Anyone want a thread for the Olympic dressage live?

I'm working on site tomorrow but have made it clear I won't be around until after medals are awarded!

'Can we have a zoom meeting at 11am?' Ummm...
 
To think Ingrid Klimke would have been on the German team had it not been for a injury to her horse (before her fall)
 
To be honest the US test before Charlotte's was beautiful and did deserve a great score and to put the pressure on. It was good to see that rewarded, and not just the 'names' on the big marks.
As an event person I usually can't be bothered watching loads of dressage but I did get hooked today and am quite looking forward to tomorrow now :-)
 
DressageCob said:
I'm impressed at the US team this year. I've never even had them on my radar. I always think of dressage as a European battle. For me they came out of nowhere! That's probably my ignorance and natural bias against the yanks ?
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tbf we watch and read about a lot of european competition though here, i mean the Europeans are coming up, and all the big shows in europe tend not to attract the US riders.
 
DressageCob said:
I'm impressed at the US team this year. I've never even had them on my radar. I always think of dressage as a European battle. For me they came out of nowhere! That's probably my ignorance and natural bias against the yanks ?
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I was really impressed by them too, especially the test before Charlotte's (Sabine I think?) which was complete class.
They have been building for a few years now, Laura Graves won bronze in Rio, silver at WEG and I think they got team silver ahead of GB at the worlds' too? I think previously they were boosted by Laura & Verdades (80%+ scores) who retired this year so I'm really impressed to see they still have such a strong team without their previous best combination.
 
Hoping there is some excitement tomorrow and it isn't a German 1,2,3 - although I wouldn't be surprised!
I wonder how much the heat and horses' fitness will play a part... I remember there were a few in London & Rio looking tired by the time the freestyle came around and conditions seem to be tougher in Tokyo.
 
Kat said:
BBC Radio news just said we won Bronze in the "women's team dressage" I think that'll be a shock to Carl Hester!
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? brilliant!

The Guardian have actually done a decent article that appears at the top of their page. Having looked at the Verth-referencing idiot's twitter feed, I think he was trying to be funny in a misguided, laddish way. Kn*bhead.

I have meetings all morning tomorrow so likely to be watching the freestyle on catch-up. Should be a great competition, I hope we squeeze another medal out of it but I think that would be quite a stretch for our young horses.
 
are there any other Olympic sports where men and women compete in the same section? I can't think of any but accept my knowledge is verrrrrry limited when it comes to anything outside the equestrian ones :p
 
milliepops said:
are there any other Olympic sports where men and women compete in the same section? I can't think of any but accept my knowledge is verrrrrry limited when it comes to anything outside the equestrian ones :p
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I don't think so, not on such completely even terms. There might be a mixed doubles in tennis (not sure) but that's different as gender is still specified, i.e. one male and one female.
 
Well I went into my lesson holding my phone and refused to mount my steed until Charlotte was finished. Big bummer about the tempis but you know what I think he looked a lot better today than sunday actually. Still a massive achievement in some very very stiff competition. Well done team Britain!
 
scats said:
I’m so proud of our team. I couldn’t care less that we got bronze and not silver, we have a team of true horsemen who are kind and sympathetic in their training and produce happy, athletic horses who seem to enjoy their job. They don’t have to ride them heavily, ugly, kick or pull them to get the moves... they ride with such elegance and poise and it is clear to me that the number one thing to all of them is the horse underneath them, not the medal.
It’s a proud day to a be a British equestrian.
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Well said!! :) I am super proud of the GB dressage team. They are all inspirational, generous, cool, kind and quite unique. Well done us!! :)
 
Branna said:
Hoping there is some excitement tomorrow and it isn't a German 1,2,3 - although I wouldn't be surprised!
I wonder how much the heat and horses' fitness will play a part... I remember there were a few in London & Rio looking tired by the time the freestyle came around and conditions seem to be tougher in Tokyo.
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Watching Edward Gal's test on Total US I couldn't help thinking that the 9 year old was simply lacking a little muscle and stamina to match his talent, and maybe he was just a little too young. I did worry Gio might be the same but he was no worse than some of the older horses.

Another test tomorrow is a lot to ask of these horses so I think the heat / conditions / fitness and stamina are going to play a part. I wonder if it might be an advantage to the more experienced horses who know what is coming...or to the younger ones who simply have youth on their side.

(Fully aware these horses are absolutely in tip top condition)
 
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