The tweeters were getting very excited early in the day describing the sound of hymns from the main arena, commenting on the warm weather, the crowds piling into the car park and who would be wearing helmet cam on course today. If you’re not into Twitter during a big event – you’re missing out! If you are, make sure you’re following us @eventfulifebook and @equestrian_life. Paul Tapner seemed to have recovered from his disappointment with Kilfinnie’s test and tweeted that ‘Spectator numbers seem a little down this yr so those coming today, cheer extra loudly!’ (@tapnereventing if you want to follow Paul) Eighty-one combinations left the starting box, the first one – Andrew Nicholson and Avebury – starting at 12 noon. This year’s later start was to accommodate the Easter church service, which took place in the main arena at 9.30am. Although the weather forecasters, as well as the tweeters, were predicting plenty of sunshine, the temperatures were not expected to hit the dizzy heights of the past two days (there were reports of thermometers pushing 30 degrees in some places on Saturday – I can’t imagine what they would think of the 40 degrees at Adelaide two years ago!) There was one withdrawal overnight – Mary King withdrew Apache Sauce, leaving her with just one ride, Imperial Cavalier, who was lying in 13th place. Early in the morning, Pippa Funnell announced that she was withdrawing Mirage d’Elle – apparently nothing to do with the horse but Pippa felt that she personally didn’t need to do the miles when she was out of contention. Five of the current top 10 combinations were not due out on course until after 4pm, including the overnight dressage leaders Ruth Edge and Two Thyme, who were to set off at 4pm exactly – that meant a late night for me! The cross-country course was 6422m long this year with an optimum time of 11min 16sec. The Badminton course is never easy and always takes its toll; as Badminton guest blogger Sam Watson commented “Take a good look at the leaderboard now because it won’t look like that for long. Fiftieth place is on 55 penalties. Last year only fifty competitors completed and only seven finished on a score lower than those 55 penalties. An interesting statistic and one which many riders will be turning to tonight for motivation” Andrew Nicholson was first on course on Avebury and he bowled along on his first ride showing his experience – after all he has ridden this course more than any else in the world! He had a great ride which improved as he went along and he came in clear and under time – as if to say, that’s how to do it! The next rider to go under time was Aiofe Clark on her first horse Vaguely North and then the young superstar, third after the dressage, Laura Collett had a great ride on Rayef. This horse looks across country the way he does in dressage – super! Despite the fact that this was their first Badminton they looked full of confidence and the ability of the horse to shorten and lengthen showed. His ears were pricked – great through the Lake and getting big pats. Towards the end Rayef looked a bit tired and Laura was kicking on but they came home safely, clear with 8.8 time faults which left her in 6th place at the end of the day. Yorkshire’s Nicola Wilson, who also rides Opposition Buzz – one of my favourite cross country horses - retired her first horse Bee Diplomatic at the Farmyard – the horse just drags his legs over the second apex, pulls up sore with a mark on his stifle after the fence so Nicola wisely retires him. Then Mark Todd is on course on Major Milestone and he looks very ‘unToddy’ through the Lake – a bit unbalanced (much to the delight of commentator Ian Stark!). However he comes home clear with 8.4 time and Mark goes off for a nap before riding the last horse of the day. William Fox-Pitt on Navigator (what a lovely looking horse) started to look a bit sticky about half way through the course and had to work quite hard towards the end but they came home with only 3.2 time faults. Ingrid Klimke was not quite so lucky – she seemed to be going flat out most of the way which is apparently her normal style and on a couple of occasions lost the backend on turns but survived however she came unstuck at the Huntsman’s Close. FRH Butts Abraxxas caught his front legs on the fence and fell – as he got up he appeared to roll on Ingrid’s leg and although she was okay she may have injured one leg. Let’s hope nothing too serious for the lovely lady who was in Melbourne recently as the Young Horse judge at Dressage and Jumping With the Stars. By now it was clear that making time was an issue – by the end of the day there were only seven horses under time. Marina Kohncke riding the 11 year old mare, Calma Schelly was in 6th place after the dressage and they had a great ride cross country. This horse has a long, loping stride and at first it seemed they were under time, however they had been held on course and when the time was re-checked they had 4 time faults added. However, this still put them in the lead and Marina was obviously ecstatic. Despite the time faults, Calma Schelly also looked in very good shape as she finished the cross country. Canadian rider Hawley Bennett-Awad