by Nancy Jaffer | May 15, 2016
By Nancy Jaffer
May 15, 2016
Ilona English has a big hug for her homebred Powell.
Ten years ago, Ilona English delivered a little colt she named Powell. Over the weekend, Powell delivered for her, winning the CCI 3-star at the Jersey Fresh International Three-Day Event.
Not only did the blaze-faced Oldenburg take the trophy, he did it by taking the lead in dressage and keeping it through cross-country and stadium jumping at the Horse Park of New Jersey.
And there’s more where he came from at her farm in Ringoes, He’s got three half-brothers and there’s a half-sister to Ruby, who finished fourth in the CIC 2-star division.
Ilona, the U.S. Equestrian Federation’s leading eventing breeder for the last two years, was especially happy with the victory because of where it took place.
“I’m so excited that we’re here in New Jersey and he’s a Jersey-bred. I think we can hold our own with any of the other breeders in the country,” she contended.
Ryan Wood, a U.S.-based Australian, brought Powell along and rode him to the trophy. Boyd Martin, who was second behind Ryan with the impressive Welcome Shadow, suggested Powell and his rider might be material for the Australian Olympic team. Jersey Fresh was a U.S. Olympic selection trial, but no reason another nation couldn’t take advantage of that.
Rider Ryan Wood gets a big smile from Ilona English, the breeder of his winning ride, Powell.
Holly Payne-Caravella and Bruisyard Hall, top thoroughbred in the CCI 2-star.
A New Jersey entry that also impressed was Holly Payne Caravella of Gladstone and Shelby Godfrey’s Bruisyard Hall. The clever bay was the top-placing off-the-track thoroughbred in the CCI 2-star, where he finished second to the Irisbhred Sportsfield Candy, ridden by Phillip Dutton.Holly, who runs Shelby’s Old Fox Farm in Chester, noted that the horse “was only training level a year ago,” so she’s not going to push him up the levels too fast. He’ll gain strength and confidence before competing at the challenging Dutta Corp. Fair Hill, Md., International this fall.
For more about Jersey Fresh and a video of Holly, click here for a link to my “post card” report for Practical Horseman magazine’s web site.
by Nancy Jaffer | May 8, 2016
By Nancy Jaffer
May 8, 2016
Tailgating at the water complex is a great way to get a view of stars such as Buck Davidson, winner of the CCI 3-star at Jersey Fresh last year with Ballynoe Castle RM. He’s back with a different group of horses.
Did you miss Rolex Kentucky last weekend? Couldn’t make it to Badminton this weekend? There’s another chance to see top-notch eventing this spring, and it’s close to home.
Building on the success of last year’s competition, this week’s Jersey Fresh International Three-Day Event is continuing its progress at the Horse Park of New Jersey in Allentown, Monmouth County, with offerings for fans and families as it seeks to broaden its base.
Such major players as Buck Davidson and Boyd Martin (both of whom rode at Kentucky and Badminton), Kim Severson and Jessica Phoenix are among the large number of entries in the CCI 2- and 3-star as well as 2- and 3-star CICs offered at Jersey Fresh. The event is a selection trial for the Rio Olympics this summer.
Jersey Fresh, the Horse Park’s premier competition, is elevating its status in 2016.
“I’m hoping we can jump forward again this year,” said Brendan Furlong, whose B.W. Furlong and Associates veterinary practice boosted the event in 2015 with a $25,000 sponsorship. This year, that has grown to $30,000, while Brendan’s son, Adam, has gotten a number of smaller sponsors, including Zoetis and Merial.
Brendan believes that could be “the beginning of something where they can come in and get a title sponsor out of it.”
Tailgating at the biggest water obstacle has been a major hit at Jersey Fresh over the last few years, and this year it’s been so popular that a second area was opened up to accommodate demand.
“If we can keep on bringing people in, we can generate public interest and public awareness of it,” said Brendan.
As was the case last year, the cross-country course designed by John Williams will run past the members’ tent in the main ring, while the trade fair has been expanded and moved to an area near the grand prix arena.
