Conference noted::equitation

    Gack! That would be awful! I'm thinking of all the kids I've heard
    say "If I work real hard, maybe someday I can ride in the Olympics"..
    how sad to think they may not be allowed to reach that goal....
    

    Yes I am afraid its true.  I read about this in the "Horse and Hound"
    and they are thinking about putting a stop to any equestrian events
    being held within the Olympics,  I think 1992 in Barcelona might be
    the last time each country sends an equestrian team.  I will have 
    to dig out my old magazine and let you know more as it was a good
    couple of months ago I read it.  I know HRH Princess Anne is on the
    Olympic commitee and is trying hard not to let it go.

	Re: .2

	Is it all equestrian sports are being eliminated or just the team
	sports? My understanding (little as it is) is that the team sports
	might be eliminated, but that individuals will be allowed to compete.

	Of course, with individuals having to fund everything, few if any will
	be able to afford it :^( 

	Heavy sigh....

    
    There's an article about it in the new USCTA news - Jack LeGoff and
    William Steinkraus give their opinions...they're both pretty upset,
    as you can imagine.
    
    I had the impression that the recommendation is for eliminating (I hate
    that word) the team medals because they don't want to give two medals
    for the same performance.  I hadn't heard about no horses in the
    Olympics at all.
    
    Lemme go home and read the article again.
    
    Amy
    

    I was told that they are trying to eliminate some of the more expensive
    events that don't have such a big following. I guess some of the
    equestrian sports use a lot of space and cost a lot to set up.

    I had heard that eventing is out already (for Barcelona).
    Also that the rest of the events will not have team medals --
    can't understand this as the all popular gymnastics has both.
    
    Anybody have a reliable source to quote?

    "the all popular gymnastics has both."
         ^^^^^^^^^^^
    Mary

    Gymnastics is also a relatively inexpensive sport to produce.  It's in
    a gym, which is used for many other sports as well, and each
    participant uses the facility for a much shorter time, too.  Equestrian
    events are expensive  -- cross country courses aren't used for anything
    else, as far as I know.  And probably the stabling must be a large
    expense, too.  Or is this the responsibility of the competitors?  I
    don't know for sure.
    
    It will be sad, though, if the equestrian events are eliminated.  From
    what I've read, in The Chronicle a few weeks ago (If I find the issue,
    I'll post the info here) it seemed, however, that this would ultimately
    be the case.
    
    -ellie

	In the latest AHSA Horse Show magazine, there was an article
	which said that the question is whether or not to honor the
	equestrian sports with team *and* individual medals or just
	individual medals. Ihe IOC had made the "no team medal"
	proposal and was now passing it on to an FEI committee to
	research. I think an answer is forthcoming very shortly but I
	don't remember the exact date (later this month rings a bell???)

	So, it seems that the equestrian sports are planning to be held,
	its the medal awarding situation which is up for review.

	If I can remember to bring in my issue, I'll post the article
	tomorrow; its pretty short...

    I was reading Dressage and CT by candle light last night.
    July issue I think.

    The plan is to eliminate some minor sports such as biathalon,
    synchronized swimming and I also thought the TEAM equestrian
    events.

    I think that at each olympic the host country can add a new sport
    and the above listed sports are not as popular world-wide.

    The expense of facilities was also mentioned.  
    

    FLAME ON
    
    I love the logic of these organizing committees. They say they'll
    eliminate the "minor" sports.  What's a minor sport?  One not watched. 
    Well, I for one watched the 3.2 seconds allowed to synchronized
    swimming and the 2.3 seconds allowed to equestrian sports.  How can I
    watch a minor sport when it's not shown to me?  Idiots..
    
    Flame off
    
    Maybe if we all write enough letters, our sport will not only continue,
    but horrors of all horrors, be shown on TV? 

    FLAME ON
    
    I am sure a lot more people would watch if they didn't
    schedule the equestrian events at 2:00am!!!!!
    
    FLAME OFF
    
    So, I taped them to watch later on, at a reasonable hour....
    
    HRH
    

    I have just read a little article in the "Horse and Hound" here in 
    the UK and thaught this following extract might be of some interest.
    
    "Equestrian Olympics on borrowed time?"
    
    'Equestrian sports could well be dropped from the olympic movement
    in the foreseeable future, according to Anita DeFrantz, a member of 
    International Olympic Committees Programe Commission which was
    responsible for the decision to cut out a medal from the three-day
    event.
    
