I think it would be a point of pride for her, that someone in their 50s is still competing at a top level. Encourage the civilians. I didn’t think anything amiss when I heard it.
This article contains two great photos of horses not jumping the wall. They’re jumping something (in their minds) but it’s not the wall. UAE riders up. Somebody 
has to steer…
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King Edward has to go 5th! That is too early! I am sure he can handle it but Off With Their Heads anyway. Is that any way to treat the King?
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I give credit to the horse who is jumping the thin air on the left side of the wall. He is doing it with his whole heart. It’s just the placement of his body respective to the jump that’s gone wrong.
The horse who ran out to the right just watched replays of McLain jumping the flower pots in the jump off from a few years ago and came to the wrong understanding of how this whole thing works.
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Pretty impressive, I thought. Isn’t he a trier? 
Actually, the horse that “ran out” to the right is making a hell of an effort too.
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He has selected the alternate route. He saw that there are optional routes in the course maps for the eventers. He is making a reasoned decision based on his assessment of the track and he cannot be criticized.
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Honestly I came away watching the UAE horses going “gosh they’re honest triers.”
It was also a reaffirming lesson to me how important track is, as that’s probably what my trainer yells at me the most about. 
Horses were 100% going to jump; they just jumped the track they were placed on 
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Now that I’m all caught up on show jumping, I wonder how often McLain sees a chiropractor. Ilex just seems to think all of this is child’s play and needs to insert more of his own antics to make things more interesting. Good on McLain per usual of just keeping going but those aren’t little crow hops Ilex is throwing out there.
I will be curious to see if he develops as an indoor horse—I think he’s really best suited to bigger outdoor courses. He has the second most impressive stride next to United Touch S. He made that first combo on course look eeeaaasy (even though reality was that even Laura kraut among others had to cowboy kick to get down and across the 3rd element).
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This was the first time I’d seen him go and he looked wholely unimpressive on day 1. But man he ate his wheaties on day 2! I couldn’t believe it was the same horse. 
He’s incredible.
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My guess is that they prepped him more on day one so he’d curb his enthusiasm a bit–McLain rode very deliberately on day one, and that was by far and away the quietest, most put together I’d seen Ilex (at least off of video performances with McLain this year).
Then Ilex’s team likely thought, “that was a big effort; he’ll be quieter day 2.” And really all Ilex showed was that he has tremendous fitness and looked like he could go jump the whole course again. Clear and within time.
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While there were some top horses that drifted consistently, I did notice that the more successful pairs tended to be those who were presented straight to the middle of each jump, rather than those who steered vaguely in the direction of each jump (which became extra obvious at that wall). I would have thought that would be something covered in the coaching to some of the more up-and-coming riders, unless it’s something forgotten in the stress of the moment.
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Which horse was it that REALLY liked to drift heavily to the left? I need to go back and re-watch. But I was impressed with the rider’s strength for keeping that horse together; horse looked mega talented but looked like it required a lot of strength to keep the line so the right spots turned up.
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“Vaguely in the direction” of the jump is spot on. In the UAE riders case, they looked as if they expected the horses to find the way on their own.
It does go to show that you can’t win just by buying super horses. You have to be able to ride them as well.
They’ll get better, I’m sure. Japan was terrifying when they first started in Olympic Show Jumping, and they’re pretty good now.
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Anyone know who coaches UAE riders/where they train? Similar question for Japan. I’m presuming folks spend significant time in Europe?
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I don’t think he needs to. I think that between Rothchild and Ilex, he’s always had a horse in his barn who would re-align his spine for him, free of charge.
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Thank you!! I don’t think I was googling the right thing earlier
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LOL fair point 
Scroll down to the photo of Peter Fredericson’s photo on Catch Me Not. Read his quote. He admits to not steering well, and had a stop. He won silver in Tokyo so I’d say he rides well.
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