Congratulations, Gina!!

This morning saw the last of the phases in the 3-Day Eventing. Dressage day was interesting as many of the horses were quite spooky at a camera set near the judging stands at "C" (or the top of the arena). Gina's horse was pretty solid. (I apologize, I couldn't find any pictures that were good enough to share) Cross-country was brutal. The first 8 jumping questions, including the first water, were in the first 60 seconds of an 8-minute course. Very twisty, turny, and technical. A few falls, but no horse or rider hurt. Gina and McKinlaigh were over the time (every single ride was), but otherwise clean and clear. It was lovely.

I was planning on being out of bed and in front of the computer to watch the live feed of the stadium jumping phase. Considering it was a horrible night and I was less than comfortable, that didn't happen. Good thing for me the televised feed took place at 4pm my time!

Once again, Gina and Mac had a clean round well within the time allowed for the team competition. Unfortunate for our entire event team, there is no medal. It was actually a fairly ugly Olympic Games for them. Amy Tryon fell in the cross-country, immediate elimination. Becky Holder had 60 jumping faults in the cross-country after a lovely dressage test. She was basically done. Karen O'Connor brought her young horse, Mandiba, who was certainly impressed with his surroundings. It caused some problems. Gina and Phillip Dutton were our bright spots. Phillip's horse was impressed by the lights this morning and pulled a couple of rails in the team rounds. The Americans were out. Sadly, after giving a beautiful individual jumping round, Phillip was disqualified. The boots he had on his horse were just a little too heavy. Guess our team will now invest in a scale.

But Gina? Our dear, sweet, tiny, unassuming Gina Miles and her giant Irish Draught Sport Horse, McKinlaigh, were flawless. Mac jumped clear in the team round, then again in the indivivual round....with time to spare. It was georgous! I cheered and cheered. You would have thought I was there! In fact, I started laughing at my antics.

But the gold was just out of reach. Gina held it for a few moments. Heinrich Romeike of Germany and his horse, Marius, were the only other ones where were so beautiful through the total three days. And, again, they wowed me. I told my parents they have to win the lottery so they can buy me this horse, I'd have a blast campaining him in the jumper ring! With certain ease, Heinrick and Marius grabbed the gold.

But Gina, oh, Gina, she was absolutely thrilled with her silver medal. As she should be!! Congratulations, Gina! You're an inspiration to all of us!