Boekelo Wednesday is generalised as the Hangover Day of Eventing as the legendary Tuesday night party never fails to see all good intentions go flying out of the window. It has something of an end of term feel about it as we enter the last round of three day events for 2024 which adds to the vibe and Boekelo is such a unique event anyway! From small beginnings many years ago it is now one of the most progressive around with its involvement of businesses both local and international showcasing their products and platforms to some 60,000 visitors throughout the week.
A vast entry of 99 horses for the jog on Wednesday afternoon which was not without incident as many more combinations than usual seemed to be heading for the hold box. The general assumption was that the jog strip had more stones on it than normal and when horses step on a sharp stone it is akin to that feeling of impaling ones foot on a piece of lego at the bottom of the stairs. After all was done the field had just lost one competitor which was unfortunately one of those who had travelled all the way from America.
It’s the last in the 2024 series of Nations Cups as well hence Tim and Jonelle head up the NZ team of 4 with Hollie Swain and former work rider Tayla Mason completing the 4. The team riders don’t do dressage until Friday so we have Tayla first up at 10.25 (CET), Hollie running no.2 at 11.57, Jonelle and Full Monty de Lacense (FM) at 2.14 and Tim bringing up the rear on Global Quest (George) at 3.46. FM is contesting his first 4*Long whilst George is much more experienced as I think their expressions at the jog show quite clearly!
Coverage throughout the week on https://www.clipmyhorse.tv/en_GB/ and all live scoring on https://www.rechenstelle.de/de/
