The first day of dressage is complete at Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials and it took great afternoon tests by Badminton debutant Niklas Bschorer (TOM TOM GO 3) and Flora Harris (AMAZING VIII) to spare us from a whitewash by the New Zealanders.
Jonathan "Jock" Paget and CLIFTON PROMISE set the bar in the first session with a strong score of 41.2. Jock was very pleased with the test, saying that he had really enjoyed it and that the horse felt very easy and enjoyable to ride.
Early in the second session Mark Todd and LEONIDAS posted a 45.8, a score which could have been better, but for an error of course right at the end of his test when he halted in the wrong place. The bell should perhaps have been rung, giving Mark the opportunity to re-perform the movement and attain a better score, despite the compulsory two-point penalty.
Andrew Nicholson and NEREO followed Todd, with NEREO moving fluidly and accurately to post 37.8, the day's only sub-40 score.
[Dressage scoreboard after day 1]
