Another warm, muggy day greeted riders and fans for the second day of the Grand Prix competition. Canada’s third team member to compete, Megan Lane, unfortunately did not have the test she envisioned with Zodiak MW. The 14-year-old KWPN gelding, competing at his first major international event, entered the arena looking like a seasoned pro, but things quickly unravelled as he figuratively and literally put his foot down in the early piaffe/passage sequences, which were essentially non-existant. He gradually settled and performed up to his substantial level of talent and by the final centreline was piaffing and passaging magnificently. Unfortunately by that point the damage was done; their score of 60.901% placed them second-to-last in the field of 76 and they became the team drop score.

Lane was understandably disappointed, but pragmatic. “He came in a little bit tense, but this was to be expected as this was his first international competition. He’s been doing the grand prix for less than a year, so at this phase in his life you don’t really know what’s going to happen in the arena, but I am very proud of him ‒ he finished very well, which I’m really happy with. The piaffes didn’t go as planned for sure today, but the last piaffe was good, so I was happy with him for that.”

She described parts of the test she was pleased with. “The twos are always a highlight for him; the pirouettes were amazing; the ones were also very good. He has an amazing extended canter, too. The extended walk was really, really good, for him in this big environment. With all this action going on, the walk has been really tricky for a lot of people this week.

Advertisement