For me I had my second day in London and a second day navigating around. It was much more successful; I got to and from the venue with no wrong turns. That’s not to say that there weren’t delays and extended pauses where I questioned my next move but I never actually went the wrong way.
Sometimes it’s all about the small victories!
Once at the venue, I was greeted by extremely nice and helpful volunteers and military officials. Not enough can be said about these men and women.
They have been unbelievably friendly and kind both as you enter and exit Greenwich Park and go from one part of the venue to the next. Helpful can’t even begin to describe them.
Today each nation had assigned times in which they could ride in the main arena. The U.S. was allotted the 2pm-3pm time slot and all four horses looked totally comfortable in the arena. Jonathan Wentz’s NTEC Richter Scale and Donna Ponessa’s Western Rose were just hand walked around the perimeter and seemed to enjoy themselves and appeared very relaxed in the beautiful stadium.
Rebecca Hart gave Lord Ludger a nice schooling session throughout the arena as well as riding within the dressage arena that was set-up for riders and the veteran pair looked ready to produce solid work over the next week. Dale Dedrick gave Bonifatius also had a nice relaxed ride in the main stadium. Both combinations looked right at home in the stadium that had some horses and riders from other nations looking a little nervous.
After the U.S. had completed their training I caught up with all four riders and Team Leader Pam Lane. They all said they have settled in and are looking forward to competition getting underway.
Everyone looks great in their USA gear and the excitement as well as team atmosphere is palpable.
I commented to Dale how “Eric” looked right at home in the ring and she pointed out that this was the type of atmosphere he was used to. She explained that the big arena with a dressage ring in the center was very similar to the Mid-Western venues they often compete at in the U.S.
The Horse Inspection begins tomorrow at 10am with the U.S. jogging at the end of the order. More after tomorrow……
Look alike of the Day: One of the Argentinian horses (I didn’t catch the name or number) has an uncanny resemblance to British eventing horse and 2012 Team Silver medalist Miners Frolic.