So gratifying to see the pure joy from Di Lampard as Scotland pulls England’s nuts out of the fire yet again. She used to battle for team spots when she was riding the fabulous Abbervail Dream next to Skelton, Whitaker, Whitaker, Broome, so it is amazing to see her set in the sun in Paris.
I also have a soft spot for Melanie Smith Taylor. I was at her first show back after a long hiatus when she was named to be assistant chef, and she watched some poor groom whaling away on the Doda boots which were then a new thing. The look of dawning horror on her face was priceless. Thank God those days are gone.
6 Likes
I definitely saw the same thing.
I’m not the hugest Karl fan but you really have to hand it to him for how much he improved since Pan Ams. He and Caracole are a very different pair in Paris. She’s so cool and he’s figured out how to let her be a superstar. I hope they don’t pull him for the individual round. He came in clutch and deserves his shot.
35 Likes
Riding a mare like that is an art, and he did it very well. It was cool to see that Jullian’s mare (rider that had Cara last) goes exactly the same. Not an easy ride but worth the hard work on Karl’s part.
15 Likes
In my experience, the less experienced the country is in equestrian, the more gadgets and hands are used. There’s a lack of fundamentals being taught in those nations, either due to lack of resources, language barrier, need for overnight success, etc.
5 Likes
The whole idea of betting on jumpers cracks me up a little bit. I feel like the bookies probably come out WAY ahead. Lol.
12 Likes
I think there is a fine British tradition of betting on anything. I think there was a “book” on the sex of each royal heir.
4 Likes
She’s the commentator on NBC, E! and USA too.
I had to laugh when Randy Moss (?) announced that Karl’s horse lost a shoe one of the final jumps, but it was actually Karl’s sunglasses.
Great job by the three reserve riders who all were called up at the last minute to ride.
Congratulations to all of the participants, some countries were just thrilled to make the finals, and that was touching.
Congratulations to the medalists, and I can’t wait until the individual contest.
Viewing note: tonight, 8 p.m.central on USA network, Unfortunately, even though they show every round, it will be with Randy Moss and MST.
4 Likes
Have we said “Hats Off” to the course designers yet? What a brilliant job.
12 Likes
You have the right of it.
That would be amazing if it was Hardy! I wish we could know for sure. I’m fact I wish there was some sort of guide to all the jumps, the designs are so gorgeous. I saw compilation in Horse and Hound for the cross country jumps.
The replay is not available yet. I’m getting impatient… I know the results, now I just want to be able to see how it all happened!
ETA - it’s now available! Complaining on the internet worked!
2 Likes
Randy Moss. No idea.
1 Like
So happy about the USA team. Karl Cook jumped 2 clear rounds, the only rider on the team who did. I guess he showed he belonged there. 
13 Likes
That’s why his voice sounded familiar! He does a lot of horse racing commentary for NBC.
1 Like
Is there a way to see the individual scores for the two days of show jumping? I know very few jumped clear both days and I think it would be an interesting statistic.
He also does football too. I mean it could be worse and Joe Buck could be the commentator.
They really need to keep the two lovely British folks for this. Mt and Randy need to go bye bye.
5 Likes
Former football player who covers horse racing, which mostly means the Kentucky Derby. (Ask non-racing fans to name the triple crown races, and they usually say the Kentucky Derby, the other one, and the other one.)
Sad that NBC figures if it involves four non-cloven hooves and a tail, all horse sports are the same.
4 Likes
Randy Moss is NOT the former football player. There IS a football player named Randy Moss. They are different. He once said he was invited to a dinner, probably some football thing, and they realised they had the wrong one!
12 Likes
Re NBC switching from John and Lucinda to Randy and Melanie -
My guess is that each broadcasting “entity” around the world can only pick up the “live” audio feed for a given event from one set of on site commentators at a time. Since NBC has Olympic rights in the US, it seems that they are switching from John and Lucinda 
to Randy and Melanie 
for the events that they are also airing on their broadcast channels (“main” NBC, USA network, etc). If it’s something that’s only streaming live, they use the John and Lucinda feed.
CBC is making a better choice.
4 Likes
