Sam, Shane, Chris and Stuart are ready for action in the main arena
The five Australian team members Shane Rose on CP Qualified, Stuart Tinney on Pluto Mio, Sam Griffiths on Paulank Brockagh, Chris Burton and reserve rider Sammi Birch with Hunter Valley II had their turn for arena familiarisation late this afternoon at the Deodoro Olympic Equestrian Centre. By then it was pretty warm but the weather is suiting the Aussies
“The days have been quite nice actually” says Stuart “It gets a little bit warm in the middle of the day but it cools right down in the evening and there’s been a breeze every day.”
Breezy is the word for the stable facilities too which are a big hit. They were really happy with the way the horses travelled from the UK to Rio, especially as this was the second flight in a short period of time for Pluto Mio and CP Qualified and all five horses have settled into their new home easily
“The stable facilities are amazing, the boxes are really big and airy and lots of light so the horses love it” says Shane
Today was also the first opportunity for the riders to check out the cross country course they will be tackling on Monday and, although they all agree it is pretty tough, probably only Chris Burton was a little apprehensive about how his young horse Santano II will cope
“My mind is boggling a bit after walking that cross country course” says Chris “It’s much tougher than we thought it was going to be. He’s built a great track and it’s really going to test us all out. I think it’s a really good course but I’m just hoping the team won’t be relying too much on us for a score in that phase!”
His team mates were a bit more bullish about both how Santano would cope with the course and how it would ride
“I think we’re a lot more confident in Chris’ ability than he is at the moment!” laughed Shane “It’s tough but it’s certainly jumpable and if you ride it well the questions are clear to the horse; Chris is a great rider and he’ll give this horse every opportunity to see the fences and that will keep the horse’s confidence up as he goes around the course”
Course designer Pierre Michelet made no secret of the fact that one of his trademarks is to design a track that poses difficult questions very early in the course. The first water on course – the Botanic Gardens – comes early at Fence 4 and is going to be a big question for horses that aren’t yet into their stride
Beautiful carvings adorn the D element of Fence 4 but the riders will have plenty of other things to focus on here
‘I guess it is my signature” says Pierre “Of course it is up to maximum height and some combinations are very difficult but I think the thing I like to do is to make the horse and rider really put it all together very quickly and tackle some big questions early in the course”
Three of these early big questions are the water at Fence 4, the Corner Brushes Combination at Fence 6 and the Sugar Loaf Mountain at Fence 8ABC/9 and Technical Delegate Alec Lochore agrees that this is where Pierre has been very clever in his design
“It’s tough enough that those who want to win will have to be very bold. Those that don’t want to be so bold can get around the technical lines by taking the options but they will be time consuming”
The options give not just the riders but also the team coaches plenty to think about.
“The strategy of the team will be important and I think that many of the coaches may change strategy after the first riders have been” says Pierre “There are lots of options if things start to go wrong, say a rider picks up 20 penalties or is eliminated, and then the coach need to ensure the rest of the riders finish so may change his plan. That will make it challenging for the riders and I hope exciting for the spectators”
Pierre Michelet
Cross country fast facts
33 jumps
45 jumping efforts
4 frangible pins (Fences 17AB, 22 and 24)
5, 840 metres
Optimum time 10 minutes 15 seconds
