But then eventing simply become a jumper competition. You gut the heart of the discipline, that being boldness and endurance of the horse. What has happened is the jumper business model has permeated eventing where horsemanship (the work needed to prepare a horse beyond what is done for jumpers, e.g. conditioning, cross training) has been forsaken to appease owners and trainers. This results in a loss of historical knowledge as to how to prepare and jump these courses in a manner by which they should (no different than how FEI jumpers focus on what has to be done from a training point for their discipline).
Over simplification in the name of safety is what leaves us in the state we are now.
The XC is a 4* (new money). One of the French commentators stated it was almost a 4.5*.
I didnât see what happened to Jet Set so Iâm not making any comment on him or his rider. Letâs be honest with ourselves here: a major ligament rupture during Olympic level XC on a twisty course in heat and humidity is more likely than happening in a horseâs pasture or in another discipline. Muscle fatigue of the major muscle groups can lead to the ligament rupture. There were several horses that were way too tired on this course - some riders chose to retire at appropriate places, some waited too long.
I was really unhappy to hear of a horse being euthanized as a result of our sport at the Olympics. I jumped to a conclusion that it was due to a fall/fence, but it doesnât really matter, the horse was still euthanized as a result of todayâs XC. We need to not only look at that particular horseâs details (fitness, conditioning, rider or horse error, previous injuries, feed, medications etc.) but also the bigger question - should we have eventing in this heat and humidity? Shouldnât we learn from Lexington '78, Atlanta '96, Beijing (Hong Kong) â08 and others? We KNOW these arenât great conditions for the horses. We KNOW a twisty turn-y course is harder on the horses physically and mentally. The FEI pays lip service to horse welfare, but is this entire Olympic rigamarole (extensive travel and quarantine, followed by training and competition in unsuitable environment) really in these horsesâ best interest? Why do we just accept it and continue to let it happen?
The only thing the IOC, as well as the network making money from broadcasting these summer games, cares about is money. They know that they will get the best ratings, attendance, etc. in July and August. They will continue to dictate to our equine sports until we decide that itâs just not worth it.
True, but then perhaps they should be a little smarter about choosing location. For example, of all the cities in the US, was Atlanta really the best choice??? (And yes, I know there are many other factors that go into choosing a host city.)
Itâs not just the equine athletes who suffer from the heat and humidity. I bet if a high-profile sport like gymnastics was held outdoors, things might be different.
I donât know if this was already mentioned, but a lot of the tennis players had a hard time and complained about the conditions. One girl had to quit her match (because of the heat) and was taken off the court in a wheelchair. Another player asked the umpire who was going to be responsible if he died during the match.
The outdoor conditions should be a factor when choosing the location for the Olympics.
Also it seems like some facilities could have been designed to have shade.
We were watching the skateboarding and the facility looked like a sweltering, arid desert under beating-down sun. Why not construct shade structures like one sees at kidsâ play parks in the southwest?
Both teams for womenâs soccer petitioned (successfully) to postpone the gold medal match to a cooler part of the day, so it is definitely not just the equestrian sports that are struggling with the climate.
I was thinking about this the other day. Why wouldnât you just have summer Olympics in more moderate weather areas? But the winter Olympics require snow, so they MUST be in countries that have areas with colder climates. If you have both the summer and winter Olympics in colder areas, then you rule out cities, and even countries, in warmer climates. Iâm sure some of those countries would not happy about it.
They do seem to have a penchant for picking summer Olympic sites that are particularly miserable in July/August. Not all of them, but quite a lot of them in my lifetime.
I wonder how much longer equestrian events will be in the Olympics.
Aside from the global scrutiny of the animal welfare aspect, it seems like it is one of the more elite sports (although probably cheaper than sailing?) and isnât relatable to the average viewer.
As well, the logistics and financial burden of hosting the equestrian events, particularly for countries that donât already have infrastructure to build on, seems to be an overly large burden, and while an Olympic swimming pool or track might be useful for the country after the fact, I canât imagine that the buildings/courses made for the equestrian events are of value in many areas (thinking Brazil as an example). I read France is investing $12 million in their equestrian venue? At least that country might make use of it afterwards.
Interesting - the '64 Tokyo Olympics were âheld Oct 10 - 24 as a concession to the weather.â Guess the almighty $ is more important now and overrules common sense.
I wonât post a link to a specific article as there are so many, but the IOC no longer has a wealth of choices when it comes to choosing a host city. A simple google search will reveal the very valid reasons.
It seems like adjusting the timeframe would be such a common sense solution that I suspect that youâre right- Iâm sure that $ must be a big part of the decision, unfortunately.
Sadly Mintridge Larkspur, a home-bred owned by Eleanor Ford, suffered a fatal injury while going cross-country in the CCI3*-L under his rider, Eleanorâs husband Mark Ford.
LA could get lucky, or not. Itâs unfortunate that they put the equestrian events in one of the hotter portions of the metro area. And Iâm not sure about the air flow in that basin. June would have been a better choice than the end of July into August in terms of weather. I think theyâre planning to use the dorms at UCLA and they donât finish until mid-June so those logistics might not have worked.
The average high in Van Nuys at the hottest point of July-August is just under 90, but our weather seldom seems to be average. Two weeks ago I came home from the barn at noon and brewed a pot of hot tea. Last week was miserable. Historically we donât get as much humidity as some places which makes it less miserable and likelier to cool down overnight; however, that is not as true as it once was.
Given recent history there could also be brush fires that adversely affect the air quality.
