Dressage: Ros Canter Takes the Lead
The CCI5*-L International 3-Day Event at de Pau, France, October 24-27, got off to a soggy start but finished on a brighter note. While Tom McEwen (GBR) produced a fine test on the first day of dressage to score 25.8, his compatriot Rosalind Canter, the title holder riding Izilot DHI, achieved the second-best score of their career ‒ 19.0pp ‒ almost a point better than two months ago at the CCI5* in Burghley. A few minutes earlier, young Emily King had pulled off a fine performance with her French horse Valmy Biats, taking second place with 24.6. Last to start on his third horse Cooley Rosalent, Oliver Townend (GBR) finished joint second.
Rosalind Canter (GBR) and Izilot DHI (photo: Lucie Pecantet)
While the English occupied seven of the top ten places, only the New Zealanders threatened by taking 5th, 7th and 9th places thanks to Clarke Johnstone, Samantha Lissington and Tim Price.
Canter remarked, “He’s a real professional now. Last year, he came in there and he found the camera quite spooky and it took me a while to get round it … but today I went in there and he just went straight past it and it just shows how much he’s come on in a year. I was really pleased with his balance and his medium-extended trots because he’s got quite a narrow wheelbase and sometimes he feels a little bit young and wobbly in those, but today he felt really stable and really in balance, so that was lovely.”
A modified cross-country course
Due to intense rainfall, in order to guarantee the safety and well-being of horses and riders, the event management, in agreement with course designer Pierre Michelet and sporting director Guillaume Blanc, decided to modify the cross-country course on Saturday. Three obstacles ‒ 17, 28 and 29A ‒ were removed, while the route between obstacles 9 and 10 was modified.
As the Brits were accustomed to extreme conditions, they were not deterred by the weather, which was clearly wetter than forecast. Caroline Harris (GBR), who had been 22nd after dressage, surged to the lead aboard the 10-year-old stallion D. Day ahead of her compatriots Rosalind Canter, Tom McEwen and Piggy March. China’s Alex Hua Tian put in a very serious cross-country performance to lie in ambush in 5th place.
The incessant rain poured down on the Domaine de Sers, drenching horses and riders for the entire cross-country test, from the first out to the last home. The amazing work done by the volunteers and technical teams made sure that the show could go on in total safety for the human and equine athletes. In the end, nine fences were withdrawn but the course was still more than worthy of a five-star. Not one of the 71 horse-rider pairs managed to make it home within the time allocated, and those that came the closest leaped up in the provisional rankings. British rider Caroline Harris made the most astonishing comeback of the day, from 22nd to 1st place. In the lead after dressage with Izilot DHI, double Olympic champion Ros Canter managed to hold on to 2nd place, just a few tenths of a second behind the new leader. Her fellow-countryman, Tom McEwen, world no.1, ended the day in 3rd place after a nail-biting cross-country test.
Harris said of her round, “If I’m honest, I didn’t really want to run, because I was a bit scared about the ground, but I know the horse loves the mud. He ran really well at Lignières in the mud. So some friends of mine gave me a kick up the arse so I would actually go, and he ran really well, he was perfect from start to finish. He’s quite small and nippy so he doesn’ t struggle with the mud at all and he finished full of running, he could have gone on for two more minutes.”
Sunday belongs to the Brits
His Majesty’s subjects swept the leaderboard, taking 14 of the first 20 places following the stadium jumping phase. Caroline Harris, Rosalind Canter and Tom McEwen all rode a clear round in this final day of the competition, demonstrating once again that they totally master the discipline. At 34 years old, Harris was competing in just the second CCI5*-L of her young career, making her performance even more exceptional and ending the season with three international victories aboard this horse.
Rosalind Canter, back to defend her title at the 5 Etoiles de Pau with Izilot DHI, missed a second victory by just 0.3 points. Her compatriote Tom McEwen, who won in Pau in 2019, came 2nd in 2021 and 3rd in 2023, added a new podium finish to his impressive track record in Pau, for his 9th 5* here. Chinese rider Alex Hua Tian, gold medallist in the individual competition at the last Asian Games, came in 4th in his first time at this event. . American rider Boyd Martin completed the top five with Fedarman B, the horse he rode for the Paris Olympics (where he ranked 10th in the individual competition).
Harris was delighted with her winning result. “I really don’t have any words to describe my horse D. Day. He was bred to just be a happy hack hunter and he came to me and he’s just going on and on and on. I didn’t think he’d ever be more than a 3* horse, and just look at him now. He’s 80% Thoroughbred, so skipping through the ground yesterday took nothing out of him – he’s an out-and-out trier, and I love him to bits.”
This edition of the 5 Etoiles de Pau ended in the comforting warmth of the autumn sun after two days of incessant rain. “In spite of the weather, the spectators were there right through to the end,” enthused Pascal Sayous, director of the event that attracted around 40,000 visitors over the four days. “The 400 volunteers and technical teams did an incredible job. Thanks to them and to the collective efforts of everyone involved in the adventure, we were able to maintain the event despite the adverse conditions. It just goes to show how fantastic the teams working with us are and I’m so proud of them.”
The 2025 edition of 5 Etoiles de Pau takes place October 23-26.
Full results here.
~ with files from Les 5 Étoiles de Pau
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