Update from the jumpers at the halfway stage

It’s all to play for at the halfway stage of the team jumping competition with GB tied in the silver medal position alongside four other nations after finishing on just four faults.

Current standings after round one: 1 Saudi Arabia =2 Great Britain, Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, 6 Canada, =7 Brazil, USA, 9 Mexico, 10 Australia, Germany, 12 France, 13 Belgium, 14, Ukraine, 15 Chile

Nick commented; "Looked amazing, felt amazing, it is amazing; for me it was perfect, a really nice course. It wasn’t  crazy big but you had to be careful enough and there are tricky lines There are enough tests out there but Big Star is jumping unbelievably, he’s got everything, I feel great, he’s in great condition, he hasn’t got a negative, he is the most perfect horse. I mean for a young horse to jump like that, he’s a freak. There’s a long way to go yet but I wouldn’t want to swop horses.

"Big Star is very very quiet outside, as soon as he comes into the arena he lights up ten gears. The crowd is unbelievable; it won’t be their fault if we don’t win!

"I prefer to go first; I get finished first I’m not a very patient person, I like to get on with it"

Ben commented; "I think the rain just stopped just in time for me which was nice.He’s not warming up quite the way I want him to; for some reason he seems a bit keen. I know him so well, so I know how I need him before I go in so I was just panicking a little before I went in but I needn’t have worried; he’s on great form. He knows what he’s doing so I’m just letting him get on with it a bit.  He jumped well, as soon as he saw the red bus in there he thought, hold on a minute, this isn’t a normal day, something a little bit new is going on here and it caught his attention and he started to try harder.

"The water felt a long stretch; I don’t know if it’s like that for everyone but it felt like a river not a water jump there but it’s great. The course is difficult today, there are some clear rounds still but it’s a tough competition, it’s not the biggest but it’s as technical course as a course going to come, yet Bob [Ellis, the course builder] still has to save something for the next days but it didn’t feel easy at all.

"I know Tripple X will improve I know he can still be better than that again. We’re going to stay focussed and do the best we can. We were out to dinner as a team last night, this morning walked the course and then we were back at the stables half asleep or listening to music just really focussing and not getting too involved in anyone else and staying concentrated on our own job. If we all can do what we can do on an individual basis then we’re as good as any other team."

Scott said; "He jumped amazing and as I rode to the last I thought he was good and I thought just let him jump it - I didn’t feel like he did anything wrong. I need to look back at the videos, maybe I needed to hold him a little bit more, but at the minute I think if I was to ride it again I’d ride it the same. He jumped fantastic everywhere else.

"He jumped super, I’m chuffed to bits with him, it was a big difference to yesterday, just in his attitude and the way he felt to ride, he felt normal again. Yesterday he was quite shell shocked so it’s good.

"The rain was no trouble, I’m not using that as an excuse the conditions were actually quite good for me but I wanted to jump clear for the team."

Peter Charles commented; "It was a bit of a building round from yesterday, I thought when I jumped the first line then spun back to the water he felt good and then from what the guys tell me we were a little bit unlucky in the middle of the combination.

"It’s very unfortunate what happened to him yesterday, for a first year grand prix horse that really unsettled him . He’s not jumping bad but not as good as we hoped for. That round today will have done him a power of good but it’s not what we want, it’s an Olympic Games and  we want to jump clear.

"The crowd were a lot better today. We’d have liked three clears on the board so no-one can get passed you but that isn’t the way it’s panned out so it is what it is now"