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EQUESTRIAN - Sponsored by Brickfields and Froghill Tack
Tim Stockdale
Top form as Olympic selection draws near
"I like a horse that uses himself
and works things out"
“I wish it was tomorrow,”
says Britain's top showjumper,
Tim Stockdale when he talks
to Island Life about his
preparation for the Beijing
Olympic Games this August.
Time is ticking away towards
the summer, but not quickly
enough for Tim Stockdale and
his grey mare Fresh Direct
Corlato. “She's one of the top
horses in Europe,” he says
proudly. Although Corlato
has been on top drawer form
throughout the winter show
circuit, in order to secure her
spot on the British Olympic
show jumping team for the
event to be held in Hong
82
Kong from August 15, the
British selectors still ask
each potential team member
to nominate two outdoor
competitions on which their
form will be formally judged.
No pressure there then Tim!
Tim has chosen the super
league shows in both Rome
and St Gallen,Switzerland for
Corlato's assessment. “She
doesn't have to win , but she
does need to go well,” he
explains. “I just have to prove
that we can replicate our
good winter form. The trick
of preparing for the Games is
convincing to the selectors that
my horse can go very well on
those four Olympic days.”
It sounds, oh so simple, but
with horses it's never that
easy. “At this moment in time,
everything is grand, but June
22 seems a very long way away.
I wish it were tomorrow,”
Tim says wryly. “Things can
go wrong with horses, so it's
a tense time. You can't wrap
them up in cotton wool, but
realistically, Corlato would
have to go disastrously or even
go lame, not to be selected.”
But should he get the nod,
and he is confident that he
will, then he will be part of
the British Olympic team
which will be sent to compete
at Germany's top show in
Aachen, one month before
the horses go into quarantine.
“Aachen will be a really good
workout prior to the games.
It will give us time to make
adjustments and do any work
necessary,” he explains.
After that, the British team
horses will spend two weeks in
quarantine. There are three or
four locations they could be
sent to, including Towerlands
in Essex or Addington in
Buckinghamshire, but it will
depend on where the horses
are scheduled to fly from as
to which venue is eventually
chosen, and as yet, this is
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