Conference noted::equitation

January Dressage & CT says some of the Olympic selection trials
will be held June 16-21 in Gladstone NJ.

Anyone out there been to these big shows (as a spectator) ?
Where abouts in NJ is Gladstone ?

Bill

    Never been to one of the Gladstone shows as a spectator but I do know
    where Gladstone NJ is since I went to graduate school in NJ. It's in
    Northern part of NJ about an hour and a half drive from NYC. Not in the 
    extreme north kinda the southern edge of the northern third of the
    state. It's in the center third of the state east to west.
    
    If you are driving and a AAA member they'll mark up maps for you that
    will get you there.

    More tidbits from the 14 Feb 1992 Chronicle
    
    "Joe Fargis' chances of making his third consecutive Olympic team
    received a serious setbakc on Feb 9 when he broke his leg during the
    $50,000 Crown Royal Grand Prix of Palm Beach in Wellington Fla.
    
    Fargis, 43, was riding Tracy Galway's King Router, who refused at a
    simulated wall and then appeared to try to bank the jump on the second
    attempt. The horse fell on Fargis' leg, breaking it in 3 places below
    the knee.
    
    The narrow wall was positioned going away from the in-gate and caused 2
    other falls and several refusals."

    The short form of a 14 Feb 1992 Chronicle article:
    
    The Canadian 3-day team has been significantly strengthened by the
    addition of on of Britain's top event riders. Robert Lemieux, the
    reserve rider on Britain's 1984 Olympic team, has exercised his dual
    citizenship and declared his canidacy for the Canadian Olympic team.
    
    Lemieux, 31, won the British Open Champiionship in 1988 and has placed
    in the top 3 there 4 times. He has also placed in both the Badminton
    and Burghley CCIs. In 1989, he won the Luhmuhlen CCI in Germany.
    
    Lemieux was disappointed when his top mount, Just An Ace, wasn't
    included in the British long list for last fall's European
    Champiionships. Since 3 members of that gold-medal squad (Ian Stark,
    Karen Straker and Richard Walker) have been excused from Badminton to
    preserve their horses, Lemieux realized his chances of making the
    British Olympic team were slim.

    re: -1.
    
    Robert Lemieux.  The Canadian Team as been dreadful during the last few
    years and I have it on inside info the RL is no great shakes either.
    
    Still - we can hope.

    All this talk about the Olympics, British Teams and injuries has
    reminded me that I wanted to ask something.
    
    Does anybody know Milton's current condition? I read in the Chronicle
    some months ago that, during a jumping competition, this talented gray
    suffered a rupture blood vessel and was retired. From the wording in
    the article, it wasn't clear whether he had simply withdrawn(retired)
    from that particular show or whether he had been retired from future
    competition.
    
    In other words, is Milton still competing?
    
    John

    From an article read recently Milton is still going to a force to
    reckon with on the show jumping circuit.  No mention was made of any
    injury or the like.  
    
    What was questioned again this year, was the likely hood of Milton
    being in the British team.  The answer is still though to be no.
    
    For those that may be left wondering why, this is because Milton is
    owned by Mr & Mrs Bradley the parents of the late Caroline Bradley
    who sucessfully competed on him before her untimely death.
    Whilst they have been generous enough to allow Milton to be regularly
    jumped at International level, they have no wish to see him compete
    at the Olympics as the memory would be too painful for them.
    
    Will keep folks posted if I hear anymore.
    
    
    

    
    	This month my cable company sent me a schedule for the Olympics,
    	along with the fee scale for pay per view. It's not cheap!! The
    	schedule shows equestrian events on 7/27,29,30,and 8/3,4,5,7,9.
    	If you wanted to view all of these, it would cost $125. 
    
    	Sherry
     

    When did Caroline Bradley die?  Was it a riding injury?
    
    I have seen Milton in person and he sent shivers down my spine --
    to have the honor to sit on a horse like that!!
    
    Dawn

Since when has the olympics been fodder for pay-per-view?  I guess I won't
be watching any of the olympics this year (or any other year apparently).

Ed..

    Where ya been, Ed? :-) There've been ads all over the place for
    pay-per-view Olympic coverage(bronze, silver,gold levels of, course!)
    
    Of course, we can still watch the Olympics on network TV. But, if I'm
    not mistaken, the pay-per-view is going to provide COMPLETE coverage of
    equestrian events as opposed to the highlights that are normally seen
    on network TV.
    
    Gee, you're lucky to even GET cable. I've never lived any place where I
    could get cable. So far, we haven't "invested" in a satellite dish to
    get "cable" service either.
    
    John
    

I have been right here.  But, I know that my cable company has not included
any literature, and I have not seen any TV commercials.  Just one more
thing to charge us for.  Well, if the olympics ends up heavily in
pay-per-view, I can assure you that it will diminish in stature and the
IOC will get less of it's precious life-blood (money).  It seems everyone
is in things for the money only, anymore.

Ed..

    
    	Actually, Ed, the cable companies are being helpful. Whereas
    	in the past one would have to try to catch a 45 second recap
    	at 3AM of the Equestrian events, with pat per view you can see
    	the entire event and most likely at a more reasonable hour. If
    	you want to complain about anyone, point your finger at the
    	major networks who don't seem to think our favorite event is
    	worth showing. 
    
    	Sherry
    

    
    It looks like there is a good chance that Milton will go to Barcelona
    ater all. The Bradleys are reconsidering as he doesn't have to fly to
    Spain. 
    
    

I picked up a little more background about the story behind the Bradley's 
reluctance to allow Milton to compete in the Olympics from the Feb/Mar 1992
issue of "HORSES".

In an article describing the probable makeup of the British showjumping squad, 
the magazine's editor says that Caroline Bradley owned and successfully showed
Milton. Based on their performance together, she(Caroline) felt that she 
should have made the British for the 1984 Olympics. Instead, she was asked to
lend her horse to a more experienced competitor. After her untimely 
death(cause unspecified in the article) in her 30's, her parents vowed never 
to allow Milton to compete for Britain in the Olympics. They kept this vow for 
the Seoul Olympics in 1988.

At presstime, the editor speculated that the Bradleys would not allow
Milton to compete. Therefore, John Whittaker(Milton's regular rider) had
obtained Dollar Girl(formerly owned & competed in Switzerland) which was
expected to be his mount for the Olympics.

    If the preceding reply is correct and the Bradleys do allow Milton to 
    compete, we'll get the rare treat of seeing the 2 best jumpers in 
    the world(Milton and Ian Millar's Big Ben) go head to head in Barcelona. Of 
    course, they have some stiff competition from the US's talented but 
    fractious Gem Twist and Germany's Eagan(sp?).

The magazine has a whole lot of info about the various squads building up for 
Barcelona. I'll post some of it from home when I get a chance.

