World Cup Final Time- Round 1!

Taylor Land breaks down the action of round 1 of the last day at the World Cup showjumping Final in Lyon, France

The third and final leg of the World Cup started at 2:00 pm today, and it is definitely proving to be an intense competition! The course is big, scopey, careful, and gives the competitors no opportunities for lazy riding. Even in this very big indoor, Frank Rothenberger built a very connected track with many short lines, tight turns, and a snug time allowed. This is the third big track these horses (the top 30 from days 1 and 2) have jumped in four days- not including the wild, 21 horse jump off on Saturday night- and it's clear a lot of them are tired and not listening quite as well as earlier in the week. The course includes a spooky wall as the first jump set right against the rail, three difficult combinations (6ab, which is a forward oxer-vertical one stride; 8abc, a scopey oxer-vertical-oxer one to a two stride; and 9ab, a tight and airy double-vertical two stride with solid gold rails), and a very airy and difficult vertical with solid black rails as the final jump. Rails have been falling everwhere, but the most popular jumps to knock down (I guess this makes them the least popular jumps?) have been the three elements of 8abc, both 9a and 9b, and the final black vertical, which is fence 13. The first American to go clear was Katie Dinan! Her round was absolutely incredible and Nougat jumped out of his skin! She must been very excited. Leslie Burr-Howard's horse looked a bit unrideable today and fought her in the triple, resulting in having both 8a and 8b down. Charlie Jayne also had an unlucky 8 faults... he rode great and Chill R Z just barely ticked an element of 9ab and the last jump. Mclain was the only other clear for team USA. He rode as precisely as ever and Rothchild really gave it her all! Beezie's round with Simon was quite heartbreaking. He barely touched 8b and it rolled in slow motion out of the cups a split second later, giving her a current total of 8 faults. I'm sure she's disappointed, but both her and her horse were as good as they could be and you never know what could happen in round 2! Steve Guerdat, who was sitting in first place as the only rider with 0 faults, had the front rail of 12 down when his horse got a bit strung out and he failed to reorganize enough before tackling the last line. Daniel Deusser is currently on top with a clear round and a total score of 2 faults from days 1 and 2. Ludger is also sitting pretty for the second round with only 4 faults, Scott Brash has a current total of 5, and both Marcus Ehning and Maikel Van Der Vleuten have a total of 6. The second round is starting shortly, so I will update you ASAP!!!