Shane Rose and Swiper
Shane Rose often takes a deep breath before entering the dressage arena but today he took quite a few deep breaths and then hopped off his CIC3* horse Swiper as soon as he had completed the test and walked, or rather hobbled away. It was clear that Shane was in some discomfort (“It bloody hurts!”) and it turned out that he was suffering from a bad back
“Like any rider I get a bad back, horses do that to you but this is not the usual lower pain – it’s higher up”
Despite the pain, he produced a very good test on his young horse Swiper that had only intermittent work last year as Shane jetted back and forth to the UK and they were in third place on 32.50 after the dressage
Shane has just been named on the Equestrian Australian 2018 Eventing Gold squad and is hoping that Swiper might even step up to be a good backup for Virgil in the final selection process
Shane Rose
Christine Bates and Adelaide Hill
But it was the Sydney Eventing President Christine Bates on board Adelaide Hill that led after the dressage on a score of 28.70 from judges Peter Shaw and Anne Tylee. It was an impressive test; Christine was smiling as she circled the arena and the well established partnership made the whole thing look easy
Tim Boland and GV Billy Elliott
Tim Boland’s GV Billy Elliott is another horse that shines in the dressage arena but a ‘senior moment’ from Tim when he lost his way cost him a couple of penalties and he finished second after the dressage on 31.50. While Tim lost his way, Tania Harding’s Jirrima Yorkshire lost his tail, depositing it on the centre line as he went towards his final halt. It didn’t cause any harm apart from finishing with a much skinnier tail than when he started and they were in sixth after the dressage on 34.10.
Tania and Jirrima Yorkshire with the full tail
The CIC3* show jumping late in the afternoon saw a few changes to the leader board but Christine not only retained the top spot but also had a clear round on Ned O’Reilly, moving them up to third when Shane and Swiper had a few rails. Tim Boland and GV Billy Elliott also jumped clear retaining second place, Stuart Tinney and War Hawk moved into fourth with just four faults, Jade Findlay and Oaks Cordelia also jumped clear for fifth and Tania stayed in sixth
The tail that got longer and longer ....
There seemed to be a few tales of tails today with Tess Presdee’s The Alchemist developing a longer and longer tail as their EvA95 test went on. At one point the false tail threatened to remove itself then somehow stayed in place but quite a further down than intended. The Alchemist gave a few swishes to try and remove the offending article but it was still there when they finished and Tess was blissfully unaware!
This is what it feels like to go through the EvA95 Finish flags on the classy past 3* horse, Diablito
We were paying particular attention to the competitors in the An Eventful Life EvA95B and, while Kim Cole and Diablito led the dressage this morning, they added 14.4 time penalties on cross country to drop to fifth place (37.60) but, judging from Kim’s face as they passed through the finish flags, she couldn’t give a hoot – she looked as if she had enjoyed the ride of her life. And so she should on this lovely chestnut that has competed at high levels with Judy Clarke. Judy almost caught Kim up at the finish – her new horse, another chestnut called Uka certainly wasn’t going to have time faults and now holds the lead (31.40).
Judy Clarke streaks past on Uka
Another speedy rider was Andrew Barnett on Hubert, now in second place (31.40) while Lara Pizimolas on JEP Frapant and Lauren McIntosh on Valerius Scipio are both on 34.40 but Lara was closer to the optimum time and takes third place
Watch out behind you - here comes Andrew Barnett!
There is a jam packed day of cross country action coming up tomorrow with the first rider out on course at 8am. This happens to be Shane Rose on Togo, currently in fourth place in the CIC1*, which is led by Stuart Tinney on Diabolo, a horse usually ridden by his daughter Gemma who has sprained her ankle
Stuart is also third in the CIC2* on board Celebration but this class is led by young rider Thea Horsley on Fairview Rembrandt. This is really eye catching and rhythmical horse and their very good test scored 30.30 but a busy Rachael Lee on Urodel Du Texier is pushing them in second place (30.40) and Stuart is close behind on 30.60
Love this horse. Thea Horsley and Fairview Rembrandt lead the CIC2*