    
    The major consideration for the Bradley's is the sentimental aspect. Milton
    means a great deal to them, as he was Caroline's horse. In the past
    their reluctance to allow him to travel to the Olympics has had a lot
    to do with their concern for his well being. They did not want to
    expose him to the risk of injury, infection or the trauma of extensive
    foreign travel. Basically, he means too much to them to allow anything
    to happen to him. I believe he is even spared the puissance for fear he
    may push himself to his limits and get damaged. This horse has the
    affection of not just the Bradleys but the Country. You should be at
    one of our big show jumping events like Olympia when Milton comes into the
    ring, he brings the house down every time!
    
    

You're absolutely right! Milton is VERY SPECIAL! We cheer for him here in the 
US as do the French and Canadians and probably every showjumping fan 
around the world. Of course, the Canadians are quite partial to Big Ben too.
They are both thrilling to watch. They bring tears of joy to my eyes when I 
watch their rounds. NO OTHER JUMPERS EVER HAVE!

I would very much like to believe that it is sentiment rather than pettiness 
which may keep a great horse like Milton out of the Olympics. I have 
always admired the fact that the Bradleys take great care of the horse and 
do what is best for him. Please remember that I was paraphrasing a magazine 
article in my earlier reply.

However, I find it a bit difficult to accept the sentimental explanation 
when I have seen Milton represent England as a member of its showjumping team 
in distant foreign countries. He was on the British team for the 1990 World 
Equestrian Games in Sweden as well as Nations Cup/Gran Prix events in North 
America that year. He competed in the September 1991 Nations Cup at Spruce 
Meadows(Calgary, Alberta province, Canada). Two weeks later, Milton was 
jumping in a Gran Prix at San Marino, Italy. He sustained an injury there 
and was rested for 3 months. He returned to competition in France.

France, Italy, Sweden, Canada and the US are not part of England. Presumably, 
Milton travelled to North America by air. He certainly didn't get to North 
America by van! ;-) It's unlikely that he came by ship. Even if he had, 
there are THOUSANDS of miles between the Atlantic coast and Spruce Meadows. 
A sea journey followed by thousands of miles in a van would be far more 
trauma than an air trip. The fact that Milton competed 2 weeks later in Italy
implies that he travelled to and from North America by plane. Obviously, he 
could have gotten to Sweden for the 1990 World Equestrian Games by ship and 
van. (BTW, We Americans say van or trailer where you UK folks say horse box)

Every horse is at risk of injury or infection any time it competes ANYWHERE, 
whether at home or abroad. Milton is at no more risk jumping in a foreign 
country than in England. It is the jumping that poses the risk of injury.
The risk of infection at a horse show is mostly from airborne germs in the 
stabling area unless there is an epidemic in the area.

To a non-involved party, the risks seem the same whether the horse travels to 
Calgary, Italy or Spain. Forgive me if I seem cynical but I see two 
differences between the Olympics in a foreign country and a Grand Prix/Nations 
Cup event in a foreign country: 

1) there is no purse money at the Olympics and

2) Milton's late owner/rider had a bad experience with the British Olympic 
team's selection procedures in 1984. 

                    USET Festival of Champions
                       June 16 - 21, 1992


    SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

    June 16th    Show Jumping, Driving,
    Tuesday      Dressage Clinics

    June 17th    1st Round-Crown Royal/USET Show Jumping Selection
    Wednesday    trials, All-Day Sport Science Seminar with
                 Michael Meyers, Ph.D.

    June 18th    2nd Round-Crown Royal/USET Show Jumping Selection
    Thursday     trials, Open Prix St. Georges, Intermediaire II

    June 19th    Qualifier for Rolex/USET Talent Derby, Qualifier for
    Friday       $50,000 Cadillac/USET Show Jumping Championship,
                 Challenge of Champions - Dressage,
                 Grand Prix, Open Intermediaire I,
                 Final Selection Trial for Four-in-Hand World
                 Championship - Dressage Phase

    June 20th    Final Round-Crown Royal/USET Show Jumping Selection
    Saturday     trials, Challenge of Champions - Show Jumping,
                 Miller's/USET national Championship - Prix St. Georges,
                 "M&M's" Young Rider Team Test, Grand Prix Special
                 Final Selection Trial for Four-in-Hand World
                 Championship - Marathon Phase,
                 *Star Spangled Gala*

    June 21st    $50,000 USET Show Jumping Championship,
    Sunday       Rolex/USET Talent Derby, Miller's/USET National
                 Championship - Intermediaire I,
                 "M&M's" Young Rider Individual Test, 
                 Grand Prix Freestyle, Intermediaire I
                 Freestyle, Final Selection Trial for Four-in-Hand
                 World Championship - Obstacles Phase,
                 Challenge of Champions - Driving



    TICKET INFORMATION

    Circle of Champions    $3,000 for two, includes all Passier Club benefits
                           plus invitations to the Star Spangled Gala

    Passier Club           $1,200 for two, includes continental breakfast and
                           luncheon each day, sponsor's/competitor's party,
                           preferred parking, reserved seating

    Star Spangled Gala     $200 per person
    June 20th

    Box Seats              $60 (four seats for one day)
                           $300 (four seats for the Festival)

    Festival Week Ticket   $35 admission to all trials and competitions

    Clinics $ Seminars     Call for information, participant and auditor fee,
                           (215) 358-5115

    Daily General          $8 Adults
    Admission at Gate      $4 Choldren, 12 & under

    The Show Jumping in 1592.18 is the final show jumping selection    
    trials for the 1992 Barcelona Games.
    

    From "The Chronicle of the Horse", April 10th 1992
    
    "Tom and Dorren Bradley, owners of Henderson Milton, have changed their
    minds and will allow their show jumping superstar to compete in this
    year's Olympics for Britain. The Bradleys have withstood tremendous
    criticism and pressure when they decided not to allow Milton to go to
    Seoul in 1988, and, according to 'Horse and Hound', they changed their
    minds during a 2 month winter vacation in the Canary Islands.
    
    Four years ago the Bradleys cited the concerns of many owners about
    shipping Milton to the other side of the world-the long trip, the
    possibility of disease and the unknown factors of competing in a
    country with little equestrian tradition.
    
    But their true reluctance went much further. Milton was their last link
    to their daughter, Caroline Bradley, one of Britain's top show jumpers
    who died suddenly in June 1983 at the age of 37, who started Milton's
    career. Caroline was passed over for the 1972 Olympic team by British
    selectors and vowed then, 'No horse of mine will ever go to the
    Olympics.' Then in 1980 she nearly lost the ride on her good horse
    Tigre, whose owner wanted him to compete in the Olympics. Caroline was
    classified as a professional rider, however, and not eligible under the
    Olympic rules at that time.
    
    Mrs Bradley told 'Horse and Hound', 'I don't like the Olympics but felt
    we can't start banning him. Over Christmas we discussed the Olympics
    with our daughter Judith and decided that Barcelona is so much nearer
    home than Seoul, there does not sem to be a flying problem and there
    was no reason not to go if the selectors chose him.'
    
    Their decision makes John Whitaker a heavy favorite for the individual
    gold medal and makes the British team considerably more formidable.
    Whitaker already had two other possibile Olympic mounts, the recently
    acquired Dollar Girl and Gammon."

