RIO: Day 1 Showjumping

Words: Chris Hector and Photos: Rebecca Ashton

Just following the format of the showjumping competition is an art in itself. So the first day’s competition is an individual competition, with a rest day tomorrow, and the teams competition the day after that – but the results from today only affected the order of go in the teams competition, although they are carried forward in the individual competition.

Got it?

On the day, there were 24 clear rounds but eight didn’t finish the course.
An early clear was France’s Philippe Rozier on Rahotep de Toscane

Today is the first day it has actually feels like an Olympic Games, the stands are packed and they are on a high pitch of excitement right from the start with Brazil’s Eduardo Menezes and Quintol –  just one rail, wonderful jumping….

Ominously for the footing, the next horse, Argentinia’s Appy Cara is going great, then slips, loses his hind legs. The rider, Ramiro Quintana keeps pushing to the Liverpool – the poor horse stops, retakes it, and over the rest with ease, but the question is the footing.

The heroes of London, that funny chunky looking pair, Nick Skelton and Big Star, going great then Nick is fighting to get the stallion back before the last, he can’t and the rail tumbles down.

Nick Skelton and Big Star

First of the Aussies, Matt Williams and the Dutch gelding, Valinski S, are eating up the track, till near the end of the course, they have a rail first of the dreaded double (a hideously optical oxer) and the last fence for 8. Still Matt was happy with his preparation for the teams’ competition on Tuesday:

Matt Williams and Valinski S

“The horse jumped great the first part, he tries so hard every time he goes into the ring. I had a plan with that last line to jump it a little bit out to the right to do the eight strides and he has a drift, and he drifted more that I thought, and I thought I’ll move up in the eight – rider mistake. If I’d sat still in the eight, I think he would have jumped a clear round, the only reason he had the last rail down was because of the other rail, and he was a little bit tired by the end of the round. I’m really happy with him for the Teams, he’s seen a lot of spooky jumps and he’s been out there in the atmosphere.”

“He’s probably the best one I’ve had.”

That spooky double….

It looked easy everywhere except maybe you looked a little apprehensive coming into the open water?

“At the water, I needed to see one early to cover it, away from the gate, and as I was about eight strides away, I really wasn’t sure I was going to get there. I thought, wow, this is going to be a bit off and he jumped that well. I find that when I gallop to water like that, then I can really make him sit in the seven, easy. He’ll land a little dead and you just sit up and he is right there for you. He’s learnt a lot in the last ten months, he couldn’t do that in the beginning, now he can really back up.”

Matt Williams and Valinski S over the water

One of the early horses lost its hind legs on a turn, did you find the surface difficult?

“I didn’t but I saw that and I sort of sliced the fence because I didn’t want to turn and be straight and have that maybe happen. I came at a little angle to that fence and it also saved me a bit of time.”

Is he the sort of horse that will get better over the course of a championship?

“He’s the sort of horse that if he has two down, he will come out and try a lot harder the next time. He’s normally best on the last week of a four week show. The more jumping you do the better he gets, the first day at a show is always his worst day – he’s a bit spooky and when he is spooky, he rides like a tired horse, it’s really weird.”

Will Jeroen Dubbeldam, make history with Zenith? The pair won at WEG in 2014, the European’s in 2015, now the Olympics in 2016? Watching Jeoroen ride is a bit like a meditation session, the great rider’s inner calm radiates around the arena. Even after they collect 4 with a foot in water, he still leaves the arena as cool and serene as he came in.

Jeroen Dubbeldam and Zenith

Another clear from Brazil’s Stephan de Freitas Barcha on Landpeter do Feroleto, perhaps the rider would have preferred the crowd to wait, rather than beginning the applause two fences from home. Team trainer George Morris took a risk leaving out Brazil’s most famous rider, Rodrigo Pessoa, but it looks like paying off.

Stephan de Freitas Barcha and Landpeter do Feroleto

George Morris watches his Brazilians go around

Next of the Aussies, Scott Keach and Fedor, they are looking tough and focused, just a rail at the triple bar – and he got through the bogy double that caught Matt and JPR out:

Scott Keach and Fedor

“For me it is a bit of a rolling seven, but it is long in the double. Those tall planks, and the way they are situated, for some reason a lot of people are getting there a little deep to the first oxer and the that vertical is riding too long and the oxer is wide enough as well, and I think that is causing the problems, along with the visual of it, because it is very very open and it is a very careful jump – that’s the only explanation I can come up with.”

