London 2012 blog

As the horses left Sha Tin yesteray, following the departure of the teams after the close of the competition on Thursday night, all those competing and spectating here took away a keen appreciation of the high-quality facilities and service supporting great sport.

For the first time at the Paralympics, most of the riders brought their own horses rather than using pool or borrowed horses. The quality of competition continues to escalate, with even more promised for London in 2012 as a few of the newer partnerships solidify, such as GB's Debbie Criddle and her horse Pavarotti getting their first experience at this level here.

ParalympicsGB and their supporters must be pleased with their performance at Sha Tin (team gold, plus 2 individual golds for Lee Pearson, gold and silver for both Anne Dunham and Sophie Christiansen, and silver medals for Simon Laurens and Felicity Coulthard). They should also be pleased at how much they are being pushed by the teams and individual athletes from other countries, as the raising of everyone's game continues to enhance the sport.

ParalympicsGB Equestrian team celebrate Overall Team gold. L-R: Anne Dunham, Sophie Christiansen, Lee Pearson and Simon Laurens:

Read more of “A great Equestrian show”

The Concours Hippique International Officiel (CHIO) in Aachen is one of the leading international horse shows. They held the World Equestrian Games at this showground in 2006 and many people think it is one of the best organised and best attended equestrian events in the world. I came here to see how they do it. I left behind a few London 2012 pins. And I had a great time.

The CHIO is the Official International Equestrian Event of the Federal Republic of Germany. It's run every summer. Last year more than 300,000 people came from all over the world to watch international-level showjumping, dressage, eventing, four-in-hand driving and vaulting. Check out the CHIO website at www.chioaachen.com for all the details.

I was there with my husband Jonathan (a keen carriage-driver) on Saturday - cross-country day for the eventers and for the four-in-hand driving. The night before, I watched the eventers show-jump in the main arena, a huge space with covered grandstands on all sides. I was, of course, cheering on the British contingent, but also keen to see the German, French and Swedish teams, all with their top stars vying for Olympic team selection (including Nicolas Touzaint, the first French winner of Badminton).

Lots of poles were falling but the main problem was the tight time, with very few able to manage without some time faults. Best of the British: Nicola Wilson on Opposition Buzz. Most surprising: Bettina Hoy, leader after dressage, collecting more than 20 faults on Ringwood Cockatoo. He was later withdrawn.

Read more of “Getting up close to thrilling international equestrian action”

Jonquil Solt, the Chair of the International Paralympic Equestrian Committee, took time from her peripatetic schedule to spend a few hours at LOCOG recently with Piers Jones, Tony Sainsbury and me.

We started off at the London 2012 Paralympic emblem and as you can see from the picture Jonquil was very happy to be seen with it! She is sporting a colour-coordinated pink version of the 2012 pin.

Her husband Bobby came along on the visit and also pinned on the world-famous emblem, in a colour which very nicely matched his tie.

Read more of “Talking horse with the Paralympic Equestrian chief”