by Nancy Jaffer | Oct 14, 2020
As we know far too well by now, Covid-19 has wrought changes in a horse show routine that likely will never return to its pre-pandemic state.
Those who have adjusted will fare best when the virus is just a bad memory. So on the plus side, it has been a time for the nimble to innovate and find a way to clear the obstacles they have encountered in this difficult era.
Derek Braun, the man behind the Split Rock Jumping Tour, knows all about difficult.
New Mexico’s tight Covid restrictions forced the cancellation of his August 2-star show in Santa Fe. Split Rock’s competition that ran with April’s Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event wasn’t held when the eventing had to be called off.
Rowan Willis and Blue Movie over the Split Rock fence in the 2019 grand prix during the Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event. (Photo © 2019 by Nancy Jaffer)
Then forest fires added to the burden of a bad year, leading to cancellation of the first week of Derek’s Sonoma, Calif., show. Prior to this, the California show was Split Rock’s biggest, selling out annually.
“It was a worst case scenario disaster,” Derek remembered.
“We dealt with so many variables we could never have predicted during a two-week span in California. To give everybody the security of the welfare of horses and rider beyond Covid was difficult to maneuver. My team gained a lot of grit and learned a lot from that experience.”
Oh, and his first Longines FEI World Cup qualifier, a 4-star scheduled for an arena in Fort Worth during December, also had to be cancelled because of Covid, which wreaked havoc on 2020’s indoor shows.
But he found a pivot position by expanding into the hunters. The catalyst was his purchase of the two Country Heir shows in Kentucky which, unlike his fixtures, offered hunter competition.
“I can’t say I would have thought that I would go in the direction of hunters in general because I’m so passionate about show jumping,” said Derek, but he emphasized, “In the past, I’ve always been open to any opportunity that I thought was good for myself and my team and the direction of our tour.”
Now, he believes, hunter competition is “a natural progression for myself and my team.”
Derek pointed out that the Kentucky Horse Park, home of Country Heir, is eight minutes from his farm, so it was a perfect fit.
“It is a very popular show in general. We hope to grow both sides of that event,” he continued, noting plans call for bolstering the jumper side of Country Heir and at the same time adding “some unique touches” to the hunter side, so competitors can “feel special and like they’re getting what they paid for.”
That may include live streaming, more extravagant awards presentations and rider bonuses for every division “just providing more opportunities and experience for everybody in every division. We’re so used to doing that for every division for every class in the jumper ring. We’re going to bring that level of detail and attention and exposure of all the hunter divisions as well.”
With the ice broken, the hunters are becoming part of Split Rock’s plans not only for Country Heir, but likely for a couple of other events that “may also incorporate hunters in some fashion,” said Derek, adding the Split Rock team is thinking of adding such divisions to the Santa Fe and Columbus, Ohio, shows.
“ I feel we’re really ready to handle a 1,500-2,000 horse horse show, whereas we’re used to handling 400 horses. It’s a totally different ballgame. We want to bring the same level of organization and attention to a 1,500-plus horse show,” said Derek.
“It’s the right time to hit it out of the park.”
by Nancy Jaffer | Oct 14, 2020
A bronze statue that is half life-size will stand as a tribute to the marvelous dressage horse Valegro, three-time Olympic gold and two-time world championships gold winner.
The statue will go up in Newent, a small town in Great Britain’s Gloucestershire, where he is stabled. Will his rider Charlotte Dujardin get her own statue next?
Valegro gave dressage an enormous popularity boost with his grace and style. (Photo © 2015 by Nancy Jaffer)
No word on that (there’s already a gold-plated mailbox in town to commemorate Charlotte’s achievement) but an application was submitted by the Newent Initiative Trust to erect Valero’s statue. Plans call for the statue of the 18-year-old gelding to become a visitor destination in the town first mentioned in the 1086 Domesday Book.
Valegro and Charlotte won the Grand Prix Special and the Freestyle at the 2014 World Equestrian Games, and Olympic titles in the team and individual dressage in the 2012 London Olympics, as well as the individual gold at Rio in 2016 before the horse retired in a moving ceremony at Olympia.
by Nancy Jaffer | Oct 12, 2020
The Garden State Driving Event at the Horse Park of New Jersey in Allentown will host the advanced single and four-in-hand driving championships Oct. 7-10 2021.
Those competitions previously were held at the Live Oak show in Ocala, Fla.
The Garden State CDE last weekend presented two intermediate national championships. Sarah Reitz of Honeoye Falls, N.Y., won the singles competition with Awesome George, a 13-year-old Dutch harness cross gelding. They went into the lead in the marathon, and kept their edge to take the title.
