WEG dressage

WOW Charlotte and Freestyle. Stunning. Carl too sooo beautiful to watch. Commentary from Bobby Hayler was awesome, she was great at Burghley as well. Can you imagine if she commentates with Peter Storr at Badminton next year! A free masterclass. Giving a shout out to whoever did the music as well picking from Jan Hammer, Hans Zimmer and Jean Michael Jarre amongst others. Made for a great evening.
 
Great competition to watch. There are some stunning combinations.

That walk to piaffe transition looks like a ballache. I can count the horses on one hand who did it well.

Bella Rose had a slightly smoother test than Freestyle and Verdades but I don't think she possesses their brilliance. But it was very easy-looking, consistent, and relaxed. She reminds me of Brentina, a chestnut mare shown by American Debbie MacDonald in the early 2000s. Not the most spectacular mover in the ring, but she put in a relaxed, correct, consistent test. Freestyle looked a bit tense in some movements and lost a bit of rhythm in the first passage-piaffe tour, like she got over enthusiastic about passaging as high as she could, but she is very young. I can't wait to see her develop. What a horse. Verdades looked awesome. He had one moment where he got a bit wound up, right before first the trot half-pass, but Laura brought him back in the half-pass. I think he should have been scored higher, closer to Bella Rose's 86 percent. But I'm not an FEI judge, so what do I know.
 
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I agree with you a lot CI :)
Last time I saw Bella Rose I thought she looked amazing. Yesterday looked a bit.. I dunno, she seemed a bit robotic? perhaps if we hadn't just seen the extravagance of Verdades and Freestyle it wouldn't have been so noticeable.
I think Freestyle is hopefully going to be a spectacular horse, they said yesterday she was the youngest horse in the competition so that just highlights what she achieved there, IMO. And the story of Laura and Verdades is charming :) I've enjoyed watching them for quite a while. Lovely.

Hope the rescheduled comp on Monday is shown on the BBC... would be sad to miss it after all this.
 
milliepops said:
I agree with you a lot CI :)
Last time I saw Bella Rose I thought she looked amazing. Yesterday looked a bit.. I dunno, she seemed a bit robotic? perhaps if we hadn't just seen the extravagance of Verdades and Freestyle it wouldn't have been so noticeable.
I think Freestyle is hopefully going to be a spectacular horse, they said yesterday she was the youngest horse in the competition so that just highlights what she achieved there, IMO. And the story of Laura and Verdades is charming :) I've enjoyed watching them for quite a while. Lovely.

Hope the rescheduled comp on Monday is shown on the BBC... would be sad to miss it after all this.
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It will mess the highlights programme up a bit as that is due on Monday and the Freestyle won't have taken place. I shall be mega disappointed if it's not on the red button!!
 
Yes I agree on Bella Rose - very technically accurate, but just seemed a bit 'meh' somehow. Verdades was the standout horse for me, the one you watch and think 'God I'd love to feel how that horse is to ride'. I personally find Freestyle a bit much - a bit over expressive, verging on being freaky, but I'm looking forward to seeing her in the freestyle with all that flair
 
There's rumours the freestyle will be indoors tomorrow now, or cancelled altogether as the horse flights home can't be changed... anyone seen any confirmed info?
 
Dressage freestyle cancelled because of the horses booked on flights home that could not be changed.
Sad for all involved but it's just one of them freak things that could not be predicted.
 
If you will schedule a major international horse show on the Southeast coast of the United States in hurricane season.....

What a shame, and I was really looking forward to it, but predictable. Anywhere along the East Coast from Texas to New York is at risk at this time of year. As if one needed more evidence that the FEI are morons.
 
As I understand it, the European horses are all booked in flights Monday which is the main reason it was cancelled . The indoor arena surface is designed for reining so not suitable for dressage or jumping .
 
