It was another busy day here at the horse park. We got up early to make sure we were there in plenty time to watch Rebecca Howard and Riddle Master do their dressage. They put in a great test. As with Jess and Exponential, Rebecca and Riddle Master are doing their first four star and a major four star it is. The Europeans kicked our butt in dressage but we are ready to fight back tomorrow. Stephanie Rhodes-Bosch and Port Authority put in a great test and scored a 44+ which was Canada’s best test. ‘Ollie’ is a good boy and typically very obedient. He got out there and just did his job and Steph was awesome. Last to go was Kyle with Madison Park. ‘Parker’ felt the electricity. He tried to be a really good boy but the excitement got to him here and there in the test and he finished with a 62+. However, Parker is a XC machine and as the team anchor he will no doubt do us proud tomorrow.
The last German horse to go was amazing and went into the lead with a 33. Guess what team got to follow the Germans into the ring for all four team rides….sigh!
The day was going well if busy for Selena and I. We went out in the morning to walk some of the combinations and more worrisome questions with our friend Bruce Davidson. Selena did the team walk with David yesterday afternoon and then walked again on her own this evening. My evening was spent changing a flat tire on our trailer. We must have picked up a nail while we were parking and fortunately Jen Carter noticed the flat as her trailer was parked next to ours. Thank goodness for Jen’s sharp eyes, imagine arriving up there on Monday morning, ready to load and dying to get home, only to find ourselves with that particular problem. WHY are trailer nuts always rusted into place?? They never seem to unwind easily no matter how much you keep things oiled and greased. Eventually I had to cave and call CAA who came to my rescue around 5.30 and finished changing ONE tire at 8.30! This meant I did not see the Grand Prix Kurs this evening, instead I held flashlights and passed spanners.
The third last fence on course is a combination of two narrow brushes over two huge ditches three strides apart. That far on in the course it’s a huge question and all the riders have been out there fussing and fidgeting. Bruce said that if he had to choose what horse he would want to do it on, his choice would be Colombo who has heart and scope. Bruce always seems to manage to say JUST the right thing, and it’s true. Colombo has heart AND scope. Another ‘goody’ is the eighth fence. A big round left handed narrow corner of stone walls, much like the old Toms Wall at Badminton for those who remember it. It’s seven (or eight) curving strides off a ‘basket’ which is also a narrow, although not quite a skinny. However it’s rounded face means the line is tight. And of course there is the Head of the Lake which is a huge drop in, followed by a big bank out, three strides to a narrow cabin, canter around the water (past the gazillions of spectators) and back in over birch rails at the top of a slope, turn left in the water, jump up onto a HUGE island and off over a ramp back into the water. Phew….what a lot to do in one little pond.
Oh well, tomorrow is going to come and go no matter whether I sleep or not.
