The Slower Road

From Katie Whaley (competing this weekend in France):

On the morning of the marathon, the weather is beautiful: sunny with a breeze! This …

… is the most technical obstacle, very tight. There are a total of eight obstacles, all gated up through F. This event is a CAI-A, the highest FEI level, with prize money in all divisions, so it demands a difficult course totalling fifteen kilometers. Section A is on paved roads and through fields, very hilly but also very pretty. I go at noon, and Mia goes at 3:15 p.m.

There are two obstacles, on the side of a hill, that I am concerned about, as there are turnovers there every year. But I drove them both last year, so it should be ok.

Mia Allo, with her daughter, after finishing dressage on Friday (photo by Katie Whaley)

Meanwhile, in Aachen … the American drivers do not seem to have finished the marathon as I’m sure they wanted to.

After his great start (third overall going into the final phase), Jim Fairclough finished the marathon in 22nd place, out of the 24 competitors. Apparently, one of his horses tripped and fell in obstacle number 4, and both grooms had to get down to untangle the horse and get everything righted (grooms down, of course, means major penalty points).

Tucker Johnson fared much better, finishing in the 12th spot. The Dutch driver Ysbrand Chardon (the reigning world champion) won the marathon phase.

In the overall competition, Boyd Exell wins it all! Tucker finished in 8th place overall, an Jim finished in 17th.

Great news! … U.S. driver Jim Fairclough is currently in third place overall after two of the three phases at the Aachen driving event. Dressage was on Thursday, the cones competition was today (Jim had a double-clear round), and the marathon will be tomorrow.

The text below is from a United States Equestrian Federation press release that just arrived in my e-mail inbox:

The U.S. Driving team has finished two of their three phases and have had consistent success at the CHIO Aachen. James Fairclough finished third in the dressage phase and fourth in the obstacle phase. He sits in third place overall in the standings before tomorrow morning’s final marathon phase.

In the first dressage phase, Fairclough and his team scored 45.31, while teammate Tucker S. Johnson was eighth on a score of 48.51.

Today, Fairclough was clear in the first round of the cones phase, and he competed in the five team drive-off. His time of 85.59 seconds with 3 penalty points gave him fourth place in the class, but those penalties do not carry over into his overall score.

“I went very forward, but wasn’t going to go crazy because tomorrow’s another day,” Fairclough explained. “The marathon is the hardest on them. We prepare for tomorrow. The three days overall is what I’m really here for.”

The U.S. has just two drivers for the team classification, so all scores count. After yesterday’s dressage phase, the U.S. sat in second place; they are now in third place with 99.82 points, close behind Germany, which has 98.17 points, and The Netherlands with 92.60 points.

For Fairclough, who has competed here many times, Aachen still holds excitement for him. “Every time, it’s a thrill to be here,” he agreed. “The atmosphere and competition here is at the level of WEG or World Championships, all the time, every year. It’s a pleasure to be here.”

Fairclough’s  team consists of five horses, which he can switch out for his four-in-hand team depending on the phase. For today’s obstacle phase, he used Uniek and Charlie Brown in the lead and full sisters Caletta (5) and Celina (6) on the wheel.

Fairclough drives for Team Clark, led by Jane F. Clark. His team has come together quickly this year — they leased two horses, Uniek and Splash, from fellow driver Keady Cadwell just this March and Aachen is only their fourth competition together.

“In all my years, it hasn’t come together this quickly, but the chemistry works well,” he said. “It’s really come together well, and it’s really looking good for WEG.”

His plans for tomorrow’s marathon phase are simple. “I want to be really smooth, forward, and fast, and hope for no mistakes,” he said.

Due to Aachen’s televised broadcast, they have switched the order of the last two phases. Usually the obstacles are the final phase, but the competition will now end with the exciting marathon phase.

For information, live results and coverage, please visit: www.chioaachen.com.

A few photo updates from Katie Whaley follow. She’s competing in France this weekend and drives her dressage test tomorrow.

a view of the national stud's demonstration during the opening ceremonies for the event (photo by Katie Whaley)

... and another view of the same (photo by Katie Whaley)

Katie took this photo while walking the marathon obstacles; this is one way UP through the obstacle ... yikes! (photo by Katie Whaley)

... and a view down from the top of another marathon obstacle (photo by Katie Whaley)

… of course, that’s Thursday morning here in the U.S. It’s now Thursday evening in Germany.

Dressage was today, and U.S. driver Jim Fairclough currently stands in third place, with a score of 45.31. Boyd Exell (AUS) is in the lead with a score of 36.61, follwed by Theo Timmerman (NED) in second (42.11).

I received these two videos via email and am unable to embed them here, but you can click on the links to see …

Tucker’s winning dressage test in the optional “warm-up” dressage competition on Wednesday:

http://sharing.theflip.com/session/023522f3218415032451e6bab8dc5d72/video/16295048

… and traffic in the dressage warm-up arena:

http://sharing.theflip.com/session/ef4a51d521b8e3b892152d75b438bfdd/video/16297687

I’m sure we’ll get more videos as the weekend and the event progress, so stay tuned.

Katie Whaley (competing at a CAI this week in France), sent the following photos from Wednesday …

the stabling area at Le Pin au Haras CAI, in France (photo by Katie Whaley)

... although some competitors choose to stable their ponies in their lorries (photo by Katie Whaley)

the first horse inspection was held in front of this beautiful old house (now empty), which used to house the head of the state stud farm where the event is being held (photo by Katie Whaley)

Katie and Mia Allo with Mia's ponies after Wednesday's horse inspection (photo courtesy of Katie Whaley)

Meanwhile, at Aachen …

Both Americans (Tucker Johnson and Jim Fairclough) chose to compete in today’s optional “warm-up” dressage test and both received good scores … Tucker had a 44.54, and Jim had a 45.56. This put Tucker in the lead and Jim in third place. These scores don’t count toward the “combined” CAI score, but both drivers are off to a good start for the week!

Then, apparently, a huge storm blew in this afternoon, with threatening skies and warnings to take tents down and pull trucks around the stabling area to keep everthing (and everyone, horses and humans!) safe.

For a press release (and photo of Tucker) on hoefnet.com, click here: http://www.hoefnet.nl/en/home/site/news/aachen-johnson-wins-first-dressage-test