I got schooled today! The inimitable Christilot Boylen joined me in the media seats today after Anton was finished and back in the barn. The six-time Olympian, who has trained Belinda for 23 years and Megan for the last 2 ½, gave a master class on dressage that was super informative and VERY entertaining. I […]
Finally, the entire day’s focus is on the athletes and not bullets! My mood has improved from a combination of great competition, the cease fire, and the beer stand I’ve found that isn’t busy during the break. Belinda was awesome!! She was fun to watch and to it was nice to finally see some Canadian fans in […]
It was an exciting start to the day when I got a text asking if I had heard anything about a media bus being shot at! Nothing like the news of more bullets flying to get the adrenaline pumping first thing. I pulled out my computer and a colleague had already emailed me a link […]
I watched history today. There really is only one Michael Jung – literally, if you look on the FEIs database. To win Badminton, Rolex and Olympic gold all in one year PLUS back-to-back Olympic gold on the SAME horse. Truly a legend. I had hoped that Christopher Barton and Santano II would at least make […]
The day never fails to excite! The riders had warned us that the course was very technical, not big, but complex. It was more difficult than cross-country at the Olympics has been in a while, but asked all the questions that Olympic-level eventing should: rideability, accuracy, efficiency, and courage. So sayeth the girl sitting comfortably in […]
Not the best day for the Eventers. Some rotten, unfair, and loud feedback over the loudspeaker interrupted Colleen Loach and Qorry Blue D’Argouges as they were starting out on their test – not once, but twice. The unexpected blast scared Qorry who scooted forward during the collected trot which subsequently earned a score of 4, […]
Two team members from each country went today which ended with team Germany in the provisional lead and William Fox-Pitt and Chilli Morning with the top score of 37. Jessica Phoenix and A Little Romance were the very first pair in the ring and scored a personal best at the 4* level. “I’m extremely proud […]
I don’t know a lick of Portuguese, but after being here a few hours I quickly recall how nice and welcoming everyone is. Between friendly smiles and smooth operations it has happily been a non-eventful first day. There are a couple tell-tale signs of the last minute issues that may or may-not get completed, but […]
It may well be that I am preoccupied by the UK’s unceremonious “outing” of itself from Europe, but this week I can’t help but be more intrigued by the circumstances around the notable riders out of Rio as opposed to those still hoping to be in. Confirmation that Scott Brash isn’t in the British jumping […]
Two of my last three blogs were about the speciousness of FEI rankings lists and the injustices of the individuals’ qualifying procedure for Rio. So it was interesting that both topics come together in the matter currently dividing the jumping community in Ireland. Irish social media has come out largely in favour of Bertram Allen, […]