    Ian Millar and Big Ben were perfect again at the American Invitational
    in St Petersburg. Big Ben & Millar posted the only clear round in the
    jump-off at the $100,000 American Invitational. Millar said that his
    strategy was to go clear rather than try for speed because Bert de
    Nemethy, who set the course, wants the best jumper to win the class
    rather than the fastest horse.
    
    Millar is competing Big Ben sparingly to keep him fresh for the
    Barcelona Olympics. Both Big Ben and Milton were scheduled to compete in 
    the Volvo Showjumping World Cup which ends today. I'll post the results 
    on Tues as I should get them tomorrow.

    The FEI Volvo Dressage World Cup was held in Gothenburg Sweden in early
    April. Fabienne/Isabell Werth(Germany) won over Ideaal/Sven
    Rothenburger(Germany). Grunox/Monica Theodorescu(Germany)were third.
    Gifted/Carol Lavell(USA) were fourth. Dakar/Cindy Ishoy(Canada) placed
    eleventh.
    
    Fabienne/Werth won the Grand Prix with 1,667 points and the freestyle
    with 76.49%. Ideaal/Rothenberger were second in both events with 1,646
    points and 76.41% respectively. Gifted/Lavell were fourth in both
    events with 1,579 and 71.39%.
    
    If this form continues through the Olympics, the Germans will win the 
    team gold and all the individual medals!

    
    
    re .20...   old news, see .16
    
    

    Well, the showjumping picture for the Olympics seems to be muddied
    again. The Volvo World Cup completed Sunday with some remarkable
    results!
    
    First of all, NEITHER Milton nor Big Ben won! Between them, they have
    won the last 4 World Cups. Milton was scheduled to compete but was
    sidelined by injury.
    
    Big Ben actually competed in the Speed Class. Only time matters in a
    Speed Class. Refusals must be rejumped which increases the rider's
    running time. Each knockdown causes 6 seconds to be added to the final
    running time. Unfortunately, Big Ben & Ian Millar had the first fence 
    down in the Speed Class. Millar decided to go as fast as possible in an
    attempt to make up the 6 seconds. That standard strategy backfired.
    Big Ben has a tendency to get hot. Millar usually rides him quietly and
    slowly to counteract that tendency. Whether Big Ben got hot or tired, I
    don't know. Which ever it was, he had 3 of the last 4 fences down and
    placed 31st after the Speed Class. Millar withdrew him before the second
    day of compeition.
    
    Autrian Thomas Fruhmann riding Bockmann's Genius won the overall
    compeition. The Swiss riders(Fuchs brothers and somebody whose name and
    sex I have forgotten), Britain's Tina Cassan on Genesis and USA's
    Bernie Traurig on Maybe Forever completed the top placings.
    
    Gem Twist and Greg Best were not shown. I don't think they had entered.
    Most US competitors were well down the placings. The French horses and
    riders were well placed coming into the final Grand Prix class but
    fatigue took its toll and they all had mutilple knockdowns.
    
    Judgin by the World Cup, the Swiss and French teams will be major medal
    contenders for team showjumping at the Olympics. IMHO, the US and
    Canada teams lack depth and cannot be considered serious team medal 
    contenders. 
    
    Individual medals are a different story. IF all the horses(and riders) 
    are fit, Canada, US and UK could easily win any of the medals. It's hard 
    to go against horse and rider combinations like Whitaker and Milton, 
    Millar and Big Ben, Best and Gem Twist, etc.

    Germany's dressage team for Barcelona has been announced by the German
    Olympic Committee for Riding. It's a very strong team!
    
    Klaus Balkenhol & Goldstern
    Sven Rothenburger & Ideaal
    Monica Theodorescu & Grunox
    Nicole Uphoff & Rembrandt Borbet
    Isabell Werth & Gigolo FRH ???? Why Gigolo instead of Fabienne?

    
    	This month's Practical Horseman has a letter on page 6 
    	about network [non]coverage of equestrian events. The
    	network in question [are they the only one's covering the
    	Olypmics?] is NBC. Write to NBC at the following address
    	and express your disappointment in their lack of coverage.
    
    		NBC, Attn: Terry O'Neil
    		30 Rockefeller Plaza
    		New York, NY         10112
    
                                       

    Sherry,
    
    Yes, NBC is the only US network covering the Olypmics. A network
    usually gets exclusive broadcast rights from their national Olympic 
    body. However, as you noted earlier, you can get complete coverage
    through Pay-Per-View(at a *mere* $125 Ugh!!!) or if you're lucky enough
    to get Canadian TV through your antenna or cable company, they provide
    much more complete and interesting coverage. (See .0 if you get
    Canadian)
    
    JND

    I recently bought and am currently reading Milton's biography. It's
    great fun, lots of pictures and quotes about Milton from people in 
    showjumping. And it clears up some of the questions asked earlier about
    Milton, Caroline and the Bradleys' reluctance to allow him to compete
    in the Olypmics.
    
    BTW, re .23, I did read .16 and it says that the Bradleys were
    reconsidering. In .20, I reported that they had decided to allow Milton 
    to go if he were selected. There is a significant difference.
    
    Now, to the story! Horses magazine had it a bit muddled. Caroline
    Bradley's beef with the British team selectors started before Milton
    was born. Caroline was passed over for the 1976 Olypmics and was forced
    to declare herself a professional when the rules were changed. She
    subsequently lost the mount on a good horse in which she had a part 
    ownership because she was a professional and the majority owner wanted 
    the horse to go to the 1980 Olypmics. She vowed that no horse of hers 
    would ever go to the Olympics. Ironically, the 1980 Olympics were 
    boycotted and the rules now allow professionals.
    
    Her parents are quoted in the book as saying that they dislike the
    Olympics. The book also says that they put several conditions on the 
    horse when he went to John Whitaker. One was that the horse would not be 
    available for the Olympics.
    
    Caroline picked out Milton when he was a foal and did his early jumping
    training although somebody else broke him in for her. Milton was about
    6 and winning mid level compeitions when Caroline died.
    
    According to the book, Caroline had taken Milton to a show and had just
    completed the main class with him when she collapsed in the collecting
    ring. She died on the way to the hospital. The book says that her
    collapse and death are believed to be the result of stress and
    overwork. (Let that be a lesson to you! PLAY!!!!)
    
    After Caroline's death, Milton first went to Steve Hadley who was an
    experienced rider nearing the end of his career. He rode Milton for
    about 2 years before the horse went to Whitaker. Whitaker completed
    Milton's development into an international level horse.
    
    Well, that's the story on Milton's early life and times.
    John

    FEI delegates met in Berlin recently and one of the key topics was the 
    International Olympic Committee's resolution to eliminate artificial
    team sports. The IOC's definition of artificial team sports are those
    in which a team's score is simply the total of the individuals scores.
    
    Of course, this means that there would be no equestrian team sports. 
    The FEI plans to lobby the IOC and national Olympic Committees in an
    attempt to keep equestrian team sports after the 1996 Games in Atlanta.
    They will try to prove the popularity of equestrian sports as well as
    the economic and social impact they have. 
    