“It was time to rethink the location and set-up of the trade fair from prior years,” said Dan Wunderlich, chair of the Jersey Fresh organizing committee.
Boyd Martin, a Jersey Fresh regular, will be competing there again this week.
“JFI has evolved into one of the most recognized three-day events in the county. We are committed to having all aspects of our event be first-class and, by moving the trade fair to a prime and more accessible location, we are assuring that everyone can enjoy a wide range of experiences amidst the excitement of the competition.”
It’s also an opportunity to buy, buy, buy, from Dubarry boots; bridle accoutrements and jewelry to match at Browbands with Bling and saddles from Devoucoux, as well as items from Quilted Horse Design, Svetlana Designs and The Fabulous Horse, among many others.
There will be more food vendors than in the past, including Fork in the Road’s food truck and Pretzelphoria.
Meanwhile, the state Equine Advisory Board will sponsor the New Jersey Equine & Agricultural Expo Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m. It features displays by 4-H, Pony Club and other organizations. Children will be offered a free Breyer horse they can paint and take home, and pony rides also will be available.
On Sunday, the Zoetis Pony Chase will provide entertainment with racing Shetlands racing over hurdles.
Admission to JFI and the Horse Park of New Jersey is free on Wednesday for the first horse inspection and the start of dressage; Thursday, when dressage continues and Friday, when dressage wraps up.
General admission tickets for Saturday and Sunday are $10 per person. Children under 12 are admitted free of charge, as are 4-H and FFA members with ID; Pony Club members (with pin), and military members and their dependents with ID. Seniors 65 and older are admitted at a discount of $5 per person.
The Jersey Fresh International Three-Day Event/Horse Park of New Jersey is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit, charitable and educational organization that relies on sponsors, volunteers and members to sustain operations. Further information is available at jfi3d.com, or about the Horse Park, at horseparkofnewjersey.com.
by Nancy Jaffer | May 1, 2016
By Nancy Jaffer
May 1, 2016
Sinead Halpin is 11th at Rolex Kentucky after a difficult go on cross-country with Manoir de Carneville.
Rolex Kentucky is the Western Hemisphere’s only 4-star event, and one of just six in the world, so it’s always difficult.
But throw in a day of rainstorms and the cross-country phase becomes even more testing. No one made the 11-minute, 15-second optimum time yesterday on the course designed by Derek di Grazia, who also will be laying out the routes for the 2018 World Equestrian Games and the 2020 Olympics.
It takes experience to know how to handle a situation like the one riders faced at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington this weekend. With 64 horses competing, the ground became difficult as both the competition and the rain continued.
“Horses that ran earlier in the day had different going than the horses at the end of the day. I was shocked at how much the footing changed. It deteriorated quite a bit,” said Sinead Halpin, who operates a stable in Long Valley. Even so, she moved up with Manoir de Carneville from 18th after dressage on Friday to 11th following cross-country.
The question is, if the ground had been better, could he have risen higher in the rankings? Tate, as the Selle Français is known, has finished as high as third place at Rolex. He enjoys quite the resume, having been an Olympic alternate in 2012 and part of the U.S. effort at the World Equestrian Games in France two years ago.
“I was really happy with him, but I would have loved to have run earlier in the day,” commented Sinead, who went on course with her chestnut Selle Français at 1:36 p.m., more than three and one-half hours after cross-country began at 10 a.m.
Rolex leader Michael Jung of Germany, who has Olympic, world championship and European championship gold medals to his credit, started on course at 11:36 a.m. He was only two seconds over the optimum time with Fischerrocana FST, but no one was any faster.
Interestingly, Holly Payne Caravella, who operates a stable in Chester, went at 10:24 a.m. on the thoroughbred Never Outfoxed, and her effort that collected only 2.8 time penalties (which means she was a mere 7 seconds slow) boosted her from 67th after dressage to 19th. She was tied with two other women for the best time by an American.
Santino put in a good effort for Holly Payne Caravella on cross-country.
