Watson slots into third after dressage

Sam Watson slotted into third after dressage yesterday in the long-format three-star class at the Johnson and Perrott Land Rover International Horse Trials at Ballindenisk, Co Cork, but was in no mood to get ahead of himself.

No doubt, his response was tempered by the fact he had just returned from his first meeting with a cross-country track that on initial inspection is full-on Irish, full of personality and full of questions.

Asked if he was happy with a dressage performance that scored him 47.8 penalties with Horseware Lukeswell and saw him behind Briton Oliver Townend (Skyhills Cavalier, 47.6pens) and Aussie leader Tim Boland (GV Billy Elliot, 43pens), Watson said: “I’m satisfied with it. It’s not his best test; he did a 42 in Camphire, but his work this season has stepped up. Obviously, it’s great when you have it at home and produce it at an international, like we did at Camphire. A part of you wants to keep that going, but you have to be realistic. A few things went wrong today, which had us on the 47, but it’s fine and you can still see the promise. He’s still a young horse, he’s nine, and I said after Camphire that you look at Rio [Olympics] and you work backwards.”