Walking into the Century Link Center in Omaha on day two of the FEI World Cup Fina, you never can be sure what will transpire before you walk out once again. The hope American fans have at this juncture is for McClain Ward to finally seize his long overdue World Cup win. The fear is that something, anything, will take the chalice away from his capable grasp.
In this moment his rivals are enjoying a stalking trip lurking within a rail and allowing the glow of the spotlight to shine away from them as they steadily prepare themselves to peak at just the right time. But luck, skill, fate, whatever you want to call it, is still there and it will still have a way of catching those who aren’t expecting it.
The thing that resonates from being in this event — walking the course, talking to the course designer, seeing the warm up from feet away — is something so obvious but yet probably a concept so foreign to many people. These riders are amazing, their animal partners appear flawless but in fact they’re dealing with what we all deal with, even the puddle jumpers.
1.60 meters is a big fence, there’s no denying that, but the straightness with which you handle a line, the compressed power you hold in a slow bend, the risk of your rollback in a jump off, all of these are universal skill sets to our sport.
McClain is a learned icon for a reason and his knowledge helps over really big courses, but the principles remain the same. The ‘rider frightener’ wall at #3 caught some pairs looking Friday night. Blocks dropped and a lesson was learned. It’s a more public example of when you thought you had a line right coming out of a turn and botched it. The lessons in horse sports never cease and if you pay attention, be it to a World Cup class, or your own lesson mates, you can always pick up something.
When Laura Kraut calls a course difficult but just as readily can say that she jumped a bit too quick there’s the rub, literally. It’s very much fitting to call this a game of inches, maybe even centimeters. The sensation watching the jump-off tonight was hard to really expect, let alone explain, as the riders in the order kept besting one another and knowing that our hero would have to ride last. This is the typical script and yet the adrenaline of the fans builds in these big moments, with big crowd, big prizes, and hopefully, big luck. Martin Fuchs & Clooney were superb but slow. And saying 44 seconds is slow over this track is a feat in and of itself. Romain and Gregory bested each rider that preceded them and without a doubt the crowd pulsed and folks asked themselves if McClain could really do it.
The thing that makes “Annie” so special is her confidence. Her rider shares it. But he’s worked hard to keep his head in the game. It’s an effort to work on what he felt was holding him back. We don’t often expect the squirrely nervous riders who ride against us to best the confident cool player. It can happen, but it’s not that frequent. Confidence brings it home.
When you know you’re up to the task in front of you and you smile when it’s your turn to strut, that’s the best feeling. Sure, nerves are right there and undoubtedly a lot can go wrong, but knowing you’ve got this? That’s amazing. McClain had it. Annie had it. And if you don’t believe it, watch the last fence of the jump-off in slow motion.
That my friends is why we all pay a fortune for animals who could theoretically maim us. Why we work in the snow to make sure they’re getting fit, why we ride early in the summer to get the most from our rides before a hot day, and why we come watch our heroes in far off Midwestern places. To feel that thrill of “I’ve got it.”
Whether it holds through to the final remains to be seen, but the goosebumps from last night linger. The surge of people leaping up to give a standing ovation and the immense cheers reverberated into the moment. The intensity of relief and joy would cross the face of most of us, but we’re not still two rounds away from arguably one of the biggest wins of our career.
Now is the time where fans return to their barns and play with a driving long spot to an oxer that blends into a momentous victory gallop on their ponies, OTTBs, lesson horses, or imports. The homework for our own goals is solidified by these moments where greatness reaches out to us, be it through the internet or in the stands.
The riders in this with their hearts will take some piece of the experience away and work harder on their own game. Who knows what we’ll see in 10, 20, 30 years from folks who were inspired by the events in Omaha? But one thing remains true, those that have ‘it’ will bring it home each time.