William Fox-Pitt says . . .
“Seeing the venue in Athens has made us think positively about it. The main issue for me is the warm-up before the cross-country. There is just a little stretch with two or three fences and then bang, youre on an Olympic four-star cross-country course.
“It seems a cold-blooded start in comparison to doing Phases A, B and C — like warming up for a novice event a couple of pops and then youre on. Being mentally prepared for this will be the main challenge.”
Graham Fletcher says . . .
“Britains former world champion, David Broome, said: ‘Ill always remember where I was when the news came through that the British team had failed to qualify for the Olympics. Im gutted. Its a tragedy for British show jumping.’
“A tragedy indeed; the repercussions of our loss of Olympic status are incalculable. And when I spoke to them after the European championships, no one could have been more devastated than our team riders, who finished ninth in Donaueschingen.”
Stuart Hollings says . . .
“At the ‘new look’ NPS Summer Show, I was invited to judge the experimental British working/sport pony in-hand championship. These classes were judged on the “continental” system on the triangle with all three judges scoring individually.
“This method of judging proved popular not only with the spectators, but also with exhibitors, who enjoyed the challenge of performing a different individual show from the norm. This competition has a bright future and may be judged with skating-style marks next year.”
Pammy Hutton says . . .
“Oh, wow! Just as chief selector David Trott predicted before the Europeans, we won team bronze. After the medal was ours, Jennie Loriston-Clarke made a speech to the team. ‘Thank you,’ she said, ‘you made us proud to be British.’
“Its impossible to put it better. Five British riders and those wonderful horses delivered that pride to us all. You lifted your game, rode your socks off, restored hope and enthusiasm and secured a future for our sport. You made us cry tears of joy and every dressage supporter in this country loves you.”