    I assume that the concern is the loss of the team sports and that a
    secondary concern is that without team medals, many nations
    might not support equestrians to be entered as individual competitors.
    
    
    As for the 1992 Barcelona Games, the entry totals are:
    Dressage -    21 nations;  66 riders;  83 horses
    Showjumping - 32 nations; 118 riders; 163 horses
    Three-Day -   24 nations; 107 riders; 146 horses

    Derek di Grazia and his mount, Our Busby, have withdrawn from the
    Olympic selection trials. Our Busby and di Grazia won the Fair Hill CCI 
    last fall. Our Busby was injured in training and in March and is expected 
    to be out of training until June.
    
    Our Busby is expected to return to competition in the fall but di
    Grazia has no second mount for the Olympic trials.
    

    Mark Laskin, Canadian showjumper living in New Mexico recently changed
    ownership of this Olympic mounts to meet Canada's eligibility
    requirements.
    
    Laskin and Voila T are one of 5 horse/rider combos who met the strict
    Olympic consideration rules established in Canada. Unfortunately for
    Laskin, FEI and COA rules require that the horses be owned by a citizen 
    of the country they are to represent. Laskin formed a partnership in
    Canada and transferred the ownership of Voila T, Katja, and Sullivan to
    that partnership by the Jan 1 1992 deadline in order to remain eligible
    for the Olympics.

    Mark Laskin comes from up here (Edmonton).  I won't know him from a
    hole in the ground, however, I am stewarding a show at the end of the
    month which is an Canadian Olympic Trial - so maybe I'll find out.
    
    Should be an interesting day - I just hope the weather is good - it can
    be very iffy outdoors at the end of May.
    
    

Early Sunday morning 2 semi-trailers from Ontario loaded with horses 
from Ian Millars's barn along with other Olympic hopefuls (I am not sure who,
rumour has it Beth Underhill, Jay Hayes and Hugh Graham) were in a serious 
accident approximately an hour outside Saskatoon Sask. on their way to Edmonton
Northlands horseshow (Olympic Trial) and then onto Spruce Meadows next week.

The first trailer either was struck by or swerved to avoid a small truck and 
overturned.  The driver of the small vehicle was killed (17 years old) and 
the horses in the van were hurt.  Big Ben, who was not supposed to be at
Northlands but post entered, was the least seriously hurt.  Most of the other
horses were injured to varying degrees.  Unfortunately, one horse was killed,
(it was a "second" horse - still valuable but not a "name").  The second trailer
avoided the accident and the horses were okay.

The injured horses after being checked out went directly to Spruce Meadows, in
order to rest and possibly compete there next week.

Not only is this a blow to the Olympic hopefuls, but depending on who does 
or does not compete at Northlands - the crowd pleasers may not be there.

This was covered very briefly in the local paper - but the reason why I know
a few of the details is that they were due to stay in our barn prior to 
Northlands (that is where they were heading).

I should know more at the end of the week as I am stewarding on the Sunday -
for the Trials and no doubt someone will fill me in.

Linda
 
    

    I recently read a sketchy status report on the (former) Yugoslav
    dressage team in an article about the European Dressage Championships. 
    It seems that the Championships had been scheduled for the historic
    Lipizzaner stud in Lipica, Yugoslavia. The stud at Lipica was founded
    over 400 years ago by the Austrian archduke of the Hapsburg family 
    which then ruled the region. 
    
    With the fighting in Yugoslavia this winter, the FEI decided to hold the
    Championships elsewhere. The Yugoslav dressage team did compete in the
    Championships but they then made the mistake of returning home. The
    fighting in the region of the stud intensified and many of the horses
    were killed or injured. It is unlikely that the riders will be
    able to compete in the Olympics.
    
    While the Yugoslavs had no "name" horses and riders, they always placed
    well in the team competitions. I have read that this was due to the
    Lipizzaners' collected movements which are highly prized at the Gran Prix 
    level.

    We just got a sample copy of a pay-per-view magazine for July. On of
    the things in it is a schedule for the first week of the PPV Olympics
    broadcast. That only covers the 3 day competition but here's the kind
    of coverage they're talking about:
    
    Mon July 27 3-day dressage 1:15-2:30 and 4:15-6:00
    Wed July 29 3-day XC 2:00-8:30
    Thu July 30 3-day showjumping 8:00-11:00
    
    That's about 11.5 hours on 3 day alone!
    
    But don't be fooled by their commercials that say 24 hour coverage
    etc...They are broadcasting a 12 hour block live and then repeating it for
    the next 12 hour period. That's why I didn't put AM/PM on those times.
    BTW, those are PACIFIC times adjust for your time zone!
    

    For those who haven't heard, Gen Twist WILL NOT be on the US
    showjumping team. He was eliminated (by 3 refusals) at one of the
    trials which removes him from consideration.

    
    
    I heard some rumours of a serious horse illness near Barcelona which may
    influence whether the British team will attend.  Hope it IS just a 
    rumour! Anyone else heard this?
    
    

    There were some concerns about a disease named something like African
    equine sickness(a form of encephalitis?) when Barcelona was
    chosen as the 1992 Olypmics site. From what I've heard in the past
    couple years, it's supposed to be under control. I doubt that anyone in
    their right mind would send their horses if it weren't under control.
    
    Over the weekend while cleaning the house, I found the following
    article in the May 8 1992 issue of "The Chronicle of The Horse":
    
    "AFRICAN HORSE SICKNESS ON WANE IN SPAIN
    
    A Spanish member of the European Parliament reported last month that
    190,000 horses and ponies in the Spanish province of Andalusia have
    been vaccinated against the deadly African Horse Sickness in the last
    four years, reports 'Horse and Hound.' After appearing in Andalusia,
    some 500 miles south of Barcelona, in late 1988, AHS threatened to
    cancel or move the equestrian events of this year's Olympic Games.
    Although well over 1,000 horses have died, no case has been confirmed
    in over a year.
    
    The European Parliament is now considering further relaxation of the
    restrictions placed on the area's horses, other than the three-month
    trial relaxation agreed to in January. In addition, the new ELISA
    method of testing for the disease has proven reliable and can give
    results in four to five hours.
    
    The European Community is also contributing to attempts to combat AHS
    in Morocco, which is thought to be the source of the Andalusian
    outbreaks."
    
    
    Anybody have any later info?

    The Canadian horses are being quarantined in the UK before they return
    to Canada and then a further 25 days in Canada.  This is unusual - they
    are only usually quarantined in US or Canada - on return from mainland
    Europe.  Our barn can act as a quarantine station if required.
    
    Linda

Now that the USET has named it's showjumping team for the Olympics,
what do you think of the selection trials/procedures? I like the idea of
objective selection but I think there are some problems with the procedures 
that were used this year. For example, all the trials were on the East Coast 
over a period of 6 weeks. Furthermore, rider/horse combinations had to 
complete ALL of the trials in order to have a chance of being selected.