Yvette Harris of Woodbine, Md., took the pair pony title with her mares, Suki, an eight-year-old Welsh cross and Morwell Amber, a 14-year-old Welsh. They stood first after the dressage phase and stayed in front until the trophy was awarded.
by Nancy Jaffer | Oct 8, 2020
There would be no sport without athletes, but all too often they have gone unheard.
That is changing following Congressional passage of legislation designed to put competitors in a better position to advocate for what they think is important, with more representation on their sports’ National Governing Bodies. At the same time, it means greater control of the way coaches and sports executives operate.
The Empowering Olympic, Paralympic, and Amateur Athletes Act, which must be signed by the President to become law, would enable Congress to decertify NGBs for cause, and it provides more money for the U.S. Center for SafeSport. That agency’s mandate involves protecting athletes from bullying, harassment, hazing, physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, and sexual misconduct.
The legislation proposes that the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee increase funding for SafeSport to $20 million annually, from its $7.5 million allocation in 2019 and $11.5 million this year.
The bill states nothing shall preclude the Center from imposing interim measures or sanctions on an individual before an opportunity for a hearing or arbitration, something that has been controversial in the past. It also does not require the Center to meet a burden of proof higher than the preponderance of the evidence against an accused athlete.
People who deal with SafeSport, either as a victim or the accused, often have trouble understanding what is happening. That’s because the process is far different than the judicial proceedings with which they are more familiar, whether from personal experience or watching it on TV.
In an effort to determine how athletes view the agency and how they think it could be improved, SafeSport is seeking their answers through an online survey. It is part of a collaborative effort between a dozen national governing bodies, Paralympic sport organizations, the USOPC and athlete representatives from various sports.
“This is the first time Safe Sport is asking for feedback from a large group of athletes from every sport. It is anonymous, and being gathered and processed by a third party,” said Ali Brock, the 2016 Olympic dressage team bronze medalist who is the U.S. Equestrian Federation’s athlete representative for the Olympic disciplines.
Discussing the survey, she noted, “The last two questions (one asking for written feedback about the organization and the second about suggestions to improve it) are the most important if you want Safe Sport to know how you perceive, understand and have confidence in them as an organization and with the process for both the victims and the accused. All the information gathered will be shared with the NGBs and the athletes.
“This is your chance to help influence the direction Safe Sport heads in,” Ali advised.
The survey is open to U.S. Equestrian Federation members over 18 who compete. USEF will begin rolling out word of the survey this week, and those taking the 30-minute online survey will have until Nov. 15 to fill it out.
The Empowering Act, which gives Congress the option to dissolve the board of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, also calls for better athlete representation on the boards of NGBs.
The USEF already is working on that. The federation maintained the bill “will ensure a new standard of transparency and accountability” for the USOPC and NGBs, “providing stronger protections and representation for athletes participating in sport under USOPC administration.”
The legislation calls for increasing athlete representation on boards of directors and committees from 20 percent to 33.3 percent. While athlete reps hold four of the 19 seats on the USEF board, the federation will consider restructuring so athletes hold seven, or more than one-third, of the board seats. Doing the same for all USEF committees also is being considered.
Although mainly focused on protecting athletes in the wake of the sexual abuse scandal at USA Gymnastics, the Empowering Act will also include increased legal aid for athletes in grievance processes.
In the bigger picture, meanwhile, it also enables Congress to decertify national governing bodies if they fail to abide by its provisions.
The International Olympic Committee, however, prohibits government interference in its National Olympic Committees, with interference potentially leading to a suspension, according to a story in the Inside.the Games newsletter.
The USOPC had initially expressed concern about the law, but USOPC President Sarah Hirshland said the law itself should not breach IOC rules.
However, she acknowledged if Congress were to act on the law and unseat members of the USOPC Board, the IOC may consider it a violation of the Olympic Charter.
“It is important to understand, the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee is a federally chartered organization and as such, Congress and the Federal Government has authority and that has existed for some time,” Hirshland said, according to Inside the Games.
“This bill does provide a provision that would allow Congress to essentially unseat the USOPC board. Should Congress take such an action, we do understand that the IOC may consider that a violation of the charter. But the bill itself as it is written, without that action being taken, is not a violation of the charter.”
At the same time she said, “we all understand the implications of that should the federal government make a decision to take action.”
by Nancy Jaffer | Oct 7, 2020
After listening to International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach speak today at a press conference following a meeting of his executive board, it seems the Tokyo Games are on track for 2021–although they will be produced differently than any of their predecessors.
