Following Canada's Equestrian Team

Today was the first day of show jumping competition with the Round 1 of Team and Individual.

The course itself is quite beautiful, with some very Mexican-inspired jumps including an homage to the Day of the Dead (which happens Nov. 2) and of course Tequila.

It’s a steep learning curve for me understanding how the points are calculated during the various rounds of competition. Today was based on speed, with each rail being first converted to 4 seconds added to your time. Then at the end, a formula is applied which converts everyone’s time to penalty points. The leader is award 0 points, and 2nd, 3rd, 4th etc. are then given penalty points. And this gets carried with each rider throughout the remainder of the competition. So even though Eric Lamaze (our top placed Canadian) currently sits in 11th position, the reality is that less than 1 rail separates him from the current leader. And with 4 more rounds of jumping to go before all is said and done on Saturday, it’s still very much anyone’s game.

Same is true for Canada’s current 5th place team standing. Less than 9 points separate the top 5 teams….and judging by the rounds I saw today, there were very few horse/rider combinations who looked truly comfortable on the course. So tomorrow should prove to be interesting! The final 3 medal countries may look quite different than what today’s standings are showing…and Canada is still very much in the medal hunt.

Here are some pics from today’s activities. Unfortunately I didn’t make it to the Country Club in time to catch Jill’s ride as Tina & I had to make a trip to the Village. Check out Ingate Ringmaster Extraordinaire Pedro’s outfit for today…makes me wonder what he has up his sleeve for tomorrow’s team medal finals!

Team Results

Individual Results