London 2012 Olympic Games - Dressage

US Team rider, Tina Konyot opened the action on the second day of Grand Prix Dressage riding the Danish Warmblood stallion by Come Back II, 'Calecto V'.. They earned 70.45% to hold 27th place after the Grand Prix. Seven teams and eleven Individuals go through to the Grand Prix Special which will determine the Team Medals. This is the first Time at an Olympic Games that the Team Medals have been decided on the combined score of the Grand Prix and Special. After that, the top 18 go through to the Grand Prix Freestyle to determine the Individual Medals.

Tinne Vilhelmson Silfven and the Don Davidoff gelding, 'Don Auriello' put their best foot forward for Sweden They earned 74.27% for 15th place after the Grand Prix and Sweden are in fourth place, just under three percentage points behind the leaders, Great Britain.

Riding for Austria, Renate Voglsang is pictured aboard the Floristan II stallion, 'Fabriano' that holds 34th place after the grand Prix with 69.63%.. They just missed the 70% mark and the standard is so high at these Games, that 30 combinations of the 50 to start received &0% or better.

Italian Individual, Valentina Truppa has been turning heads in the dressage world with her home bred Rhodimant gelding, 'Eremo Del Castegno'. They earned 75.79% for ninth place after two days of Grand Prix.

Riding for Poland, Beata Stremler is pictured riding the Polish bred, 'Martini', by Deryl for a Grand Prix score of 69.42%.

The attractive French combination of Jessica Michel and the Welt Hit 2 mare, 'Riwera' produced a good grand Prix for 70.41% and 28th place.

World famous Dutch rider, Edward Gal rode the Ferro gelding, 'Undercover' for 11th place with 79.395%. The Dutch Team are in third place behind Great Britain and Germany.

Team GB Individual, Richard Davidson is pictured riding his Floristan gelding, 'Artemis' for a score of 72.81% and 18th place.

London is certainly providing a "youthfull" dressage competition. Twenty-six year old German rider, Kristina Sprehe produced a lovely test riding the De Niro stallion, 'Desperados' to earn 79.11% and fourth place after the Grand Prix.

Regular visitor to Australia, Denmark's Nathalie zu sayn Wittgenstein rode her regular and successful partner, the Donnerhall gelding, 'Digby' to 13th place after the Grand Prix with 74.92%.

Canadian Team Member,, Ashley Holzer is one of a few riders who have opted to wear a hard hat. She is pictured riding the attractive Dutch bred gelding, 'Breaking Dawn' by Akribori. They earned 71.80% for 20th place after the Grand Prix. Sadly Canada no longer have a team, as yesterday, David Marcus and Capital were eliminated when the Cavallo gelding refused to continue with his test mid way through.

USA Individual, Adrienne Lyle rode her Weltmeyer gelding, 'Wizard' to score 69.46%, good enough for just 36th place.

Norwegian Individual, Siril Helljesen is pictured riding the Don Schufro mare, 'Dorina' for 69.98% and 31st place.

Mary Hanna's beautiful 'Sancette' by Sandro Hit produced some good work for the Australian Team, such as beautifully expressive trot extensions, but some tenseness in his test was costly. They earned 67.96% to be off the pace after the Grand Prix.

Well known and experienced Austrian rider, Victoria Max-Theurer rode the handsome Oldenberg stallion, 'Augustin' by August Der Starke for 73.34% and 17th place after the Grand Prix.

Riding for the Ukraine as an Individual, Svetlana Kiseliova produced a 66.76% test riding the gelding , 'Parish' by Iris.

Popular Spaniard, (many will remember Kentucky), Juan Manuel Munoz Diaz rode the Andalusian stallion, 'Fuego' by Utrerano VII to score 75.60 and tenth place. No doubt all will be looking forward to their Freestyle performance.

All were eagerly awaiting the appearance of young British dressage super star, Charlotte Du Jardin and the Dutch bred gelding by Negro, 'Valegro'. And it was worth the wait. The 26 year old seemingly unfazed by the pressure produced a beautiful test, with at least one 10 for piaffe. The test was correct, expressive, soft and beautiful. They lead the pack with an Olympic record score of 83.68%.

Steffen Peters is always beautiful to watch. He is pictured with his long time partner, 'Ravel' by Contango and they produced a lovely test for 77.70% for sixth place. Team USA is in sixth place after the Grand Prix.

Partik Kittel, who is married to Australian Team Member, Lyndal Oatley is a member of the Swedish Team. He is pictured riding the Dutch bred stallion, 'Scandic' by Solos Carex. He produced a good test for 74.07% and 15th place after the Grand Prix.

Riding for Poland, Katarzyna Milczarek is pictured with the impressive Polish bred stallion, 'Ekwador' that is by the well known producer of Eventing horses, Heraldik. They produced a good test for 69.27%.

The elegant, Danish Warmblood gelding, 'Raneur' by Ragazzo, ridden by Lisbeth Seierskilde for Denmark produced a good test for 69.83%. Denmark hold fourth place in the Team standings after the Grand Prix.

The glamorous and youthful Dutch dressage heroine, Adelinde Cornelissen looks pleased with her test as she leaves the arena with her super successful Jazz gelding, 'Parzival'. They hold second place after the Grand Prix with 81.68%. The Dutch Team hold third place, but the competition is very close.

Thirty year old, (She looks more like 13!) German Team Member, Helen Langehanenberg almost kept the best 'till last and produced a super test riding the beautiful Donnerhall stallion, and former Young Horse Champion, 'Damon Hill' for 81.14% and third place, with Germany less than one percentage point away from the leaders, Great Britain.

A feature of Greenwich is the is a clipper ship Cutty Sark, built in 1869. The Cutty Sark gets her name from garment worn by a young Scottish witch called Nannie in the Robert Burns poem Tam O'Shanter written in 1790. Nannie the figureheads has a horses tail in her outstretched hand. In the poem a drunk farmer called Tam while riding home happens upon a group of Witches, fleeing the group, Nannie grabs the horses tail and pulls it off, but Tam escapes.

This afternoon in Greenwich, the sun was shining and there were buskers around the village creating a festive atmosphere but the shops were still quiet.

Poor Greenwich is doing its best to keep equestrian spectators in the village but many shops are still struggling. It did say in the paper that the barriers in the streets that prevent people cross the road , would be removed at this stage they are still in place.

We don't know if this is the official Australian Equestrian Team Pub, as there are many to choose from. This pub is opposite the Australian's favourite breakfast spot.

It was training day for the jumnpers who all had 90 minutes in the ring and nine fences to jump. Not all jumped the nine fences, some just wanted to have a couple of jumps in the arena. The first day of Jumping competition starts tomorrow at 10.30 am with the Individual First Qualifier.

The empty seat and ticket availability situation will be talked about long after the Games are over.This sign was prominently displayed within the horse park..