The location and extended period of trials precluded riders from other parts 
of the country (especially the West Coast) from entering due to the 
expense of travel, food & lodging, and 6 weeks of lost income. Remember the
Triple Crown races this year when Shelly Riley shipped Casual Lies east for 
the races? It cost her something like $150,000 to ship from CA and stay in 
the East for 5 weeks. She was racing for BIG BUCKS so it was an investment.
But, who can take 6 weeks off from their job(whether they are pro riders or 
desk jockeys like us) and spend that kind of money just going to trials?

The requirement to complete all the trials prevented Gem Twist from making 
the team because he was eliminated for refusals. I never heard of Gem Twist 
refusing a jump in competition before. He's certainly never been 
eliminated for refusals before. Gem Twist is probably the most talented 
jumper in the US and one of the top jumpers in the world so he will be 
sorely missed. OK, you could justify eliminating Gem Twist by saying that
perhaps he's off his form and therefore he doesn't deserve to go. But, 
suppose he had been eliminated for something that can't be atributed to 
physical/mental condition such as a fall on slippery ground?

Isn't our Olympic team supposed to represent our best athletes? How can we 
say that our Olympic equestrians are the best horse/rider combinations in 
the US when the trials are intrinsically unfair? Basically, I think the USET
has reacted to past charges of unfairness/favoritism by making selection
procedures for the show jumping team which are totally objective but overly 
rigid and which excluded riders from many parts of the country.

I am NOT saying that we are sending a poor showjumping team to Barcelona.
The folks who were selected are all competent riders with good mounts. 
I AM saying that we could very possibly have fielded an even BETTER 
showjumping squad if the procedures had been better thought out. 

I would hope that next time they would do something more like the Candaians 
did. They had trials in various parts of the country.(Therefore, the trials 
were equally inconvenient for everybody ;-) They also allowed riders to 
discard the results of 1 trial. With procedures more along those lines, I 
think we could honestly say that we had sent the best of those who wanted 
to compete in the Olympics. 

John

    This is the schedule I received for the Cable Pay-TV coverage in the United
    States of equestrian sports at the Olympics. Colour in brackets refers to
    which of the three channels will be showing the events. Most Olympic events
    are broadcast live in the morning and afternoon (05:00 (5:00 A.M.) to 17:00
    (5:00 P.M.) Eastern Daylight Time) and rebroadcast twelve hours later, so
    times can be A.M. for live and P.M. for rebroadcast in most cases. In a few 
    instances the rebroadcast will be in the small hours of the following 
    morning.

    Call your local cable TV company or 1-800-OLYMPIC to sign up for $125.00 
    plus handling charge.

    Monday, July 27th (White)
    ----------------- 

    7:15 - 9:00		Three Day Dressage Competition
    4:15 - 5:00

    Wednesday, July 29th (White)
    --------------------

    5:00 - 11:30	Three Day Endurance Competition (Cross Country)

    Thursday, July 20th (White)
    -------------------

    11:00 - 2:00	Three Day Stadium Jumping Competition

    Monday, August 3rd (White)
    ------------------

    2:00 - 5:00		Final Round - Team Dressage Competition.

    Tuesday, August 4th (White)
    -------------------

    5:00 - 8:00		First Round - Team Show Jumping Competition.

    11:15 - 2:00	Final Round - Team Show Jumping Competition.

    Wednesday, August 5th (RED)
    --------------------- *****

    9:00 - 11:30	Final Round - Individual Dressage Competition

    Friday, August 7th (White)
    ------------------

    10:30 - 2:00	Second Round Qualifying - Individual  Show Jumping
    						  Competition 

    Sunday, August 9th (White)
    ------------------

    5:00 - 7:30		First Round - Individual Show Jumping Competition
    7:30 -  ?		Final Round - Individual Show Jumping Competition


    In between time and on other channels you can watch a lot of the other
    sports according to your interests. [ Or you can watch the paint dry on your
    normal cable TV channels :-) ] 

    Is anybody else getting the Olympic Triplecast? So far, I'm
    disappointed!
    
    As the previous note said, they were supposed to have 3Day Dressage
    Competition today from 7:15 - 9:00 and 4:15 - 5:00 Eastern. 
    I had programmed the vcr to record the 4:15-6:00 AM (Pacific) segment
    and expected to get up and watch some dreaage while I drank my coffee.
    
    Well, they dropped the 7:15 - 9:00(4:15-6:00 my time) coverage and 
    replaced it with greco-roman wrestling, interviews w/ basketball 
    players and a recap of yesterdays events! They said they were going to 
    have the 45 minute coverage of 3Day Dressage as scheduled. Whoopee!!!
    That ain't why I signed up for it!
    
    I kinda figured this would happen when I turned it on yesterday and
    found they weren't following their published schedule at all. They can 
    put on endless hours of platform diving but they dropped 1:45 of equine 
    coverage at the first opportunity. Now, I find women in swimsuits as
    interesting as most men but I'd really rather watch equestrian sports.
    Besides, these weren't women for the most part but adolescent girls.
    
    In other words, I'm ripped and bordering on feeling ripped off!

    John

    If you paid for certain viewing, and didn't get it,
    ask for a refund!

    Re: last two. Yes, NBC did it again, behaving like the northern end of a
    southbound horse. I tried calling the 1-800 service line to register a
    complaint and got to listen to another "automated attendant". I did not
    yet receive the promised call back from the automaton. NBC does not
    follow its own schedule. The afternoon dressage segment started early so
    I didn't see the first broadcast ride. The repeat segment early Tuesday
    morning also started some ten minutes early and left out a brief
    interview with Mike Plumb at the end, substituting a pair of "blow-dried
    babblers" twittering to each other about a few results in other sports.
    Fortunately I had set my VCR to start 15 minutes before the adverised
    time. I revised this reply having looked at the tape, blow-dried babblers 
    and all. Sometimes I think the automated attendants make more
    intelligent conversation than these "anchor persons" :-) .
     
    Nevertheless the second time slot did show seven rides from the first day
    of the Three Day Event Dressage. These were:

    David Green riding Duncan for Australia - 56.20
    (These are Penalty Points -  lower is better)
    Fellow OZ team members are Andrew Hoy - Kiwi, Gillian Rolton - Peppermint 
    Grove, Mathew Ryan - Kibah Tic Toc
    
    Andrew Nicholson riding Spinning Rhombus for New Zealand - 61.20
    Other riders on the N.Z. team are Vicky Latta - Chief, Blyth Tait -
    Messiah, Mark Todd - Welton Greylag. Expected to be in strong
    contention for medals.
    
    Richard Walker riding Jacana for Great Britain - 58.00
    Karen Dixon riding Get Smart for Great Britian - 44.60
    Other GB Team members are Ian Stark - Murphy Himself, Mary Thomson -
    King William. Master Craftsman is lame so Ginny Leng is not on the
    team. I am cheering for these folk to win.
    
