With the Eventing medals now tucked away in their new owners’ pockets, attention now turns to Dressage. Competition kicks off tomorrow (August 10).
Full Riding Times Schedule for August 10 & August 11
Download riding times –> ORDERTOGO_2016_08_09_GrandPrix
August 10 – 11:36AM Rio time – Megan Lane & Caravella
August 11 – 10:00am Rio time – Belinda Trussell & Anton
Both Belinda (Trussell) and Megan (Lane) have had the advantage of being in Rio for a few days now with their horses, so they’ve had a chance to get comfortable with the surroundings and see the sights.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BI3WYcmBghH/?taken-by=evil_lyns
And of course march in the Opening Ceremonies! (read blog here)
Being there early means Anton and Caravella are now well acquainted with the show grounds, with Belinda and Megan having an opportunity to ride in the warm up rings as well as familiarization sessions in the main competition arena.
Although care must be given when arriving early at a Games as some riders can have a tendency to override their horses. More time can mean more opportunity to dwell on things and let nerves get the better of you – especially when you are sharing the training rings with the best-of-the-best in the world. It’s even more difficult when most of these riders are used to riding several horses a day on top of coaching duties..and of course every day life. Being at a Games really does put you into an artificial “bubble”, where you only have yourself and your main equine partner to focus on. That can be great! As long as you don’t fall into the trap of over-focusing.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BI5bAuZhbn8/?taken-by=evil_lyns
photo by Kelsey Rae
Look at that backdrop!
photo by Kelsey Rae
The Jog
The horse inspection for the dressage horses took place on cross-country day, and both Caravella and Anton passed with flying colours. And the horses were sparkling thanks to the hard work of Lynsey Rowan (Anton) and Evelyn Lucas (Caravella).
Megan will be the 10th rider down the centreline tomorrow’s Session I (Tuesday) , riding immediately after Denmark’s Anders Dahl & Selten HW and will be followed by USA’s Allison Brock and Rosevelt.
This is great as no one likes to go first, and particularly with Dressage as more often than not it takes the judges a few rides to get comfortable with their scoring (although I doubt you’d ever get a judge to admit that on record!)
How to watch in Canada!
CBC is providing fantastic picture-quality live streaming at http://olympics.cbc.ca
Although it is a little dry as there has been no commentary.
If you’re in the UK region (or have a VPN), BBC has been doing brilliant commentary for Eventing and I suspect this will continue for Dressage. http://www.bbc.com/sport/olympics/rio-2016
The Big Guns!
Following Canada's Equestrian Team 
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