“I think the Olympics are something you don’t plan on. You say, `Yeah, it would be great,’ but you start ticking off the boxes on the way to the Olympics and if they work, they work, and if they don’t, they don’t. Honestly, the horse is 16 years old and he’s a beautiful, wonderful horse and I’ve been looking to get to Rolex, and if Rolex works out, great.”
Holly is part of a well-known eventing family. Her mother, Marilyn Payne, is judging in Rio, and her brother, Doug, also competed at Rolex, where he stands 25th on Vandiver, moving up from 50th after dressage.
On her second horse, Santino, Holly was 15th after dressage and looked as if she stood a good chance of moving up, considering the way the thoroughbred, who went at 1 p.m., was handling the course. Then she ran into trouble at the new water jump.
“He hung his stifles on the ‘in’ of the water, and I got knocked forward and almost came off. I tried to save him, but by the time I picked up to save it, I was headed right toward the crowd, so there was no way of getting back to the corner (the second element),” she recalled.
“I had to circle back to do the option on the corner, so I crossed my tracks and picked up 20 (penalties) to get back to the option. It was a total shame. I rode a bit aggressive; I should have been more patient. It’s nothing related to him. It was totally my fault.” Because of the crowds and roping, there was no way for her to turn back without crossing her tracks. So Santino dropped 26 places to 41st.
Asked about the footing, she said. “It definitely deteriorated. On the galloping lanes I was trying to look for good ground, moving a little left or right The take-offs were pretty good, but a couple of the landing spots, I felt them maybe stumble on landing on the back side of the jump, it was getting a little thick. But it didn’t seem to be bothering him.”
The event ends today with stadium jumping. It will be an opportunity for some riders to recoup, and others to drop further in the standings. The prediction is for more rain, but luckily, it is run in an arena on all-weather footing, so the ground shouldn’t be a factor.
I’m still drying out from cross-country, but I’ll be back in the weather again so I can update tomorrow night to tell you how the Jersey girls fared.
by Nancy Jaffer | Apr 24, 2016
By Nancy Jaffer
April 24, 2016
Gladstone will offer a chance once again for combined drivers to test their skills at a venue with a long history in the sport
The Gladstone Driving Event, once the most important sporting competition of its kind in the country, is making a comeback next month at Hamilton Farm, home of the U.S. Equestrian Team Foundation.
The event, admired all over the world in its heyday, has been held on and off over the last decade or so. It was not staged in 2015 due to a lack of entries.
With a later spot on the calendar this year, there is more enthusiasm from drivers as they have additional time to get their horses fit. Even so, organizers wisely are keeping it on a manageable small scale.
On Saturday, May 21, competition in the Pine Meadow section of the property will include dressage and cones for exhibitors in both the combined test division and the driving trials section. Competition that day should run from approximately 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. or a little later. For the trials division, the Sunday will be devoted to the marathon, running from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. through the hazards (complex obstacles) that have proven a compelling challenge over the years. The horse-and driver-friendly route has been laid out by well-known course designer Marc Johnson.
Tricia Haertlein, president of Gladstone Driving, noted that 17 enthusiastic volunteers cleared the hazards of sticks and brush.
“The hazards are pretty well ready to go,” she said, adding trails through the area are still being cleaned up.
Pine Meadow was the scene of the World Pair Driving Championship in 1993, the culmination of years of building up the sport in this country. Under the direction and sponsorship of the late Finn Caspersen, European competitors were brought to Gladstone to give American drivers experience in facing the world’s best drivers and their horses. When the U.S. earned a team gold medal in the World Pairs Driving Championship in 1991, it offered an opportunity for the country to host the event two years later.
That was a fabulous show, with a record 23 countries participating. Everything after that was an anti-climax, however. As New Jersey drivers retired, died or moved south, the base of the sport in this area diminished and Gladstone downsized.
“We used to be a hotbed of local people driving,” said Tricia.
“Now we need to count on more people coming from a distance,” she explained.
“There’s people out there driving; we just have to get them interested in combined driving.”
Heather Walker, who ran driving events–including Gladstone–for years, noted the entire sport isn’t what it was in this country.
She said selectors who are picking squads for the world championships this year in four-in-hands and singles had only four of the former and six of the latter from which to choose.
