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It is the weekend before Christmas, the weather is dreadful. So outdoor | :01:10. | :01:14. | |
sports don't look much fun. Our solution is come inside. Get a | :01:14. | :01:18. | |
packed house for the Christmas show at Olympia and let's bring you one | :01:18. | :01:23. | |
of the most popular classes here, it is all about the wall. Because | :01:23. | :01:30. | |
this is the Alltech Christmas Puissance. A stack of wooden bricks. | :01:30. | :01:35. | |
Do not be fooled. Puissance pushes competitors to the limit. Get it | :01:35. | :01:39. | |
right, and you will soar like an eagle. Get it wrong and you will | :01:39. | :01:46. | |
sink. We have the French to thank for the name. It means power. And | :01:46. | :01:52. | |
these horses are courageous and powerful. As for the riders, they | :01:52. | :01:55. | |
powerful. As for the riders, they must stay cool, calm and collected. | :01:55. | :02:01. | |
He wants it to go up. In round one, you get three obstacles and then | :02:01. | :02:08. | |
the wall. It starts off at 5'11", so imagine, say, Roy Keane, with | :02:08. | :02:13. | |
horses sailing over his head. If you or the bricks come a Cropper, | :02:13. | :02:19. | |
you are out. But if you go clear, you get to go again. As the wall | :02:19. | :02:26. | |
starts getting higher, and higher, and higher. He is in big trouble. | :02:26. | :02:31. | |
Last year Ben Maher and Noctambule Courcelle jumped seven foot three. | :02:31. | :02:39. | |
That is the height of Peter Mayhew, chew backer from Star Wars. If you | :02:39. | :02:43. | |
think that is tasty check out this, the dapper German holds the world | :02:43. | :02:48. | |
record, jumping a staggering seven foot ten, back in 1991. That is | :02:48. | :02:54. | |
about the same as the Olympic high jump record set by Charles Austin | :02:54. | :02:59. | |
in 1996. But Charlie wasn't carrying round a jockey on his back. | :02:59. | :03:03. | |
So if you keep taking off in style, don't knock your blocks off and | :03:03. | :03:07. | |
land safely, you could take home first prize. Or, you may just want | :03:07. | :03:13. | |
to curl up in a ball and pretend no-one's watching. Nick Skelton | :03:13. | :03:17. | |
walked away from that fall but he knows too well, as do riders you | :03:17. | :03:22. | |
are not always that lucky. The latest high profile casualty as | :03:22. | :03:25. | |
this man Tim Stockdale. Explain this man Tim Stockdale. Explain | :03:25. | :03:30. | |
what happened to you.. I had a bit of a prang off a young horse. I had | :03:30. | :03:35. | |
a difficult fall and collided with a fence. I ended up resulting in | :03:35. | :03:42. | |
three fractures of my vertebrae in the neck, C3, C4 and C5. And what | :03:42. | :03:48. | |
is the general prognosis? Well, I have just come out of hospital two | :03:48. | :03:51. | |
weeks' ago, I had five-weeks on my back. But the process of healing is | :03:51. | :03:55. | |
working well. I have a scan in about three weeks time. If that | :03:55. | :03:59. | |
goes according to plan we should start doing physio and be back | :03:59. | :04:05. | |
riding by February. Hopefully jumping by March. So in your mind | :04:05. | :04:10. | |
you targeting the London Olympics? Why not. Now, if anything, I have a | :04:10. | :04:16. | |
bit more motivation, I mean, you know, this has been a major hiccup | :04:16. | :04:20. | |
and two months later would have dented any plans, but the fact this | :04:20. | :04:25. | |
has happened when it's happened. My horse will be rested. He is on a | :04:25. | :04:31. | |
good rest while I'm in this situation. I should hopefully work | :04:31. | :04:35. | |
myself into fitness. I want to be on that line that says please pick | :04:35. | :04:40. | |
me. This has not done anything than fuel the furnace of desire. I know | :04:40. | :04:45. | |
people are pleased to see you, your fellow rider, friends, everybody. | :04:45. | :04:48. | |
In terms of the puissance class, you have won it a couple of time, | :04:48. | :04:53. | |
how do you as a required approach this competition? Again, I think | :04:53. | :04:58. | |
this is a horses for coarses competition. You wouldn't enter a | :04:58. | :05:01. | |
competition like this unless your felt your horse was right for this | :05:01. | :05:06. | |
class. This is all about big jumps, simple jumps, a big red wall, there | :05:06. | :05:11. | |
is no point in taking a horse that is a coward, that is, too careful. | :05:11. | :05:15. | |
You want a big bold jumper. Preferably one that uses his body | :05:15. | :05:19. | |
in the right way. As a rider, you want to stay as cool and calm as | :05:19. | :05:23. | |
you can, to give the horse every opportunity to jump when it gets | :05:23. | :05:29. | |
big. It is not a big class. We only have eight Howe horses in it. Laura | :05:29. | :05:33. | |
ren nick is riding two which is amazing says she hates the | :05:33. | :05:39. | |
puissance. It is like she badgered herself into it. Don't you for get. | :05:39. | :05:43. | |
When she gets in she is a competitor through and through. | :05:43. | :05:47. | |
This being such a class for the real connoisseur type of horse. The | :05:48. | :05:51. | |
fact there is only eight doesn't stop it being very good and one | :05:51. | :05:55. | |
