We went to the Olympics! Plus NAYC action begins

What an exciting day at the Olympics yesterday for the first round of Grand Prix competition. I’m not sure how to describe the spectator experience. On the one hand it’s the world’s biggest sporting event in an iconic location. Yet at the end of the day it’s still a horse show, with all the highs and lows that entails.

We saw some truly lovely rides, and some heartbreaking ones. I won’t give a play by play of each ride, since many other outlets already do that much better than I ever could. But a few of my personal favourites included:
- Carl Hester for such impeccable riding with nearly invisible aids
- Nanna Skodborg Merrald for a well-deserved high score of the day
​- Lithuania’s Justina Vanagaite for the most joyful, harmonious ride, and the loosest curb rein I’ve ever seen
- Singapore’s Caroline Chew for the gutsiest ride and best recovery after a very hot and tense start

Of course watching the Canadians was the highlight of my day and I believe Naima and Chris will be pleased with their performances. Naima and Statesman had a couple of minor bobbles in the test which kept them shy of the 70% mark but the pair looked confident and polished in the ring. Their draw in the first group of 10 was definitely an advantage today, with temperatures topping 35 degrees.

With a mid-afternoon ride time, Chris and Eclips weren’t so fortunate in the draw. They performed a careful, mistake-free test, however it lacked energy and brilliance. So did all the spectators by the 3:04pm ride time! Chris’ scores ranged from 65.435 to 68.913 for a final 66.863.

At the end of play Naima was ranked 8th in Group A, while Chris finished 7th in Group C. Grand Prix action continues tomorrow with Groups E, F, and G featuring heavy hitters Lottie Fry, Isabell Werth, Jessica von Bredow-Werndl, and of course Canada’s Camille Carier Bergeron with Finländerin.

I won’t be in the stands today but will do my best to keep you all updated on both the Olympics and the FEI North American Youth Championships, where the Juniors and U25 riders are in action.

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