    Luis Alvarez Cervera riding Mr Chrisalis for Spain - 65.00
    Other members of the Spanish team are Fernando Villalon - Clever Night,
    Santiago Centenera - Just Dixon, Santiago De La Rocha (who flies 747's
    for Iberia Airlines in his spare time) - Kinvarra.
    
    Rachel Hunter riding King Plantagenet for Canada - 80.20
    Rachel's ride fell apart towards the end in the counter canter
    movements; King Plantagenet didn't (counter-canter).
    Other Canadian team members are Nick Holmes-Smith - Sir Lancelot,
    Robert Stevenson - Risky Business II, Stuart Young Black - Von Perrier
    
    J. Michael Plumb riding Adonis for the United States - 49.60
    Other U.S. team members are Jil Walton - Patrona, Todd Trewin -
    Sandscript, Steven Bradley - Sassy Reason.
    
    The 3-Day Dressage and Endurance competitions are being held at El
    Muntanya, a country club in the hills above Barcelona. From what I
    could see in the broadcast it reminded me of the open spaces of the
    former Wylye Horse Trails on Salisbury Plain in Southern England,
    except it wasn't raining!
    
    Depending on how NBC does with the rest of the equestrian events on the
    Triplecast will determine what kind of response they'll get from me.
    They didn't start out very well with this segment substitution.

    I call an 800 service number and actually got a human! Unfortunately,
    she didn't take complaints and gave me the number of a VP (Steve Lake,
    212-664-2813)...he doesn't answer his phone so you get to leave a
    message on his machine...fat chance of getting called back
    
    But it everybody called and left a complaint on his machine, he might
    get the hint!!!!!!!!

    At the end of the dressage competition the initial standings were:
    
    1.	Mathias Bauman		Alabaster	Germany
    2.	Ian Stark		Murphy Himself	Great Britain
    3.	Karen Dixon		Get Smart	Great Britain
    4.	Mary Thomson		King William	Great Britain
    .
    8.	Mike Plumb		Adonis		United States
    
    Not many points separated the top 25 riders so these standings are
    chnaging as I note during the Endurance competition.
    
    Live on T.V. - Hold on Course.
    
    The Triplecast of the Endurance competition started out almost
    immediately with a 50 minute hold on course, but not before Mike Plumb
    had fallen off Adonis at Fence 13. The NBC Broadcast crew does not
    appear to be well connected with what's going on so were unable to
    offer an explanation of the hold until 30 minutes had passed, despite
    there being multi-lingual public address commentary on site.
    Unfortunately Oleg Karpov, riding Dokas for the Unified Team - formerly
    the Soviet Union - got hung up at Fence 26 and Dokas was sufficiently
    badly injured to have to be put down on the course.
    
    The TV picture showed Mike Plumb being pulled up on course because of
    the accident, over the external microphone I heard an ambulance being
    called for, yet the commentators did know what was happening and
    thought that Mike Plumb was retiring! I guess I have been involved in
    the running of too many horse trials to need this kind of commentary!
    No views of Karpov's fall were shown.
    
    Nevertheless the competition has been restarted and is progressing with
    fewer dramatic incidents. The first element of the direct route through
    Fence 16 is giving most problems. It's a vertical on top of a steep
    bank with a few strides down to a jump into the water. Horses reach the
    top of the bank, see the water and stop, unless their riders have the
    experience to keep them going.
    
    Optimum time for the course is 13 minutes 8 seconds which no competitor
    has made yet. Andrew Nicholson is currently in the lead having a time
    of 13.23. The New Zealand Team is going well with Vicky Latta also
    having a good round. Jil Walton riding Patrona for the U.S.A. had a
    clear round in 14.49. Richard Walker for Great Britain had refusals but
    Karen Dixon had a clear but slow round. David Green from Australia
    withdrew on course after his horse stung a leg on the last element of
    Fence 19 an came up very lame temporarily.
    
    The competition continues, my VCR is running and I have to go off to
    work :-( !

    
    Since we are discussing equine TV events here...one of the Unified Team
    members horses lost it on jump 26 this morning.  He had to be put donw
    on the field.  
    
    Louisa

    How sad....

    Later news on the 3 day competition endurance phase(It was over before
    us west coast folks had to go to work)
    
    Karpov was NOT put down after all. He suffered heat exhaustion and fell
    near the end of the course. They said he had been given an injection
    and taken away in the horse ambulance which had been misinterpretted.
    Later reports said that the horse was awake and recovering.
    
    New Zealand's Mark Todd withdrew when his horse tied up in Phase C.
    The US's Todd Trewin(our home town boy!...He lives in Redmond WA. The
    Redmond townline is about 2 blocks from DECWEST) finished the course
    but his horse was clearly fatigued and appeared to be tieing up. He was
    eliminated at the vet check.
    
    Team standings after the endurance phase:
    New Zealand   240
    Great Britain 248 and the rest far behind
    
    Individual standings:
    Ryan(Australia) 65
    Nicholson(New Zealand) 70.4
    Blocker(Germany) 79.8
    Thompson(Great Britain) 80.4
    Stark(Great Britain) 80.6 
    Latta(New Zealand) 82.8
    Hay(Australia) 84.4
    Dixon(Great Britain) 87.4
    
    The highest place US rider's name escapes me. (oh no, memory fades)
    But, she placed 17th and also lives in WA. She rides a young mare 6-7
    years old and I can't remember the mare's name either. I didn't see her
    ride because it was before I turned on the tube.
    
    Mike Plumb and Adonis fell and got 70 penalty points. Later, the 10 for
    being off course were removed because it happened during the hold while
    they got Karpov into the ambulance.
    
    
    ...Believe it or not Murphy

    The reports that Karpov had to be put down were wrong. He was
    anesthestized and taken to the vet hospital in the ambulance. Later
    reports said he was awake and recovering from heat exhaustion and his
    fall.

>    The highest place US rider's name escapes me. (oh no, memory fades)
>    But, she placed 17th and also lives in WA. She rides a young mare 6-7
>    years old and I can't remember the mare's name either. 
 

Jill Walton and Patrona?

    
    Unreal! I was watching live this moring at 4:00am and the announcer
    said quote "they put him down on the field"  They didn't have footage
    of jump 26 the announcer was just telling the views what he heard.
    
    I'm glad he's not dead.
    
    Lou

    That's it! Thanks Kathy

    I know! I heard the announcement that Karpov had been put down too.
    That was about 5:30 Pacific time...A little while later, they announced
    that both Karpov and the rider were alright and gave the info about
    heatstroke and recovery that I reported here. I cried with relief.

    The U.S. Team was not having a good day in the endurance phase. I guess
    they're more practised at law suits than eventing nowadays. At the end
    of the Endurance competition:
    
    	Jil Walton riding Patrona was in 17th place
    	Mike Plumb riding (intermittently) Aldonis was in 57th place
    	Steven Bradley riding Sassy Reason was in 58th place
    
    As per previous replies Sandscript ridden by Todd Trewin was eliminated
    at the vetinary check at the end of Phase D for exhaustion. Jil Walton
    had a clear but conservative round on Patrona incurring time penalties
    only. Mike Plumb had a fall as previously noted and Steven Bradley had
    two refusals with Sassy reason at the "easy route" through fence 16.
    The U.S Team is in twelfth place behind POLAND (!), Canada, Ireland,
    Sweden, Japan, Spain, Belgium, Germany, Australia, Great Britain and
    New Zealand in first.
    