that could go very big. Tim has given you an idea of what the | :05:55. | :06:01. | |
riders might be thinking going in, there but what about the horses, | :06:01. | :06:11. | |
:06:11. | :06:32. | ||
You might think we can't know what a horse is thinking but some people | :06:32. | :06:38. | |
really can. Monty Roberts is the man about who the book the Horse | :06:38. | :06:43. | |
Whisper was made and the leading horse psychologist here trained | :06:43. | :06:46. | |
alongside him. Her name is Kelly Marks. What does a horse think when | :06:46. | :06:50. | |
it comes in here? By the time they get here, you hope they have had, | :06:50. | :06:55. | |
you would expect, they have had a lot of training, and a lot of good | :06:55. | :06:59. | |
experiences. That is what is going to get them confident in themselves, | :06:59. | :07:03. | |
and most importantly in the rider, so that when the rider asks them | :07:03. | :07:09. | |
that question, they are ready to go forward. Just like the film the War | :07:09. | :07:14. | |
Horse, that horse has to be ready and ready to go. In terms of the | :07:14. | :07:19. | |
noise and the atmosphere, and there is a lot of excitement, it it must | :07:19. | :07:23. | |
be such an adrenaline rush for the horse. I think the riders have to | :07:23. | :07:27. | |
be able to focus totally. I think they can bring that through to the | :07:27. | :07:30. | |
horse, we are here to do a job. That is what your train your horses | :07:30. | :07:34. | |
to do, we are here to do a job now. This is a different class, because | :07:34. | :07:39. | |
you are not coming in with lots of jumps and trying to find your way | :07:39. | :07:42. | |
through, you are focusing on the wall. You have a couple of jumps | :07:42. | :07:47. | |
before it, but this is your target. Now, this helps a lot, because this | :07:47. | :07:52. | |
gives the horse almost something that splits the wall in two, | :07:52. | :07:55. | |
doesn't make it look too daunting. Yes, with the classes you want the | :07:55. | :08:00. | |
horse to get close in, and like that, because it is like when a | :08:00. | :08:06. | |
horse jumps from a stand-still, if you have seen that, they go up, and | :08:06. | :08:10. | |
really buckle in the air to get to clear over it. So they have | :08:10. | :08:13. | |
incredible spring from the back end? Yes, the back end is where it | :08:13. | :08:17. | |
is all happening. The other thing that is really interesting to watch, | :08:17. | :08:21. | |
as they come into this fence. Some of them struggle to get their head | :08:21. | :08:25. | |
up at a stage, so they can see exactly how they are going to jump. | :08:25. | :08:29. | |
So watch out for that. If the horse brings its head up it is trying to | :08:29. | :08:33. | |
get a good sight. So this is the beginning height. There is a | :08:33. | :08:37. | |
maximum of five rounds, in an ideal world we will be left with one | :08:37. | :08:42. | |
outright winner at the end. So let us join our team of Andy Austin and | :08:42. | :08:45. | |
us join our team of Andy Austin and Mike Tucker. Good evening to you, | :08:45. | :08:50. | |
and just look at that picture here in the grand hall. Absolutely | :08:50. | :08:55. | |
packed. This is one of the dramatic nights of this famous show, which | :08:55. | :09:00. | |
has now got such an enthusiastic following. It will be exciting I am | :09:00. | :09:02. | |
sure, the Alltech Christmas Puissance, it has an interesting | :09:02. | :09:08. | |
field. It is not a big one. Laura ren nick, then Robert Whitaker with | :09:08. | :09:18. | |
:09:18. | :09:19. | ||
one of the favourites, then Pius Schwizer. Geir Gulliksen for Norway. | :09:19. | :09:23. | |
Laura ren nick her second, Guy Williams third last year and John | :09:23. | :09:33. | |
Whitaker goes last in the first round with Casino. The young lady | :09:33. | :09:43. | |
now, from Essex. It is Laura Renwick. Laura, with Parvati de | :09:43. | :09:51. | |
Breve. This horse first time in a puissance. Now, Laura said she was | :09:51. | :09:55. | |
quietly confident, only an eight - year-old horse. She describes this | :09:55. | :10:01. | |
horse as brave and scopey, now that is two qualities you do need. Just | :10:01. | :10:06. | |
talk you round this first round, we have four fences, the first two out | :10:06. | :10:10. | |
of the way. This triple bar is going to get bigger and bigger and | :10:10. | :10:15. | |
much wider as the rounds go on. can sometimes be an influential | :10:15. | :10:20. | |
fence in this competition. Coming down to the wall, and this is the | :10:20. | :10:27. | |
last fence to jump, in the first round and very well over it. Pony | :10:27. | :10:32. | |
Club wall. You can see why she says it is scopey and brave. Really took | :10:32. | :10:40. | |
it on. That was the confidence giver that she needed. You can see | :10:40. | :10:44. | |
how easily she came down, she didn't have to put extra pressure | :10:44. | :10:49. | |
on her horse and that is a great start. Certainly has the power to | :10:49. | :10:55. | |
go a lot bigger. Well, here is a man who has been in a lot of | :10:55. | :11:05. | |
:11:05. | :11:08. | ||
puissance. He had a horse call Saint Finbar. He jumped in a very | :11:08. | :11:15. | |
