This morning was killer. Jen and Taylor awoke to blaring European techno music coming from Taylor's very high tech Nokia phone (it even has optional emoticons to decorate contact information with) at 6:00 am but, after hitting snooze a few times, the two still barely made it to the lobby in time to leave at 6:30. Upon walking outside, however, all feelings of grogginess evaporated when Jen and Taylor were hit with a wave of air that could have come straight out of the North Pole... or a freezer.
Flatting the horses was a very unpleasant business this morning, but the meter 1.30 Table A knockdown speed class Jen and Taylor showed Shakira and Tusker in, respectively, began at 8:30, so there was no time to fool around or go purchase snow suits. Jen competed first and had the winning time but added an extra stride in a tight rollback to a vertical, resulting in 4 faults. This was very frustrating for her because the same British boy that won the meter 1.30 yesterday was victorious again today, and she came incredibly close to beating him! Taylor showed next and had a smooth and confident, but not particularly fast, round. Sadly, she put Tusker to too deep of a distance at the last jump and he barely hit it down. Taylor needs to get these last jump problems under control!
Jen and Taylor returned to the barn after enduring watching the British boy leading the victory gallop to a loud song that declared, "We win every fight we fight!", sounded a great deal like a college football game fight song, and inspired us to march around like the Royal Guard. It was only after returning to the barn that all the riders and coaches realized that Michael was M.I.A. After a panicked phone call, we discovered that he was still at the hotel, and he had to take a very expensive taxi to the show. One of our goals for the week is improving team communication!
Finally, the whole team was assembled and the time for the Grand Prix course walk arrived. The U.S. crew was impressed by the size of the meter 1.45 jumps and the difficulty of the course, which included an open water jump with a tall vertical a short five strides after it; a tight oxer-vertical-vertical triple combination; a very spooky wall; and several difficult bending lines and big single oxers. The first American rider to compete was Nick aboard Malcolm. He laid down a beautiful clear round and the rest of the team was very proud! Jen rode Venturo next and also had a great round, but an unfortunate back rail at an oxer kept her out of the jump off. Karl was the third to show and Uno D'Laubry jumped all of the fences effortlessly. Unfortunately, a relaxed jump at the water caused him to step on the tape, giving him and Karl a score of four faults as well. Taylor showed Karonda next and put in another clear round for the Americans. Last to go was Michael aboard All Star. The powerful horse jumped well but touched a single fence and didn't quite get past the tape at the water.
After the 60 entries completed the first round of the Grand Prix, about ten riders returned for the jump off. Nick was the first person to ride the jump off course, meaning he entered the ring without the advantage of seeing others complete the track. Nick showed the way by riding a very fluid but slow clear round, putting pressure on the other riders to jump clean. Taylor went sixth in the jump off and posted a very fast time but pulled a rail on a rollback to a skinny vertical. Nick held out for a second place finish behind a French rider who rode an incredibly fast track and managed to leave the jumps up, and Taylor finished in 7th. All things considered, the Americans had a very successful day! Great jumping with just a few unlucky rails here and there built up everyone's confidence for tomorrow.
After the show ended, the riders and coaches headed out into the town of Kortrijk for a team dinner where Taylor got to try truffles for the first time. They were very delicious but not quite worth the extra Euros. Food is WAY too expensive here! We are having an early night and focusing on the Nation's Cup tomorrow. The U.S. team competes third out of nine teams, and the order of go is Nick with Malcolm; Taylor with Karonda; Jen with Venturo; and Karl with Uno. Because Michael's horses are not jumping their very best this weekend, he will compete in the individual class tomorrow and show in the team competition at Reims and/or Wierden instead. We are all very excited, and we will keep you updated!
- Jen and Taylor
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