So we got the competition started yesterday. Literally. Boyd was first in on Otis Barbotiere and did a great job with the French phenom. Still green, Otis tried his heart out and coped remarkably well with the atmosphere. Unfortunately the judges weren't all quite on the same page yet, as the caffeine in the coffee was seemingly NOT evenly distributed. There was a 7 point spread in his scores which in the sport of reining, for instan
ce, would be cause for an audit.We got over that, but it took awhile.
ce, would be cause for an audit.We got over that, but it took awhile.Before Boyd's test I had meet a slow waking dressage team at the Olympic Village - they had been at Opening Ceremonies and had great stories and photos of them all with LeBron James. The LeBron James - who is bringing his talents to London!
They were on great form, even Adrienne Lyle who had fallen out of bed at 2:30am when they finally got back to the village. We went to the main press center which is like a virtual city in itself and had a press conference with lots of mainstream media. They handled it like champs and then Steffen Peters and I raced back to catch Boyd.
After Boyd, we had a little break in which I caught up with my favorite kids on the venue: Mary and Olivia Dutton and LeeLee Jones. They and their mom, Evie arrived the previous day to cheer on their dad/stepdad. We convened in the International Teams Tent, run by the legendary Rosemary Barlow. A huge supporter of all things eventing (and the owner of Andrew Nicholson's lovely Barbury winner Avebury) - she runs a great hospitality pavilion for owners and supporters. Despite the name it is not a tent like normal, its a gloriously sunny gallery room in the Maritime Museum.
Greenwich is proving spectacular so far.
Mrs. O'Connor and Mr. Medicott were next in and KOC was thankful for the new gear installed on the redhead. He took a disliking to something on the centerline once he entered and raced off, head in the air. The double bridle helped reel him back in and hewent to work until a repeat performance on the final center line. She's in the hunt, but we were imagining what could have been. His owner Sarah Kelley and her dad Jerome Broussard were on hand to watch with scores of other US supporters.They were handing out stallion IDs yesterday and somehow some of our humans co-opted a couple for more extensive explanation of their opinion of themselves.
Tiana rounded out the effort on day one and although Ringwood Magister (Finn to his friends or Spot as I like to call him) is one of the flashiest looking horses at the event, a few mistakes kept them from the really good score of which they are capable.
We had a bit of a manic afternoon, Phillip and Boyd had USA Today interviews and then we had a party at USA house. Christy Baxter and I took it as an excuse to get dressed up and thought we would be clever and walk through the venue. The gate by the house was locked and after 45 minutes we were seriously reconsidering our footwear selection. We weren't the only ones, BUT our route did NOT involve jumping over a wall like some might have done. We arrived and it was a lovely party put on by Land Rover and the weather gods obliged.
Today has brought more dressage - Will and Phillip both put in seriously solid efforts to take the top two spots for USA. Both of these horses are owned by the Wildasins, and it is great to have such serious supporters of our sport. Steffen Peters loved Mystery Whisper - and like the rest of us thought he was done by. He should have scored higher - but judging is judging. He looked awesome from where we were standing.
We just checked out the plans for tomorrow’s cross country - huge thunderstorms rolled through and we sought refuge in the video tent. While we were walking back down the hill, a Japanese rider, Yoshi Oiwa took the lead - which had been hard held by Stefano Brecciaroli from Italy.
Mark Todd is in the ring - seventh Olympic Games for the legend himself.