    No competitor came home within the optimum time of 13 minutes 8
    seconds. Matt Ryan was fastest at 13 minutes 22 seconds. Time penalties
    were the major factor in determining the results. It became extremely
    hot at El Muntanya - 90 deg. F with moderate humidity 55% - which led
    many riders to conserve their horses by taking the easier but longer
    route through the obstacles. The water jumps caused most problems with
    several spectacular duckings, although other fences caused some grief as
    well.
    
    The most bizarre ride was by a competitor (#71) from Brazil who had
    more than six refusals on course some at successive fences. The
    Triplecast showed him flailing away with his arms in front of Fence 13
    while his crop was stuck in his boot! 
    
    There were some extremely good rides as well. Herbert Blocker from
    Germany on Feine Dame rode second to last but decided to "go for a
    medal" and rode the fast route perfectly through the course. This
    brought him into third place, the only non-Commonwealth rider in the
    top eight.
    
    The Triplecast commentators did apologize several times for not
    showing the scheduled amount of dressage coverage on Monday, claiming
    that "technical reasons" caused the cancellation of the "international
    feed" they were due to receive. Enough people must have complained to
    their service lines, answering machines, automated attendants and real
    people for them to get the message.
    
    
    
    
    

    My 2 cents....
    
    I'm not an expert on endurance riding, but it seems to me that this
    course 4 miles long and 33 jumps wasn't a test of endurance, but a test
    on how much torture a horse can take.  It is unfair that they set up
    this type of course for a test of endurance.  I watched the short
    coverage that they had on TV last night and they did show the fall that
    Karpov took, and it is a wonder that the rider and horse survived. 
    They also showed many of the other falls and it just made me sick to
    think that the course designers consider this a true test of endurance
    for the horse.....
    
    Sarah

    I agree with Sarah, to be honest. They could have proven endurance, and
    weeded out the top competitors, without making the course THIS tough.
    It really is a bit extreme, Im dissapointed  that no competitors have
    refused to do it, actually. I know I would. I mean, I love eventing,
    would love to get involved in it some day if the right horse comes
    along, but that course is bordering on inhumane, IMHO.
    

    I agree with the last 2 replies also, those horses took some
    brutal falls, and finshed that course absolutely exausted!  One
    American rider had to dismount at the end of the course because
    his horse was tied up and had the staggers!!  These animals that
    compete at the Olympics for the most part should be at their peak
    conditioning for this competition, but that course obviously took
    a great toll on those animals.  I am sure that coverage last night
    got a lot of people, horse people or not, very upset!!  And they
    call horse racing cruel, look at all the horses that have been
    destroyed during 3 day eventing (Badmitton etc) we've read about 
    in this file alone!!  

    I haven't been following the equine olympics at all, but I'm based on
    what you're describing, I'm disgusted that the riders wouldn't just
    pull up when then realized it was too much for their horses.
    
    That's one good thing that could come out of t.v. coverage.  If enough
    people saw horses getting killed, taking horrendous falls or
    collapsing from heat exhaustion, maybe they'd ease up.  On the other
    hand, it hasn't effected horse racing...
    
    Mary

    I haven't seen any part of the equine olympics either, and I agree with
    the  previous replies regarding the course and exhaustion.  I have been
    to other shows and sometimes wondered why people didn't scratch if the
    conditions were potentially hazardous
    
    Michele
    

    IMNSHO, the horses are considered equipment, and not a living,
    feeling creature.  This makes them expendable....
    
    When I watched that horse plow chest first into the jump,
    I cringed, and my husband was in shock...
    
    Lynne

I would agree that the riders do not think highly of their horses.  After
all, how could they really get to know them when they have someone else
taking care of them (the grooms).  They get on, ride, and give the horse
back to the groom.  The rider needs to take care of his/her own horse
in order to insure that they have as much knowledge of what they can
and cannot do.

I thought I read somewhere the J. Michael Plumb actually rides something
like 4-5 horses in competition.  There is no way he would work that many
and truly know the limitations (and strengths) of each one.

Maybe the course designers should be required to ride the course after
they are completed.  That would help to make it more reasonable.

Ed..

    That's not a bad idea, Ed....having the course designers be required
    to ride the course after designing it.
    
    I agree with you, too, that the time spent riding a horse is but a
    small part of the human/equine relationship as a whole....and time
    spent caring for your horse and just "being together" is invaluable,
    and can greatly improve your communication when you *are* in the
    saddle. Unfortuneatly, at the higher levels,(where the riders ride many
    different horses on any given day, most owned and cared for by someone
    else), this is rarely seen. I dont' think it means, as you said, that
    the riders do not think highly of their horses, Im sure they do, but I
    do believe a vital part of their relationships is missing.
    

    I have missed much of the coverage and would love to get my hands
    on what has been taped so far.
    
    If anyone would like to let me borrow, rent, or buy a tape, 
    I would appreciate it.
    
    Or maybe we all could get on a sign up sheet and pass the tape
    around ???
    
    Tina
    
    

    
    I'd be willing to do that, after I and my friends are done watching.
    When I dont taping there will be atleast 4 full tapes to watch..6hr
    a tape...just the jumping/cross country was 6hr long!  Or you could
    pay to have the taped copied at a vidoe repo center.
    
    Louisa

    A couple quick updates:
    
    The Russian horse was not named Karpov, that was the rider's name. The
    horse, whose name I heard this morning but have NO IDEA how to spell,
    is doing very well and being hand walked.
    
    Todd Trewin was eliminated for not pulling his horse(Sandscript) up.
    The horse was NOT ELIMINATED by the vet check as the TV folks said
    yeaterday. IMHO, the TV folks were WRONG to praise him Mr Trewin
    yesterday for nursing his horse home. I felt that he should have pulled
    up rather than walk/trot home like he did. The jury eliminated Trewin for
    abusing an obviously over-tired horse. In other words, "Hurray for the
    jury!
    
    Great Britain has lost ALL CHANCE at any kind of medal. Ian Stark and
    Murphy Himself were eliminated at this AM's vet check. One of the US
    riders was interviewed by the TV folks and said that Murphy seemed to
    be sore in his front feet and that it got worse every time he jogged.
    I'm sorry to hear that Murphy is sore. He's a great horse. He did look
    a bit tired toward the end of his run yesterday. How could I tell? He
    was actually manageable! Usually, Murphy is usually so keen cross-country 
    that he looks like a runaway train!
    
    With Murphy Himself eliminated, Great Britain's team score is more than
    140 points behind the leaders and they have no hope for a team medal.
    
    JOhn

    It's tough on the horses...to travel all the way to Spain, take
    a change in time, climate, water, altitude, etc. etc. 