In 2010, when the four-in-hand world championship was held as part of the World Equestrian Games in Kentucky, 14 fours tried out. And she recalled that in 1995, “there were 15 singles–there might have even been 20”–vying for slots on the U.S. world championships team.
13-time national four-in-hand champion Chester Weber, seen here in 2003, was a regular at Gladstone, where he got his start in competition. (Photo by Nancy Jaffer)
While show jumping, eventing and dressage are thriving, driving has drawbacks those other disciplines do not.
Heather, chairman of the U.S. Equestrian Federation Driving Technical Committee, said “the culture has changed so much” and for kids, “that kind of activity is not what they do. Driving is not something you can do by yourself. When something goes wrong with a carriage, it goes crazily wrong. You need someone there with you.
“When you’re going to a show, you need transport of the carriage as well as the horse. It’s a more complicated sport.” It can be expensive, too. And she pointed out, “the economy is a huge drain on people’s time as well as their money” especially when few people’s work week is limited to 40 hours.
So how to rebuild?
“We need events that are competitor-friendly and that people can start at, on a lower level, a casual level, where you don’t need two sets of harness and can get people interested,” she commented.
The four-in-hands that once were the stars of Gladstone but have become scarce in the U.S. these days aren’t on the program next month. It is limited to Training, Preliminary and Intermediate levels for singles and pair ponies and horses, as well as Very Small Equines (miniature horses).
“We’re hopeful. We’ve got a decent entry in each class,” Tricia said, saying organizers would like to have between 30 and 40 competitors who are looking to get started in the sport or move up to another division.
“Looking at who’s around here right now, this is the level of show we need to be doing. You have to build your own constituency.”
“Once they get here, we’re going to take really good care of them,” she continued, explaining an anonymous donor is providing breakfast and lunch daily for the competitors.
Tricia emphasized that it’s a competitor-friendly competition but while spectators are welcome at no charge, they should be aware that there won’t be food on the grounds for them.
The event, chaired by longtime volunteer Gayle Stinson, will be judged by internationally known drivers and longtime Gladstone competitors Sem Groenewoud and Lisa Singer, as well as pleasure driving judge Mary Harrison in cones. That segment will be staged against a backdrop of trees on the historic Main Drive lawn.
by Kate Seaman | Apr 17, 2016
By Nancy Jaffer
April 17, 2016
Colton McGregor and Brookside Pink Magnum.
(Photo courtesy of Becky McGregor)
How do you get more people involved in equestrian competition, in order to grow the sport? There’s always lots of talk about that, often without much of a conclusion. The U.S. Equestrian Federation has been trying to figure it out for years, and the U.S. Hunter Jumper Association is working on a solution after a report revealed just 1 percent growth in nine years.
There are a huge number of people out there who like horses and find them appealing, but only a small fraction of those actually ride, and even less compete. Discussion of the “grass roots” usually centers on showing opportunities at the lower levels. Equestrian organizations, perhaps understandably, tend to focus on people who already are in the sport and paying dues, rather than drawing newcomers into it.
So how do you reach people who aren’t involved at all and may never even have touched a horse? Breyer Animal Creations–you know those collectable models–has a concept, and will put it into action June 18 from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at the U.S. Equestrian Team Foundation’s Gladstone headquarters.
It’s hosting an intriguing initiative, Pony Up!®. The idea is to introduce children under age 16 to the world of horses, from models to real animals. It’s a hands-on experience that also includes crafts. Each person attending will go home with a model, and perhaps a desire to spend more time with real horses.
Pony Up!® will be an especially welcome opportunity for those who would like to go to Breyerfest, the big three-day model horse extravaganza held each summer at the Kentucky Horse Park, but don’t have the time to go, or resources to cover air fare and hotel rooms.
It will feature “many of the same things people like about Breyerfest. If we’re satisfied it can be a success, we can roll it out to other places in the country,” said Kathy Fallon, a vice president of Reeves International, which owns Breyer.