interesting and unusual way, but jumps a lot of big fences. This is | :11:15. | :11:23. | |
a new horse, only an eight-year-old, called Waterstone, he has done one | :11:23. | :11:28. | |
puissance bareback. Where did he get, somewhere round the seven foot | :11:28. | :11:37. | |
mark? Six feet 11 with no saddle. Saddle oner -- on, here we go. This | :11:37. | :11:41. | |
is the first time he has been in a puissance with a saddle so that is | :11:41. | :11:50. | |
a very strange statistic. A typical puissance horse. Big stride. Masses | :11:50. | :11:58. | |
of power. That was very comfortable. As we watch the horses more and | :11:58. | :12:03. | |
more, we will see the riders take their own type of approach. Steady | :12:03. | :12:10. | |
canter here, into the bottom. Not too much pace. Effortless! Robert | :12:10. | :12:15. | |
riding very confidently. Who wouldn't, after jumping six foot 11 | :12:15. | :12:21. | |
bareback. Must feel better when the saddle is on. Let us look at Robert | :12:21. | :12:26. | |
here. Waterstone getting his head up a bit, makes a classic shape | :12:26. | :12:31. | |
over the wall. Bends his back. Comes up at the shoulder, and there | :12:31. | :12:39. | |
is a lot left in the tank. One of the stars from Switzerland. Pius | :12:39. | :12:44. | |
Schwizer with Koby du Vartellier, a horse with loot of experience. He | :12:44. | :12:50. | |
is a late entry to this, but he is a man in flying form at the moment. | :12:50. | :12:58. | |
He has been placed or winning some of the big indoor competitions | :12:58. | :13:08. | |
:13:08. | :13:10. | ||
round the European circuit. This competition was won by the great | :13:10. | :13:15. | |
Marcus Foulkes a few years ago. Schizophrenia's -- Switzerland's | :13:15. | :13:20. | |
hopes on this man. He allows his horses to run forward. He has a | :13:20. | :13:30. | |
:13:30. | :13:31. | ||
very light touch. But they certainly do jump for him. This | :13:31. | :13:35. | |
first round, we would expect most of the horses with puissance | :13:35. | :13:45. | |
experience to pop over this wall fairly comfortably. No problems. He | :13:45. | :13:51. | |
just gets some idea of what scope and how they are going to approach | :13:51. | :13:55. | |
this. Some going a bit too quickly. Some slower. You get an idea of | :13:55. | :13:59. | |
what is going to come. Watch him. He hasn't done a puissance for a | :13:59. | :14:05. | |
while. Look at him on the last stride. He used extra leg and said | :14:05. | :14:11. | |
"Come on, pick yourself up." Very nicely over. Good shape in the air. | :14:11. | :14:16. | |
Now Ben Maher. And Ben Maher is another star. Winner last year Ben, | :14:16. | :14:26. | |
:14:26. | :14:29. | ||
with his horse he bought especially. Noctambule Courcelle. He did the | :14:29. | :14:37. | |
job very nicely. He was very impressive. Not done too much since | :14:37. | :14:45. | |
though. This is a horse that is a puissance specialist. There aren't | :14:45. | :14:52. | |
so many round nowadays. Oh, and he has had the first fence. Now, you | :14:52. | :15:01. | |
can see on Ben's face there, what a disappointment. That really is | :15:01. | :15:08. | |
supposedly a schooling fence. He has made a big mistake. That | :15:08. | :15:15. | |
certainly throws this competition very much up in the Gods. Some of | :15:15. | :15:18. | |
the riders that possibly thought they were going for a school will | :15:18. | :15:27. | |
be watching that with great interest. The wall so easy. What | :15:27. | :15:35. | |
else is in store tonight? Out he goes. But just watch him come to it | :15:35. | :15:40. | |
again. He is a puissance horse. He is not the most careful. He wasn't | :15:40. | :15:45. | |
concentrating. Comes down to the wall and there you see the power | :15:46. | :15:49. | |
and the scope, no problem at all, but that is a massive | :15:49. | :15:52. | |
disappointment for Ben, he has brought that horse here especially | :15:52. | :16:02. | |
:16:02. | :16:10. | ||
Norwegian rider, Geir Gulliksen. The has spent a long time with the | :16:10. | :16:20. | |
:16:20. | :16:23. | ||
Whitakers in Yorkshire, a great character. He bought his tours of a | :16:23. | :16:30. | |
great -- his horse of a great rider. Having heard foreshore, the News of | :16:30. | :16:40. | |
:16:40. | :16:40. | ||
Ben Maher going out, he could say, there could -- I might just stay in. | :16:40. | :16:45. | |
Eric has been a terrific Server for Geir Gulliksen over the year. -- | :16:45. | :16:53. | |
L'Espoir has been a terrific servant. He has no bit in his mouth. | :16:53. | :16:59. | |
He sticks his nose out in front of him. He is a very experienced | :16:59. | :17:07. | |
campaigner. He said to me with a grin on his face that he might go | :17:07. | :17:16. | |
run -- one round, but we will see. Are you going to take bets on that? | :17:16. | :17:22. | |
If p Johns convincingly, he will be back in. -- if he jumps | :17:22. | :17:29. | |
convincingly. It certainly is wide open now. I have a feeling Jimmy | :17:29. | :17:37. | |
said, it could be made. He comes to that forward stride, very neat. | :17:37. | :17:46. | |
This is a Grand Prix class horse, Last year's winner is out, and he | :17:46. | :17:52. | |
