We’ve had a WOW so now it’s time for a BOW. While it was hard to pick a WOW out of the dense pile last week, my number one BOW is easy to identify: the horses of course! In some ways it’s a shame for some of the horses at WEG because so many of them are wonderful that we get spoiled and don’t give full and proper admiration to any but a few.
Take the Dressage, for instance. The rider who drew the very shortest straw when it comes to weather was Russia’s Inessa Merkulova. Not only did she have to follow Valegro, but the dry skies that maintained through Charlotte’s ride unleashed their fury on Inessa and her horse Mister X. It was raining sideways on the pair, that is until it got even worse. When they finished, they looked like they’d just been fished out of the sea at St. Malo. Mister X’s reward for performing as though he were waltzing through a field of daisies on a bright spring day was a giant hug at G from his grateful rider, and one of the greatest roars from the crowd of the entire dressage competition.
What many people would have failed to appreciate was what a good horse Mister X is. He’s not just a good horse. He’s potentially a top ten horse, the kind of horse Canada would love to sink a hook into. I heard a rumour from a fairly reliable source that not only a Canadian, but at least five other potential buyers, approached Inessa following the GP about whether Mister X would consider changing nationalities. I would be very surprised if we don’t see this horse in Rio under a new flag.
In doing interviews for my WEG dressage coverage, I asked a few people which horse they would like to take home in their suitcase, given the chance (and the coin). Not surprisingly, Valegro rolled off everyone’s tongue, including Laura Graves’. But Laura also mentioned another horse that caught her eye – the mare Noble Dream Concept Sol, ridden by France’s Marc Boblet. The only unattractive thing about this lovely mare is her name. But again, it would have been too easy not to notice this little gem of a horse, surrounded as she was by Damon Hills and Bella Roses.
Blueberry, Best in Show
If we cast our eyes to the Eventers, it is plain to see that the beasts of today are capable of throwing down a dressage test any DQ would be proud of, galloping gamely around the toughest of cross country courses (even with sticky footing and mean, trappy bits near the end like the skinny coming out of the last water), and then breezing through the show jumping with the style of a champion hunter. Once again I was just amazed at the Germans, particularly Sandra and Michael of course. Opgun Louvo must be one of the best horses the Eventing world has ever seen. He’s the Valegro of the discipline. It’s hard to imagine horses better at what they do than these two.
Once I was able to finally get to see some of the Para Dressage, I set eyes on some horses most of us would kill to call our own. If you weren’t on a horse that could score in the 70’s in the Para, you were not even close to going home with a medal. Basic gaits count a LOT in Para because of the relatively low technical level. But I still have to say that what melts my heart watching the Para is seeing how honest and safe the horses are in the lower grades. I think it’s a mistake for Para to attempt marketing itself as a rival to the other disciplines for ‘sport’ spectating – you are not going to convince anyone that watching Para Dressage is on an adrenaline par with watching horses hurl themselves over a 1.60 m jumping course. (Hell, it’s even a tough sell to fill seats in Grand Prix dressage) Where the Paras have it in spades is in the inspiration department. That’s where the true potential lies in selling Para to a greater public.
And finally, I must mention the jumpers. Want to see what a few hundred million dollars worth of horses looks like? Watch the first team round of WEG show jumping. Nearly a third of the horses (48 out of 150) were stallions to boot, which of course adds to their value, sometimes quite considerably. And let’s not forget that with embryo transfers the 30-odd mares had added-value too.
Canada’s best girl at WEG
Before I go for today, I must mention one other horse of this WEG, the one that served as virtually the only half-time entertainment: Norman the WEG mascot. I’m not particularly fond of mascots. I fall into the category of person who finds adults dressed up as stuffed toys more creepy than cute. Every time I saw Norman (which was often, given the complete lack of other entertainment during breaks and ring drags) he looked to me as though someone had interrupted him part way through a bathroom break. His tail looked like an unfinished poo.
Norman did finally entertain those of us who saw it happen during the second-last day of the jumping. Visibility from within that sweaty fur coating would not have been optimal, and Norman took an unscheduled swim in a water feature on course, not having been able to see the ground in front of him. Pure French blooper gold, it was.
Norman being reunited with a soggy hoof