“We wanted to test our idea at a place local to us,” said Kathy, referring to the fact that Reeves is in Pequannock, Morris County, about 40 minutes from Gladstone. Even more important, the USET’s charm and history make it a good showcase.
For children who have never encountered horses, this is an opportunity to see and touch them, as well as take pony rides (Children who wish to ride should wear long pants and lace-up shoes.) The event might be the first step in equestrian involvement that could lead to trail rides, showing, gymkhanas and many other activities.
The Breyer model of Brookside Pink Magnum.
(Photo courtesy of Breyer)
“What is the one thing different about Breyerfest?” Kathy asked, answering her question this way: “It’s the opportunity to be up close and personal, meet horses and their riders and talk to them when they have time to talk to you. At a horse show, people are busy competing, they’ve worked really hard, they don’t have time to be welcoming to a family that wanders in and says, `Gosh, what’s going on here. My little girl loves horses. Maybe she’d like to do it.”
After experiencing a casual and relaxed atmosphere at Breyerfest, “parents say, `Maybe we’ll let the kids ride now.’ The horse industry really needs to look to the parents,” Kathy commented, noting, however, commitments to soccer and other sports is a “huge barrier.
Yet she believes, “The more parents get the message about how terrific it is to be involved with horses and horse sports and what a great thing it is to teach the kids compassion and caring for other creatures, the more they’ll be willing to dedicate the time” it takes to keep the children involved with horses.
Featured equine guests at the USET will be two inspirations for Breyer models, Arabian superstar Oration from the Desiderio family’s Tranquillity Farm in Chester and Rebedon Farm’s Brookside Pink Magnum, a strawberry roan Welsh stallion with a solid disposition who lives in the backyard of trainer Becky McGregor in Harmony, Warren County.
Although Magnum’s model is still available, Oration’s model already has been retired, since it was a special run made only for Breyerfest. The highest-priced discontinued model, in case you were wondering, is the Andalusian Alborozo, whose likeness was cast for the 2008 Breyerfest. A customized model of the horse went for $13,500 at auction.
Magnum, a Canadian-bred 19-year-old, is as sweet as they come. Becky’s 2 and 1/2-year-old son, Colton, learned to walk by toddling along the fence line next to the pony. Every time, the child fell, Magnum would wait patiently for him to stand up.
“They’ve been buddies ever since,” said Becky, noting the toddler rides the stallion, whose offspring have won the USEF Pony Finals and various Welsh titles.
Oration and Michael Desiderio.
(Photo courtesy of Breyer)
Having the pony become a Breyer model was a longtime dream of Becky’s late grandmother, Eileen Coyle, who used to write to Breyer regularly, asking for a model to be made of Magnum. It didn’t happen while Eileen was alive, but “On the one-year anniversary of her death was when I got the call from Breyer that they were going to make Magnum a Breyer. It was validating for me,” said Becky.
Magnum has been memorialized as a Breyer model for three years.
“It’s very surreal. He’s a little bit like a celebrity. Kids get awestruck around him,” said Becky, who noted people will stand in line for hours to see Magnum at Breyerfest.
“Then we come home and he’s my son’s pony and he lives in the backyard and he rolls in mud,” she said with a chuckle.
The Desiderios have had a similar experience with the 9-year-old stallion Oration, who has received comments of “Wow!” on judges’ cards and has won everything in the Arabian world and is a natural for open competition because he looks “like a little warmblood,” said Ricci Desiderio, whose son, Michael, rode the horse at Breyerfest.
The overwhelming reception that Oration got there demonstrates how effective it is for kids to actually meet such a special horse.
“We’ve got to start to get everybody in horses to get them started to develop them as riders. As they get more educated, they become more capable and move up the scale of riding,” said Ricci.
“You need to get them in the door to show them what we do. Marketing ourselves is a hard thing. If you don’t get them exposed to the horses, there’s no way in the world they’re going to get an interest.”
He pointed out that horses present a lifelong benefit to children who get started with riding.
Brookside Pink Magnum and fans at Breyerfest.
