It’s a down day at the equestrian venue in Deodoro, Rio de Janeiro. The jumpers had their training day, 90 seconds in the ring to do what they liked. There was a short course set up that they could jump if they wanted, with many opting to simply do some flatwork.
Both Eric and Yann opted not to jump and just cantered around to show their horses the ring. “It gives you a feel for the ring, a feel for the size of the ring,” Eric explained. “You can see there’s a little dome on it so there is some up and down hills to it. So it gives you a little feel of that. It gives you a feel of the in-gate and how they are going to react.”
Yann noticed that First Choice spooked at some tables that are alongside the ring and reflecting the sun. “I just noticed they have a bunch of tables over there that were reflecting, I think they are going to take them out. My horse was looking at it a little bit because it’s unusual. After that, everything was fine and I just cantered around.”
Amy Millar and Heros
Amy and Cara did go over a few jumps. Amy blames a weak ride for a refusal at an oxer, “Normally I sit down and I ride him up to the jumps but I was just a little bit casual.” Amy quickly got down to business and represented Heros with no issue. “Don’t worry,” she said. “We will get it done tomorrow!”
Cara enjoyed her tour around the ring, “It was good, my horse felt great. I was really happy with how she felt and how I felt. It’s super exciting.”
Kara Chad and Bellinda
Cara is coached by Eric and regularly trains with Tiffany and Yann so she feels quite comfortable with the team. “The team is pretty incredible. I’m fortunate enough to know them all very well before hand, so in all honesty it already feels like family.”
Tiffany was the only rider not to go in the ring. “My horse is not spooky, he’s experienced, there’s nothing here that he hasn’t seen anywhere else,” she explained, adding that she didn’t do the training at the Pan Ams either. “He’s a real competitor and I feel that it’s almost confusing to him to go in when there’s no ambiance, the jumps are really plain, there’s nothing in here to see. We compete every weekend and we never do a warm-up and I don’t like to do anything different from what I would normally do that’s worked.”
All the Canadians commented on the overall quality of all the teams this year. “There are so many nations now that are bettering themselves and getting good horses,” Eric said. “I see it every week at different shows, there is always a new guy that comes in that can come in and win the Grand Prix or do well. It tells you that a lot of countries are catching up so it’s difficult to say who is going to win.”
Fresh off their win at CHIO Aachen, the German’s are one of the favourites to medal along with the USA, France, the Netherlands,, and defending champions Great Britain.
There will be 15 nations in the team competition with Chinese Taipei and Qatar making their Olympic debut, and another 15 individuals will represent 13 other countries.
Teams: Brazil, Netherlands, France, USA, Germany, Sweden, Qatar, Canada, Argentina, Ukraine, Switzerland, Great Britain, Japan, Australia, Spain
Individual: Ireland, Portugal, Turkey, Morrocco, Venezuela (2), Colombia (2), Uruguay, Peru, Chinese Tapei, Belgium (2), Italy, Egypt.
Dressage is on hold until the 15th for the individual finals.
