Well my prediction of an upset in the Olympic Dressage being unlikely was fulfilled. Gold to Germany , Silver to Great Britain and Bronze to the USA. Here are some of my thoughts on the Team competition.
WORST BROADCASTER
CBC, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. They failed to live stream or dead stream anything for the first day of the Dressage. Shame! If Archery can get a live stream surely dressage should as well. There was a social media outcry and on the second day they did live stream the Grand Prix. Without commentary. The minus to this is that if the commentary is good it can be very educational. The plus to this is that I had to watch and observe and come to my own conclusions. Interestingly enough I was never more than 1.5-2% and out on my predictions of what the score would be. I did always factor in the ‘who’ and the ‘what’ that the judges would be considering. ( ‘Who’= the internationally well-known riders and ‘What’= if the person was riding on a team and how their score might affect the team standing.)
RIDERS I WAS PROUD OF
1.Belinda Trussell. She is my coach and I enjoyed watching her two rides. She is a sympathetic and tactful rider. To me she embodies so many of the qualities that we all aspire to. Here is what she said to Equestrian Canada about her rides.
“In general, I was really pleased and proud of Anton,” Trussell said of her long-time partner, who was also her mount at the 2014 World Equestrian Games and the 2015 Pan Am Games, where she helped Canada take the silver medal. “We had a mistake with the (one-tempi flying changes) on the centreline, which was a bit costly, so I think that brought us down a notch.”
She continued, “I really wanted to get into the Freestyle, so that’s disappointing. That was my goal to come to the Olympics and make it to the Freestyle. But I’m still happy. For me, I really wanted to do this with Anton because he came back from an injury, so I wanted to enjoy the moments and to enjoy being here, and I definitely feel like I did that.”
Trussell also spoke to her overall experience at the Games. “It’s been a great Olympics and more experience, and I think it’s a very solid performance for Canada. We are trending in the right direction, and I’m really proud of my teammate, Megan,” said Trussell.
2.Fiona Bigwood. Splendid ride on her impressive horse. And she is riding with an eye patch following a serious head injury that has left her with double vision. Bravo! Her rides would have been marvellous for a person with two functioning eyes. My hat is off to her.
MY FAVOURITE RIDE
1.Valegro’s Grand Prix. Too bad about the miss cue in the GPS.
2.Dorothee Schneider and Showtime. What a stunning horse and how marvellous to get a PB score in the GPS in the Olympics.
JUDGING?
I was not disappointed. There were a few rides that I disagreed with a bit, a percentage or two up or down. But overall I think it was fair enough. However……on social media I have seen all sorts of complaints about bad judging or praise for good judging.
What do you think? Please leave me a comment and let me know. I’d love to hear from you.
Finally…..that horse treat muffin I said I would eat if there was an upset? I gave it to Biasini! Video proof!
Photo credit: Cealy Tetly via Equestrian Canada.
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