Olympic Eventing Dressage Thread

I'm running several hours behind, but Lucinda Frederick's horse is behind the vertical a tremendous amount of the time.

I really like French dressage better than the German/Dutch variety, but theirs is the type that rules the world these days. I just like the way the French horses carry themselves and move so naturally but smoothly.
 
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No xc is ever 'soft' until all of you have jumped round it clear!

AN really gets on my nerves there's been a few times he's moaned and accused 'cheating' in the past. Good rider but never comes across as particularly nice!
 
No xc is ever 'soft' until all of you have jumped round it clear!

AN really gets on my nerves there's been a few times he's moaned and accused 'cheating' in the past. Good rider but never comes across as particularly nice!

100% agree ,he does come across as very unsporting

most are competitive and rightly so ,i don't think you would get to the top without a bit of fighting spirit but it would do AN no harm to shut his gob now and again :p
 
I agree that if he'd gone in and his horse had spooked due to the thunder then he'd of blamed the organisers. He's an amazing rider but he always is very outspoken.

Had the storm started when tins went in?

Yes I can speak for all live spectators when i say by this point i was already pretty bloody wet and there had been several rolls of thunder, the sky was also extremely dark... she should never have been allowed to go ahead with such severe winds with the stupid hut visor things still up, it not just distracting its actually pretty bl00dy dangerous!
 
What fab coverage of the dressage, has made my day today :) The setting for it and the views great too across London, loved the aerials they did. Well done to all concerned.
 
Is there anywhere I can catch up on todays action?? I have missed it all, and can't seem to find it on the BBC website....
 
I'm going to be grumbling all day tomorrow at missing the XC! Have got it recorded (after deleting everyone elses programmes to make room), but won't be the same watching it 6 hours afterwards!
......wonder how long the battery would last on my phone if I attempted to watch it on there ;)
 
Going to be exciting tomorrow.!!!!
Going to a friends with a big telly to watch she's having a cross country party it should be fun and nerve wracking.
On the stop and weather they could not get it right whatever they did .
 
Yes I can speak for all live spectators when i say by this point i was already pretty bloody wet and there had been several rolls of thunder, the sky was also extremely dark... she should never have been allowed to go ahead with such severe winds with the stupid hut visor things still up, it not just distracting its actually pretty bl00dy dangerous!

I think that that was the main issue - the huts. Ian Stark and Mike Tucker were really going on about how wet they were during Tina's test, then they never mentioned it again after the pause - I think judges and the like were getting wet. I don't think they would have stopped it for thunder alone!

TBH, I think AN was probably just interviewed while his blood was pumping post test. I worked for a top level male rider many years ago and he had spectacular strops when things went wrong - then ten minutes later he was nice as pie again! A bit like Pippa Funnel shouting at the camera man at Badminton that time. That level of rider is so driven and competative - and surely more than ever in the Olympics!

Can't wait for XC tomorrow. I am getting nothing done! Had the chance to go to the first show in ages today, and didn't, chose to watch this! Have enjoyed it though!
 
AN really gets on my nerves there's been a few times he's moaned and accused 'cheating' in the past. Good rider but never comes across as particularly nice!

Haven't followed this thread just dipped into the last couple of pages. But just wanted to say that, however he may come over, Andrew is in fact incredibly "nice", one of the nicest people you could wish to meet: friendly, generous, kind-hearted and a passionate horseman :) Tactful? Possibly not :D, and probably cares less what people who don't know him think of him than some other riders - he doesn't manage his public image as carefully as some :p Just sayin'...
 
From what i saw they wanted to continue after Tina, the next rider came in and there was bad thunder and his horse spooked badly. I would have thought he would have been thankful for that not to happen in his test?? Not even the ground jury can control the weather!!

