To those of us locked in the debating chamber in Lausanne six weeks ago, it seemed like the end of the world was coming, as drastic changes to the Olympic formats were discussed at the FEI Sports Forum. But if you are out in the field actually doing the riding, and are not one of the mostly lapsed riders or non-riders merely talking about riding, maybe the process of forced revolution doesn’t matter that much, in the greater scheme of things.
I would have thought, though, that breeders and producers of eventers in particular are already anxiously second-guessing what the market will demand in, say, 11 years time. One way or the other, it will be a whole different horse again from the type currently prevalent as a direct consequence of short format.
Nonetheless, it’s been hard to detect angst about change in the wider community, now that the proposals have been well publicised. Just a tiny handful of original posters used the FEI’s online discussion platform which was kept open to all for a month after the Forum – WEG, one post, none at all for Olympic Agenda 2020 (yes, really), six for dressage, four for eventing, one each for jumping and reining and 16 for other sports and para. While insisting it is happy with this response, the FEI probably needs to come up with another way of engaging the wider public on important matters such as this.
It also goes to show the false environment occasions like the Forum can create. Of all the proposals for eventing, the one least-discussed on the day is the one now generating most interest.
This was not a “committee-job” but the reasoned, unsolicited paper of German team trainer Christopher Bartle for a two-tier cross country. It is gaining such credence that Chris is attending the European Equestrian Federation’s eventing working group, chaired by Mike Etherington-Smith, in Amsterdam on July 13th, to discuss it some more.
Chris has tried to reconcile fundamentals, with the cross country still at the heart and staged as the second phase, with the inescapable fact that many of countries the FEI wants to see at the Olympics are simply not up to it.
Chris suggests that all riders tackle an easier cross country for the team contest, then, after a brief break, contenders for the individual set off again over a shorter course of true four-star calibre. This solution came to him after observing, over many years, that horses stopped on a course when the horse in front has a fall rarely have difficulty stoking themselves up again; indeed, many jump even better after the breather.
Chris himself admits the scheme isn’t flawless. He says management will be needed where the two courses double-up to avoid collisions; indeed. I think it will make things even less spectator and TV friendly, and I pity the commentators tasked with explaining who is on screen and which part of the contest they are now jumping.
This does, though, underline the importance of input from eventing’s elder statesmen. There seems to be a shared plea for caution from just about anyone of note born before 1955 – not because they are clinging on to the good old days, but because they have already witnessed the darker effect of short format and understand exactly why it has occurred.
Back in 2008, Jim Wofford had already published a long essay on the correlation between short format and incidence of traumatic falls, and the trend to over-train and so take the initiative away from the horse. That article started “doing the rounds” again this spring, so much so that Jim updated it last month.
It is certainly ironic that as the FEI is encouraging riders from emerging eventing countries to aspire to the Olympics before they are really ready, it is simultaneously conducting the most comprehensive audit ever into rotational falls. The second phase of this is now examining, ahem, the influence of rider qualifications.
Meanwhile, John Watson – recognised by the younger generation as father of Sam but, lest we forget, world individual silver medallist in 1978 – wrote a long and feisty memorandum to the FEI, and has hosted lively debate involving a fair few big names on his Facebook page.
He says that even proposals to re-name eventing, such as “equestrian triathlon”, show that decision-makers don’t really understand what the sport is about.
He kindly distilled thoughts for this blog thus:
“The drift from one comprehensive test, with all parts working towards preparing and then testing a supremely versatile cross-country horse and rider combination, is causing misunderstanding and mistakes everywhere from officials, riders and spectators.
“Due to the nature of close contact with half-tonne animals, these accidents are inevitably massively injurious. So a clear decision is required as to the desired direction of the sport. Like any vehicle, it cannot go forwards and backwards simultaneously.
“The decision is between: Continuing as a combined single test of several parts to indentify and encourage a single goal of training and producing a supremely versatile and enduring cross-country horse and rider – what we just about still know as The Eventer. This is the core value of the present three-day event, but which it is constantly being adjusted in adversarial directions;
“OR: developing a new and fundamentally different competition for a triathlete, which is what a significant body of opinion desires. This needs in effect a vehicle that can do three distinctly different jobs, off-road, boat and ‘plane.
“This different vehicle will require a particular and different test designed to exploit its various capabilities equally. Inevitably the emphasis, like for pentathlon, decathlon etc, will be on the combined total result. As such, it will be only co-incidence if an all-rounder is capable of matching the performance of a specialist athlete in a component discipline.
“Compromise will be intrinsic – for example, body mass desirable for some events will be detrimental to others. Every contestant will have to decide which blend is likely to work best for them personally. Hare versus tortoise, mouse versus elephant?
“We are reaching an evolutionary position of maximum elasticity in the bungee cord that holds this complex sport together. We must face up to the inevitable. Like it or not, we can no longer rely or hope that we can stand the strain. Our capacity is getting less each day. Nowadays, every accident is yet another fibre fractured: another straw upon the camel’s back. A parting is inevitable.”
On another topic entirely, I am going to allow myself a small pat on the back for helping to prod changes to FEI legal processes, closing the many loopholes that previously let offenders off the hook. They also lengthen the statute of limitations and create several new offences, such as match-fixing, betting coups and bringing equestrianism into disrepute.
The review was announced last winter, immediately after the official enquiry into the Sheikh Hamdan/Marmoog endurance horse-swap – “exposed” by myself in March 2014 – collapsed on a legal technicality.
The invidiousness of the 30-minute rule for reporting field of play rule-breaches was also highlighted in the Tribunal protest brought by myself with British colleague Lucy Higginson last spring, over the CEI Sakhir horse-beating incident.
The FEI itself will in future have powers to issue proceedings in hindsight where previously this was, incredibly, the prerogative of just a tiny handful of event officials that had zero chance of being in the right place at the right time on a field of play spanning 160km.
These changes will be put to the General Assembly in November and, if passed, take effect on January 1st. If the newly contrite UAE is reinstated by then I am sure we will see them enthusiastically waving their voting card!