had the very first fence down. Ben Maher, deeply frustrating? Yes. The | :17:52. | :17:56. | |
same rules for everyone. It is always difficult as a specialist | :17:56. | :18:01. | |
puissance Tours, he jumps the wall could and he doesn't jump the | :18:01. | :18:07. | |
others could -- puissance horse. In this case, it did count. It was a | :18:07. | :18:15. | |
difficult jump for him. I thought difficult jump for him. I thought | :18:15. | :18:25. | |
:18:25. | :18:40. | ||
III already had a winner earlier in in this class last year. -- he won | :18:40. | :18:47. | |
in Geneva. I suspect he is probably the favourite now. The war though | :18:47. | :18:51. | |
you would have to say Robert Whitaker would be close, as well -- | :18:51. | :18:55. | |
although you would have to save. Guy Williams said he thought he was | :18:56. | :19:01. | |
third favourite. This horse has in the past been clumsy over the | :19:01. | :19:06. | |
triple bar, and had the front rail down. It has got a little gate in | :19:06. | :19:13. | |
the bottom. I think that will help to Richi Rich III get in the air, | :19:13. | :19:21. | |
and that was very good, very neat. Richi Rich III is 10 years old, and | :19:21. | :19:29. | |
a lot more experienced. And plenty of time, really pushed in the air. | :19:29. | :19:39. | |
:19:39. | :19:50. | ||
No problems for Guy Williams. Six Williams through. He has got the | :19:50. | :19:54. | |
technique worked out, push into the bottom, moved slightly to the left | :19:54. | :20:02. | |
over the wall. This course comes in over her shoulders. -- This Waltz | :20:03. | :20:12. | |
:20:13. | :20:26. | ||
already on the nature of course. -- on the 8-year-old horse. Laura said | :20:26. | :20:30. | |
to me, she will probably go the one round and see how it went. She | :20:30. | :20:40. | |
:20:40. | :21:01. | ||
getting balance for the wall. has got two at the moment, we will | :21:01. | :21:06. | |
wait to see what that decision is going to be. With so few in the | :21:06. | :21:10. | |
field, it is a really tough call to pull out. Laura, such a competitor, | :21:10. | :21:16. | |
have another look. Took her time, a quiet run down, and dumped it | :21:16. | :21:25. | |
absolutely perfectly. -- jumps it. Very neat, really good in front in | :21:25. | :21:32. | |
behind. I can see her coming back in again, we will see. 4th want to | :21:32. | :21:37. | |
go in round one and this is the crowd favourite, without doubts -- | :21:37. | :21:47. | |
:21:47. | :21:56. | ||
when Robert won the puissance. He is a horse that has got a good | :21:56. | :22:01. | |
Grand Prix record, and a very good record in this arena. I think John | :22:01. | :22:07. | |
will be looking to the big money later in the show. Casino has | :22:07. | :22:11. | |
always gone well in the World Cup here. John was quite adamant when I | :22:11. | :22:17. | |
spoke to him and said, look, I am schooling, it does in good to jump | :22:17. | :22:23. | |
the war, get him in the air. -- it does him good. This horse is a | :22:23. | :22:27. | |
credit to John, he always keeps his older horses fit and sound. This | :22:27. | :22:32. | |
one is looking really well. Oh, just touched the front of it. | :22:32. | :22:37. | |
might look at that again. I thought he rather dived at that. They | :22:37. | :22:41. | |
rather throw themselves at it, rather than jumping off their hind | :22:41. | :22:46. | |
legs. He didn't really push in the air, John got him French daily off | :22:46. | :22:52. | |
it. -- fractionally off it. Probably did not get his stride | :22:52. | :22:56. | |
quite as deep as he would have liked and moved to the left. He | :22:56. | :23:00. | |
said he was in there to get him in the air. We probably won't see John | :23:00. | :23:08. | |
Ben Maher is out because he had the first fence down. John Whitaker has | :23:08. | :23:17. | |
retired. There is a cunning plan. I asked John, what is the script? For | :23:17. | :23:21. | |
the last two years, he has gone one round in the puissance and then he | :23:21. | :23:25. | |
has jumped double clear in the World Cup. Thinking, smart guy, | :23:25. | :23:29. | |
keep doing the same plan. He is warming up for the World Cup. He | :23:29. | :23:33. | |
said it is great to jump three or four jumps, no pressure, and a | :23:33. | :23:39. | |
combination jumps, just riding down to them. It says it does get his | :23:39. | :23:43. | |
mind a lot of good and gives him something to focus on. This | :23:43. | :23:47. | |
compensation is being used as a foil for the World Cup -- this | :23:47. | :23:57. | |
:23:57. | :24:30. | ||
very odd horse for the puissance. Very young. With the first two | :24:30. | :24:34. | |
fences, they have been removed. They just jump the triple bar. Here | :24:34. | :24:39. | |
she is, coming to the wall. Fantastic leap over that. That will | :24:39. | :24:45. | |
have given her a lot of confidence. She did say, quietly confident. | :24:45. | :24:53. | |
That was outstanding. The great thing about Parvati de Breve, she | :24:53. | :24:58. | |
is really careful. Laura can ride with a bit of extra pace, knowing | :24:58. | :25:08. | |
:25:08. | :25:09. | ||
she is going to come up in front. All down to Robert, now. With the | :25:09. | :25:16. | |
8-year-old again, another Dutch- bred horse. Waterstone. We were | :25:16. | :25:23. | |
