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Trying to Keep Up

by Joanie Morris | Oct 1, 2010, 8:59 PM

Just sitting watching some dressage, as the best 15 horses and riders in the world groove before a packed house. These days have been incredibly long, and different from any other championship I have ever been to because even though it is home turf, it is such a big venue – getting around getting things done takes seemingly longer than anticipated.

The jumpers have arrived. Sapphire, Cedric, Quick Study, Urico and Davos walked off the truck like they owned the place.

Cedric is very, very flea bitten since the last time I saw him, but he is so cute – he’ll look you right in the eye and say hello.

I walked around the cross country course yesterday with Phillip, Evie and Boyd. It is some track Mike E-S has built, it’s massive in a word and I feel like a really scopey horse will really enjoy it, but if you were a bit short on jump you might be finding it a bit difficult by the tenth minute. I had to leave the track at the Head of the Lake – which you would need a seriously brave horse to get the job done with and hoofed it all the way down to reining where our boys just rocked in the individual. Tom and Craig put in awesome performances. Shawn Flarida survived massive disappointment and equipment failure and handled it with unbelievable grace.

I have to say that their horses are amazing. they are so sweet and Gunners Special Nite (who they call Bailey for some reason) is just all class. At 12, RC Fancy Step is a total anomaly in the reining world – which similar to racing is focused on futurities and derbies for much younger horses. They have to be six to do FEI reining and it has created great longevity for some of these reining horses.

I can’t remember if I wrote about how wonderful Ravel was and how there is no more deserving team for a medal at these Games than Ravel’s crew. Akiko and Jerry, Steffen, Shannon, Rafa and Tom are just amazing and that wonderful horse carried the weight of a nation on his shoulders in the Individual final.

He won Bronze then – and we are about to watch him deliver again.

More later.