Sunday marked 31-year-old Zara Phillip's Olympic debut, competing in the Dressage portion of the equestrian three-day eventing competition. The granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth smiled broadly as she entered the arena on her horse, High Kingdom, to cheering home crowds. Among the spectators was her husband of nearly one year, Mike Tindall.
Greenwich Park - Site of Olympic equestrian events
Queen Elizabeth's granddaughter, Zara Phillips, seemed to hold her breath waiting for judges to declare that High Kingdom passed equine fitness test.
© 2012 by Gryffindor
On Friday, Phillips had a bit of a nail-biter as she trotted High Kingdom before a panel of judges and a veterinarian for a pre-competition equine fitness test. Phillips had to run High Kingdom down the track twice after the vet wanted another look. Only a few other horses had to do the same.
High Kingdom had been a bit frisky, and on the second run Phillips glared at photographers who were shooting at him as he rounded the turn. After a seemingly unending half-minute huddle, vet and judges pronounced High Kingdom “accepted” and fit to compete. A collective sigh of relief was released and the crowd applauded.
First up is dressage, in which horse and rider walk, trot and canter to a standard test without jumps that’s designed to test the animal’s obedience. Half of the competitors start Saturday; Phillips and her horse High Kingdom compete Sunday in dressage and then Monday in cross country.
The cross country course features English gardens, industrial waterways and scenes from the very British children’s classic “The Wind in the Willows.” The difficult and dangerous cross-country portion of the equestrian eventing comptition that begins this weekend at London’s Greenwich Park is a true test of endurance for all competitors.
The 5.7-kilometer course is dotted with 28 obstacles and is no cake walk. Two 2-meter blind drops — including one into water — razor sharp turns, slopes, hills and jumps that are just shy of the legal limit for height and length are major obstances for horse and rider.