We all knew that the FEI was going to make big changes to keep Eventing in the Olympics, and the new plans have just been unveiled. Brace yourselves.
The good news: this is recognisably Eventing. Here goes…
Only 3 riders allowed, total, per nation. All run in the Individual competition, and then SJ again to decide team medals. Teams of 3, all 3 scores to count, no discard score.
Fair enough, this will be far more inclusive for countries which struggle to field a team of 4. The Olympics is all about diversity, about having lots of nationalities included. This gives the lesser nations, who have only a few riders competing at top level, far more of a chance. For nations such as Germany, France, NZ, Australia, GB, and America, it will make the question of exactly who gets selected even more difficult. It’s even more possible than before that a combination which could very easily have won Individual Gold, on their day, won’t get to go at all. (I suspect that Heinrich Romeike and Marius Voigt-Logistik – who won dual Gold – might not have gotten a look-in if only 3 Germans had been selected in 2008.)
The usual CCI order of phases is retained: Dressage, XC, SJ.
Maybe this format is not as exciting as having the ‘XC last, so we can all immediately see how fast a combination has to go to WIN’ scenario of many CICs, but equally, it is less open to the ‘rush of blood to the head’ moments that that kind of pressure can bring. Knowing that riders have to leave enough in the tank to come out the next day, pass the trot up, and try to show-jump clean, is a big deal. Also, there’s time for the inevitable penalty appeals and so on to be dealt with, since the podium results are not waiting on the XC results.
The Okaaaaaaay News.
There will be only one day of Dressage, so, wait for it… 5 minute dressage tests. Yes, you read that right.
So, how do you test a 3*/4* horse, in a test the duration of a usual Intermediate?
I forsee: no halt on entering the arena, medium trot down the centre line (that gets that out of the way), collected trot to get round the corner by the judges, up to medium again (medium trot is faster than working trot, and we can take it as read that if they’ve got this far, they have a decent working trot!), something sideways on both reins in trot, one extended trot, halt (immobility 5 nanoseconds), rein back, a short distance of walk (have to show it, but it’s so sloooow, arghhh), up to medium canter, bit of sideways stuff in canter, flying change one way, sideways again, flying change the other way, extended canter down the long side to get to the far end, apply all-round disc brakes, down centre line, halt, immobility 3 nanoseconds, salute at L (enough to show straightness, but then get them out of the arena quick!)
I sincerely hope they don’t increase the difficulty because of the shorter duration, and ask for 2-time changes, piris, or tempis, because I don’t think that would be the best way to go for Event Horses, but, we’ll see.
Or maybe there might be an Optimum Time, or extra bonus points for the Fastest Test of the Day?
And… breathe…
Well, nobody will be bored. The judges might need Valium, though.
Back to Good News. Yay!
Only one XC track, and only one round of XC. Phew. Two separate XC courses (as also suggested) would have cost a fortune and imho been the absolute death-knell of Eventing in the Olympics. Also, the thought of horses having to do two separate rounds of XC, one after the other, which was one suggestion, was a particularly unappealing one.
Show jumping – those placed lower than 20th, then the top 20, jump to decide the Individual medals first. So far, so fine.
THEN the Team results need to be decided. The top teams have their 3 riders jump again, all 3 into the arena together, and jumping consecutively, so that it’s immediately obvious what the team’s final score is and who the winners are. That could be VERY interesting, and a bit handy-pony. I do hope nobody suggests baton-passing as well, just to liven it up a bit!
It’s rather odd having it that way around, though – will the Team course be higher than the Individual course? Having the top Individuals jump again over a bigger course, as per the previous format, seemed to make more sense.
But anyway, that’s it. Two separate-ish competitions to decide two sets of medals, as requested. Recognisably Eventing. But, hold on… then there’s… *drumroll*… The name change:
Equestrian Triathlon.
Okay. I really can’t see the problem, here. It will make our game a LOT clearer to the general public, and make no mistake, that is what this is all about. The die-hard Eventing fans will of course happily traipse to Badminton, and Burghley, and Burgie, and Bialy Bor, and the far corner of a muddy field in the arse-end of Nowheresville, but the Olympics is very much about the general public having a scooby about what is going on, and wanting to watch it. And, however much we may delude ourselves, because legions of teenage girls idolise Pippa Funnell or something… ours is a tiny, niche sport. The general public does not even know what Eventing IS. Calling it this makes it clearer that it’s about 3 different phases, about one horse and rider being competent jacks-of-all-trades. The German word for eventing, Vielseitigkeit, is far more explanatory: it means something like “Versatility, Diversity, Variety”, literally “many-sided-ness”. The word “Eventing” conveys absolutely none of this.
I sat in the stands at the Greenwich Olympics next to a lovely couple of ladies from America who had bought last minute tickets, because they were in London at the time and their husbands had gone off to play golf or something, and we watched a morning session of the Eventing Dressage. We then got chatting, and it transpired that they knew a bit about horses (hence bothering to go) and absolutely NOTHING about Eventing. Not a thing. None of the names of the American riders, not even an idea about what the sport entailed.
When I said that these same riders and horses had to go and do XC the next day, and then SJ the day after, and that the XC course was nearby in the Park, they were utterly amazed. In fact, at first they were totally disbelieving, and said I must be mistaken (they’d obviously taken a lot of Brave Pills that day) because: Well, these were riders in top hat and tails, and horses doing Dressage, so they must be Dressage Horses, therefore how could they possibly do XC, and then also be Show Jumpers too?!?! That wasn’t feasible. Of course, I took them to see the fences, and explained, and made them into Believers. 😉 😉
In case you are wondering how these non-fans got tickets – the stands were nearly empty. Not good. Whatever the media may have claimed about attendance levels on the Dressage days at Greenwich, I have photos of entire stands, deserted, while the Dressage was going on. Whatever pre-booked block ticketing screw-ups there may have been, this was Not Good At All for the ‘Keep Eventing In The Olympics’ cause.
These previous non-believers are the sort of people who we need to go, and watch eventing, and have a fantastic day, and be enthused, and tell all their friends how exciting it is, what a great day out, and want to watch more of our amazing sport. Get more bums on seats. Maybe get involved. Maybe even sponsor. Maybe even become an Owner. That is what the future of the sport is going to be about, especially if we want to stay in the Olympics.
So, let us embrace our new name, and all be proud to be Equestrian Triathletes. BE could be rebranded as British Equestrian Triathlons. Oh yes, you BET. 😉 😉 😉
Overall, this is a good, workable, recognisable plan. To be honest, I am very pleasantly surprised and very relieved, given that the FEI sometimes seems to make utterly inexplicable, totally mental decisions. The rider representative bodies such as Eventing Riders Association of GB and Eventing Riders Association International have been working hard behind the scenes, and perhaps their influence is showing.
The full FEI document is HERE. The Eventing section comes after the Jumping and Dressage sections.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on these proposals.
