It really is cute. I think these are some of my favorite jumps I’ve seen at an olympics
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Brave horse to try and take a double from a standstill there (triton Fontaine for France)
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Really nice round for Japan there!
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Oh dear Laura!
What a round from Hoy!
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Well that was exciting!
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Lovely mare lovely partnership taking individual gold.
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Brava, Julia and Amande!!! 
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And 5 French horses on team podium!!! 
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I just noticed the wee mascots on the bouquets. Our kids voted for those mascots when they were in Japanese primary school!
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Thank you!!! Such a newbie here.
Are there any other types of fences that a horse can take a rotational fall over these days? I’m thinking of the bullet train jumps.
Thank you, I will look up the difference between the frangible and MIMS clips. I never heard of the latter. Can you comment on this?
What do top riders think about the fact that many horses can slightly deform the clips undetectably and then another horse can lightly tap the fence and deform them enough to be detected by the ground crew?
Thanks so much for the information!
A horse can have a rotational fall over pretty much any fence. This includes show jumping fences–a big reason why flat cups were introduced for the back rails of oxers.
I’m not an expert by any means but I believe MIMS clips are an (as far as I know the only) FEI approved frangible device and that they are required to be used on any frangible fence constructed after 1/1/2021 which probably includes the fences at this Olympics.
Most upper level riders are fairly supportive of this technology because they understand that it can literally save lives. Here is a look at the manufacturer information: https://mimclip.mimsafe.com/implementation/
I think it’s one of those things where if you jump enough fences at some point a frangible device will probably save your life, and also at some point probably you will have a penalty at a fence where you feel it was not necessarily one hundred percent earned. While it sucks to have it happen at the Olympics, in my much lower level experience that’s also very much the nature of the sport. Things go wrong in all kinds of ways that are not always fair but are still within the rules.
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Thank you!!
OK, what do people think of Lucinda Green’s s comment that she remembers 14C with different colored clips. THAT, to me, seems impossible to change once the first rider goes.
Thanks for the definition of the MIMS clips! Thank you for your information! As a non-venter these days, I so appreciate eventer’s points of view.
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I thought Sam Watson had a great quote about activating the clip on Fence 14: “It’s fine margins in the modern sport, and those devices are there to look after us. I fully approve, not just because they do that, but because they make you ride precise and accurate. It’s the one time I let adrenaline just go, ‘there’s the fence and the inside line’, and I just got there a fraction too early. But it’s like me missing my change; if your timing’s off, if you rush a little bit, if you don’t keep your head 100% relaxed, you make mistakes. And you don’t want to make mistakes at the Olympics. I’m deeply, deeply frustrated because he was ready for this, and he was really, really good. He loves it, and he kept his ears pricked and he just enjoyed doing his job the whole way.”
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If a fence is built in a particular way it should then remain the same for the duration of the competition. Changes really shouldn’t be made once a course is opened for riders to walk. So MIMS of one colour should remain the same throughout.
The different colours do slightly different jobs.
ETA The riders, through their Representative, can ask for changes to be made to a fence if they think the question is unsafe, inappropriate etc.
Although I am completely supportive of the frangible technology, I do think the clip on Fence 14 may have been set to go off with too light of contact. I can’t really believe that 7 horses hit that fence hard enough that they were in danger of a rotational fall. I have jump judged fences with MIM clips, and some horses have knocked the fence pretty hard without activating the clips. (Although the fences I have judged were tables, not open oxers, so perhaps there’s a different assumed force or direction of force to activate it).
I think they may need to revisit the rule about allowing appeals for activating the clips (although that seems so subjective).
Regarding Lucinda’s comment - I think she was just confused. Likely one of the other fences had different colored clips.
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The clips for angled fences at this level are different from those for fences jumped straight and require only 70 percent of the force to deploy. Also the clips used for angled fences are meant to be changed out when the fence is not in competition use. So it would be silver (not deployable) when not in use and yellow when in use. That way they aren’t triggered by someone climbing on them. I’m not sure when they are switched, but it’s possible it was after Lucinda walked the course.
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I didn’t realize that about the silver/yellow clips. That could certainly explain Lucinda’s comment.
There must be some art/science to building fences with the frangible devices for them to activate exactly as expected.
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THANK YOU @Highflyer1 and @Gardenhorse for your knowledgeable answers to my not-knowledgeable posts. Your answers make great sense and clued me in to something I was not clued into. Thank you!
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It’s sad that the photo of Jung over that fence shows Chipmunk nearly a foot over the top of it. The clip should have never gave, and this is an issue for our sport going forward. Should never have played out like that at the Olympics.
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