Steffen is on the team with Ravel, and Legolas is looking like he will be the back up. If that is the case and one of the other team members is unable to compete, then Steffen would also ride Legolas at the Olympics.
Has there ever been a rider who has had the pleasure of competing two horses at the Olympics? If so, whom?
Steffan will not be able to compete two horses on the team. Legolas will be the back-up for Ravel and there will probably be another alternate going as a back-up for the other riders.
The Olympic athletes are the humans, not the horses. A human can’t compete in the same event twice.
Zevida is correct. Legs will be a back-up for Ravel, but not the others because no rider can ride two horses. Another horse will go as backup for the others.
could it happen?
What if a rider was able to qualify for the jumping team on one horse and the dressage team on another?
swimmers compete in more than one event…
I believe Legolas would only be a substitute for Ravel. If the US does send a fourth pair as individuals, that pair would be the first substitute.
Mark Todd (New Zealand) rode in 2 disciplines in one Olympic games…evening & show jumping.
[QUOTE=lizathenag;6379399]
What if a rider was able to qualify for the jumping team on one horse and the dressage team on another?
swimmers compete in more than one event…[/QUOTE]
I believe that would be allowed. Ingrid Klimke comes to mind as someone capable of pulling it off (dressage and eventing).
No, Steffen cannot ride two different horses in the same competition at the Olympics. I would wager a guess that they will send at least 4 riders and 5 horses, so that they have a true backup combination if something should happen to a human athlete.
How odd. After all, everyone knows the horse does all the work. 
I think that HAS happend. Mostly back when it was the militarty, but more recently with Mark Todd.
I think ther have also been cases of the same horse competing in two different disciplines. Again, mostly back when it was the military.
It was also possible at Sydney and Atlanta for riders to have one horse in the individual eventing and a second for the team eventing, because they were run as separate competitions.
Jim Day competed for Canada in the 1976 Montreal Olypics in both Eventing and Show Jumping.
Legolas is a back-up ride ONLY for Steffen. There is no catch-riding allowed at the Olympics, so no other rider can ride Legolas if their mount is hurt. The USEF wants to guarantee that their best rider will get to ride on the team, hence bringing a reserve horse just for him. If they bring a reserve TEAM (like Todd Flettrich and Otto) then that team may compete in place of another, but one of the team riders cannot ride Otto if their horse is hurt, etc.
[QUOTE=lizathenag;6379399]
What if a rider was able to qualify for the jumping team on one horse and the dressage team on another?
swimmers compete in more than one event…[/QUOTE]
One rider could compete multiple horses so long as they are in separate events (competing for different medals), AFAIK.
Not in the same event, that I am aware, but Fritz Theidemann competed both in dressage and show jumping at the same Olympics, and Mark Todd competed in eventing and show jumping at one (or two?) olympics. There is a story that people saw Theidemann schooling his horse and concluded that while the horse was “pretty good” it wasn’t a threat to the top horses…but the horse he was schooling was his show jumper
[QUOTE=lizathenag;6379399]
What if a rider was able to qualify for the jumping team on one horse and the dressage team on another?
swimmers compete in more than one event…[/QUOTE]
That would be allowed and was done with some regularity in the 1950’s when each horse sport was not as finely refined as it is now.
[QUOTE=SillyHorse;6379478]
How odd. After all, everyone knows the horse does all the work. [/QUOTE]
Yeah, but they wouldn’t understand the Olympic oath.
[QUOTE=alicen;8771604]
Yeah, but they wouldn’t understand the Olympic oath.[/QUOTE]
Yeah, but a lot of humans don’t get it either…
Holy old thread, Batman! :winkgrin:
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