Fourteen combinations totaling 17 jumping efforts comprised the test. The class held three double combinations and an open water. There were a handful of efforts that seemed to turn into curveballs. A first fence in the combination at 11 was a predominant problem, as was the oxer at 12. Another tricky question for most of the horse-and-rider pairings came at the double combination at 13, not to leave out the final obstacle, 14, where the rail seemed to drop time and again. Among the 47 entries, only 17 navigated the course without posting jumping penalties.
Leading the pack for Team USA was the first to enter the ring – Hough. Partnered with the 11-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare, Casadora (owned by Laura and Meredith Mateo), the Wellington, FL, resident turned in a performance on plan. Hough and Casadora posted a computed score of 1.29 to sit in fifth place (or final time of 82.24 seconds, zero faults).
“I thought the course was good, but perhaps a touch on the small side,” said Hough. “I hope tomorrow’s has a little bit bigger fences to separate these countries a little bit better,” referring to the tight scores between the countries in contention for a Team medal.
“I’m pleased with my round today,” she continued. “It was a ride according to plan, and I’m less than one pole, individually, and we have a lot more jumping to go. I think, as a team, we are going to rally tomorrow.”
Her conviction and determination were evident, despite sitting just outside the reach of a spot on the medal podium after the first day’s competition.
“Two poles sounds like a lot, but we are not far from the lead,” said Hough. “We are going to fight for it and try to win a Gold medal.”
Immediately behind Hough in the standings from Day One, and the third member of Team USA to tackle the course, was New Jersey’s Laura Chapot and her 13-year-old KWPN Dutch Warmblood, Little Big Man. The gelding, which has had several tough days due to a displaced colon, bounced back and turned in a clean round, though there was a split second where it seemed that fence 12 might say otherwise. Some quick thinking and control on the rider’s part helped prevent it, which is another wonder considering she has been up with her mount for the past three days.
“I’m just amazed at my horse…he had a displaced colon,” she said. “Somehow, it got back where it belonged. We were up through the night. But [before the competition], the vets said it was OK, and everything was in order. George [Morris, chef d’equipe] said, ‘Give it a shot,’ and despite my horse being tired…he put in an amazing performance.”
The clean-and-clear round, on a time of 82.41 seconds, sits Chapot and Little Big Man in sixth place overall on a computed score of 1.38.
The horse has been totally cleared by the veterinarians to compete – an issue that was of the utmost importance to the vets, the team and the rider. Chapot made it clear that under no circumstance would she compete otherwise.
“I made it very clear this morning that in no way was I going to take my horse [into the ring] if there were any possible repercussions,” she said.
North Palm Beach area rider Cara Raether sits in 28th place after Day One aboard Trelawny Farm’s Ublesco, a 10-year-old Belgian Warmblood stallion. The pair picked up eight jumping penalties, downing the first rail of the oxer at the double combination at fence six, as well as the front rail of the course’s final oxer at 14. They finished on a computed score of 7.53.
“The course was good…I was happy,” said, Raether. Noting her two rails, she added, “One was a mistake on my part, and one was a ‘cheap’ rail at the last fence.”
Last to enter the ring was former USEF Equestrian of the Year, Todd Minikus. With his 10-year-old KWPN Dutch Warmblood gelding, Pavarotti, the rider gave the crowd a startle before even clearing the first obstacle. In his approach to the initial question, Pavarotti ran out and refused. Minikus recovered the situation, and they continued on their test.
“I was very confident in the schooling area, maybe a little too confident,” said Minikus. “I went in there with a lot of stride… that much stride surprised my horse a little bit. Disappointedly enough, he ducked to the right [before fence one]. I tried to make up the time. We ended up trying too hard too fast.”
The refusal cost time, and the two downed rails added 8 faults to his score. Minikus and Pavarotti finished the day in 31st place on a computed score of 8.36 (an adjusted time of 96.37 seconds).
A pair of Canadian riders occupy the two top spots – Jill Henselwood aboard Special Ed (0.0, 79.66 seconds) and veteran Ian Millar aboard In Style (0.29, 80.23 seconds). Following in third place is Mexico’s Simon Nizri aboard Cataro Ask (0.47, 80.59 seconds) and Brazil’s Bernardo Alves aboard Chupa Chupa 2 in fourth place on a computed score of 1.09 (81.84 seconds).
Show jumping continues on Friday with two rounds of jumping to determine the Team medal. The first round will begin in the morning and will be followed by a lunch break, after which, the horse-and-rider combinations will return for another round. Through both of these rounds, the computed scores (where jumping penalties are converted into seconds and then into discounted points) will be counted and are valid for the Team and Individual results.