She may be an Olympic gold medallist in eventing but Wendy Schaeffer is also well known as a Grand Prix show jumper (the only person we know of to have won an Eventing World Cup and Showjumping World Cup qualifier in the same year).Enjoying a bit of R&R in London recently, Wendy watched the Grand Prix at Olympia and brings you a guided walk of the actual course
Australia’s Edwina Tops-Alexander finishes up the top of the line, second to Germany’s Marcus Ehning!
Just before Christmas I was very excited to be attending one of the most historic Indoor Shows in the world – Olympia. Walking in to the venue's pale blue carpeted area, one wouldn't have thought it was a horse show at all! I was over in the UK to spend Christmas with my 'Londoner' partner, Nigel MacDonald, and check up on my rehabilitating horses Koyuna Sun Set and Koyuna Sun Dancer.
Back in the Summer, when I had first dated Nigel, we had travelled on the tube near Earl's Court (the Olympia venue) and I had said ‘it would be awesome to go to Olympia with you' so it was very exciting to have that plan come to fruition. Nigel's mother, Brenda, his sister Sarah and her daughter Sophie, accompanied us.
On entering the Grand Hall and making our way to our seat I was struck with just how small the arena was and how close the crowd was to the arena sides. I started taking photos for this article and was soon drawn back down to the ground level and the arena entrance. Asking the security guy politely whether I could take a photo, I then braved walking out onto the course and with an elevated heart rate, slightly nervous about being yelled at yet quite exhilarated to be out there, I started walking the course! Amazing what one can get away with if you act like you should be out there...
Was my hand shaking as I took this photo because I was probably somewhere I shouldnt have been? Yep! Here Switzerland’s Individual Gold Medallist from London, Steve Guerdat discusses fence 6 with GBR’s William Funnell
The size of the fences - tall verticals and wide oxers - was in stark contrast to the size of the arena though the course appeared fair with smooth turns and true distances for the majority of the lines.
The course began with a left hand turn to the Kingsland sponsored 1.50m vertical at fence 1 in the middle of arena. It was followed by a seven or eight stride distance to a large oxer at fence 2 on a 75 degree right curve.
The course then went right-handed on a 270 degree right hand turn to the Liverpool oxer at 3, followed by a curving six or seven strides on 70 degree left curve to the double at 4A and 4B. It was a tall airy vertical in, one stride regulation to a large oxer out at B. Coming up quickly off the next 170 degree left hand corner was the red Post Box vertical which featured at this Summer's London Olympics. A tight left handed 90 degree turn followed on a regulation six stride ‘to the base’ distance (ie 2 steps short of a regulation distance) to an oxer at 6 in the middle of the arena then a softer 70 degree right handed curve on five or six strides to the famous London Red Bus (a brick wall!) at fence 7.
After a 180 turn past the entrance gates, the most influential line on the course appeared - a 1.60m vertical at 8 off the corner, then a four stride distance to the treble, one step short of regulation distance.
The treble began with an oxer in at A, a regulation one stride to the tall vertical at B, then two strides to the oxer out at C on a distance that was one step short of regulation. When the first horse out let go after one stride, it confirmed my feeling that the distance would ride short!
The treble was then followed by a 200 degree left hand turn to the long side for the final line - a tall plank at 10, three strides regulation to an oxer at 10, then five strides regulation on a 45 degree left hand curve to the oxer at 12.
In the next article, Wendy analyses how each rider tackles the course and enjoys some of the Olympia Christmas fun
You can find out more about Wendy and Team Sunburst on her website at www.sunburstequestrian.com