Talking of risks, as in weather/hurricane risks, apparently the Carolinas have never been hit by a hurricane like this before. I just put it down to 'sods law'!
Also got me thinking, Tokyo is in an earthquake prone area. Does that not affect decisions? or any earthquake prone competition areas before? Just musing...
 
It's the endurance people I really feel for. At least there are a few days of dressage and eventing. The endurance riders got nothing. Imagine all the work the riders must have put in:eek:

I know the weather was difficult but surely that doesn't explain the organisational problems. Even with the groom's accommodation, the owner of the facility said they underestimated the numbers requiring accommodation. It wouldn't have been difficult to find out how many people were coming beforehand.
 
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oldie48 said:
I am so disappointed but the competitors must be even more disappointed. what a shame. I do hope the eventing SJ goes ahead, GB did brilliantly yesterday.
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If they did cancel it, would it just be written off or would we be declared the winning nation on the scores from the two phases, I wonder?
 
Ah. That all explains why I've just had a frustrating and wasted 15 mins wading through the red button stuff on a TV I'm not familiar with (not at home) and not finding the dressage I was expecting! What a shame for everyone. :(
 
mule said:
It's the endurance people I really feel for. At least there are a few days of dressage and eventing. The endurance riders got nothing. Imagine all the work the riders must have put in:eek:

I know the weather was difficult but surely that doesn't explain the organisational problems. Even with the groom's accommodation, the owner of the facility said they underestimated the numbers requiring accommodation. It wouldn't have been difficult to find out how many people were coming beforehand.
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I bet a lot of the organisational problems are part of the game of stepping up short notice - after all, Bromont pulled out only two years ago, Kentucky was in the picture for a while (but couldn't get over the Lexington Rolex / FEI Longines sponsorship issue at the time) and Tryon was confirmed, what, 18 months ago? So they had 18 months to do four years work, but were essentially the only near-viable option on the table.

And then you add a hurricane affecting proceedings, which really wasn't as likely as all that even in hurricane season. After all - the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 weren't affected and they're a bare 200 miles south of Tryon and no more inland! After all, we're up to Joyce now, and Flo is the only hurricane to hit the contiguous USA so far. I mean, if they'd gone with Ocala or Wellington in Florida they'd also be right in hurricane season... but pretty much unaffected by Flo.

I think with the dressage horses, it's probably not so much that they need to go home on Monday - it's that the planes need to get to Europe, turn around, and be back in Tryon on Tuesday to pick up the eventing horses. And then it wouldn't be surprising if they were turning around and coming back for another load on Wednesday!

As you say, I think the endurance people have had it worst - they've not been affected by building/time constraints, just totally normal weather for the region and human error, one of which was entirely predictable and the other of which just shouldn't have happened.
 
caladria said:
I bet a lot of the organisational problems are part of the game of stepping up short notice - after all, Bromont pulled out only two years ago, Kentucky was in the picture for a while (but couldn't get over the Lexington Rolex / FEI Longines sponsorship issue at the time) and Tryon was confirmed, what, 18 months ago? So they had 18 months to do four years work, but were essentially the only near-viable option on the table.

And then you add a hurricane affecting proceedings, which really wasn't as likely as all that even in hurricane season. After all - the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 weren't affected and they're a bare 200 miles south of Tryon and no more inland! After all, we're up to Joyce now, and Flo is the only hurricane to hit the contiguous USA so far. I mean, if they'd gone with Ocala or Wellington in Florida they'd also be right in hurricane season... but pretty much unaffected by Flo.

I think with the dressage horses, it's probably not so much that they need to go home on Monday - it's that the planes need to get to Europe, turn around, and be back in Tryon on Tuesday to pick up the eventing horses. And then it wouldn't be surprising if they were turning around and coming back for another load on Wednesday!

As you say, I think the endurance people have had it worst - they've not been affected by building/time constraints, just totally normal weather for the region and human error, one of which was entirely predictable and the other of which just shouldn't have happened.
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Good post - very even-handed assessment of a perfect storm (ha-ha!) of circumstances.
 
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