What happened?
Boots
The boots used were too heavy and violated a new FEI rule of which Dutton was not aware.
OK…Correction to that. there are reports that Phillip has been disqualified from the 2nd sj round due to a technicality with some jumping boots
Phillip Dutton qualified for the second, individual jumping round, despite two rails down in the first round on Connaught, who he said was distracted by the lights. “Coming into fence 1 he was not concentrating; he was looking at everything apart from the jump,” he said. “He was still going high but not focusing on where he was going. It was a bit disappointing.”
“Maybe I should have taken more use of the time we had to jump under the lights the other night, but we thought after yesterday he’d be a bit tired and more concentrated,” he added. But he came back in the second round to jump flawlessly, only to be disqualified for a piece of equipment that wasn’t allowed. A pair of weighted boots that Connaught wore were found to be over the weight limit of 500 grams set by the FEI in February of 2008. According to Jim Wolf, U.S. Equestrian Federation Executive Director of Sports Programs, the boots, which were front boots applied to the hind legs, weighed just over 700 grams each. The rule change is a jumping rule modification which is applied to eventing
well, that sucks!
Belambi did not paste the REST of the article ;
“We should have known about it, but we didn’t for eventing,” said Wolf
We should have known about it, but we didn’t for eventing," said Wolf. “They felt heavy, so [the stewards] put them on a scale. I asked them to show me the scale, to make sure it was properly calibrated. Our federation owes Phillip an apology for not making him aware of [the change]. It’s our federation’s responsibility to make sure the athletes know the rules. Believe me, in the future we will be weighing everyone’s boots in eventing. Phillip was unaware of the rule and certainly was not trying to give himself an unfair advantage. But the rule is on the books, and we’re abiding by the rule, and Phillip is taking it on the chin.”
Thanks for that…Wasnt in the email I received.
darn that SUCKS!!
Whats the advantage of having heavier boots, I wonder?
Heavier boots do the same thing as heavier shoes on TWH and the like. Horses tend to pick their feet up more with heavier boots and shoes.
Must go out and weigh my boots. Never knew about this rule.
That is a terrible shame.
I always thought that the reason for using weight on a horse’s legs was to improve the lift when you took the weight off. ie. train with weight and show without.
You would have to think that people at this level of competition would bother to get to know the rules.
Easier said than done.
[QUOTE=Equibrit;3438265]
Easier said than done.[/QUOTE]
It is an unfortunate situation, but there really is no excuse for failing to be aware of the applicable rules.
I have to wonder why he would be using heavier boots in the first place…?
I know in the jumper world the boots are removed before going in the ring. Kind of like a baseball player swinging a bat with weights on it and then taking them off before stepping up to bat.
Phillip’s Blog
From Phillip’s blog. Did I miss something? 
The US finishes 7th. Phillip and Connaught finish =12th in the individual medal competition on a 68.2 after a 40.6 in dressage, 19.6 time faults cross country, 8 jumping faults in the team stadium competition, and a clear round in the individual stadium jumping finals. Congratulations to Gina Miles and McKinlaigh for their silver medal in the individual competition!!
[QUOTE=Equibrit;3438196]
I always thought that the reason for using weight on a horse’s legs was to improve the lift when you took the weight off. ie. train with weight and show without.[/QUOTE]
Yeah - I’m kinda baffled about this as well. I can see how you might want to train with heavier boots, but why wear them in competition? I know that horses move better with aluminum shoes (lighter) than steel shoes (heavier) so we put aluminums on for shows, and keep steel on at home. Just like soemone mentioned the baseball bat analogy below, this seems like the opposite of what I’d expect the rule to be.
Too bad - he looked so thrilled at the end of that round.
[QUOTE=gubbyz;3438439]
I know in the jumper world the boots are removed before going in the ring. Kind of like a baseball player swinging a bat with weights on it and then taking them off before stepping up to bat.[/QUOTE]
Not always true. I used to care for a GP horse who had his boots put on right before he entered the ring. The heavier weights made his hindend much more careful as he kicked up better with the extra weight.
I also agree that it’s the rider/trainers job to know the rules.
I guess someone is going to be carting around a scale now, it’s not like you can really FEEL the difference in 200 grams. Some can, but the majority can’t.
Yes, all involved should’ve known the rule, new change, or not. But at least responsibility is being taken.
OH COME ON!!
You mean to say that all those people that have jobs with USEF and NOT ONE of them knew the rule, or “mentioned it” to the coach or grooms or the riders???
Negligence, I think!
