Well it was good and bad. Colombo was fit and cheeky. He was a bit explosive in the ring, something he has never been before, not even in Hong Kong where the crowd was electric. He went into the ring today and immediately started spooking at the flowers and the dressage judges like a pre training greeny! He did a great test with a couple of little bobbles from having way too much energy and feeling way too good. I guess he has missed his gallop this week. He was truly breathtaking in the warm up but a slight edginess in the ring itself, brought his mark down to just over fifty. Not shabby at all, but not the low forties that Selena had set her heart on. It took Selena most of the day to stop beating herself up over the mark here and the mark there that she could have improved upon. She is nothing if not a perfectionist.
Hawley Bennet-Awad put in a great test on Gin and Juice. Her trot work was the best I have seen her do and it looked like she was going to break into the forties. Unfortunately, Ginny got just a bit too bottled up in the canter and showed it with a little buck in a couple of the flying changes. She is also extremely fit and feeling good. It was the best test I have seen her do and although Hawley was also bemoaning that she was not in the forties, her score of just over fifty two brought the Canadian Team to sixth place going into the second day of dressage.
Jessica Phoenix and Exponential also put in a good test. Unfortunately ‘Tucker’ wasn’t having any of the rein back and after a couple of little rears, Jess very tactfully decided to leave that mark off. This unfortunately dropped her score to just over sixty, but wait till you see Tucker jump! That boy is amazing!
David did a team course walk in the afternoon after Hawley’s test. They discussed the various approaches and how they should be ridden. With her second course walk under her belt, Selena seems a little more sure of herself about most of the questions. A double of hedges near the very end of the course, angles rails at 3’11” over 8′ ditches have all the riders muttering it seems. They are the third last fence and illustrate that there is no let up on the course.
The German riders dominated today’s dressage but this is not going to be a dressage show. Everything, and I do mean “everything” is going to change on Saturday.
