Seventy horses took on Mike Etherington-Smith’s eight-minute cross country course at the Beas River venue in Hong Kong. None achieved the optimum time, and only one rider escaped with time penalties in the single digits (Australia’s Shane Rose riding All Luck).

The Germans, with a score of 158.10, took a slim lead over Australia (162.00) in the team portion of the competition. Great Britain rebounded to third with 173.70.

The American team had some unfortunate mistakes that proved to be incredibly costly. They fell from third place after the dressage to seventh on a score of 234.00.

Veteran rider Amy Tryon set off on Poggio II in her usual role as the team’s pathfinder. But at fence 10 the 16-year-old Thoroughbred left a leg, stumbled badly, and Tryon fell.

Under a new rule recently levied by the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI), Tryon was eliminated after this fall.

“I need to watch the tape to figure out exactly what happened,” said Tryon from Duvall, Wash., following her elimination. “The course was riding like we expected up to that point. It’s busy and the time is going to be hard to make.”

Tryon’s prediction proved accurate as no one got close to the optimum time.

Temperatures were moderate for this time of year. It rained intermittently throughout the day.

Gina Miles was the next American to take on the course, riding 17.3-hand McKinlaigh. The giant horse was one of the few that was able to find a rhythm and his giant stride ate up the ground. Miles, who is from Creston, Calif., has never had a jumping cross-country penalty on the Irish Sport Horse gelding, and they never looked to be in danger of changing their record.

“He’s amazing,” said Miles. “He stays so rideable. The turns are hard to negotiate and it was hard to go as fast. I think he’s the best horse in the world. He can do it all.”

The pair sits fifth on a score of 56.10 after adding 16.8 time faults. They are tied with Great Britain’s Mary King and Call Again Cavalier. Hinrich Romeike and Marius lead the way on 50.20, half a point ahead of German teammate Ingrid Klimke (on Abraxxas) so the competition remains very close going into show jumping.

“It was very hard work and very twisty” said Romeike. “I was smiling when he was jumping so well and he did what may have been the job of his life.”

Becky Holder and Courageous Comet looked phenomenal in the early part of the course as they cruised through the Beas River countryside only to misjudge their line at 21a, the first element of the dragon fence. The 13-year-old Thoroughbred gelding ran out to the right. Holder inadvertently crossed her tracks when she tried to correct the mistake.

“I didn’t stick to my plan, but my horse was really good,” said Holder after she picked up 60 penalties for her mistake.

Veteran Karen O’Connor set out on relatively inexperienced Mandiba with all the pressure for a quick clear round from the 9-year-old Irish Thoroughbred gelding. Unfortunately they ran into trouble at fence 9, a massive downhill brush four strides to a narrow. Mandiba misread the second element and ran out.

“I knew going out, that what I needed to do was stretching the educational capabilities of my horse,” said O’Connor. “I knew the goal was to go clear and within the minute of the time. That exercise came up too quick for him.”

Mandiba cruised around the rest of the course confidently until the second to last fence, which consisted of two angled brushes on a two-stride line–an obstacle that that proved troublesome all day.

“My horse was giving me a magnificent round as I came down the hill I had some choices,” said O’Connor. “I had a 20 but I was galloping pretty strong, I and the U.S. had nothing to lose and everything to gain if I could have gotten it done.”

Suddenly a team medal wasn’t the priority for the anchor rider.

Phillip Dutton set out on Connaught with his foot to the floor.

“Unfortunately our team isn’t having a good day,” said Dutton. “So I was riding for myself. I knew I had to take some chances to go as quickly as possible.”

Owned by Bruce Duchossios, the 15-year-old Irish Thoroughbred gelding picked up 19.60 time faults despite every effort by Dutton to go as fast as he could.

“I went as quick as I possibly could,” said Dutton who rode for Australia in the last three Olympic Games (at which he won two Gold medals). “He not the fastest horse, I can’t see where I could have gone faster. The ground really backed the horses off and they didn’t want to go. He is a magnificent jumper, even if he is tired, he still jumps very well.”

The pair is in 14th place on 60.20, exactly 10 points from a gold medal.

The Australians and the Swedes were the only two teams to get all their riders around clear.

The dressage leader, Australian Lucinda Fredericks, had 27.20 time faults, dropping her down to 11th.

Don’t miss the Olympic Equestrian blog by award-winning equestrian journalist Jennifer Bryant. She will be giving us behind-the-scenes looks at what’s happening at the Olympic equestrian events.