‘I had to grab the cheek piece’: rider suffers broken rein on World Championship cross-country

Australia’s Kevin McNab had a nightmare round on the World Eventing Championships cross-country when his rein broke in a combination.

Kevin and Scuderia 1918 Don Quidam were in ninth place after the dressage, on 25.7, but were given 20 penalties in the 16abc MIM Clip Complex after Kevin had to try to resolve the situation.

“The horse was fantastic,” Kevin said. “He started really well; I wasn’t pressing, he was just taking me to all the fences – he was on fire. I was going, by my watch, a couple of seconds under the time, then between A and B, my rein broke.

“So I had to pull right, slow him down, then grab the left cheek piece to stop without crossing my tracks, reach down and work out a way to tie the rein to the bit, so that I could carry on and finish my round.”

Kevin managed to secure the rein and carry on to complete, but the time he had to spend meant he finished with 28.8 time-penalties, as well as 20 penalties for a score of 70.5.

“When I got down to my next minute marker, I was a minute over time,” he said. “Then he finished a minute and two seconds over so as far as the horse is concerned, he was clear and under the time.”

Kevin added that the rein broke where it attached to the bit.

“It was really frustrating. It was very unfortunate for the horse. I went to give him a half-halt with the left rein and it broke,” he said.

Alex Hua Tian retires on World Eventing Championships cross-country

Chinese rider Alex Hua Tian had to retire on the World Eventing Championships cross-country; he and Don Geniro were in fourth place after the dressage on 23.7 but they incurred faults for breaking a frangible pin, also in the MIM Clip Complex at fence 16, and retired at fence 23.

“I would say he wasn’t 100% when we got here,” Alex said. “He’s improved every day, he was fantastic in the dressage, I was really pleased.

“Today, even if he was 100%, he was always going to find the terrain hard, he’s that kind of horse. But we just got to five, six minutes and he felt like he was at 10 minutes. He was a very good boy through the first water because he was starting to feel like I was having to help him quite a lot, to motivate him a bit. And then he gave me quite a flat jump over the the open ditch and we’d already made a bit of a mistake.”

Alex added that he would like to watch the video to “make sure it wasn’t my mistake” at the corner where the pin went.

“He hadn’t jumped particularly well there and he was just starting to feel like he was struggling a bit and it felt like an awful long way home,” he said. “Also, that trakehner is quite big and I didn’t really want to be on a flat horse over it!

“He got back and he’s far from knackered; he’s in really good shape. He’s recovered really quickly and has been dragging Lucy around around the wash area. But I think just this week wasn’t going to be our week, no matter how good a dressage test.”

Don Geniro will now go home and Alex will determine what to aim for next.

“I don’t know whether it’s realistic for him doing anything this year,” he said. “Maybe something next year? I don’t know, to be honest, is the answer. I think we need to see how he is and see how he feels, maybe see how he is over the winter and whether he wants to give me a spin again next year, it’s up to him.”

You might also be interested in:

Falls, frangibles and refusals prove costly for World Championship riders

‘It’s absolutely gutting’: disappointment for Laura Collett on World Championships cross-country course

‘Come on, we’re at a World Championships – we need to work’: early riders reflect on Pratoni’s cross-country course

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