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AUSTRALIA'S NUMBER 1 EQUESTRIAN MAGAZINE
NOVEMBER 2002 - RIDING THE ROUGH
The World Games are over and all throughout the country
everyone is discussing what was, and what could have been, and where
to now. Of course the eventers not getting a medal once again at a World
Equestrian Games is perhaps topping the list of expanding theories and
knowledgeable discussion. Well for the record what did happen to our
Australian Eventers?
The dressage. Can you believe it if you happen to be an Australian Eventer
you are actually viewed very favourably by the International Judges
and our Aussie riders didn’t disappoint. David Middleton and Willowbank
Jack led out at No.3 and put in his traditional big moving accurate
test. David had two course errors and although obviously talented is
clearly our wild child who hails from a more traditional man from Snowy
River background.
David has produced himself by himself more or less and so is uncomfortable
when being helped by coaches Prue Barrett or Wayne Roycroft. The problem
with this is he doesn’t run through the test when it is suggested
to him and so his misinterpretation of the test goes undetected until
it happens in the competition. This situation is a difficult one. David,
left alone, is a rare performer in that he always delivers very close
to 100% effort 100% of the time. This is a very very rare quality in
any competitor. However what David doesn’t do is produce an inspired
performance which is always possible if a competitor is clever enough
to access and use skills and resources available in a team situation
which are not ordinarily available. Between David and Willowbank Jack,
Australia did have the machinery and firepower to go out after a score
below 30 penalties. David on his own produced 45.80 penalties, which
was a good score and one that David can produce any day of the week.
This was to leave him in 32nd position in the dressage phase.
Next for Australia was Stuart Tinney on Ava and he is the exact opposite
to David in a team situation. Stuart always works very closely with
the coaches and his test goes better than he could have dreamt of with
38.00 penalties neat and 11th position after dressage. At Highclere
ODE in England just three weeks earlier, Stuart and Ava had been flat
our staying in the arena. This was an inspired performance.
Next to go was Phillip Dutton on House Doctor. Phillip puts in a great
test scoring 9s and I am pretty sure a 10 from one judge for the final
centre line and salute. A score of 33.60 penalties and 3rd position
after the dressage makes Phillip the Australian dressage star. Phillip
has not been selected in the team and so competes as one of two Australian
individuals. Considering Philip was one of the Gold Medal team members
at Sydney two years earlier on the same horse, House Doctor, this non-inclusion
seems peculiar. Without having any inside information I think it fair
to assume that the Australian selectors had some sort of concern regarding
the soundness of House Doctor.
This perception was to prove a bad piece of judgement once we all have
the benefit of hindsight. Not to worry - hindsight is just "after
the fact wisdom" used most prolifically by losers!
Olivia Bunn who is competitor No.49 is next out and she also rises to
the occasion and scores a great 39.60 to end the dressage phase in 13th
place.
Samantha McLeod is competitor No.65 and is the second individual rider
for Australia. We all have visions of a world record breaking score
and I personally have tagged her and her horse Frederick Hunter as the
most likely rider to win an individual medal. The first half of the
test verges on amazing, trot work accurate, expansive and ballerina
expressive. Then comes the halt-rein back and depart into canter at
C. Right in front of the judges. Inexplicably Frederick Hunter just
loses the plot, puts his head up, runs backwards, shies and shies and
shies at something in the crowd and then finally goes on to do his canter
work well enough, although certainly a little tenser than it otherwise
would have been. The score of 39.60 is great and is equal with Olivia
along with some other great Eventing Legends, but everyone was left
shaking their heads and wondering as to just what might have been. Not
Sammi’s day.
Last to go for Australia is Andrew Hoy, competitor No.70 on his young
horse Moonfleet. They, in true Australian fashion, also put in a great
test to score 35.20 and go into 9th position.
At this stage of the competition this left Australia in 3rd position.
Leading was Great Britain on 110.6 penalties. Second was USA with 111.8
penalties. Third Australia with 112.8 penalties and fourth France with
115.8 penalties. Not enough room to sneeze!
