There’s an old proverb that says, “Change is the only constant.” I was thinking recently about all the changes Eventing has seen through the years. The more serious and definitely the most discussed ones involve changes of course design, the change from the long format to short format, and consequently the different type of horse one needs to be competitive in the age of the short format. So after some heavy research on the COTH forums, I’ve come up with a few more.
The dress for eventing has evolved from virtually no safety equipment to some pretty high tech gear. Some of which is now even starting to make an appearance in the dressage ring! Head protection has evolved from absolutely none to the heavily tested and approved helmets we wear today. When helmet use did start to become popular a few decades ago, it was really only velvet hunt caps without harnesses that were worn. Eventually the famed Caliente skullcap came along and offered slightly more protection, but only slightly. Although we eventers generally leave it to the show hunters to be the fashionistas, our sport has witnessed some pretty untrendy fashions as well. Rugby shirts used to be the shirts of choice for the cross-country phase. They came in many different color combinations that could be coordinated with one’s cross-country colors. There were flared breeches, then there were rust-colored breeches. Today, both would be on most people’s “Things-to-toss-or-give-to-Goodwill” list!
The famous Three-Day Events of past decades like Ledyard, Blue Ridge, and more recently Radnor have been discontinued; along with countless other small, family run horse trials. It needs not mentioning that Bruce Davidson’s gold medal performance at the 1974 World Championships at Burghley in England gave the United States the right to host the next World Championships. They took place four years later at the Kentucky Horse Park, where Bruce brought home the gold medal for the second time. The Kentucky Horse Park has a legacy that goes far beyond the Rolex Kentucky Four Star that we all know today.
The famous You Tube videos that feature riders coming unstuck on the backside of a fence and clinging to the side of their horses’ until they made it past the penalty zone flags were also from a different time. By doing so, one could avoid the penalties for a fall and afford the video cameras some very interesting footage. Fall in the zone, 60 penalties. Make it past and all it costs you is the time it takes to climb back in the saddle in and carry on. Most women that competed in Three-Day Events had to carry weight pads under their saddles to meet the 165 lb minimum weight requirement. After cross-country riders had to “weigh-in” with their saddles and weight pads to make sure they met the minimum requirement.
In one Chronicle thread, Denny Emerson wrote about how he felt at the 1973 Ledyard Three Day Event. “I was trotting on roads and tracks on Victor Dakin after steeplechase at Appleton Farm, and getting close to Ledyard Farm for the first big International Three-Day in the US, Ledyard `73, and hearing the roar of the crowd as some rider sped around x-c. I was thinking “what the f— am I doing here?”, scared out of my mind, but too committed to back out now.”
I think he summed up the changes to Eventing best by later stating, “I have a hunch that the kids who are experiencing today’s events, fresh, excited, and keen, will look back on the early two thousands as “the good old days”, just as I do the 60s or 70s or 80s. I don’t think it’s worse, only different, and just as meaningful as ever. That fear I felt at Ledyard 34 years ago, some kid is feeling today going prelim or intermediate for the first time, just as poignant and intense as ever. I’m going to try to figure out how to make this new deal work, and not get into the “in my day” any more than I can help it.”
