In terms of horse sports, reining and endurance couldn’t be more different. Nonetheless, both sports made headlines at the Kentucky Horse Park on Sunday as the hometown US reining team won gold and the US endurance team fell out of contention quickly. Coverage of the endurance was especially hard to find, with no online video feed, no live scoring, and little attention from the media throughout the day. One thing I have learned is that the Herald-Leader, a local Lexington newspaper, posts very fast WEG news available online at their WEG website.
Endurance Results: Maria Mercedes Alvarez Ponton of Spain crossed the line first on Saturday to win the WEG endurance gold. Maria rode in the 100 mile course in 7 hours, 35 minutes of riding time aboard her French-bred gelding Nobby. Making the achievement more extraordinary is the fact that Maria gave birth just seven weeks ago to a daughter, also named Maria. Sheikh Mohammed, the ruler of Dubai, won silver and his son, Sheikh Hamdan Mohammed al Maktoum, won bronze. Heather Reynolds of the US finished 4th, but was disqualified on the post-race trot because her horse was lame.
The UAE won an overwhelming team victory behind Sheikh Mohammed’s silver and his son’s bronze, according to the Herald-Leader. Unofficially, France was reported to finish second, and Germany third. The US team dropped out of medal contention when two of the US team horses were unable to continue after the third vet check, 59 miles into the 100 mile race.
Endurance links: Herald-Leader recap, COTH recap
Visionaire volunteered at the endurance and will have a report on all the endurance ridiculousness soon.
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Reining: Team USA won the WEG reining gold on Saturday by a dominant 15.5 point margin. This result is unsurprising because US has won every team reining competition since it was introduced to the WEGs 12 years ago. Belgium placed second for their first ever podium performance at the WEGs, and Italy placed third for the third time in a row at the WEGs. The top 15 reiners from the team competition automatically qualify for the individual finals on Thursday. The other riders in the top 35 will have a chance to win 5 qualifying spots on Tuesday.
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Other news and notes:
The performer who was hospitalized during the opening ceremonies is now listed in critical condition
Go eventing.