The cross country was really really big, plenty of related lines, unexpectedly
imaginative with Mike Tucker (the course designer) building a couple
of fences, especially fence 10 the first water, which were out of left
field and not normally encountered on the established International
tracks such as Badminton and Burghley. Mike Tucker is himself an Englishman
and we were sure the track was going to be much more traditional which
would have seriously favoured the northern hemisphere riders and in
particular the British. Well there you go.
What was also surprising was how seriously big and difficult the track
looked especially in this climate of our sport being under threat from
an animal welfare point of view, and also a rider safety point of view.
We all knew that from a competition point of view it might have all
of the Aussie riders looking a bit sick in the days leading up to the
cross country day but if anything it would be to our advantage. Big
and nasty, a couple of the fences coming in from left field, definitely
Australian hunting territory. The actual going was magnificent and the
building and presentation of the fences nothing short of works of art.
D-day happens and the cross country very quickly asserts itself as being
no place for anyone but the best. First rider is Swedish and does actually
manage to finish albeit with a couple of stops and 40 odd time penalties.
Next to go is a Canadian guy and he is very quickly walking home with
no chance of completing. Next is our Australian wild child David Middleton
on Willowbank Jack. Well it’s something to behold. Willowbank
Jack goes at the speed of light. He is big and ungainly looking and
has four legs that seem to all come out at peculiar galloping angles.
David sits a little more upright than many riders, his elbows have a
soft flap to them and yet all the while you are aware that somehow this
extraordinary combination is in perfect harmony with one another. They
absolutely drill all of the fast routes, gallop up to fence 10, a 1
metre high log on top of a 30-metre slide, barely touching the reins.
Their decent down-the-slide came straight out of the Man from Snowy
River, splash three strides through the water at the bottom of the slide
to a biggish bank, you desperately need to be accurate to this bank.
Walk in the park for David. Immediately on landing on top of the bank
the horses need to leave the ground again to jump a biggish house. It’s
a bounce distance and it to fell household names like the British superstars
Pippa Funnell and William Fox-Pitt. Not a problem for David and Willowbank
Jack who without hesitation just launches over the house. On landing
the horse must immediately leave the ground again and so again bounce
off what is essentially an island, then land back down into the water
and then gallop on out, and so on to the next fence. Willowbank Jack
and David are gone like a whirlwind and a huge crowd voices its huge
approval of a magnificent display. And so David gallops the entire course
cutting out strides in many of the related fences and finishing with
just 7.60 time penalties. As it turned out nobody in the whole competition
was to conquer the time and David’s time was to see only five
horses - with much more course information than he had - actually go
quicker. It was a truly magnificent effort.
Next out is Stuart Tinney and Ava. Stuart has always been our iceman
and as usual as he takes his final debrief from Wayne Roycroft and Prue
Barrett in the 10 minute box he looks rock steady. Ava is looking very
fit and is basically trying to kill the grooms. Time to go and what
unfolds would have to be the most beautiful and foot perfect cross country
round that has ever been produced on a modern International Three Day
Event. Every distance on take off was so accurate, every line was so
tight and smooth, the horse and rider flowed around the course with
just the most beautiful rhythm. It was poetry in motion and an honour
to witness. Stuart finishes with just 12.0 time penalties and we know
that the other countries aren’t faring so well. We’re going
great.
Next out is Phillip Dutton. He is such a professional. He quizzes Prue
and Wayne on some of the difficult distances and how they have been
riding with other riders. House Doctor looks wonderful and then the
boy who grew up out the back blocks of Nyngan in western NSW is on course
delivering an amazing demonstration of Australian focus, horsemanship
and adaptability. It’s bloody fantastic and Phillip rockets around
clear with just 7.20 time penalties. This is to be the fastest Australian
time with only four other people in the world to better it. Unfortunately
Phillip is not a team member so this does not contribute to the Australian
team score but does rocket Phillip into second place individually at
the end of the cross country day just 2.2 penalties behind the leader.
Next out is Olivia Bunn and GV Top of the Line or better known as Carlo.
Olivia is very focussed. She knows that Carlo is a great jumper but
not the fastest by nature. Olivia looks hard at Wayne and asks "Do
you want me to take risks to try and get this time?" Wayne’s
reply is immediate "I want you to go as fast as you can but don’t
get out of your normal competition zone. The clear round is more important
than the fastest round."
