Oh, Phooey!!

No Team Medal

The US Dressage team missed out on a medal by just a few percentage points. But what is saddest of all, Debbie MacDonald's lovely mare Brentina did not perform well and only scored a 63%, far below the kinds of scores she has received in the past.

I saw the test and did not think it would score that low, and some of the camera angles did disguise a few of the problems. I thought the last extended trot looked more like a passage, but from the angle, it was hard to tell. Her piaffe was really lovely, though so I thought maybe the other things were going better than they actually were. Very disappointed for Debbie as this was Brentina's last competition and it was an important ride for the team.

The other two rides scored in at over 71% and 70%...although I thought Stefan Peters should have scored higher. Had Debbie scored in that vicinity--which she has always been able to do before--the team could have medaled and perhaps even worked into silver medal contention. Frankly, this was totally unexpected to me as Brentina has always been a solid performer. Speculation mounts as to whether or not something physical was bothering her.

Something physical is definitely bothering Tucker. The hoof injury is on his left front, on the outside, just to the inside of the white line. I took him out to the arena on the lunge line and trotted him just a wee bit. He was very noticeably lame going to the left where that foot is on the inside of the circle and, I surmise, much of his weight is borne on the outside of his left foot as he bends to the inside. However, when I trotted him on the right rein, he was practically sound with no head bob and a very slight stride irregularity you'd have to be really looking for to notice.

At the moment, I think this is good as it pretty much points to the cut/puncture from the shoe clip as being the only spot where he is sore. I don't feel any heat in his foot, and no increased pulse. I am not at all sure about soaking it so I called my regular farrier to see if he has any suggestions as to what else I can do.

Hot again today. I have to go to physical therapy this afternoon and will likely drop in for a swim on the way home.