    Mrs DeFrantz, a 1976 American Olympic rowing meadalist, was addressing
    a recent meeting of women sportswriters in California and was asked if 
    the effort to eliminate either the team or individual eventing medal
    was the lead-up to the exclusion of dropping all horse sports from the
    Games.
    
            "Its a possibility," she replyed. "It alll depends on when
    someone has the guts to do it."
    
    She did not perceive horse trials was a team sport.
    
            "The horse does all the work," she observed as part of her
    rationale for why it should only be one medal.'
    
    
    

    re .14
    and I supposed she thinks that in bob sledding that the sled and
    hill do all the work! Those bob sledders, they're just passengers
    like us!

    Absolutely amazing that someone so ignorant of sports could be
    on such a committee in the first place!
    

    Its even worse -  A well known and much publicised member of the
    Olympic committee was quoted as saying " Equestrian Sport is a matter
    of money a dog could sit on a good horse and win ' I'd like to see him
    ride a three day event. The British Horse Society and British Show
    Jumping Association both think there is a ral threat to ALL equestrian
    events but the first threatened are Eventing and Modern Pentathlon.
    
    OLympics with no horses ! - I despair !!!!!!!!!!

    The spectre of an Olympics without equestrian events is indeed a
    reality. As I understand it, the head of the Internation Olympics
    Committee is very ANTI-equestrian and the problems with equestrian events 
    in Barcelona (3-day and showjumping) just gave him more ammuntition for
    his purge of equestrian events. How do we get rid of this guy and
    replace him w/ Princess Anne or some other sympathetic soul? 

Article: 11916
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From: meganb@sequent.com (Megan Breninger)
Newsgroups: rec.equestrian
Subject: More Olympic News...
Summary: Cathy Cleverley (forwarded)
Message-ID: <1992Sep18.171712.9017@sequent.com>
Date: 18 Sep 92 17:17:12 GMT
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Subject: Olympics and Horses (long)
 
This is the editorial in this month's issue of Horse Sport (the
Canadian horse mag).  It sheds a little more light on the comments
about equestrian disciplines at the Olympics.
 
Copied without permission from Horse Sport (The Corinthian) September
1992.~
 
"Following some of the anti-equestrian remarks attributed to Canada's
IOC member, Dick Pound during the Olympics, I spoke to him to find
out the root of his comments.  "I merely made a neutral observation
involving a number of sports", said Pound, and denied the sensational
comment reported in England that 'a dog could ride a good horse'.~
 
Pound's interview with members of the British press was on the subject
of the shape of the Olympic Games in the years to come.  It is well
known that a number of sports such as modern pentathalon, synchronized
swimming, fencing, wrestling and equestrian are considered to cause
concerns within the Olympic family.  The IOC has established a program
committeee which is currently conducting a comprehensive review of all
sports and events at the Olympics to identify the criteria for
inclusion in the modern Games.~
 
As part of the Olympic program, here are the factors that will be
taken into account with regard to equestrian sport:  (other sports may
have the same or different problems)~
 
- the expense of developing the equestrian facilities (including
medical facilities), in particular the three-day event course (a $20
million cost at El Montanya) which, unlike a swimming pool or a
stadium, will not be used by thousands after the Games are over.~
 
-  the cost and difficulty of transporting the horses.~
 
- The equine disease problem, which as everyone knows, nearly spelled
the end to the Barcelona Games.~
 
-  the weather factor~
 
- how widely practised the sport is among the nations in the Olympic
family.~
 
- the perception that, in Pound's words "there is some doubt as to who
to give the medal to - the rider or the horse", plus his view that
"The best rider in the world cannot win without a good horse".  These
views lessen the validity of the competition in the eyes of some.~
 
Pound points out - "Don't shoot the messenger" - he is merely
detailing the concerns already being voiced by IOC members as well as
potential bidding cities.~
 
Strong, positive leadership from the FEI and all NOC's is needed to
formulate the types of responses that the sport can make to the above
concerns and to persuade the IOC to keep equestrian sport in the
Olympic program.  He commends the response of modern penthathalon to
negative comments about their sport.  Rather than using the
international press as a battleground, they have met with IOC members
and committees to discuss the nature of the problems, as well as
solutions and alternatives.~
 
However, according to FEI president, HRH Princess Anee, they will wait
until receiving the IOC questionnaire before reacting.  By then, I
fear, the die will be cast.  "I think the people in the FEI should
consider the implications of what a revision of the Olympic program
means for equestrian," said Pound, who was critical of the FEI's
wait-and-see approach.~
 