on Gin and Juice – another great little feisty horse - just stormed around the course but STILL had time faults and apparently a run-out at Fence 6 to put them down a few places. There was another hold up as Irish rider, Elizabeth Power and Kilpatrick River had a bad fall at the Sunken Lake. The horse was fine but an air ambulance was brought in for Elizabeth who was reportedly unconscious for 10 minutes but will hopefully be fine. Aussie rider Paul Tapner certainly was on a mission – setting out at a gallop with his headcam on he took the direct route all the way and only started to slow a little towards the end. He pecked on landing on the third last fence but came home with only 6 time faults which left him in 23rd position at the end of the day. Then came Sam Griffiths who had a great round. Pippa Funnell commented that “At the WEG it didn’t look like it was happening from the very beginning for Sam and Happy Times but here it looks great”. I couldn’t agree more and Sam and Happy Times – a super horse – came home clear and under time finishing in 8th place with a very good chance on showjumping day. Emily Baldwin and Drivetime and Andreas Ostholt on Franco Jeas both retired on course and Sarah Wardell gave the crowd at the Lake the only ducking of the day. It was probably unfortunate timing (or bad planning!) that David O’Connor, newly appointed chef d’Equipe of the US team from 2013, was in the commentary when his wife Karen was on course. Her horse Mandiba had a few sticky moments culminating in a backward fall off the Bank. Karen was unharmed but Mandiba had a ride home in the horse box – it turns out he has a broken rib but will be fine. The overnight leader, Ruth Edge set off in the beautiful sunshine looking positive and determined. Held up on course for a fall by the Irish rider Camilla Spiers, it started to fall apart for the three time winner of the British Open title. She had a stop at Huntsman’s Close then retired at the next fence and must have been almost in tears on the long walk home – she seems a lovely lady and has been so close yet so far so many times. In the commentary box Ian Stark mentioned that Ruth travels a long way from Cumbria (in the north of England) to compete at major events – I wonder what he would think of Sonja Johnson and her team travelling three days to get to Sydney or Melbourne to compete! Meanwhile the British turned Aussie rider Lucinda Fredericks was on course with the relatively inexperienced Prada. Hooley dooley she was gunning it! Actually she ended up over time but it looked really flat out! Always cutting a dashing figure in her pink outfit, Lucinda still managed to bring the mare home clear and looking full of running which is a good sign for tomorrow. Polly Stockton was back competing after having a baby, and both she and her sister-in-law Aoife Clark on her second horse Master Cruiser had good rounds but Aoife had an unfortunate run-out for 20 faults. This young rider has two lovely horses and is a definite star of the future – two horses clear and one under time on her first attempt at Badminton is a fantastic achievement. It was now getting very exciting as the final few riders – all with the ability to really come home strongly – came on course. How William Fox-Pitt stayed on Cool Mountain at the Bank I do not know – a mere mortal would definitely have come off. Ollie Townend unfortunately did not have the same luck but Ashdale Cruise Master had used up his nine lives dropping s front leg at several fences before finally dropping Ollie. Both looked okay but the horse looked very tired. Nicola Wilson and Opposition Buzz showed how it should be done and stayed on her dressage score to end in 3rd place -I love that combination! Mary King’s Imperial Cavalier was rearing up at the starting box but Mary, who has now completed this course 21 times, had a smile and set off at a cracking pace. She had a good round – clear and only 1.6 time faults to finish in 7th place and ss she came back into the main arena a huge cheer went up from the crowd which was starting to gather for the last few riders. New Zealand rider Caroline Powell and the very lovely grey Lenamore also received a great cheer as they came back with Caroline giving Lenamore a big hug for going clear and under time to bring them up from 24th to 10th place. Fellow New Zealander Andrew Nicholson piloted his second horse, the wonderful thoroughbred Nereo, round the course and made it look easy all over again to give him his second clear round under time to put him in 4th place on Nereo and 11th on Avebury – a great achievement. Finally the master Mark Todd gave a display of how it should be done on NZB Land Vision. This young horse started to look tired towards the end of the course but Toddy brought him home safely with only 6.6 time faults to put him in the lead. Even Mark looked a little weary when he got off! There is less than one rail between the top 12 riders so it is going to be a tense finale! Can’t wait for tomorrow! Photos yet to come but here are some thoughts from Mark Todd and Sam Griffiths after cross country (Mark refers to being in 2nd place but times were adjusted putting him in the lead later).
