#FlashbackFriday Video from World Equestrian Brands: 1983 Gawler Three-Day Event

I love back-in-the-day eventing footage — like this 47-minute highlight reel from the 1983 Gawler Three-Day Event in Australia. Gawler first ran in 1954 and was replaced by Adelaide International Horse Trials in 1997.

The cross country segment is bananas! An alarming number of riders fall and but are given a boost back into the saddle and continue on. The water complex (fast forward to 14:12) is particularly dicey: multiple horses and riders go for a swim, and the announcer commentary alone is priceless.

For one pair: “Whoa! Brother, he’s in trouble. And recovered brilliantly, but look at the horse — his ears are full of water. The horse will be concentrating on his ears full of water rather than jumping. Shakes his head … Whoa! Almost big trouble. It really, really worries a horse to have its ears full of water. Now he’s got his mind back on the job. Up onto the bank, and continues on.”

For another: “Horse and rider gone completely under, the horse up very quickly but the horse’s head has gone completely under. Look at him shaking the water out — horses don’t like their head underwater at all.”

#HorseFacts

Go Eventing.