Watson downbeat after ‘awful’ dressage test
The Carlow rider had scored 58 on Horseware Bushman and, with manager Ginny Elliot assessing contenders for her Olympic squad, Watson was downbeat: “I am not happy. It was awful. We did a 37 in Ballindenisk in the spring and he led that competition and that is the standard we should be at. I took a gamble on a different bit he goes nicely in at home and it didn’t work for us in the arena,” said the Worcestershire-based rider, who was ruing the cancellation of Badminton, where he placed 13th two years ago.
“It is my first time in Saumur and it is only in the last two weeks since Badminton was cancelled that I decided to change the bit. It was a bad decision, done in the interest of making things better, but it backfired. You have to take these risks, though, if you want to get better.”