“I was lucky enough to see it go a bit and I made up my mind to do the seven and just made sure I got it done.”

You must be happy with your first round?

“Yeah I am. I wanted to do six to the triple bar so I was going to try and go really direct and just came round the corner and was thinking that way, and the horse responded a bit more, and he drifted a little right going in as well… but I think he jumped very, very well, he feels fantastic, and when the horse jumps well, it is up to the rider to do his job, so it is up to me, isn’t it?”

Scott Keach and Fedor

Have you jumped many of Guilherme Jorge’s tracks before?

“Sure, Gui lives in the States, he lives at Wellington, he has already told a friend of mine that he is going to build the toughest here that he has ever built, by Wednesday, it is going to be big and it is going to be tough.”

Does he have a particular style as a designer?

“I think he’s got very good feel. This is pretty typical – that line to the double… there will be some lines there you really have to nail from the beginning of the line, you can’t be getting the work done at the end. I think he’s got a very good feel for those bending lines, and he is pretty good at scattering the rails around the ring.”

The next of the Aussies, Edwina Tops-Alexander has a stylish clear on her little mare, Lintea Tequila.

Prize question so far for the Games, goes to the wire service hack who asks Edwina, The weather here is pretty hot, is that the sort of weather your horse is used to?

Er, well and Edwina had to explain that it had been some time since she lived in Australia, and certainly Lintea Tequila has never stepped foot on the wide brown land.

Edwina Tops-Alexander and Lintea Tequila

Were there any parts of the course that gave you more trouble than you were expecting?

“When I walked it, that line to the double is a little but uphill and I walked it on a direct line for me but the horses are really backing off it a lot. When I went in, I showed it to mine but she doesn’t look at anything. She jumped it unbelievable. The last line ended up riding a bit short for me and that’s a great sign for me – being a short horse, she feels so good, and when small horses feel good, they have a big stride. Those distances to the triple and after the water, got extremely short for me, she’s feeling amazing. I’ve had to adjust a bit to her stride but I wasn’t worried much for her, she’s got an incredible mind and she is very sure of herself. My horse is a lot like a Thoroughbred and that is a big advantage to me.”

Edwina Tops-Alexander and Lintea Tequila

James Paterson-Robinson on his Indoctro gelding, Amarillo was also going great until like Matt he had the dreaded first of the double down, and then the last.

Hi James, I guess you’ve been practicing your one word answers…

“Yeah.”

James Paterson-Robinson and Amarillo

The course?

“I walked it alone three times, and I changed my plan a little bit after the first time I walked it. I just made my own plan, did my own thing. That last line was tricky, not just tricky for us, but tricky for a lot of people, there have been some good horses eliminated, and stopping and falling. Disappointing to have a rail or two but I would be more disappointed if I had it on rail number one and then jumped the difficult line – it was the difficult line that caught us out. I rode it according to my plan, I went for seven, and I had a good shot in, he just had an unlucky fault on the back, it wasn’t a hard fault, just unlucky. I thought I came quite well in but because I got the fault, I needed to push out and I didn’t get enough room for the last jump.”

“This course was not crazy big, but tricky enough, a lot of different jumps it’s catching quite a few people out… and there’s probably some more jumps hiding round the back somewhere, that he is going to bring out later.”

And are you feeling good for the Teams?

“I hope so. Normally after two faults today, normally he should be a little more in form when we come back on Tuesday. Hopefully I can do better for the team.”

James Paterson-Robinson and Amarillo

Highest jumper of the day? Fibonacci with Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum

Crash of the day….Penelope Leprevost and Flora de Mariposa don’t start off as well as hoped

Doda de Miranda and Cornetto K go clear for Brazil

When the third Brazilian, Doda de Miranda and Carnetto K, have another clear, the crowd hysteria is reaching breaking point and it boils right over when Pedro Veniss and Quabri de L’Isle for Brazil, another clear for the home side, suddenly the Games have come alive, and it can only build from here… bring on the Samba teams!