I can’t help but feel melancholy since the four year build-up and all the preparation which goes into each Olympic Games has concluded. It’s always exciting to be involved with a sport which has been one of the original sports in the modern day Olympics. It is horse sport’s most coveted competition. Let’s hope it remains in the Olympics for a long, long time. The FEI has been very proactive especially lately under the leadership of President HRH Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein in amending its rules to include the participation of more countries (e.g. trimming the dressage team down from 4 to 3 riders) to satisfy the International Olympic Committee’s requirement of allowing the inclusion of as many nations as possible.
It was a great Olympics for our show jumping team winning the team gold and individual bronze. Eventing’s disappointment of not winning a team medal was sweetened by Gina Miles clenching of the individual silver. This was the first Olympics since 1988 (Seoul) that the US dressage team comes home without the bronze. In fact we were out of the medals completely in dressage. There is a lot of controversy about the judges awarding Isabelle Werth (GER) the silver medal despite her horse’s notably disobedient behavior during the test.
The year directly following the Olympic year is a rather barren one allowing for some down time and also preparation for the World Equestrian Games which occurs a year later. The only major championship will be the World Cup Finals. The 2010 Kentucky World Equestrian Games will be here before you know it. The US will get to showcase its first major world championship in horse sport. Something definitely to look forward to! All the past WEGs have been hosted by European countries.
Best,
Cindy