On Thursday afternoon, it was time for the second horse inspection at the Olympic Games in Tokyo ahead of Friday's team qualifier. There were smiles almost all around, so we decided to make an extra-large photo special with some of the many happy faces we met along the way – be it horses, grooms or riders. First out, some of our favourite boys on the Swiss team: Brian Balsiger, Martin Fuchs, Steve Guerdat and Beat Mändli.
All photos © Jenny Abrahamsson for World of Showjumping. No reproduction of these images is permitted.
Mclain Ward's Contagious is definitely not a horse you take for a walk in the park. Before, during and after the trot-up, his groom Lee McKeever had his hands full with a horse that was more in the air than on the ground. Contagious' US team-mates seemed to be well aware of his character and waited for him to be done with his trot-up, gave him enough space to quickly get his boots back on before he started his airy walk back to the stable. First after having a safe distance, the rest of the team started their walk back too.