Amazing day for the U S A !!! 
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All 5 US riders inside the top 20! What a great team!
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And we moved into 2nd as a team!!!
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In an interview Lauren talked about how they used to trot a lot of jumps with him when he was young so Bug’s go to is to break down to the trot and jump sometimes.
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Where do they get their facts from? In the past I have seen announcers with little sheets that have tidbits of each horse/rider… Maybe we have to rope them into having you fact check for them!!
I saw all sorts of misinformation flying around on FB too, especially about Artist and his being TB… Some were calling him Irish TB, others saying he was part TB. I had to sigh when I saw a few comments saying reason he is so good at dressage is because he is an NZ TB and not an American one. For flip’s sake. He’s ND top/bottom, with Fappiano, Blushing Groom, Danzig, and Secretariat on the first page… Pretty American page if you ask me!
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Laura Collett;
“He was so fresh and too well in himself,” said Laura of London 52, who looked to be quite strong all the way round. “He jumped off the top very boldly and thought he was doing the right thing. He locked onto the skinny and took me down and over-jumped it. I tried to anchor him for the three strides and he ran out of room – he wasn’t naughty.”
Speaking of London’s keenness Laura said: “I think after Badminton he thought these fences were a bit small and it was quite difficult, even at the straightforward fences, to really make him listen because he just wanted to go flat out."
Michael Jung;
“Sadly the ground wasn’t perfect and I said before this course is not great for a championship with all the turn left, turn right, go forward, collect, go up the hill, down the hill, jump on an angle – this is very difficult for the horses with the speed and gallop they have to travel at and still be so quick in their reaction and concentrate and keep their brain,“ he said after his round today.
“The end the course is tricky, the beginning is nice with a nice open gallop, but then the middle part is very, very tricky.”
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When I went to the archives and went to watch wills round it was just one clip of him. It just pops you into their part of the live stream. Maybe that will change with more editing? Hoping so.
Lucinda kept saying at the beginning of the live stream how this was all new to the camera people and such. So I’m not sure if the actual camera crew is with clip my horse because they shouldn’t be new to this.
Maybe this is just my Smurf opinion, but these seem like exactly the kind of questions a championship course should ask. A horse and rider at this level should be able to do all of those things on an XC course. We saw the leading riders (Michi included) handle the questions with finesse and get around well.
Lots of other 4*/5* courses have the long open gallops and milder terrain and fewer quick reaction turns and combinations. Personally, I like that this presented a different challenge.
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The USA team had a meeting with Ian Stark to discuss the xc course yesterday afternoon.
I think what he is meaning that it was a course that really had to take the horses out of their rhythm for many of the questions. it wasn’t necessarily the questions themselves or the terrain themselves. It was putting them together that made it harder. There were no big stretches to be able to make up time because as soon as you were kicking, a few strides later you were having to balance or check to make a turn to a jump or for a question.
When galloping these UL courses, you try to get the horse in a rhythm and taking them out of their rhythm going into combinations and fences, it wares on them. So much harder to do as you are constantly kicking and braking relatively close to one another. You really have to also look at what type of horse this course would suit. With my UL horses I really only choose FEI events that have the type of courses that suit them- big, galloping courses. The twisty course of say, Tryon, don’t, so I will never compete one of mine there. Another of mine, he excels at those courses.
For the stronger horses/ more experienced horses, this is hard- which we saw in London 52. Even MJ had a problem with his horse respecting some of the fences due to height. Great for less experienced riders, not so great for seasoned horses.
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I think he thought it was unfair to the horses, which is a valid concern.
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Where can you see Team Standings after Xc?
Hope this works!
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I LOVE it that although Roz, Tim, and Boyd are STILL tied, since Boyd was exactly on time, he gets the nod! I also really liked the speed gun that told us how fast the horses were going.
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I don’t think it was unfair to the horses. I think it was a nice world championship course that was influential yet safe and kind to the horses. MJ didn’t like it—too bad. It was challenging, it was a safe test by a veteran course designer on a cool piece of land that we don’t get to see ridden on much. Other riders, like Tami, explained how and why it was hard for a 5* horse to run it, only she said it in a respectful way and appreciated the unusual challenge, instead of griping about it. Getting tired of MJ’s whining.
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Don’t shoot the messenger 
I have nothing but respect for MJ and considering his incredible experience talent and love for his horses I appreciate hearing his opinion on things. I’m not there or riding the course so I can’t say personally.
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Wonderful photos!
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those are just incredible! SO many!
When your drop score is currently a 32.7 
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