talking about Marcus winning. In that year at Olympia, Robert shared | :25:23. | :25:27. | |
it, John was in there, and the great markers, they all agreed to | :25:28. | :25:37. | |
:25:38. | :25:45. | ||
share first prize at 7 ft 4 -- the his canter than Laura did. He gets | :25:45. | :25:51. | |
his head up. He just touched the behind, but he got his body up high | :25:51. | :25:58. | |
enough. Does not quite so impressive as Laura's walls. | :25:58. | :26:08. | |
:26:08. | :26:27. | ||
head and allow his back end to world, a real competitor. Not the | :26:27. | :26:34. | |
best jump over the triple bar. He has to go right in the corner, to | :26:34. | :26:40. | |
get balanced. He is working quite hard, but he has jumped it | :26:40. | :26:44. | |
convincingly, well done. I would agree on that, nothing wrong with | :26:44. | :26:48. | |
that. As so often, the higher the wall gets, the more the horses but | :26:49. | :26:53. | |
the effort in. That was better than his first round. This horse has not | :26:54. | :26:59. | |
done puissance for a while, he has done a few speed courses. He pushed | :26:59. | :27:09. | |
:27:09. | :27:19. | ||
him into the bottom. Worked hard Geir Gulliksen for Norway, with the | :27:19. | :27:27. | |
15-year-old, L'Espoir. Geir Gulliksen was laughing about his | :27:27. | :27:32. | |
chances before it started, but looking very serious there. He is | :27:32. | :27:40. | |
always looking to win a few quid. He is and he has a very talented | :27:40. | :27:50. | |
:27:50. | :27:55. | ||
Jimmy is in there, looking for the money, now. Four through to round | :27:55. | :28:01. | |
three. In the end, if they get up to seven ft-plus, they have got to | :28:01. | :28:04. | |
put the effort in, but this horse is making it very easy at the | :28:04. | :28:07. | |
moment. The great thing about L'Espoir is his technique. His | :28:08. | :28:13. | |
front legs are so neat, he doesn't have to get his body quite so high. | :28:13. | :28:23. | |
:28:23. | :28:24. | ||
Very economical and tidy, he tucks his front legs right up. Now, the | :28:24. | :28:32. | |
turn of by Williams. By a Williams, with Richi Rich III. -- Dai | :28:32. | :28:42. | |
:28:42. | :28:44. | ||
hunt a winner, gymkhana. The horse was pretty experienced but this man | :28:44. | :28:50. | |
gave it such a ride. Ever since he has been part of the bronze medal | :28:50. | :28:54. | |
team in Madrid. A great second round help Britain win the bronze | :28:54. | :29:01. | |
medal. He really has grown of age. The great think that Guy Williams | :29:01. | :29:06. | |
has got, apart from his that ability to enthuse horses to | :29:07. | :29:13. | |
perform, he has depth, and he has courses for different classes. Into | :29:13. | :29:19. | |
the bottom again, he has got the technique that he needs, and he | :29:19. | :29:26. | |
knows what he is doing. Perfectly ridden. Let's have another look. | :29:26. | :29:29. | |
Right into the bottom, gets the shoulders up, front and behind, | :29:29. | :29:35. | |
outstanding. I think he ran quite a long way right. Yes, he moved to | :29:35. | :29:40. | |
the right. Once the wall gets big, a lot of these was his don't stay | :29:40. | :29:43. | |
too straight. He slithered a bit to the right but right into the bottom, | :29:43. | :29:53. | |
:29:53. | :30:01. | ||
that is the way this horse likes to Her first ride Parvati de Breve the | :30:01. | :30:07. | |
most convincing of the ones through to round three The younger horse | :30:07. | :30:14. | |
but that was the one she tipped to go the furthest. It is very neat | :30:14. | :30:18. | |
over the wall in the first round. He would be her Grand Prix horse, | :30:18. | :30:28. | |
:30:28. | :30:33. | ||
or one of them. Not so much pace for this one. Oh brilliant! She is | :30:33. | :30:37. | |
riding so well. Such a good eye and such a good eye against the clock. | :30:37. | :30:44. | |
But that is not of much value tonight. She is turning into a top | :30:44. | :30:48. | |
class competitor. We know she can go fast, but she is keeping her | :30:48. | :30:58. | |
:30:58. | :31:34. | ||
cool brilliantly. Coming down to British showjumping has to look at. | :31:34. | :31:39. | |
At the moment we don't have the circuit that gives the riders the | :31:39. | :31:43. | |
really best chance to have the competition like they do on the | :31:43. | :31:49. | |
Continent. And unfortunately, it is down to money. It is all about | :31:49. | :31:59. | |
:31:59. | :32:00. | ||
prize money. So the eight-year-old Parvati de Breve, Laura Renwick. | :32:00. | :32:07. | |
They don't want to go too fast, too soon. Oh got a bit closer and ran | :32:08. | :32:16. | |
in a bit tight. Just a bit of inexperience there. When she jumped | :32:16. | :32:20. | |
in the last round she was a bit further off. This is a young horse, | :32:20. | :32:25. | |
probably slightly too brave. You watch, ran down, and you could see | :32:25. | :32:30. | |
the mare try and check on the last stride. Fractionally too close. | :32:30. | :32:36. | |
Laura knew that on the last stride, tried to check her, saw the wall, | :32:36. | :32:40. | |
ran to it. A couple of feet too close on the take off. That was a | :32:40. | :32:50. | |
:32:50. | :32:55. | ||