(Photo courtesy of Breyer)
It’s a sport that doesn’t dissolve after high school,” he emphasized. Ricci tells parents that by supporting their youngsters’ equestrian involvement, “You are investing in the child’s future.” Of trainers, he says, “We’re educators.”
The Pony Up!® program will include Hamlet and Honor of Gentle Carousel Miniature Therapy Horses, autograph sessions, equine breed demonstrations and a petting zoo.
Kids will have their own jumping competitions, complete with prizes; magicians, a craft activity tent and the Hands-On Hobby booth, where experts will talk about collectables, model horse showing and customizing. Model horse hobby workshops will also be offered on such topics as Introduction to Customizing, Repairing Model Horses, Create Your Dream Horse, Halter-Making and Creating a Horse Suncatcher.
Tickets are $35 per person and include admittance to all activities and a Breyer Classics® model horse ($20 value). Parking is $5 cash on site.
For ticket purchases, go to https://www.breyerhorses.com/pony-up-nj-2016. A detailed schedule is available at https://www.breyerhorses.com/ponyup-2016-nj?__wwbt=860.702.27.2.1. For questions, contact Customer Service at Breyer: 800-413-3348.
by Kate Seaman | Mar 27, 2016
By Nancy Jaffer
March 27, 2016
Olympic victory gallops, like this one by the German team at the 2012 London Games, will have two less participants if a controversial effort is passed to cut the number of riders on a squad.
(Photo by Nancy Jaffer)
There is no doubt that major change is coming yet again to the sport of eventing, motivated in great part by the intense desire to have it remain in the Olympics.
If your only interest in the discipline is at the lower levels, don’t stop reading. Changes at the top have a way of trickling down to somehow affect everyone who participates, even if they’re only at training level, or below.
Changes proposed by the FEI (international equestrian federation) are prompted by the International Olympic Committee’s Agenda 2020 (that’s the year the Olympics will be held in Tokyo). The agenda is subtitled, “The strategic roadmap for the future of the Olympic movement.”
As IOC President Thomas Bach put it, “It is a picture of progress. It is a picture that ensures the uniqueness of the Olympic Games. It is a picture that promotes the Olympic values. And it is a picture that strengthens sport in society.” And he might well have added that to remain in that picture, sports must do whatever is deemed necessary.
Any format adopted also would be used for the World Equestrian Games. The measures, which include some not directly involving the Olympics, will be discussed and no doubt debated during the FEI’s sports forum in Switzerland next month and voted on at its general assembly this autumn.
The U.S. Equestrian Federation and the U.S. Eventing Association both have weighed in with concerns about a number of the suggestions, which also are geared to making eventing more TV-friendly.
The U.S. Eventing Association didn’t mince words in its conclusion about a good bit of the remodeling:
“Should the FEI move forward with all of the proposals as outlined and deviate from the recommendations as outlined by the USEF, the USEA and other major National Governing Bodies of the sport, we will need to reconsider whether risking the integrity of the sport of Eventing justifies remaining a part of the Olympic Games.”
And that’s the crux of it. Is changing the eventing game to such an extent that some believe it becomes nearly a different sport worth the prestige of being in the Olympics?
Will Connell, the USEF’s director of sport, noted about that question, “Where you draw the line between a sport giving up its values in order to stay in the Olympics is a very difficult one.”
He added, “We’re not at the point where we’re saying what is proposed is going to destroy the integrity of the sport to the point where we shouldn’t do it, we should accept going out of the Games. it would be wrong for us to ever say that without a very detailed consultation with athletes and all our internal stakeholders,” he pointed out.
Jim Wolf, who served as director of sport programs for the USEF and director of eventing with the U.S. Equestrian Team before that, thinks it’s crucial for eventing to stay in the Olympic movement.
Now head of Wolf Sports Group LLC, a sports marketing, event management and logistics firm, he cited the “crediblity and cachet” bestowed by the Olympics and the ability to capture part of its worldwide audience. It is also, he said, “a selling point for the sport,” which needs sponsorship to thrive.
“You’ve got to make sports TV-friendly,” he commented, noting other sports, from athletics to cricket, have changed their formats to achieve that end.
