JM>of the equestrian events on TV, except for one two-second
JM>clip when they said "dressage started today" (for the three-
JM>day dressage, at that).
They have had 10-20 minute segments on equestrian events on NBC every so 
often.
They showed the 3-Day eventing x-country and stadium jumping.  They only 
showed
one New Zealander and three USA team members in the stadium jumping.  The
cross country was an "artsy montage" of footage which never let you really 
ee
how difficult the course was, or how long it was.
The show jumping portion was just as biased, so the TV audience had NO idea 
how
the competition went, just some lovely shots of the Americans doing their
rounds.  ARG!
JM>Hope you have fun out at the horse park -- don't forget your sunscreen!
JM> ;-)  We'll be glad to hear all about it.
It was FABULOUS!!!!!  I had so much fun, I would do it every day! We got 
here
without any traffic hassles.  We parked fairly close to the shuttle bus stop.
The shuttles were always there and loading up with blasting A/C.  Everyone 
as
happy and polite.  We had seats in the nosebleed section, but the breeze was
great there.  It remained cloudy most of the day, and it was quite 
comfortable.
(I did use a ton of sunscreen anyway.)  We were right at A, and with our
view, I could see everything!  We also had binoculars, so I could zoom in
and watch specific movements closely.
Robert Dover had a AWFUL ride.  Metallic decided that instead of piaf, he 
wanted
to perform a canter piroette (sp?) right at I in front of the judge at C.  
o,
There insued a slight disagreement.  Then they went on, but the ride was less
than good.  He left the arena to scores @250 from each judge and was 20th in
the standings.  I won't be seeing him doing freestsyle!!
Gunter Seidel had a nice ride.  Nothing spectacular, but was 11th when we 
left.
I loved seeing Graf George, after all the coverage he received because of his
last few riders.  He is a beautiful horse!
Michelle Gibson was poetry in motion!  Her seat was beautiful and her hands
were the stillest I saw.  She had a wonderful ride on Peron and was in 3rd
place when we left.  (We left after her ride, there were about 4 more riders
to go.)
Anky Von Grunsven was in 1st place and had a stellar go!  She and Bonfire 
ave
such style and grace.  They just had a sparkle and flair that only Michelle
and Peron came anywhere near matching.
I also really enjoyed seeing Kalus Balkenhol on Goldenstern.  He optimizes
German riding.  I loved the military uniform and they looked so together.
They also both looked as if they were enjoying the ride.  I think he was
in 4th place, bumped out of third by Michelle Gibson.
Oh, I nearly forgot Steffen Peters.  It was a forgettable ride.  They were
quite off and unprecise for this level of competition.  I'm not sure what
was going on there, but it did seem like it wasn't anywhere near the level
I know they can achieve.
I've written too much! Laura
 * LND 1.0 * If it exists, it's obsolete.
--- Maximus/2 3.01
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