Citing “another very encouraging, precise report” on the status of the Olympics received during the board meeting, Bach noted “progress is being made on producing an Olympic Games fit for a post-Corona world.”
As he pointed out, “Our world will never be as it was at the beginning of this year,” which also means changes made for Tokyo will be considered in planning for the 2022 winter Olympics in Beijing and the 2024 summer Olympics in Paris. While in the past there were “a number of nice-to-haves” in connection with the Games, Bach mentioned, one major initiative will be “simplification, to see how can we concentrate on the essentials of the Games.”
There already has been $280 million saved through more than 50 measures agreed upon by the organizing committee and the IOC. There has been progress on Covid counter-measures, Bach said, commenting about “the potential arrival of a vaccine” and rapid testing to determine who has the disease.
He sees such developments as “methods to be added to the tool box” of how to put on a Games. It is estimated that the one-year postponement of the Olympics will result in $800 million in additional costs, to be added to a total for presenting the Games slated as $12.6 billion at the end of 2019.
Bach noted what has been learned about handling Covid since March offers leads “for good progress in addressing the challenge of the virus,” which will be at the disposal of the IOC and Games organizers next year.
Asked whether the Games could be held behind closed doors without spectators should there be a massive second wave of Covid-19, Bach said he couldn’t speculate on what the situation will be nine or ten months from now. But he did note that even during what some say is a second wave happening now in a number of locations, both professional and amateur sports, including world championships in cycling and triathlon, are being held around the world. At the same time, he didn’t know if the Games organizers will be able to “fill the stands to their full capacity” next July or if social distancing restrictions still will need to be in effect.
Christophe Dubi, the IOC sports director and deputy Olympic Games executive director, noted “there are a number of scenarios” that are possible, and that as things unfold, organizers will “know which tools we’ll use.” Answering a question about what will happen to the opening ceremonies, usually a highlight of the Games, he pointed out it is a “massive undertaking” that “has to be adjusted to a sign of the times.”
Bach is so optimistic that said he can “encourage the Japanese people who have doubts to have confidence in their own efficiency and organizing committee.”
by Nancy Jaffer | Oct 6, 2020
Ticket sales for April’s Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event have been delayed until a date to be announced in January, due to the challenges posed by the Covid-19 situation.
While the tickets normally would be available in the autumn of the year before the Kentucky Horse Park competition presented by MARS Equestrian, Mike Cooper, president of EEI that puts on the competition, explained the reason for holding off.
Oliver Townend was the winner at Kentucky in 2019, the last year the event was held. (Photo © 2019 by Nancy Jaffer)
“As we continue to navigate these unchartered waters connected to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are in constant communication with the USEF, Kentucky Horse Park, and local governments,” said Mike Cooper, EEI president.
“Naturally, our prime concern is the safety and well-being of everyone and, given the current circumstances, we think it wisest to delay the opening of ticket sales until we are certain that we have the absolute best plans regarding spectator capacity and safety.”
The event, set for April 22-25 2021, was cancelled for this year in the midst of the pandemic, along with the $225,000 Kentucky CSI3* Invitational Grand Prix presented by Hagyard Equine Medical Institute, which is held on April 24, the Saturday of the 5-star after cross-country.
The Kentucky event, will include a 4-star S this year in addition to the 5-star, is very dependent on spectators and its trade fair. Among the steps expected to be implemented is an expansion of the number of tailgating spaces available for Saturday’s cross-country competition. This will allow for increased opportunities for watching cross country while maintaining any required social distancing.
Single-Day and Multi-Day tickets will be available. All grounds admission tickets to the Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event will include general parking and admission to the Kentucky Horse Park and International Trade Fair, but not access to competition in Rolex Stadium on Thursday, Friday and Sunday. Reserved grandstand seating for those days is sold separately from grounds admission. Grounds admission is free for children 12 years old and under with adult ticket purchases.
Plans for hospitality packages are still being formulated and will be announced before tickets go on sale in January. For more information, go to https://kentuckythreedayevent.com/
“Many spectators, patrons and sponsors chose to roll over the money they had paid for the 2020 event and are anxious to hear plans for 2021,” said Lee Carter, EEI executive director.
“While we don’t yet know exactly what the 2021 event will look like, EEI will continue to ensure that those who rolled over their money receive maximum benefit for doing so and everyone can be sure that next year’s Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event and the Kentucky CSI3* Invitational Grand Prix will still be `The Best Weekend All Year!’”