AN come across as a bad sportman in many ways to me. (just my opinion)

Nicklaus was even more upset than Andrew at having to wait. He wanted to carry on. A spook like that would not have been severely marked down if the way of going was good. Being held would have affected the way of going a lot more. As Andrew explained in the article, your warm up is timed to the minute and, with 6/7 mins to go, you are committed to the final build up. Some horses can only hold maximum for a short time and some horses are not easy to stop and start so you only have one shot and it has to be accurate. Nereo is one of those as he puts so much into his work that his muscles then get tired - and that is nothing to do with fitness. He certainly was not being unsporting. He is a professional who has been meticulously planning this competition for several years. There is not another Olympics next week or next year. He is the first to admit if he makes a mistake and he expects professionalism from those around him. He had to carry on riding in in the bad weather so why stop the competition?

No, I wasn't either. I can understand his frustration but suggesting that they let the British rider go as though it was some kind of cheating was not very nice.

He wasn't suggesting they were cheating, just that they were more respectful of the British competitor.
 
No, I wasn't either. I can understand his frustration but suggesting that they let the British rider go as though it was some kind of cheating was not very nice.

He wasn't suggesting they were cheating, just that they were more respectful of the British competitor.

But suggesting they were more respectful of the British competitor IS suggesting they were cheating really..

If you read Tina Cook's interview, she says she wasn't put off by the rain in the least, but the noise from the roof of the judge's box rattling WAS offputting... So how do you decide?

What would they have said if they had been mid test and their horse had been put off by the roof flapping or coming off?

I'm not saying it was right to halt the competition, I can totally see their point.. Really the main issue here is that the silly judge's huts weren't made to withstand rain and wind - which is incredible in the summer that we have had! You'd have thought they'd have had plenty of opportunity to test them in all weathers.
 
Just asked someone in soapbox who was there and they said bits of box roof were flying off all over the place - what were they meant to do?

If they hadn't stopped to fix things, and something had causes either the Swedish rider or AN to have a massive spook/stop/whatever and ruin their test, they'd have moaned then surely? Stopping Tina mid-test would have been as unfair as making those two riders wait another 10 mins or so.

IOC & FEI were in a damned if they do/damned if they don't situation. It was the judge at C who said '10 min break'

Ah well, the Kiwis will just have to show everyone how it's done tomorrow...
 
- he doesn't manage his public image as carefully as some :p Just sayin'...

Perhaps he ought.
You know sometimes things go in your favour some times they don't .
You can get held XC and it be a disaster for you or it canbe to your advantage.
The organisers had no way of knowing what that lighting storm was going to develop into.
Nothing looks worse than a senior sportsman whineing.
 
I agree that if he'd gone in and his horse had spooked due to the thunder then he'd of blamed the organisers. He's an amazing rider but he always is very outspoken.

Had the storm started when tins went in?

The storm was approaching and arguably at a potentially more dangerous phase when Tina went in. By the time Niklas was sent out it was on it's way past. 10 mins is the worst possible amount of time to delay. If they had to stop , they should have had the lunch break so the riders had a fair chance. He most certainly would not have blamed the organisers if the weather had upset the horse. It is unlikely that it would have anyway as he is used to being ridden in all weather and he has complete trust in Andrew - did you see him frightened by the applause in halt? No.
 
But it wasn't the weather per se that stopped them (according to the commentary) more that the judges boxes were falling apart...
 
Perhaps he ought.
You know sometimes things go in your favour some times they don't .
You can get held XC and it be a disaster for you or it canbe to your advantage.
The organisers had no way of knowing what that lighting storm was going to develop into.
Nothing looks worse than a senior sportsman whineing.

Best I don't tell you what William's nickname is amongst officials then! The Brits have a worse reputation for whingeing than all the other nations.
 
Best I don't tell you what William's nickname is amongst officials then! The Brits have a worse reputation for whingeing than all the other nations.

I would not have thought anything different if someone else had said it I did not mean my comment as some sort of nationalistic thing.
I meanlt exactly what I said senior sportsmanship look really bad whingeing.
 
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