Badminton, England—May 5

He might be called The Terminator, and he clearly is a serious competitor with ice in his veins, nerves of steel and all the other top sports metaphors, but Michael Jung’s no humorless robot.

He’s also not visibly worrying himself too badly over the prospect of winning a Rolex Grand Slam this weekend, as he cracked a mischievous grin when asked about his preparation with La Biosthetique Sam FBW. 

“Top secret,” he said. 

Whatever Jung did, it’s working. He earned first place after Day 1 of dressage with “Sam” on 34.4 penalties. His fellow German countryman Andreas Ostholt sits second with So Is Et on 38.2 penalties. 

But in reality, Jung and Sam did enjoy an unusual prep for this event as Jung was in the United States last week winning the Rolex Kentucky CCI**** with fischerRocana FST. He was quick to thank his team at home for keeping Sam fit while he was away. 

“He was a bit nervous on the first days because at our home, the winter is coming back,” said Jung. “We had a lot of snow in the last week, so he had not enough work. He was full of energy when he arrived here. My plan was to gallop him here Tuesday, but the ground was soft, and I was a little afraid I’d lost a shoe or something, so I wasn’t often galloping. 

“But we had enough work the last few days, and he felt very happy this morning and also in the warm-up, so that made me feel a bit relaxed. That gave me a good feeling in the test,” he added.  

Ostholt and So Is Et competed for Germany at the 2014 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games (France) but earned a dressage score in the mid-40s there, so Ostholt was pleased with the improved marks today.

Andreas Ostholt celebrates his test with So Is Et. Photo by Lisa Slade.

“He’s definitely one of the best horses I’ve ridden,” he said. “Mostly I enjoy the dressage with this horse. For sure my expectations were not that good though, but my hopes were, yes.”

Ostholt and Jung walked the course together once already.

“It’s Badminton. It’s tough enough,” said Ostholt. 

“The ground looks nearly perfect, and when we have another dry day tomorrow, we will have wonderful ground Saturday,” said Jung. “I hope my horse is really ready, so that we can go fast, and we will have a lot of fun.”

Great Britain’s Francis Whittington, who was last to go of the day and earned third with Hasty Imp (40.0), was the other jokester of the day in the press conference after someone asked why he was so relaxed today.

“Well, I was a lot more uptight last year, and a shitload of good it did me then,” joked Whittington, who had time and jumping penalties with Master Imp on cross-country here in 2015. “As far as getting ready for dressage, it was a case of warming him up and getting ready and working and trying to do the best we could do. And this time we actually did, thankfully.

We went in there and rode him for the paces he had,” he continued. “We didn’t try to do anything magical. We just said, ‘We’re enjoying it in here. Hope you guys enjoy it too.’ ”

Libby Head and Sir Rockstar were the only one of the three U.S. pairs to compete today, and their test earned them 57.8 penalties and 37th for the day. Boyd Martin rides Crackerjack tomorrow, and Buck Davidson rides The Apprentice. 

Libby Head and Sir Rockstar. Photo by Lisa Slade.

“He usually gets a little crazy in the ring, so I’m really glad he kept it together,” Head said of her test. “From the moment he first went in there, he seemed really relaxed. He held onto it.”

She and the 18-year-old Sir Rockstar have been a team since the gelding was going beginner novice, and she opted for this event over Rolex Kentucky because of his age. 

“I just feel like I really wanted to get overseas while I had the chance. It’s crazy [to be here],” she said. “I don’t know if it’s really hit me yet. It still feels kind of like it’s not really happening, but it’s awesome.”

See full results on the Badminton site. 

Make sure to follow along with all the action at the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton CCI**** as COTH’s Lisa Slade is on-site as Germany’s Michael Jung makes a bid for the Rolex Grand Slam. We’ll be reporting on www.coth.com and Facebook.