The sweet taste of victory - again
What a finish! At the end of a long, tough, wet day it looked as if Germany’s Sandra Auffarth had clinched both the individual and team honours yet again but a quick calculation proved that Chris Burton and Holstein Park Leilani had won the CICO3* by just 0.2 penalties thanks to the only double clear cross country round of the day.
The day started drizzly and the weather just got worse as it went on with the notorious Aachen rain increasing. The first two riders incurred refusals on course at fences that were going to prove troublesome and it soon became clear that the time was going to be very difficult to achieve.
Australia’s Murray Lamperd had withdrawn Under the Clocks prior to the start of cross country; decisions now have to be made regarding the horse’s future and Murray had possibly decided that nothing was to be gained from running him on a wet cross country prior to either bringing him home or a spell in Europe.
Therefore Paul Tapner (above) was the first Australian rider out on course. It’s always strange to see Paul without his customary red colours when he wears the Australian team green and gold, but he had sneaked a splash of red with Wickstead Didgeridoo’s red bell boots and his own red gloves. The pair survived a bit of a tricky moment at the DHL boat complex but otherwise looked good to finish in the main arena with 20.8 time faults but clear jumping.
Finishing the cross country in the Main Stadium has its ups and downs – it was great for the spectators who had somewhere to shelter in the pouring rain and a high note for those basking in the finishing glory but for two riders there was the anguish of so near but so far .... Niklas Jonsson from Sweden retired only two fences from home while poor Will Faudree of the USA had an ignominious fall at the very last – the innocuous looking Fence 25. His horse Pawlaw lost his footing on the slippery ground as he landed over the fence, crumpling under Will and leaving him flat on the floor (or as flat as someone can be when their air vest goes off). Will lay there for a while, which was somewhat disconcerting for the spectators and officials but I imagine that he was just wanting to savour the moment before leaping to his feet. Both horse and rider were in fact fine although I imagine it will be a scene that Will Faudree will replay in his head time and time again
It was a tough course with four areas providing the majority of problems – fences 8, 10, 16 and 21 (see all of the course fences here)
Two ladies who rode early showed how it should be done but had time faults; the first good round was by New Zealand’s Jonelle Richards riding The Deputy (above) with only 7.2 time penalties and Gemma Tattersall of Great Britain also rode a lovely clear with 14 time penalties as part of the British team on Chico Bella P.
Michael Jung was the first team rider for Germany on Halunke and it was a ride to watch. A few weeks ago, I walked the 3* cross country course at Melbourne 3 Day Event with Stuart Tinney and during the conversation he told me that when he is approaching a fence he “stops flapping his arms and sits up to tell his horse there is a jump ahead”. I consider Stuart to be one of the most stylish riders I have ever seen on cross country and was a bit agog at his description of ‘flapping arms’ but watching this round of Michael Jung’s (you can watch on ClipMyHorse.de, by the way) the penny suddenly dropped as to what Stuart meant.
Michael crouches low on Halunke between fences and urges him on with ‘flapping arms’ i.e. almost jockey style in rhythm with the horse’s gallop stride until he reaches a fence when he simply sits up and the horse comes back to him – no hauling, no pulling. You probably think I’m barmy to refer to either Michael Jung or Stuart Tinney as ‘flappers’ but there you are. It also seems to work.
Michael looks contemplative on Sam
Michael didn’t have a totally smooth ride on La Biosthetique-Sam FBW later on but it was still educational to watch. At one fence he made the most amazing save by completely letting go of the reins, sitting up and letting Sam take care of the two of them. It really was incredible to watch and any lesser mortal (except maybe Mr Stickability himself, Andrew Nicholson) would have been a muddy mess. He came home clear but with six time penalties to finish in third place individually.
Bill and Silk Stone looking good at this point .... but the next fence proved a problem at 8B
Earlier on, Australia’s second team rider Bill Levett had had one of those days. His horse Silk Stone just didn’t want to play today and three refusals saw poor Bill walk home in the pouring rain. Clarke Johnstone of New Zealand also had a bit of a blonde moment – he and Incognito looked great until they had a run out where Clarke seemed a bit confused as to the options to take. Looking around in a bit of a dither, he finally worked it out and off he went but he added 42 time penalties plus 40 jumping faults to his and the NZ team score. Back at the big screen near the main arena, Jonelle Richards was madly gesticulating as to where to go as she watched on, but to no avail (he can’t hear you Jonelle!)
Another young British rider Nicky Roncorini (above) also had a good round, bowling along in the rain as if out hunting and looking as if she was enjoying every minute of it to finish clear with 20.4 time. Marilyn Little of the USA fell at the Rolex Water Complex 8B when her horse Smoke on the Water pulled off to the right and Marilyn kept going left but again, both were fine, if a bit wet.
Joseph Murphy of Ireland was actually enjoying the wet weather and said he was ‘delighted to see the rain last night as it suits me and my horse. I took all the straight routes and tried to give my horse the best ride I could’. He came home clear with just 4.8 time penalties to finish in 11th place.
Okay, glasses taken care of, maybe I'll make a few phone calls and catch up with friends while I'm cruising round now
Someone who doesn’t mind a bit of rain too is Andrew Nicholson (above). He set off on Quimbo looking as if he was out for a walk in the park but unbelievably he too had a run out at the Rolex Complex Fence 8B. He then galloped along nonchalantly, took his glasses, placed them safely under his jacket and, when he couldn’t quite tell if they were secure, dropped both reins to check. Satisfied all was okay, he picked up the reins and continued on – all without changing pace. Show off. Then again, why not, if you can? With NZ out of the running for team honours and not much hope for an individual placing, Andrew cruised around as if he was on a training course and finished with 20 penalties and 21.2 time.
Jock Paget had a bit of a whoopsie at 16D putting him out of contention as did Sara Algotsson-Ostholt, again at 8B. Tina Cook and Miners Frolic were a joy to watch “I’ve ridden him for 10 years and I know him well “she said afterwards “I was very pleased with him. The ground is holding up well but you have to be very careful out there. It’s a bit slippery, even though we all have big studs in”
Andrew Hoy (above) was cautious and probably aware he needed to complete for the team result so he took the long route at the Rolex Complex which was causing so much trouble but 16D and 21B were his undoing. He finished with 40 jumping penalties and 32 time penalties in 30th place.
Chris Burton was out on course at the same time as Michael Jung riding Sam and Ingrid Klimke riding Tabasco so it wasn’t until he finished his ride that he learned they had both slipped out of contention. At the time I don’t think that mattered to him, he was just delighted to have had such a great ride on the mare Leilani, dropping the reins a la Anky and pointing to his horse, indicating “She is amazing”.
Chris checks his watch over the last fence - YES the ONLY double clear round of the day
Only Sandra Auffarth could now beat him and he watched as she continued to fly around the course with no jumping penalties. It was so close and for a while Sandra seemed to think she had it but a difference of 0.2 penalties were in Chris’ favour and he took the individual title again with the only double clear cross country round of the day.
The 17 year old chestnut mare, Holstein Park Leilani now comes home to Australia to be back with her owners Jade and Jean Findlay who have been great supporters of Chris over the years. Thank you ladies for the pleasure your horse has brought to us all and thank you Aachen for another great event
Take a rain spattered ride around the course with Paul Tapner and his helmet cam
