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 […]

by Susan Stafford-Pooley The Dressage Team event wrapped up today following the Grand Prix Special. The Germans, who own some of the most talented horseflesh in the world that has ever gone down centre line, dominated the competition and clinched the gold medal, winning with an average score – that’s average, folks – of 81.936%. […]

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 […]

by Susan Stafford-Pooley Day 2 of Olympic Grand Prix dressage featured some real superstars in that exclusive club. They were a joy to watch, even for a hard-core eventing/jumping fan like me. I love the live scoring; you can rate each movement in your head and immediately see if you are on the mark, or […]

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 […]

by Susan Stafford-Pooley Early this morning I was thinking I wouldn’t have a whole lot to write about today, as it was only the first day of dressage and we only had one rider going. Boy, was I wrong! First of all, Megan Lane and Caravella had a wonderful, relaxed test, certainly a testament to […]

by Susan Stafford-Pooley As many of you know, this is my first Olympic Games. I have been to more jumper shows and three-day events than I care to remember, and I am a bit of a tough old bird by nature, but I have to say that watching Michael Jung win the individual eventing final […]

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 […]

by Susan Stafford-Pooley Today was cross-country day – a day that tests the endurance, fitness, stamina and courage of journalists and photogs alike … oh, and horses and riders too. Let’s not forget them. The course was sprawling and very hilly (and far from the media centre), which necessitated a lot of walking uphill and […]

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 […]