The “Victory Gallop” in dressage is much more like an elegant parade around the arena.
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%. Great Britain took the silver medal with 78.585%, in no small part because of Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro, who although they earned 82.983%, rode a test marred by an unscheduled canter departure and a few other small mistakes. A nearby helicopter taking off from the military base did not seem to bother the pair – it could be that the horses are all used to the sporadic mayhem by now.
The US team edged out the Netherlands for the bronze to great shrieks of delight from the American supporters in the stands. A real success story coming out of this team is young Kasey Perry-Glass, who only did her first Grand Prix in January of this year in Wellington, FL, and has since been a shooting star with her horse Dublet. “It’s our first year – we moved up very fast,” she admitted. “I’m training with Debbie McDonald and she’s been through all this. She’s an Olympian, and she’s trained an Olympian. She really knows her stuff. She put me into some national classes before putting me in a CDI, and once she gave me the go-ahead I knew I was ready to go.” Kasey is also married to a handsome cowboy, which gives her some extra cred.
Canada’s Belinda Trussell and Anton finished 27th, so their Olympic journey unfortunately ends here, although they did a commendable job in this ultra-elite company.
The show jumping jog – pardon me, “horse inspection” – was held early this morning at the Olympic Equestrian Centre. It was interesting to see how many stallions are in the competition. Back in the day there would be one or two, but 26 were presented this morning, and at the London Olympics, 21 stallions started in the first qualifier.
I’m not sure why the steady increase – are horses are being left entire for future breeding consideration in case they excel in the show jumping arena, or because they are naturally more aggressive and athletic than geldings? This might warrant some further research.
Tripple X III thought the horse inspection was a bit boring and needed a little action. Look at me!!!
FYI the Swedish team are mostly mares, so expect some late-night Tinder hookups in the barn, just like in the Athletes Village….
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And finally…
Meat. Delicious meat on a stick, as much as we could stuff in our faces.
Last night Jennifer and I ventured off the reservation to find something better than the previously mentioned chicken in goo sauce, suspicious bean soup/gravy and anaemic tomatoes. And we found it a cab ride (& my first Uber ride) away at Churrascaria Imperio Gaucho, a hole-in-the-wall BBQ place in a slightly sketchy area of the city. We were relieved upon entering the restaurant that there was a mob of Olympic officials eating there, which was reassuring. There was an all-you-can-eat buffet that was decent – they even had lettuce and stuff! – but the highlight were the long daggers laden with grilled meat that arrived at the table every few minutes. We had no idea what most of it was, but we ate it all. A nice finale was a chocolate lava cake with french vanilla ice cream. Yum.
It just occurred to me that we are eating like anacondas – no food/no food/no food/cow.
The only thing I didn’t like was the “vinho” (the only offering of its kind on the menu – a sickly sweet red liquid that was faintly reminiscent of some awful plonk I used to drink as a teenager responsible young adult.
Tomorrow is a jumper training session and no disrespect to the jumpers, but I am taking the day to explore and do some sightseeing, hopefully at the Main Press Centre, Canada House, the Rio beaches, and more. I can’t wait!
