Dances With Horses

I'm particularly fond of the Suffolk Punch. The great power house of yesteryear is a chestnut brown, handsome beast (although horse aficionados will probably know it as dun, grey or something else equally unlikely). These shire horses look grand, in a field or woodland, working as their farm owners intended.

Beyond that, horses are a nuisance. Actually, riders are a nuisance, verging on dangerous. The only explanation for their behaviour is that they've departed planet Earth, bought a one way ticket and arrived in horse world. Here, there are no cars and the roads are there for the exclusive convenience of the rider. Traffic doesn't exist, so riding nonchalantly along, two or even three abreast on narrow country lanes is to be positively encouraged. There is no such thing as rush hour, so heading out with a group of inexperienced riders at this time is absolutely fine. No problem at all. My experience with horses, is therefore tainted. I've indulged in something of a rant, but necessary as you'll see (please do indulge me further).

Our morning at the Paralympics today was to be our final opportunity for live sporting London 2012 action and I relished the thought of it. Beloved had managed to secure the tickets, again for all four of us to .... horse dancing... OK..... It will be grand, I thought on hearing the news. It's going to part of the greatest show on earth. I opened my mind as widely as a University and looked forward to the arrival of this day.

The official event title is Dressage Individual Freestyle Test Grade II. Having now witnessed the sport first hand, I'm full of admiration for the Paralympic athletes for all their significant achievements, but, it is not for me. Each competitor, enters the dressage arena, a fenced off area in the centre of the equestrian arena and proceeds to ride the horse through a number of steps to music that would be more at home emanating from the loudspeakers at B&Q.

The most bizarre element (although understandable) was the discouragement of applause due to the risk of scaring the horses. Instead, waving with arms fully extended was enthusiastically encouraged. Horses of an even more nervous disposition were invited to bring along a friend. Named the friendly horse, it was led into the arena and stood throughout the performance of the competing horse as a friendly face to ease the stress of performing in front of the crowd.

After an hour of solid performing, my attention turned to the largely vacant upper levels of the stand behind me and headed with the camera to get some shots of the London skyline. I returned to my seat 20 minutes later replete with views of the capital and a 180 degree pano of the equestrian arena and surrounding park.

Natasha Baker is from West London. She is also rather good at dressage. By some means, the judges decided that her performance warranted a higher score that all the preceding athletes. She was clearly pleased with her horse's performance at the end, giving him a hearty pat on the neck. In the absence of any other apparent measure, I put her raised score down to a better taste in music. Just to cement her pleasure, on her way from the arena, she goaded the crowd, who immediately responded with a raucous applause.

All of a sudden, TeamGB were in with a chance of a medal. Just one of the following three athletes had to score lower than Natasha and we would be home and dry with a bronze. I was on the edge of my seat. The atmosphere was tense. I still had no idea how the athletes were being scored, but first the Irish, then the following two scored lower than Natasha. Her score was confirmed by the officials. Another Gold was awarded to to TeamGB!! The crowd again erupted into applause, this time with full-on stamping of feet. A mexican wave rippled around the arena stands several times and the mood was jubilant.

Another fantastic day's viewing was had and I loved it.