wonder what his thoughts would have been after that round two, because | :32:55. | :33:04. | |
he just, to me, didn't look to have that jump he was looking for. | :33:04. | :33:07. | |
difficult, because Waterstone does three strides out, just put his | :33:07. | :33:15. | |
head in the air, and obviously Rob has to use his hands to stay | :33:16. | :33:25. | |
"Stety." He has to do it with feeling. -- steady. Well ridden. | :33:25. | :33:29. | |
Just the right feeling in his hands, he didn't overcheck him. Kept the | :33:29. | :33:35. | |
balance and released him to make the jump. Class riding there from | :33:35. | :33:40. | |
Robert. Did exactly the right thing. Just held him lightly then softened | :33:41. | :33:46. | |
his hands on the last stride. Just softens his hands there, that is | :33:46. | :33:56. | |
:33:56. | :34:06. | ||
Schwizer. Koby du Vartellier. He has a style very much of his own, | :34:06. | :34:12. | |
but my word, it is effective. you watch he has tremendous empathy | :34:12. | :34:16. | |
and feeling to ride his horses in this light forward style. You watch | :34:16. | :34:21. | |
him in front of the wall. When he needs to use his legs and hands and | :34:21. | :34:31. | |
:34:31. | :34:42. | ||
doesn't show too much emotion there, but he... He never does. Now he is | :34:42. | :34:48. | |
going through his mind is "Am I going to come again?" He was a bit | :34:48. | :34:54. | |
too far off. He knows he has to ride forward. He knows he was lucky, | :34:54. | :34:59. | |
when he lands he has a look back. Watch him again. Slightly too far | :34:59. | :35:09. | |
:35:09. | :35:12. | ||
off. Now Geir Gulliksen L'Espoir, Norway. So far we have three | :35:12. | :35:19. | |
through. Robert Whitaker, two through rather, Robert Whitaker and | :35:19. | :35:27. | |
Pius Schwizer through so far. don't think this horse has ever | :35:27. | :35:32. | |
really gone the distance in a puissance. He is normally over | :35:32. | :35:36. | |
jumped in Grand Prixs. I think, you know, Jimmy could be thinking there | :35:36. | :35:43. | |
is money to be won here now. It is get ing towards the middle of the | :35:43. | :35:53. | |
:35:53. | :36:08. | ||
competition, where it starts to It is the pound signs that could | :36:08. | :36:14. | |
probably encourage this man to go again. Well, we said he can be | :36:14. | :36:19. | |
hungry and he smiled and said maybe I'm going go one round but you | :36:19. | :36:24. | |
never know. Very neat. Not getting a lot of height with his body. | :36:24. | :36:28. | |
a bit on the last stride but this horse tries so hard to leave the | :36:28. | :36:38. | |
:36:38. | :36:41. | ||
fences up. So one for Britain, one for Switzerland, and one for Norway. | :36:41. | :36:47. | |
Can this man join them? Huge respect for Guy Williams, he has | :36:47. | :36:54. | |
worked very hard, with lots of horses, he's always tries to be a | :36:54. | :36:59. | |
winner, sometimes perhaps that is to his disadvantage, but he has the | :36:59. | :37:04. | |
best team of horses he has had in his life, and my word he is very | :37:04. | :37:11. | |
exciting. Thank goodness. He hasn't had the triple bar. He told me | :37:11. | :37:17. | |
twice he has had it down and cost a lot of money. Ben Maher had a horse | :37:17. | :37:24. | |
that did that too. Steady. He is so close, but he has jumped it. Just a | :37:24. | :37:30. | |
touch in front. But that is the technique that works for this man. | :37:30. | :37:34. | |
Quiet canter, makes her weight and gets right in the bottom. You have | :37:34. | :37:39. | |
to have nevers of steel to do -- nerves of steel to do that. Right | :37:39. | :37:46. | |
in the bottom. So close. Third last year, he is still in there. So the | :37:46. | :37:51. | |
last one to go, round three, remember we can go five rounds, we | :37:51. | :37:59. | |
can do two more rounds. Now, remember, she started with two, | :37:59. | :38:04. | |
Parvati de Breve already out. Laura Renwick now with the horse that she | :38:04. | :38:09. | |
thought she might only go one, perhaps two rounds, but here she is | :38:09. | :38:19. | |
:38:19. | :38:40. | ||
Needs to keep the hocks underneath top of the wall. I thought she was | :38:40. | :38:48. | |
going to hit it quite hard. She was slightly off it. Dived off it and | :38:48. | :38:54. | |
caught it. She was a long way off Too far off. With a shorter | :38:54. | :39:04. | |
:39:04. | :39:09. | ||
striding horse, could just do with they are building. It is going to | :39:09. | :39:15. | |
go to two metres 11, and that is six feet 11. That is a big wall now, | :39:15. | :39:22. | |
we are getting up there. And the crowd are getting in the mood! We | :39:22. | :39:32. | |
:39:32. | :39:42. | ||
go. Robert Whitaker, Waterstone. Probably jumped his best round in | :39:42. | :39:50. | |
round three, and remember, he jumped six foot 11 bareback in | :39:50. | :39:56. | |
Stockholm two or three weeks' ago. Looks pretty serious. Getting down | :39:56. | :40:02. | |
to the make or break rounds now. This horse has got the ability, but | :40:02. | :40:09. | |
gets his head up in front of the wall. Rob has to ride him tactfully | :40:09. | :40:19. | |
:40:19. | :40:34. | ||
Came up in front. Rob gave him a good ride there, he softened his | :40:34. | :40:38. | |
