Florida’s most wanted. Thanks to Jess Halliday for the photo.
Did you know that this year’s Olympic games mark the 100th anniversary of equestrian participation? Now you do. According to FEI President Princess Haya, tickets for cross country were some of the fastest to sell out- making eventing one of the most popular sports this summer. Princess Haya calls 2012 a landmark year for equestrian sports: “This is a real milestone for our sport and is worthy of celebration as it confirms that we are really competing with the other top sports on the number of spectators we can pull in. We’re aspiring to provide one of the top quality products of the Games and we can really say to the big international federations, watch out, we’re here now!” The first Olympics to include equestrian sports were the 1912 games in Stockholm. Riding is the only sport where men and women compete against each other, and of course the only one that involves an animal. Go (to the) Olympics. [Horsetalk]
In response to the above link, Horsetalk blogger Neil Clarkson wrote a post about the struggles equestrian sports have faced to maintain their Olympic privileges. As you may recall, in 2008 Princess Haya came under fire for some making remarks about the security of the equestrian position at the games. Regarding the longevity of the sport at the time she said, “The FEI has a huge fight to even get to 2012.” Neil highlights some issues the IOC had with riding, such as the presentation of dressage, doping, and safety of event horses and riders. Even with these issues, “equestrian sport has strengthened its case of Olympic inclusion, and it would take a major fall from grace in London – fatalities or another string of positive dope tests – to seriously threaten that” Neil writes. The FEI has taken actions we are all aware of in order to improve the public image of horse sports, such as pushing for safer cross country jumps and launching the Clean Sport Initiative. It’s important to note that Princess Haya is a member of the IOC, which makes her observations and efforts more relevant to the Olympic community. Finally there’s the geopolitical significance of Greenwich Park, which will showcase the equestrian competitions in a magnificent setting while drawing huge numbers and an increase in international coverage. Combined with all the horse trading and an influx of money from new foreign horse enthusiasts, this year really is shaping up to be one of epic proportions for Olympic involvement. [Horsetalk blogs]
So much Olympic news today! The Chronicle had Karen O’Conner write about her road to the Olympics. In it she mentions again that this may be her last Olympic year since David will be taking over as the US coach; whether or not it will be a conflict of interest is still up for decision. In the article she talks about working with Marilyn Little-Meredith to revamp her show jumping skills and the beginning of her season with the great “Mr. M.” She also touches on her other contender Veronica and Mandiba’s future, which is still undecided. While she is aimed for the games, she acknowledges that plans change and all you can do is wait and see if they turns out. Lots of EN karma going her way! [COTH]
There are events this weekend! The big one is the Pine Top Spring Advanced Horse Trials which kicks off tomorrow morning. Most of the big guns who didn’t do Rocking Horse last weekend will be there, including Becky, Boyd, Phillip, Michael Pollard, Will Coleman, Allison, Colleen, Jan Byyny, Will Faudree, Nina Ligon, Clark, Leslie, and a host of others that I’m not going to type because it’s 1:30am and I could just list all of the entries and instead I will just give you the link to the times. Happy stalking! [Pine Top]
What’s better: Equestrian Ryan Gosling or equestrian Ryan Reynolds? Horse Nation has the answer. [Horse Nation]
And still more Olympic news: the successor of the fabled US Show Jumping Chef d’ Equipe George Morris has been named: Robert Ridland, a former US Olympic show jumper and horse professional from Irvine, CA. He represented the US on two teams, served on the FEI Jumping Committee, and sat of the USEF Board of Directors. He also runs a horse show management company called Blenheim EquiSports, which has overseen three Rolex/FEI World Cup Finals in Las Vegas. I wish him luck, because those will be some big boots to fill. [Horsetalk]
After twenty years of research, the EPA has approved the equine contraceptive PZP. The greatest benefit from this will be for the wild horse population; with the new vaccine officials hope that fewer roundups will be necessary and land management will be much easier. According to the chief of wild horse and burro division of the Bureau of Land Management, the government has been working on contraceptive solutions for the wild horse problem since the 1970s, and this is a huge step forward in the struggle to care for wild horses in appropriate and cost effective ways. [COTH]
Best of Blogs:
Boyd and Silva posted today’s Bettina Hoy clinic schedule
Lauren Shannon loves the World Class potential squad training program
I leave you with the follow-up to yesterday’s Red Hills PSA #1 with PSA #2. Start getting excited, the event is only two weeks away!
Thanks for reading, happy Thursday EN!
