The general consensus on the Pau cross-country course is that it’s a typical Pierre Michelet track that will reward bold riding. It’s flat and fast, but Pierre has put in a few 180º turn-backs that will disrupt competitors from gaining too much momentum.
Storm Austen is battering northern France, and while down in the south Pau is feeling the effects with blustery conditions and rain, the show goes on in fairly typical autumnal conditions. Rain is expected to fall all day on Friday – and forecast for cross-country day, too – however a summer of dry weather means the ground can take plenty of water.
Rider reactions to Pau cross-country course
Caroline Powell (High Time) is one rider to appreciate Pierre Michelet’s “long distances”, but she believes the course could be deceptive in its cumulative toll.
“High Time has a big jump so those distances will suit him,” she said. “When I started walking I thought it wasn’t that tough, but then I got halfway round and was like, ‘Jeez, it’s going to ride pretty tough’.
“It’s not massive in dimensions, but there are a lot of combinations and a lot of trip hazards out there.
“We are going to have to be on our A game all the way round. Every fence is a bit of a head-scratcher, you can’t disrespect any of them. Every one has a run-out risk, but it’s fair.”
“Every fence has a run-out risk – it’s going to ride tough”
CAROLINE POWELL ON HIGH TIME
Wiltshire-based US rider Hallie Coon, who scored a competitive dressage mark of 31.4, said the course will suit Kapriccio, but she has reservations.
“He’s really, really nippy and and has good acceleration and brakes, and he’s super rideable,” she said. “I’ll just need to put in big enough studs for those 180º turns and try not to fall on the flat!
“I love the jumping efforts and all the combinations, I just don’t love when they make you literally go back on yourself. Turning 180º wouldn’t be my favourite thing for a cross-country course. It wouldn’t let you get into a proper rhythm and get into the gallop you want to make those distances easy.”
Frenchman Benjamin Massie rides Figaro Fonroy, who fell at the Aachen World Championships after running out at the brush into the coffin.
“You can certainly recognise Pierre Michelet’s touch,” said Benjamin, who logged a score of 33.6 in Thursday’s dressage. “Coming from my horse’s perspective – and particularly given the World Championships, where I slipped on a panoramic brush [where you can’t see the landing] at the start of the course – here, there’s actually a panoramic brush right at the start of the course… so I’ll soon know where I stand.
“As for the rest, I think the course is right up his street. He’s a big horse with great movement, but this course is still quite winding. What’s more, he’s never run for 11 minutes. I don’t feel it’s much more difficult than last year’s European Championships [they finished ninth]. That said, it’s still a five-star event, a competition with its fair share of unpredictable factors.”
“Big questions at the end” on Pau cross-country course
British rider Sam Ecroyd, who is on 34.1 after dressage with Mister Big Ears, said the course “looks intense early”.
“It's super aggressive,” he said. “There are a lot of decisions to be made about distances, which are a little bit sort of one way or another. There are some committed distances and not a lot of strides, which make it a hard decision.
“It's tough going out and tough coming home when they're tired, with some real big questions at the end. So you just got to use a little bit of your nous there of what to do.”
The optimum time over the 6,270m track is exactly 11 minutes. Forty-nine horses are due to set out on Saturday (24 October), with 32 performing their dressage on Friday.
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