hands. Tried to get him to use his Bann back end but he couldn't get | :40:38. | :40:42. | |
it away. There is one of the favourites out. This is the all- | :40:42. | :40:46. | |
important accurate take off, fractionally close. Got his front | :40:46. | :40:56. | |
:40:56. | :40:56. | ||
end away, didn't have room to jump it behind. Pius Schwizer trying to | :40:56. | :41:03. | |
follow in the footsteps of his colleague Marcus Foulkes, who has | :41:03. | :41:06. | |
been taken on by the Swiss federation to get their team ready | :41:06. | :41:14. | |
for the Olympics. Trained the Italians to go so well in 2009. -- | :41:14. | :41:24. | |
:41:24. | :41:36. | ||
Markus Fuchs. The last round, very AP McCoy jumping a fence at Aintree. | :41:36. | :41:41. | |
He used the pace as you say, but he got crucially that bit closer than | :41:41. | :41:45. | |
he did on the round before. It is so difficult to see that stride, | :41:45. | :41:50. | |
from a long way out. Watch him, he is really riding and he has to do | :41:50. | :41:55. | |
that. This horse jumps the wall with pace, and he has to drive him | :41:55. | :42:00. | |
in there, and he got that absolutely right. Full commitment. | :42:01. | :42:06. | |
He is such a great horse man. He knows what he is doing. He got the | :42:06. | :42:14. | |
pace. He is smiling. He is happy. first. Goodness me! The smile is | :42:14. | :42:19. | |
there. He is a great man at telling tales. He has a great smile. Now it | :42:19. | :42:29. | |
:42:29. | :42:32. | ||
mouth. With all due respect to L'Espoir he is not a puissance | :42:32. | :42:37. | |
horse. He looked like he was struggling for power. The horse | :42:37. | :42:42. | |
jumped because he has such a great technique. Whether he has the power | :42:42. | :42:48. | |
to go a bit higher, I am not sure. Two gone, one clear so far for | :42:48. | :42:58. | |
:42:58. | :43:22. | ||
Switzerland. Now, it is Norway's didn't think he was going to get | :43:22. | :43:29. | |
there. It was such a genuine horse, he gave it everything he has got. | :43:29. | :43:33. | |
He has fantastic technique but lacks the power to get that high in | :43:33. | :43:41. | |
the air. The crowd have appreciated his effort tonight. Jimmy | :43:41. | :43:45. | |
Gulliksen's generosity won't undo him for the big competition. | :43:45. | :43:50. | |
hasn't done the horse any harm. He has got in the right place to jump | :43:50. | :43:55. | |
it. He has ridden it perfectly. Lacked the power and the push from | :43:55. | :44:04. | |
his hocks to get the height. Now, Fourth Round of the Christmas | :44:04. | :44:09. | |
puissance here. And it is very, very narrowly balanced. We have one | :44:09. | :44:19. | |
:44:19. | :44:28. | ||
Williams, Richi Rich, third last year. Trying to join in round five, | :44:28. | :44:34. | |
Pius Schwizer of Switzerland. Earlier this afternoon, we saw Guy | :44:34. | :44:38. | |
Williams going flat out to win the speed class, this is completely | :44:38. | :44:43. | |
different. He has to take his time. You will see him push this horse | :44:43. | :44:47. | |
right in close. She is getting a bit quick, he is too far off it, he | :44:47. | :44:55. | |
has got away with it! What a strange ride that was. She took it | :44:55. | :45:01. | |
on, ran too early, and Guy Williams says, OK, we will have to take off | :45:01. | :45:06. | |
from there. A bit of a rueful smile, he got away with that. I think he | :45:06. | :45:11. | |
knew he had made a mistake, it was brave. For both of them. They knew | :45:11. | :45:15. | |
they had got it wrong. She was are doing, she knows that the wall is | :45:15. | :45:20. | |
coming. Guy Williams said, improvisation. That is what he can | :45:20. | :45:24. | |
do. He knew he was in big trouble. He said, we are going to do it from | :45:24. | :45:32. | |
there. He did what I did, shut his eyes and kicked! Sometimes it works. | :45:32. | :45:37. | |
That is why he is so successful, he can ride by the seat of his pants | :45:37. | :45:41. | |
and his horse is giving him there are things. It was a terrific | :45:41. | :45:46. | |
effort but she was way too far off aid. Laura Renwick is not jumping | :45:46. | :45:53. | |
in round four. -- too far off it. We go to round five, it is going to | :45:53. | :45:58. | |
go the distance I think, Britain against Switzerland. We are over | :45:58. | :46:08. | |
:46:08. | :46:10. | ||
seven food. That is a very decent You decided enough was enough? | :46:10. | :46:14. | |
that one, I planned that one round would be enough. It was really for | :46:14. | :46:18. | |
my other course. I was pleased with how she jumped. I think the | :46:18. | :46:23. | |
swapping over got her appetite -- for my other horse. I was only | :46:23. | :46:29. | |
planning to do one round. He has another class tomorrow, so save in | :46:29. | :46:38. | |
it for that. So, round five, the last round, and it is a head-to- | :46:38. | :46:41. | |
last round, and it is a head-to- head. It is between Pius Schwizer | :46:41. | :46:51. | |
:46:51. | :46:53. | ||
and Guy Williams for Great Britain. Good luck to Pius Schwizer. But | :46:53. | :46:59. | |
having come in as a late entry, he just might have one very decent pay | :46:59. | :47:09. | |
:47:09. | :47:15. | ||
