I guess he’s not all bad. 
Em
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Maybe that fits in with being a “Chad”? Good-lookin’ and he knows it!
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A very fine looking chestnut 
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Maybe ask his former teammates about that.
The horse looks cute.
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Edwina just posted that they can compete as individuals. So some good news!
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Regarding substitution: if (in Eventing) Person / Horse X fails to trot sound for show jumping, and subbing in Person / Horse Y for the final phase merits a 100 point penalty… why bother? The team has been penalised beyond redemption, so why attempt to complete the team event.
I can understand the other two members completing the three phases in order to medal as an individual, but the sub rules are a bit weird…
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There are only 3 riders, so all scores count. That 100 might not look so bad the day after XC.
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I wonder if it’s so that the traveling reserve gets a chance to do something if the team is way out of contention by that point. Like a Little League game where the benchwarmers get to play in the last inning if they’re down by 10 runs. It has to be no fun at all to be the traveling person who went all the way to the other side of the planet, literally, to never get dressed to show. .
That’s an interesting thought. We’ll have to see how the lack of a drop score plays out for all the horse disciplines.
Well, as we saw with the kerfuffle with the Australian team this week, if the traveling reserve declines to go, and then something happens, that torpedoes the whole team. So maybe they think it would be better to have more options for the traveling reserve to increase their motivation to get on the plane.
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Was the reason he didn’t go because he didn’t want to risk not competing, or was it because he 1) had to pay his own way, and 2) was insulted to be the alternate. I agree though, that it seems high risk/low reward to go with a low chance of actually getting in the ring.
He said it was not in the best interests of the horse to make the trip with no plan to compete.
Whatever that means exactly, maybe the travel demands wouldn’t have been good for the horse’s competition schedule for the rest of the year. Since he was assuming it would be a pointless trip with no competition.
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more drama with Aussie athletes https://www.cbsnews.com/news/nathan-baggaley-olympic-silver-medalist-jailed-drug-smuggling-australia/
Wow.
From 2018 charges. I don’t think they were competing this year.
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2004 medallist. Not recent news.
The medal is old. The conviction is new.
Back to the original topic:
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That’s good to hear. I can only imagine how relieved they must be.
What a mess. Such a selfish thing to do. I’m not impressed with the traveling reserve rider who backed out either.
There is, obviously, a good reason why there is a traveling reserve. If you are in contention for your country’s team and are selected for any spot, I think you should put your team mates and your country ahead of your ego, and show up.
I read that they wanted him to pay his own way. That would stop me in my tracks.
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That would be unfair. Were the other riders subsidized?
