Holly Wray Pony European Blog
Cross Country started of with a lot of nervous riders ready to take on the challenging course that is designed to last 7 minutes 9 secs. I kicked off the day feeling slightly nervous as I had no feed back from the rest of the team on how the course was riding because of my set time. Baxter on the other hand was taking it all in his stride and was chilled out oblivious to what he was about to tackle in 39 degree heat. I slowly warmed him up in short bursts because the weather was so hot and there was 24 jumping efforts which in this heat is tough work so I wanted to conserve his energy.
The chef d’equipe (sue short) was really please with how he was coping with the weather in our warm up as he was jumping particularly scopey! The first real question on the course was number 4 as it was a 2 strides combination on an awkward angle and many of the ponies found it hard to focus on what they had to jump because the sun was reflecting of part a because it was white.
A lot of combinations picked up 20 penalties at a fence that needed a precise curving line on 3 strides from a hedge to a skinny corner with a lot of distracting flower pots in the middle. Baxter jumped super and gave real scope over them all and was full of running toward the end. I finished with no jumping faults but a couple of time penalties because I wanted a safe ride and took a few extra strides in some places on turns to stay in control.
All the Irish ponies finished really strong and had the best heart rates of all the nations. The course was really challenging in some areas and quite a few falls and run outs were picked up along the way by other nations. Baxter is in great form and seems very pleased with himself for not only doing such a good job but also for getting me home safe! All the ponies are currently having a well deserved afternoon nap and will have a trot up at 8 am tomorrow morning.
Category: Eventing, International, News
