British Piggy French led from the front to claim a convincing individual victory on home soil in the CIC2* Invitational eventing competition at Greenwich, the Test Event for the London 2012 equestrian events. Numerous dressage riders, trainers and officials were on site as well to assess the venue for the upcoming Equestrian Olympics set to the take place 2 - 9 August 2012.
Top ten performances from team mates Pippa Funnell and William Fox-Pitt saw GB top the leader board in the team competition too, stamping British authority all over this historic Royal parkland.
Stunning performances in the dressage and cross country phases meant thirty year old Piggy from Lubenham in Leicestershire was always the one to beat going into the final phase. She dealt with the pressure and produced two immaculate clears to finish on her dressage score of 34.7, heading the leader board with the 11 year old DHI Topper W owned jointly by her father Wally French and Michael Underwood. The current World Champion, German rider Michael Jung finished second while two careful jumping rounds saw Pippa Funnell into third place.
“I hope I haven’t peaked a year too early” joked Piggy, draped in the union flag and with a ‘London Prepares’ medal round her neck. “It’s great to come here, get a feel for the place and put our stamp on Greenwich as a competition venue but winning here isn’t the be all and end all. There’s a long time to go between now and next year and horses are great levellers. Still, it gives me goose bumps to think I could be in with a chance of doing this for real, riding for my country in 12 months’ time; it’s going to be fabulous!”
Equestrian Performance Director Will Connell also seemed well satisfied: “Two out of three medals to the Brits is a great start to Greenwich as an equestrian venue. All in all it’s a pretty good day at the office. The test event has exceeded our expectations and we’ll leave here knowing that we have an Olympic and Paralympic venue that fundamentally has a heart. I’ll go home excited and just a little bit more nervous. I’m pretty critical about what I want from a Championship venue but this has really delivered.”
Competition is one thing but there is more than one way to measure success; the biggest medal of all should be reserved for LOCOG. Here they have staged a truly memorable event – and delivered on all fronts, setting alight the romance of the surroundings while providing modern state of the art facilities for horses, grooms and competitors alike. The result is a magnificent feat of the practical and the poetic that has inspired us all. We are in for an Olympic and Paralympic Games of historic proportion in this iconic setting with a legacy to rival all others; that of putting equestrian sport back at the heart of the Games and inspiring a new audience to take an interest in our amazing sport. In doing so, the organisers have proved beyond doubt that there could not be a better place to host the equestrian events in 2012. Next year this city will be dedicated to the Olympics and for once equestrian will be right there.”
Dressage Riders Test the Show Grounds As Well
In attendance of dressage representatives (riders, trainers and officials alike) from all over the world, British Dressage and Para Dressage riders got their chance to experience Greenwich, albeit not in the pressure atmosphere of competition.
On Monday, several members of the World Class Performance Squad paid the Park a visit to take it all in and they were bowled over by what they saw. The main arena for the test event was ¾ the size it will be for the Games but the surface (provided by Andrews Bowens) will be the same. The backdrop of the Queen’s House with Canary Wharf in the distance was nothing short of stunning. Laura Bechtolsheimer instantly “got butterflies” just looking at the arena while Carl Hester said, “It’s exciting to think that possibly in a year’s time I’ll be here. This backdrop already makes the venue special – plus we’ll be ‘home’.”
Having the riders in one place was a great opportunity to do some media work with the press who’ll be covering our sport next year plus the regular equestrian correspondents. There was a real hive of interest around the riders as we’re working hard to get them in the spotlight – and prove we’re real medal chances!
In the balmy evening sunshine, five riders put on a Grand Prix display as part of the education of the assembled crowd plus to put the surface and arena to the ultimate test. Richard Davison and Kyra Kyrklund provided commentary and insight, explaining the movements and judging. Chairman of the Ground Jury for next year Stephen Clarke was also on hand to inspect. Britain’s Amy Stovold, Henriette Andersen and Hannah Biggs all took part and were full of praise for the arena. They were joined by Anders Dahl and Mette Lubker-Assouline from Denmark. The crowd seemed captivated and enjoyed the opportunity to experience top-class dressage.
Cross-country day for the eventers (Tuesday) was a chance for our Para World Class Squad to take in the views of Greenwich and the competition site and their reactions were no less dramatic. “Wow” was the initial reaction from some! The undulations of Greenwhich Park weren’t exactly wheelchair friendly but the setting still left all of them hoping they’re selected next year. Over two hours after the completion of the cross country, a display of five riders from across the grades took place in front of a packed grandstand. It was fantastic to see so many spectators had waited to see the riders in action and they didn’t disappoint.
Alison Moore, Natalie Povey, Natasha Baker, Nicky Thompson and Rosie Andrews all rode brilliantly and really showed off the sport. Inspiring, moving, brilliant were just a few of the words used by some of the spectators in reaction. During Nicky’s test, you could hear a pin drop – bearing in mind she’s registered blind – as the crowd were captivated by her skill and accuracy.
The test event certainly achieved its objectives and one thing is for sure – it has inspired all of those who attended and July 2012 can’t come soon enough.
Footing Needs Fixing
The biggest "complaint" from the riders was the quality of the footing. After five rides the footing in the corners started to move and it was quite hard on landing.
Other safety issues that needed fixing were also pointed out. The bars of the stable doors did not go to the end and a horse's hoof could potentially be caught. Furthermore the hand rails are too close to the edge and a horse could step off accidentally. Some of the handrails do not go to meet the side panels of the stables which could be problematic as well. The issue is easily fixable by moving the kicking boards at the bottom or by moving the rails in from the edge.
Photos © IDRC.ME
Source: British Dressage. Notes added by Eurodressage
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