Onira jumped amazingly last night! I was so mad at myself when I came out of the ring! The triple combination was a hard one and caught a lot of the riders. I had the B effort of the triple combination down because I under-rode the width of the oxer. Thus the fault was full rider error, and I kept replaying my mistake in my mind. So so mad at myself!
The course was big and Onira played around the rest of the track, which made the fault that much more annoying!
Michel Vaillancourt is course designing this week and I feel that he is one of our best designers. He really has a feel for what he has to build and fashions tracks not only according to standard but also to his field of riders and horse combinations. Also, I learned last night that he was the first Canadian athlete (yes, general athlete!) to win an individual Olympic medal. That is amazing!
All his tracks this week have been spot on in terms of number of clear rounds and last night was no exception. We saw six clear rounds that began with Olivier Philippaerts. He is young, but rides incredibly well. I always like to see my friends go clear and give it a go! The jump off course was very complicated, equipped with a lot of roll-backs and awkward or tricky angles. I thought all of the riders had excellent rounds, which is rare. Conor had one down with Landsdowne but he jumped beautifully in both rounds. Jill Henselwood won going last. The packed stands were very enthusiastic all night and it was great for them that a Canadian clinched the victory!
Today is a quiet day for me and Onira. I may not even ride him, I have not decided yet. I want to keep him very fresh for Saturday night and the Big Ben Challenge. There are a few classes to watch though so I am going to head over to the exhibition center to see the happenings. I am considering a trip to the Science Center a bit later. Yes I am totally nerdy but I hear it is one of the best in North America, so why not?
Photos of Onira… clearly he does not have any boundaries.
Noelle Floyd.com 