The program commission, headed by former International Tennis
Federation president Philippe Chartrier, will do a complete analysis
of the results from Los Angeles, Seoul and Barcelona in terms of the
number of participants in each sport, the cost and other relevant
factors.  They will then meet with the international sport federations
affected.  Plans are to have the review completed and recommendations
in place for the 1994 Olympic Congress - only two years away!  - with
changes effective for the year 2000.~
 
Given such a tight timetable, those sports like equestrian, which
already know they face challenges, should be working with all possible
speed to establish communciations with the IOC members in order to
gain an understanding of their views and to present the sport in a
favorable light.  The FEI's own statistical analysis would be a useful
starting place, as well as some serious consultations with the NOC's
to establish an agenda of options and solutions.~
 
The fact that the sport has a tradition dating back to the original
Olympic games in Greece is not an adequate rationale as we approach
the 21st Century.  It is not a fruitless task.  "The IOC helped you
(equestrian) solve the problem in three-day eventing, where you were
getting two medals for one performance", notes Pound.  In this
instance, the FEI established a committee which proposed the solution
of two separate competitions - a solution that was accepted by the
IOC.  This is the kind of negotiating and strategizing that the sport
will require.~
 
"What if, for example, we want to hold the Olympics in Bejing, Brazil
or Auckland N.Z?" he asks.  In its search for candidate cities to host
the Olympic games, the IOC will not want to be limited in its choice
because of equine disease limits.  If it only receives bids from
places like those listed above, then what?~
 
There are some negative perceptions to counteract as well.  "Many
people involved, particularly in show jumping, have an interest
in realizing on their equine investments, after the medals have been
won", is a view held by Pound.  The fact that some human athletes reap
huge endorsements is, however, viewed as justifiable.  "An individual
athlete has put in years of personal effort", said Pound.~
 
Clearly, equestrian sport needs to do a better job of profiling the
long, hard hours and years of sacrifice put in by riders of all
stripes to make their nation's Olympic team.  Similarily, the sport's
usual focus on the importance of establishing a partnership between
horse and rider cannot look credible to an outsider, when nations and
individuals scramble to acquire good horses for fabulous sums six or
eight months before the Games begin.~
 
Equestrians are viewed by Pound as being a "fractious community" whose
knee jerk reactions to the suggestions of problems with the sport do
nothing to establish credibility or goodwill.  (there were sensational
headlines in Great Britain and, in a televised interview following
Pound's comments, Ian Millar commented that Pound was probably
lobbying for the top IOC job in making such statements).~
 
Pound's personal views are not relevant here.  (He says he really
enjoys show jumping and eventing).  The issue is the position of
equestrian sport within the Olympic family.  "I would expect every
sport to defend its territory vigourously and positively", says Pound.~
 
What is equestrian sport doing?~
 
-Susan Jane Anstey
 
--
Cathy Cleverley                                 clever@sequent.com
Sequent Computer Systems (Canada) Ltd.          +1 416 733 9200
"An expert is anyone more than 100 miles~
from home with a set of slides"

    Thanks Kiirja. That was interesting. 
    
    I was a bit surprised to read that the FEI and the IOC had "resolved"
    the 2 medals for 1 competition in eventing problem. Even more so when I
    read that they had decided to hold 2 competitions...If they want to get
    both competitions completed during the 2 weeks of the Olympics, doesn't
    it imply that any horse/rider combination that competes for a team
    medal will not compete for individual honors? I make that inference on
    the assumption that no horse would be strong enough to do 2 Olympic
    level courses within 2 weeks!
    
    I flipflop in how I feel about the equestrian events being eliminated
    from the Olympics. Usually, I'm outraged. Other times, I say, "Wait a
    minute. That could be GOOD for horses. There would be less pressure on
    riders to make the team, complete the Olympic 3-day XC course, etc
    Result: fewer injuries to horses because of rider error or bad
    judgement"  And then I turn around and say "You're full of it, John!"

    It looks like the 2000 summer games will be in Austraila.
    Isn't this one of the countries (I'd assume because of it
    location) where it is very difficult to import horses ?
    Bill

    re .21
    
    For the Gawler (South Australia) World Three Day Event Championships
    held in 1986, Australia waived most of its quarentine requirements for
    competitors' horses. I assume they will follow that precedent for the
    Olympics. I remember hearing or reading somewhere that the Sydney
    Olympic Committee was going to pay for the transport of competitors
    including equine ones.
    
    In 1956, when most of the Olympics was held in Melbourne, the
    equestrian events were held in Stockholm because of Australia's
    restrictive quarentine laws.