Have you ever heard the one about how French eventing horses have 6 gaits–1 forward and 5 in reverse? France and Sweden have qualified to send teams to the London Olympics by placing 2nd and 4th at the European Championships respectively. So far, the nations that have qualified Olympic teams:
Great Britain (the host nation automatically gets a team)
United States (WEG)
Canada (WEG)
Germany (WEG)
New Zealand (WEG)
Belgium (WEG)
France (European Championships)
Sweden (European Championships)
One more team qualifying nation will be found from the Asia Pacific Eventing Championship which will be held at Blenheim in England as ESJ mentions in his post this morning. The best placed team from either Olympic Groups F (Africa and Middle East) or G (South East Asia and Oceania) will qualify. Then two more qualifiers will be found at the Pan American Games (North American and Central and South America) where the top two teams other than the US and Canada will get teams qualified.
This will fill out the 11 direct qualifiers. More teams can be added beyond this for nations who can field more than 3 qualified team members based on FEI Olympic rankings but who have not yet received a direct qualifier. Clear as mud?
Go eventing.
