Hong Kong Venue Comes To Life With First Horse Inspection:
2008 Olympic Eventing
Man I feel bad for the Chilean riders…what a way to be kicked out.
Oh my goodness! I can’t believe 2 horses where spun because they couldn’t jog in hand?
6.30 session tomorrow times
http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/INF/EQ/C51CB/EQX003400.shtml#EQX003401
They’ve had 2 meters of rain since May? :eek:
Wow. And I thought I was getting drenched this year.
Weird on the Chilean horses. Surely they would have practiced this, you’d think.
[QUOTE=dressagetraks;3423675]
They’ve had 2 meters of rain since May? :eek:
Wow. And I thought I was getting drenched this year.
Weird on the Chilean horses. Surely they would have practiced this, you’d think.[/QUOTE]
The A/O’s and Green horses for hunters have to jog for soundness every class and I’m still surprised how some can become pigs…
Pics are great!
Not trying to be negative… just a question here.
After looking through the COTH’s blog pictures i feel like the horses from USA look a little TOO ribby. Does anyone else feel this way? or is that how an Olympic Caliber in shape horse shoud look?
thanks!
It isn’t unusual for 4star horses to be a bit ribby and lean, particularly the TBs. But also take into consideration the amount of travelling these guys did, that type of stress makes horses drop weight instantly.
I competed in the North Georgia CCI* the year before the Atlanta Games and our horses were used as “test subjects” by the vets to see how they handle everything. My horse dropped 70 lbs from Sat am to Sat pm presumably in water weight.
I love the expression on Poggio’s face. He’s looks like he’s just going for another walk in the park. 
[QUOTE=SparklePlenty;3423730]
Not trying to be negative… just a question here.
After looking through the COTH’s blog pictures i feel like the horses from USA look a little TOO ribby. Does anyone else feel this way? or is that how an Olympic Caliber in shape horse shoud look?
thanks![/QUOTE]
I thought that too once when I went to the jog up at Rolex 3-Day in Kentucky (Phillip Dutton’s Connaught comes to mind) and I asked my Equine vet who used to work at Belmont Racetrack and he said generally horses of that caliber are very fit and lean. If you look at Racetrack TB’s its similar and they drop quite easily before and after the race. When my OTTB mare has gone to horse shows like Garden State or HITS she goes off her feed and drops weights quickly too. She just goes into the zone like she’s getting for race but otherwise she is fine.
I definitely think the ribby-ness has a lot to do with the amount of traveling these horses have been doing to get to the games. Between the stress of the time traveling, and the time in quarantine, its amazing how much weight a horse can lose so quickly.
I like the pic of Headley Brittania and Lucinda Fredericks. Neither of them are touching the ground at the moment the picture was taken.
OK, I’m not an eventer. What is this term ‘spun’? Unless it just literally means they spun the things in a small circle…?
An expensive trip for the Chilians to just have to pack up and go home.
Do they not allow someone to help behind the horse - it is just for soundness, right, not training.
Glad the US horses are doing well and everyone passed!
[QUOTE=Anyplace Farm;3424103]
OK, I’m not an eventer. What is this term ‘spun’? Unless it just literally means they spun the things in a small circle…?[/QUOTE]
It just means they didn’t pass the jog (or in this case didn’t jog at all apparently).
I feel sorry for the Chileans! and what about Olympic spirit? Surely the ground jury could have allowed the grooms to help trot them up? As Mel pointed out, the trot up is not a competitive phase.
Its kind of sad really.
According to Brian O’Connor’s blog, only one of the Chilean horses was not accepted. The other horse that was not accepted was a Brazilian horse who was lame.
Brian O’Connor’s Blog re: Horse Inspection and Chile
Besides not trotting I think the horse did not look good either. At least that’s the impression Brian conveys in his blog…
Here is a portion of what he had to say along with the link to the full posting on his blog.
“Well the horse inspection was not without drama…most horses were sharp, looked great, full of energy , and were presented fine. The US horses all looked good, even when they asked Phillip to re-jog (what for?)…Connaught was fine. Two horses were NOT accepted, one from Brazil (lame) and one from Chile. The Chilean horse would not even trot down the lane, no kidding,…the rider had to drag him down the lane. The horse looked awful (I mean sick), did not even walk well, and when the rider borrowed a small whip (to jazz up the horse a bit) the horse backed up scared, looked terrible and was really an embarrassment. The judges did not even ask him to re-jog (it was that bad). How this horse even got qualified to be in the Olympics is beyond all of us. We have never, ever , seen such a situation. Good thing we have these checks and balances from the officials to be able to prevent any further embarrasment, or worse, injury. We all hope this horse can get some medication to help him feel better - he was not right at all.”
