to be at the event this morning, and it was a beautiful course. I think it really rewarded forward and quiet riding as those who picked or made last minute adjustments had some awkward fences. I agree that the veteran horses had the best rounds and I think it is because the riders were able to keep their pace and trust those horses to assess the questions and react accordingly. I disagree that it didn’t reward those who left the decision to the horses.
In terms of the weather, it was muggy and also raining at the end, but temperature wise it was much cooler than the two prior days. (I also made some comments on the good ride / bad ride thread so won’t repeat them here.) 
[QUOTE=Maryalden;3431958]
I only saw Comet have one refusal, yet the official scoreboard has her listed with 60 penalties. What happened? NBC wasn’t great following the US riders.
Go Marius…I would sell my soul (doubtful that I’d have any buyers) just to have a gallop on that horse.[/QUOTE]
She crossed her tracks representing for the fence hence the additional penalties.
The website has the replay up as of 7:00 this morning.