And so Olivia delivers, as she always does, in the big time. Amongst
the carnage out there on the cross country yet another Australian slices
straight through for yet another clear round. Olivia is tight on the
lines and sensational in the difficult related ones. Copybook and through
the finish line for 18.40 time penalties. We know that this now puts
the Australian Team, at that stage of the competition, way out in front
in the gold medal position. The other teams are going to have to not
only get their last riders around clear to challenge us but will have
to attack us on the time aspect. That is going to be tough especially
as fence 10 the first water seems to be deteriorating and causing more
and more problems. What’s more we still have Andrew to go, so
we still have the ability as a team to respond should one of the other
teams do something extra-ordinary and get within a challenging position.
Next for Australia was Sammi McLeod and her mega star horse Frederick
Hunter. Sammi is aware that nobody has made the time and that this opens
up an unexpected window of opportunity for her. Fred is fast, really
really fast, and he is peaking now. It’s just a matter of getting
the balance and rhythm and focus just right. Sammi is a born competitor
and watching her in the 10 minute box there is little doubt that all
the body language belongs to an athlete mentally preparing to attack
and breakaway from the rest of the field.
Out Sammi goes and immediately the statement is being made that even
the most ignorant could read. This is a round on a mission and they
are going very very fast. Sammi and Fred are up on the 3 minute marker
by some 12 seconds which is far and away the fastest round to that point
as they hurl down towards fence 10, the dreaded first water. Sammi is
very aggressive over the log at the top of the slide and Fred looks
great. Down the slide and then a big skid. The turf on the slide has
been letting go at this stage, and all of a sudden Fred and Sammi are
fighting to stay upright. Splat, they do stay upright but land all four
in the water at the bottom and have come to a bone jarring halt. Sammi
quick as a flash realises that to continue on straight ahead would be
suicide however diverting into the second half of the slow route is
possible and she is immediately kicking and re-routing. Fred takes a
moment to refocus and then is once again on the job with enthusiasm.
Over the first slow route element and then through the spray of water
Fred sights the stone bank which houses the water jump, and on top of
which stands hundreds and hundreds of spectators. Fred, being the helpful
sort of character that he is, lines up the wall and is up there amongst
the crowd before Sammi realises what is going through his head. Pandemonium!
People everywhere at full bolt, some preferring to jump into the water
jump rather than get trampled by Frederick Hunter in full flight. Sammi
has the little darling back around and then jumps back into the water
within seconds again, scattering spectators sheltering in the water
fence. Wet Spanish bodies trying to climb trees and scrambling up rock
walls. In all of this chaos Sammi has not crossed her tracks and so
completes the fence without incurring any jumping penalties. An amazing
masterpiece. The time lost however is substantial. Sammi and Fred gallop
away desperately trying to claw back those stolen seconds. Near the
end of the track Fred again overshoots a tight line and Sammi is forced
to yet again creatively use the second half of a slow alternative. Fred
is very clearly super fit and in the first quarter of the course is
travelling remarkably quicker than any other combination, in the whole
competition. Alas, slow routes and chasing spectators are adventures
which cost Sammi dearly in terms of time penalties. And she crosses
for a clear round with 23.6 time penalties. Certainly Sammi’s
round really highlighted just how exceptional the Australian riders
are once they are required to perform outside the square. It was a great
round, just not Sammi’s competition.
Last to go for Australia is Andrew Hoy and Moonfleet. Andrew knows that
the Aussie team is sitting in gold medal position and the only way we
can be challenged is by the final team riders for other countries going
incredibly fast. His job is to try and close that window by delivering
our fastest round. Andrew goes out fast. The early part of the course
is the only part which seems to offer the opportunity to get up on the
time. Fence 5 is a large single log with a whopping monster ditch under
it. Hasn’t caused any problems all day and Andrew is flying at
full gallop . To jump a fence at this speed you do need to be a little
away from it on take off. Andrew has the distance pretty well sorted
however Moonfleet at the last minute spooks slightly at the ditch and
so marginally stalls and then tries to chip in a tiny stride. A green
mistake on Moonfleet’s part and he is too close to clear the fence
at this speed. They hit and flip. Andrew is concussed and Moonfleet
is fine, but a fall entails elimination and so came to an end our fourth
team rider’s round. Andrew was competitor No.70 and exactly what
he was trying to prevent happens. Kimberly Vinoski for the USA who was
competitor No. 80 blitzes around clear to equal the fastest time of
the day also put up by another American John Williams to take the USA
team into the lead.
