Rebecca Brown: Maccabiah Games Set to Begin!

EN has been following along with Texas eventer Rebecca Brown’s journey to the Maccabiah Games — think Jewish Olympics — since March when she sent in her first guest blog. Now the Games are finally set to begin on Tuesday in Tel Aviv, and Rebecca is checking in with her final blog for the competition starts. Go Rebecca, and go Team USA!

The Opening Ceremonies at the Maccabiah Games!

From Rebecca Brown:

Hello from Haifa, Israel, and the 19th Maccabiah Games! We’ve been here a little over a week and this has already been one of the most interesting experiences of my life. We spent last week traveling all over Israel with the rest of the 1,100 USA athletes — from Tel Aviv to Masada to the Dead Sea. Maccabi USA has done a great job putting together this program, and it leaves you wanting to see more.

While we were in Tel Aviv, we had practice horses to ride thanks to our friend Yaron Zohar. Our daily schedule was a 6 a.m. practice followed by a full day of touring. On July 18, we moved bases from Tel Aviv to Haifa, and after a four-hour bus ride, the Opening Ceremonies, and the longest night of my life spent stranded at a bus station, the Games have officially begun! The morning of the Opening Ceremonies we had the draw for horses. Luckily for the U.S., we had an overall good draw for the dressage and show jumping riders.

This competition is proving to be fascinating, and I’m not quite sure how to exactly classify it. It’s not held at an Olympic level, but catchriding horses at Third Level and 1.30 meters on horses from a country not exactly known for its horse sports is quite the challenging task. The horses are all very capable, but many haven’t competed extensively at the level at which the Games are held. I drew a horse named Milani who is 19 years old, breed unknown, and was at some point the Israeli Advanced Level National Champion. Alexa drew a horse named Epo Van De Rispan, a 9-year-old Belgian Warmblood who is for sale, in case anyone is interested!

We’ve had two practices so far. One was an introductory ride, and the second was a more extensive session. Our practices are highly regulated, with stewards making sure we stick to the correct time slot and time length. The jumper riders are allowed as many crossrails as they want, but are only allowed to jump six jumps of any substance per practice. So, by the time the competition truly begins, the jumper riders will have jumped 18 jumps total on their horses because they are only allowed to jump during three of the four practices. The first class will be held at 1.15 meters, the second class will be 1.20 meters and the final class is supposed to be held at 1.25/1.30 meters.

For the dressage, there are two different levels — the Medium level and the Advanced level. Dressage horses are harder to come by in Israel than jumper horses, so the range of horses is definitely more widespread. Another interesting note about the horses is that some riders took advantage of renting horses prior to the Games. The U.S. did not take advantage of this for two reasons. Firstly, it is much more expensive, and secondly, if your horse goes lame, you are out of the competition. After the official horse inspection, this is certainly a possibility. If you took part in the horse draw, you have the option of riding a reserve horse if your horse goes lame.

Four countries are taking part in the equestrian competition — the USA, Mexico, Hungary and Israel. Chile has sent an individual rider. The range of riders consists of teenage semi-pro catchriders to Olympic riders. So, needless to say, this is going to be a very exciting competition. For more information, check out www.MaccabiEquestrian.com, which we are currently updating, and we will keep everyone posted on daily results. The true competition starts July 23! GO USA!!!!