Oliver Townend and Cooley SRS
Oliver Townend may have finished the day in 39th place individually but his team mates agreed that the information he brought back as trail blazer was invaluable in helping them to move into the team gold medal winning position today at the European Championships in Strzegom
Oliver was pragmatic about his result and, when asked if the slippery ground conditions on the course early in the day contributed to his run outs, he replied
“No, I don’t think that’s an excuse really. He (Cooley SRS) is relatively inexperienced at this level and I think he was very comfortable at the first three fences then we came to Fence 4, there was a crowd of people in front of us and it just took his breath away a little bit”
“ If he hadn’t had the first run out I don’t think he would have had the second run out either; he had just become a bit struck by the whole occasion but, at the same time, it felt that he warmed up and enjoyed it more and more as he went on but I can’t blame the ground for the run outs”
Ros Canter and Allstar B
The rookie of the team, Ros Canter was the second out for Team GB and rode a wonderful round on the big Allstar B who can be a bit of a handful for the diminutive Ros at times. They finished in eighth place overall on a score of 40.20 after picking up just 1.6 time penalties
Ros Canter
Tina Cook and Billy The Red
Tina Cook was the third rider on course for Britain and she showed all of her experience as she piloted the 10 year old chestnut gelding Billy The Red around the course to produce one of just four double clear rounds of the day and finish in sixth place individually (38.20)
Tina told us a little more about how she came to partner Billy The Red and how their ride went
Nicola Wilson and Bulana
Nicola Wilson’s Bulana was full of beans as she made her way around the course but Nicola couldn’t have been happier with the way the mare responded today as they produced the final score of 35.50 for fourth place to secure the team’s gold medal winning position heading into the last day of competition
Gemma Tattersall and Quicklook V
Gemma Tattersall on Quicklook V, riding as individuals for Britain, didn’t quite make the time but Gemma was pushing hard to finish with just 3.6 time penalties. They are in a very handy fifth place and well within reach of Gemma’s goal of an individual medal tomorrow
Piggy French and Quarrycrest Echo, riding as individuals, are currently in 35th place
