Allot of horses to fit into cross country day at Jardy today as the 2 star and the 3*S had much bigger entries than the 3*L, 129 in the 3S compared to the 32 in the Long. A start time of 08.30 for Tim, and, as he pointed out, that is 07.30 am for those of us on UK time which apparently makes quite a big difference.
Tim is used to running no.4 these days and today was a good reminder that he really is not suited to pathfinder mode. Tim is the first person to admit to not being a morning person, it does take him a while to get going and clearly that’s not by fence 5 at Jardy.
Gloire de Marchenval (Louis) was Tim’s designated first ride and Tim said he was simply too complacent as Louis finds everything so easy. Fence 5 was an early water jump with a step up to a bank with a log on the drop off into the drink. He said Louis was not expecting the water and genuinely got a fright when he saw it and the log made it not really possible to scramble over so Tim popped off the back and made attempt two which was negotiated successfully by Louis and off they trundled on around the track.
It’s a small venue, not unlike Strzegom with multiple courses laid out and a twisty cross country to try and cram 8 mins 11 into essentially two fields. Tim had walked a few times, had even pointed out to a fellow competitor that he had missed a couple of fences on a loop ( for which they were eternally grateful this morning!), was not hungover, had a great nights sleep the night before and then managed to miss a loop on the way home to skip fences 15, 16 and 17 and eliminate himself and Louis. Louis of course has no idea that he has the big E by his name and Tim was delighted with his performance and simply rueing the mistake.
The Highlander (Ivar) benefitted enormously from this as Tim went out on ride two as a man on a mission and nailed a fabulous clear in time to retain the lead. He was really impressed by Ivar and the way he handled the track so at least a really good positive note to come out of today.
But I can still hear his words ringing in my ears “You can’t turn the hands of time back, Jacks” with true regret in his voice! No one is madder with himself than Tim but both horses are safe and happy and nothing is more important than that.
The 3*L jog in the morning and don’t showjump until the afternoon so hopefully Tim will have caught up on the time difference by then and be right on it for Ivar’s finalé.