At one time, the Olympic Games were the pinnacle, the only chance some sports–such as equestrian–had to be on a global stage. But that’s no longer the case. Once-obscure sports now appear regularly on TV and with many people dropping cable in favor of viewing the action on their computers, tablets or cellphones, live-streaming of their favorite competitions is a frequent occurrence. The World Equestrian Games and the proliferation of major venues that attract many thousands of spectators also provide prominent pathways for horse sports.
All it takes is one fall on cross-country for a team without a drop score to have its Olympic medal hopes dashed.
(Photo by Nancy Jaffer)
This is not the first time that there has been concern about the Olympics dropping equestrian sports (dressage and jumping also are due for changes, but nothing as drastic as eventing). Eventing has a big target on it because, among other reasons, it’s expensive to stage and the scoring isn’t easy to understand.
In 2002, the recommendation by the IOC’s program commission that eventing should be dropped from the Games after the 2004 Olympics shook the discipline. But the FEI got busy to counter the commission’s recommendation, which was geared to limiting the size and cost of the games by eliminating some sports.
So the FEI did what it had to do. Remember the classic format, and its acreage-eating roads and tracks and steeplechase segments that tested speed and endurance? They were an integral part of the sport for nearly a century, but those segments have disappeared (except at a few low-level outings) and last were seen at the Rolex Kentucky 4-star in 2005, the year after the Olympics went to the short format to save time, money, and eventing’s place in the Games.
That also paved the way for warmbloods to dominate the discipline, since the endurance of the thoroughbred was no longer essential.
Many changes to the sport, once a military exercise, have been extremely beneficial. When Lana duPont Wright got the USEF’s Lifetime Achievement Award in January, we were reminded that women were excluded from Olympic eventing rosters until 1964, the year she broke that barrier. And speaking of breaking things, her horse fell twice (one fall did not mean elimination in those days) and broke his jaw on cross-country during an era before horse welfare was not a prime consideration, as it is today. That’s another good change.
But the USEF and USEA do not support a change that would limit Olympic teams to three riders, (rather than the five who competed in 2012, 2008 and 2004) with one alternate horse or horse and rider combination. That would mean no drop score. The U.S. fielded three-member teams from 1928 through 1956, but four-member teams with one drop score were the rule from 1960 through 2000. The cross-country test by its nature often involves eliminations, so availability of a drop score assures teams of having a shot at a medal, or at least an honorable completion.
The USEF stated in its reason for not supporting this change.“This would make the sport about completion and not about competition.
“The statistics show very clearly that if there are three in the team for cross-country with no drop score, either a significant number of teams will not complete or the cross-country will be dumbed down to an extent that the very essence of eventing is destroyed.”
An answer that could make teams of three work better, Will noted, would be utilizing a CIC format, with dressage followed by show jumping rather than cross-country, which would be run last.
It eliminates the pressure involved on what USEA termed, “an unprepared or physically compromised horse or rider” when show jumping is the day after cross-country. With the advantage of a drop score, they could be held out, as is often the case, but having cross-country last could help when there are only three on a team.
An alternative of awarding points to horses that do not complete and/or allowing them to show jump “only makes the scoring more complicated,” according to the USEF.
Will believes discussions have gotten stuck on teams of three and “haven’t embraced all of what agenda 2020 stands for. We haven’t really discussed in depth how we better present the sport,” which includes reducing its cost.
Teans of three offer the option for more countries to compete, which meets the eternal goal of increasing a sport’s universality, always a major IOC consideration. But it also raises the question about whether the bar will be lowered to accommodate that ambition.
Other changes proposed include changing the name of the sport. How about Equestrian Triathlon? Equi-triathlon? Equestrio? Triquestrian?
The USEF wondered is “adopting a new name going to change anything or just further divide the community and confuse the public?” USEA also pointed out it will be costly for the governing bodies, sports organizations and those presenting events to change letterheads, signs, trademarks and the like.
Eventing is at a crossroads, no doubt about it. All we can hope is that those who understand its essence are able to prevail, so remaking the sport does not mean ruining it.
