Only three with no drop score. So that makes it even more important to pick the right three.
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Nice story if you have the time to read it.
Touches on how important and nerve wracking it can be being part of the team and especially without throw away score for mistakes and mishaps:
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IMO thereās no question what three that should be.
In terms of riders Iād agree the obvious are Beezie, Kent and Mclain. However, Cristaline is one of the best horses in the World and she steps up in big situations like championships
Who?
Kent, Beezie and McLain. Iām slightly anxious on McLain because azur has had previous injuries and contagious is still a little green. As my backups Iād have Laura, then Adrienne.
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Adrienne is my 5th pick, after Laura and the obvious listed by you. She is a very good up and coming rider but she doesnāt have the cool as a cucumber experience that the others have yet, just because of her age. Which I think I can say as Iām almost the same age as her 
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The riderās experience is definitely important, but all of these riders have had international experience and have been around. It seems to me that the horses are the big deal here, given the weather in, and the travel to, Japan.
From my read of Ridlandās comments, Iād guess heās going to go with the old guard. Iām not sure if Iāll agree with his choices, but Iām a peon and heās the Chef dāequipe. 
Honestly , I canāt be excited by this Olympiad. I think it should not be taking place, but the monetary interest marches on, despite the warnings against holding the games during this pandemic given by Japanese heath officials, and against the will of the Japanese people.
This is a blatant and sad example of monetary interests overriding the value of human lives. 
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With no drop score, I think you have to really focus not only on the consistency of performances under pressure, but also which horses are most likely to handle the trip to Japan well and hold up during multiple rounds over a few days.
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I think that the majority of countries have shown over the past year they are capable of holding events without causing spread, especially since a large portion of the population will have been vaccinated by the start. Iām personally disappointed since I had planned to attend the Tokyo games and that wonāt be happening, but I donāt think that thereās any reason to cancel them altogether; considering itās unlikely they will have any spectators and we all have learned how to social distance over the past year.
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I donāt know that I agree. Adrienne has been remarkably consistent this winter, particularly with Bennyās Legacy, and donāt forget that she was part of the winning US team at the last WEG. Itās an extremely strong list right now no matter who they pick.
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Definitely. Beezie, Laura, McLain and Kent all have multiple horses so barring some sort of crisis Iād guess itāll be the four of them as team plus alternate with their the fittest/soundest horses (or ones who handle heat best). Unless one of them has no horses who will handle the heat well, in which case maybe Adrienne will take that spot?
Does anyone know when the team will ship over to allow the horses to acclimate? I canāt recall how they did it for Rio.
Laura and Beezie were first and second yesterday in the Grand Prix in Wellington, separated by about 2/10 of a second in the jump off. So theyāre both probably well in the mix.
Since most of these horses have been showing in South Florida all winter, they have proven that they can handle hot weather. I donāt know what the conditions are supposed to be in Tokyo, but they will be the same for everybody.
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Athletes are only allowed to arrive 5 days before their event starts and must depart no later than 48 hours after their last event due to Covid restrictions. That doesnāt mean they canāt ship in and stable elsewhere I suppose until they are allowed on the Olympic grounds.
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Oh, boy. Not good.
The governor of Florida has already said that his state could host the Olympics this year if necessary. 
The entire OG or just the equestrian events? Regardless, you canāt throw together an Olympics in 3 months, how did that idiot ever get elected? And Florida in August? The athletes will expire from heat exhaustion.
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Thanks for posting that article on Woermann. Very interesting that up to 1963 a rider could compete on more than one horse in the same Championship competition.
The whole thing! I think I read somewhere that his great plan would be to spread the games throughout the state at different venues to cut down on crowds. Or something.
Letās get a niceā¦ evenā¦ well-spread out dispersal of COVID from all over the world
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