the right stride, to go for it. Just take his time here. Is going | :47:15. | :47:21. | |
for it, working hard, and he has jumped it! Well done, Pius | :47:21. | :47:27. | |
Schwizer! That is amazing. He rode it brilliantly. I think he is going | :47:27. | :47:32. | |
to smile now, surely. He is waving to the crowd. He could not have | :47:32. | :47:36. | |
ridden that better. He waited for the right moment, he saw the right | :47:36. | :47:41. | |
stride. Look how determined he is. He picked the horse up, hands and | :47:41. | :47:47. | |
heels, and as much as anything, he is producing the jump and the power | :47:47. | :47:52. | |
from the pace, and the fact he has such a good eye for a stride. He | :47:52. | :47:58. | |
had his bit of luck, but you need that. Absolutely. A brilliant piece | :47:58. | :48:06. | |
of riding. We have eventually got a laugh! In the last six weeks, this | :48:06. | :48:13. | |
man has been riding out of his skin, at every show he has been at. Can | :48:13. | :48:22. | |
this man share the Alltech Christmas puissance? Guy Williams, | :48:22. | :48:26. | |
trying to equal that performance by Pius Schwizer. He is in trouble | :48:26. | :48:32. | |
already, she is seeing the fences and running at them. Guy Williams | :48:32. | :48:39. | |
has got to quieten her down and take his time. He has got the | :48:39. | :48:46. | |
stride, he has jumped it! Wow! That was another brilliant piece of | :48:46. | :48:50. | |
riding. He could not have got a better shot if he had tried 20 | :48:50. | :48:56. | |
times. That was absolute perfection. Guy Williams, on top form, could | :48:57. | :49:02. | |
not have ridden it any better. is going to be a day that this man | :49:02. | :49:08. | |
is going to remember for a very long time. Look at this. Look where | :49:08. | :49:13. | |
he got her to. That is where she needs to be. She makes that clean | :49:13. | :49:17. | |
shape, she is so anxious to get to the wall. Drives her into the | :49:17. | :49:20. | |
bottom, so much better than the round before, and didn't even touch | :49:21. | :49:28. | |
it. Brilliant. The young horse won the speed class earlier, and now, | :49:28. | :49:35. | |
with Pius Schwizer, Guy Williams on Richi Rich, at the joint winners of | :49:35. | :49:45. | |
:49:45. | :50:02. | ||
There are the men of the hour, Pius Schwizer from Switzerland, now | :50:02. | :50:08. | |
absolutely broad smile. And the man who really came of age in that | :50:08. | :50:13. | |
final round of the European Championships, Guy Williams. The | :50:13. | :50:19. | |
round of Titus is in Madrid we saw in -- was so special. And another | :50:19. | :50:27. | |
great demonstration of his skill tonight. They very special evening. | :50:28. | :50:33. | |
Let's say well done to both of the Williams -- the winners, Guy | :50:33. | :50:39. | |
Williams and Pius Schwizer. Immense pressure going last? Yeah. I tried | :50:39. | :50:43. | |
to jump the fence and she jumped at, so I am pleased. Is she difficult | :50:44. | :50:49. | |
to ride? A little bit, she runs a bit, you have to be a bit quiet the | :50:49. | :50:53. | |
first few times because she finds it very easy. The last few times, | :50:53. | :50:57. | |
you can find some pressure, kicked her and tried to jump it. A good | :50:57. | :51:01. | |
atmosphere in there? Brilliant, they love the puissance. It was | :51:01. | :51:08. | |
really good. You enter a bit late, you are Babaji did? -- you entered | :51:08. | :51:17. | |
it late, you are glad that you did? Thank you to the good people here, | :51:17. | :51:22. | |
a good show. Olympia is top for the poor results, and I am very happy. | :51:22. | :51:28. | |
The fantastic result, very good to watch, I am happy for both of you. | :51:28. | :51:33. | |
That was a great class, it was only small but a really exciting finish. | :51:33. | :51:37. | |
That was everything that puissance is. It is a competition about brave | :51:37. | :51:42. | |
riding, brave horses. Very simple, contrasting styles. One horse | :51:42. | :51:46. | |
jumping everything really big, another going over by a lick of | :51:46. | :51:50. | |
paint. Two horses kept jumping and showing all the talent in their | :51:50. | :51:55. | |
heart, it was fantastic. That looks a very difficult ride and I thought | :51:55. | :51:58. | |
Guy Williams was disadvantaged, because Pius Schwizer jumped clear | :51:58. | :52:03. | |
and he had to match him. When that happened, he thought, I am going to | :52:03. | :52:07. | |
go out on a winner. The difference was, the horse stayed level. The | :52:07. | :52:11. | |
time before, he got a bit of a joke on, like he had water in his car | :52:11. | :52:21. | |
Beretta. Fay -- jerk. The last jump was perfection. Some are using it | :52:21. | :52:30. | |
as a warm-up class for the World Cup? That is right. Some horses | :52:30. | :52:34. | |
need competition. But tonight's jumping was fantastic to watch | :52:34. | :52:41. | |
because we saw good heart. You can see a different competition but | :52:41. | :52:46. | |
some of those riders and horses are involved tomorrow. It is live on | :52:46. | :52:50. | |
BBC Two at 3:00pm. On Monday evening, the final class of the | :52:50. | :52:54. | |
week is the Grand Prix. Life on the week is the Grand Prix. Life on the | :52:54. | :53:02. |