So after the cross country the USA had moved into the lead with 147.4.
Second was Australia with 162.4. Third was France with 175.4. Fourth
was Great Britain with 191.0 and fifth was New Zealand with 197.8 .
At this stage we really still thought that we were a good chance for
a team gold medal and an individual medal with Philip and maybe Stuart
who is just over 10 penalties away from the lead.
Well it wasn’t to be. The showjumping was run in reverse order
so the leader after cross country day was last to jump. First out for
Australia was Sammi McLeod and Frederick Hunter. Funnily enough Fred
is often a little slow when showjumping so Sammi has to really be aware
of this if she is to avoid time penalties in this phase. Sammi jumps
the first fence well and then turns left in the air over fence two and
bugger has that fence down. Fred has another fence as well so one of
the horses we would traditionally expect a clear out of certainly sets
the tone. Three time penalties as well and Sammi finishes with 74.20
and ultimately 15th position.
Next in for Australia is Olivia and GV Top of the Line. They produce
a magnificent clear round which was one of only five in the entire competition.
Interesting to note that at the Worlds in 1998, Rome Olivia was our
only clear SJ round. Interesting to note that at the recent Melbourne
3DE there was only one clear showjumping round and that was Olivia.
All on different horses. I will revisit this in future columns. Olivia
finishes the competition with 58.0 and ultimately 7th place. (The same
individual place she achieved at the WEG in Rome 1998).
Next for Australia was David Middleton and Willowbank Jack. They have
two down and three time penalties. In context of how difficult the course
was, this was a good result, with a lesser rider Jack could easily have
had four or five down. David finishes with 65.4 pens and eventual 11th
position. David’s score combined with Olivia’s still left
us with a chance of a Gold Medal.
Next to go for us were Stuart and Ava. It was a disaster. Ava seemed
to be really really hot and just didn’t concentrate. Six down
and two time just blew us away. I did witness this combination put in
one of the few clear showjumping rounds at Adelaide 3DE in 2000 when
Stuart had a broken collar bone and his arm in a sling. It was a magical
round. I can only surmise that on the day something was amiss and guess
what, that’s horses. Bugger!!! Stuart finishes with a total of
76 pens and 16th place individually.
Next to go were Phillip and House Doctor. Phillip has three down and
two time and finishes with 54.80 pens and slips down to 5th place individually.
At the end of the day Team USA wins gold with 175.4. Silver goes to
France with 192.4. Bronze goes to Great Britain with 194.0 Australia
finishes with 199.4 which is so close to a medal it’s still painful
to think about. It just doesn’t seem fair. Our team and individuals
put up so many wonderful and memorable moments that history won’t
record the performance more kindly. That’s life.
The showjumping is an area where we are going to need to scrutinize.
Of course bear in mind there is such a thing as awful bad luck. Nevertheless!
Elsewhere in this magazine I think our editor has put forward some amazing
showjumping statistics that need digesting. Also bear in mind that in
the top 16 places, 5 of them were Australian.
In closing I’d like to report that Guy Wallace continues to make
progress. His mind is pretty sharp now and when communicating with him
through the use of the alphabet you can sense his impatience when you
don’t get the right letters or you’re a bit slow picking
up on what is being said. His right hand can more or less point out
the letters now and the questions being asked are somewhat gut wrenching.
"What happened to me?" "What is the date and how long
have I been here?" "I want to please get out of here now."
"Thank you for visiting me." Please everybody remember that
one of our best event riders is in one little world of ‘hell’
in Westmeade Hospital in the Brain Damage Rehabilitation Unit. Matt
Ryan in England recently held an open day at his base which was a fundraiser
for a couple of local charities plus I think 700 pounds sterling heading
over here for the Guy Wallace fund. Bloody hell Guy, you just hang on
in there.
Cheers, Heath