EquestrianHeike Holstein's Athens campaign was, practically, over in just 7.5 minutes yesterday when her dressage horse, Welt Adel, chose his Olympic debut to behave totally out of character and finish last of the 26 starters in the first half of the Grand Prix.
The 188-centimetre giant, known as Tiny, was 20th in last year's European championships at Hickstead. But the chestnut became virtually unrideable in the arena yesterday and Holstein's mark of 60.417 per cent left her last.
"He's never done that before," she said. "It was just impossible. If there'd been three of us riding him you couldn't have done it. Something happened going down the long side before we went in. He saw something or heard something and his attention was gone. If I hadn't pulled with all my might we'd be back in Ireland by now."
Holstein had been hoping for a mark of between 67 and 68 per cent.
"If it was a regular occurrence I wouldn't be here. I wouldn't do that to myself, but he's not a horse that tries to make a fool of me. I was in the arena alone yesterday and mum had all the grooms running up and down in the stands, screaming and clapping, and it didn't bother him at all."
Whatever spooked the gelding, he declined to show the standard of work that has seen him notch up a succession of Grand Prix wins on the British dressage circuit this year.
"I wish I could go again because I know he'd be brilliant, but there's only so much you can do in one and half laps of the arena before you go in. It would be more annoying if he'd made mistakes, but this was one in a million. He doesn't know it's an Olympic Games. If he did he would have done his best. He's normally a very generous character."
Holstein, who just missed the cut for the Grand Prix Special in Sydney four years ago when finishing 26th in the Grand Prix, was competing with stitches in her head. The 32-year-old hit the top of her head on a partition when loading Welt Adel onto the lorry transporting the horses from the airport to Markopoulo.
There was something of a stir at the opposite end of the dressage rankings in Markopoulo yesterday when Spain's Rafael Soto and the Andalusian stallion Invasor held off the usually insuperable Germans to head the rankings after the first day.
Soto, team bronze medallist at the 2002 world equestrian games in Jerez, was thrilled with his mark of 72.792 per cent, which left him .459 clear of Germany's Hubertus Schmidt, with Heike Kemmer a further 1.041 adrift in third.
"Riding is like making love," Soto said. "In one it depends on the horse and the other on the woman."
Meanwhile, all five of Ireland's show jumpers were passed fit at yesterday evening's horse inspection. Team manager John Ledingham said the riders, who get into action in Markopoulo tomorrow, were getting "twitchy". "They just want to get jumping," he said yesterday.
STANDINGS- Individual (after first day) - 1, Spain's Invasor (Rafael Soto), 72.792%; 2, Germany's Wansuela Suerte (Hubertus Schmidt), 72.333%; 3, Germany's Bonaparte (Heike Kemmer), 71.292%; equal 4, Britain's Escapado (Carl Hester) and Denmark's Zancor (Per Sandgaard), 70.667; 6, Holland's Lancet (Imke Schell-Bartels), 69.750%; 26, Ireland's Welt Adel (Heike Holstein), 60.417%.
Teams (after first two riders) - 1, Germany, 71.813%; 2, USA, 69.146%; 3, Britain, 69.084%; 4, Spain, 68.771%; 5, Denmark, 68.209%; 6, Holland, 67.166%.
