AS I did in 2017, I will begin where I left off in last year’s international show jumping review, where the final paragraph read: “All going well, Rodrigo and his team will be leaving Tryon International Equestrian Centre next September with Olympic qualification in their back pockets, a WEG medal would be a nice touch too.”

That wish didn’t exactly come true and instead, team manager Rodrigo Pessoa left North Carolina bitterly disappointed after finishing in seventh place, missing out on that all-important spot at the Tokyo Olympic Games by just one place.