Similar weather in Arville to the UK today, warm, somewhat overcast but nothing like the wall to wall blue skies we expect when we go to Europe.
First up for Tim today was a spin around the 3*S class on Garcon (Tibo) and it was their first international start together and Tim was buzzing when he called afterwards. He said he had a “great” ride on Tibo who ticked all the boxes required and has Tim really excited for his future. Tibo is part of a massive 103 competitors in the 3S and he climbed from 39th to 24th with his 5.6 time added and has the showjumping to come tomorrow.
Chio 20 was next up in the 4*S showjumping and he was brave and careful which is just what you want in an advanced horse. He would run a little deep if Tim let him but he really does get up in the air and he looked a picture as he jumped a clear and he moved up from 29th to 17th. The 4*S is a huge field as well with 113 starters and just 4 faults covering the top 20 before cross country tomorrow.
Dromgurrihy Gold (Dara) went a while later and he jumped the first third of the track possibly his best to date over an advanced track. He just tipped the out of the treble and ran a bit strong down to the following fence to have that as well before regaining his balance to finish nicely. He sits well out of the placings but with his MER well intact and more experience to be gained tomorrow which is why he is here.
It’s a fairly strung out event for Tim with each phase on different days but with a hectic autumn schedule coming up I am sure he is making the most of it! Plans for the autumn three days are nearly finished and getting put in place as it’s always weird after an Olympics to get back into the day to day running of the sport. The FEI world rankings are out and Tim has climbed from 9th at the end of June to 6th at the end of July and he has an exciting quota of advanced horses heading 5 star this autumn with a potential 5 of them to run at the level and another 3 to run at 4*L as well. Exciting times ahead!