    In defense of the Olympic officials, they did EVERYTHING they are
    allowed to do under the rules:
    
    a. The combination of heat and humidity was only 145. It has to get to
    180 before they can stop or cancel the competition.
    
    b. They were VERY aware of the heat and said that they were prepared to
    stop ANYONE at ANYTIME on course if they felt the horse was endangered.
    
    c. They shortened the course to the MINIMUM permitted under Olympic 3-day
       rules.
    
    d. They did eliminate the US rider for not voluntarily stopping his
    horse. It wasn't clear from the TV reports whether the officials
    stopped Mark Todd(NZ) or he stopped voluntarily. Either way, it shows
    that there is concern for the horse's safety.
    
    I do agree with the previous comments that most courses are more
    demanding than they need to be and that SOME 3-day riders are callous
    towards their mounts. But, let's not be overly quick to condemn.
    
    John

    re. .55 and following
    
    Having watched the full 6.5 hour telecast of the Endurance competition,
    a feat of endurance in itself, it appears to me that the NBC for its
    network segment did the classic media move of just showing the
    disasters. In the Triplecast coverage I saw that the Olympic organizers
    and the vast majority of the competitors were well aware of the
    conditions, temperature and fitness of their horses and made second by
    second compensation as a result. Horses were pulled up either by their
    riders (e.g. David Green) or by officials on course at the first sign
    of lameness. There were three or four incidents like this.
    
    Top class riders who felt their horses remained capable throughout the
    course rode the direct route through the obstacles and finished tired
    but intact. If their horses energy dropped during their round they took
    the longer but easier routes according to the state and experience of
    their horse and finished tired but intact. Riders who knew that neither
    they nor their horses were really capable of winning took the long
    route through all the obstacles and finished tired but intact. There
    were a very few of the 82 starters who did not appear to have the same
    values as the majority, who could not ride according to their capabilities
    of the moment and should not have been in the competition.
    
    There were some visually spectacular falls. The majority of falls cause
    nothing more than minor cuts and bruises to both horse and rider. The
    most serious damage is to the rider's ego, particularly if the water
    jumps were involved! However, a few injury accidents did occur, but it
    is not yet clear what the long term impact to horse and riders
    involved will be. Having seen many different equestrian activities in
    many parts of the world, this Olympics competition was far removed from
    the extremes of cruelty that some have attributed to it. I can point to
    real acts of cruelty in your own (U.S.) back yard, like breaking a
    horse's leg to collect on the insurance!
    
    BEGIN REAL EDITORIAL = FLAME ON.
    
    There are two emerging strands in contemporary U.S. and, to be fair,
    other nations' cultures that really annoy me.
    
    (1)	Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing. Particularly in
    horse sports where the equine didn't volunteer to participate, I have
    seen this attitude result in real cruelty at the very lowest levels of
    competition. I am sure we have all seen a rider beating up on his/her
    horse because that rider made a mistake or was not a sufficiently
    skilled or aware rider to handle the particular situation.
    
    (2) The world and life in general is managed by Walt Disney and nothing
    bad should ever happen. If it does, that activity should be banned,
    smothered and regulated out of existence so that we can all sleep safe
    in our beds, assured in the knowledge that our high moral values have
    been successfully stuffed down everybodies throat. Our superior virtues
    have prevailed at no immediate cost to ourselves.
    
    Who is going to save the world from those who want to save the world,
    since they may do more damage than all the rest of us put together?
    
    END EDITORIAL = FLAME OFF
    
    So, I don't have nearly the same reaction to the incidents in the
    Endurance competition. 95% of the competitors did the right thing. I
    would concentrate on the 5% that didn't rather than ditching the whole
    thing. 

    The show jumping competition of the Three Day Eveny had an effect on
    the final results as some rather tired and stiff horses sent the rails
    flying.
    
    Individual Competition
    
    Gold Medal		Matt Ryan	Kibah Tic Toc	70.00	Australia
    Silver Medal	Herbert Blocher	Feine Dame	81.30	Germany
    Bronze Medal	Blyth Tait	Messiah		87.60	New Zealand
    4			Vicky Latta	Chief		87.80	New Zealand
    5			Andrew Hoy	Kiwi		89.40	Australia
    6			Karen Dixon	Get Smart	92.40   Britain
    
    Team Competition
    
    Gold Medal		Australia	278.80
    Silver Medal	New Zealand	290.80
    Bronze Medal	Germany		
    
    Andrew Nicholson riding Spinning Rhombus for New Zealand came into
    stadium in second place and proceeded to drop nine rails for 45 penalty
    points. Mary Thomson on King William in fourth place after cross
    country had five rails down. As noted in previous replies, Murphy
    Himself ridden by Ian Stark did not pass this morning's vet inspection.

    re .69
    
    I agree with your "editorial" points wholeheartedly!  Although there's
    always been a segment of riders -- and people in general -- who simply
    cannot enjoy a sport unless they win all the time, their numbers seem
    to be increasing.  And this view also seems to pervade life outside of 
    sport, as you point out.  
    
    I find this particularly strange in equestrian sports.  There seems to
    be so much more to enjoy even when you're not winning, or even
    competing for that matter, than in other sports.  I mean, you still
    have your horse -- hopefully - whether you win or not.  So why on earth 
    is winning so important?  So, you trained for months and worked for 
    months and you and your horse are working toward being the best you can 
    be, and you don't some in first in some competition.  So what??  We 
    feed, care for, train and ride our horses because we like horses and like 
    to ride and train, right?  Why is a first prize, or some other such honor
    needed to "validate" the worth of our pursuit?
    
     -ellie

As some TV comercial keeps pounding into our brains...

"The person who said, 'winning isn't everything', never won anything."

This is a powerful message. It sets a tone and attitude in sports.
(eg, the winner is the only one who survives.)

I believe the olympics are a great(!), but there is a dark side to everything.

Ed P

    Thanks, Ed... I agree with YOU !  Real winners are the people that
    accept life for what it is... hard work, an occasional pat on the back,
    and a chance to help others... Olympics, included.
    
    John

    You're probably right.  I forget how much the media loves to
    sensationalize.  That possibly occurred to me last night when MCI
    presented "The Last 24 Hours of the Olympics."  They included one 5
    second shot of the x-country -- a horse and rider taking a bath at 
    the water jump!
    
    I've witnessed (and occasionally be the victim of) the "winning is 
    the only thing" attitude since I was a kid. 
    
    Most recently, I've watched one trainer deliberately steer specific 
    students in the wrong direction and undermine their self-confidence.  
    Which students?  The one's with very talented horses that she sees as a 
    potential threat.  
    
    Mary 
        

  RE: <<< Note 1592.69 by A1VAX::GUNN "I couldn't possibly comment" >>>

   First of all, thank you for taking the time to keep us all updated on
   the results. Our cable company doesn't have the Triple Cast!

   I've noticed that the commentators have decided that the only thing
   worth getting is the GOLD Medal. "Poor thing, all she won was a BRONZE
   Medal, what a disappointment." This is disgusting and not in the spirit
   of the games. I think these reporters need a serious attitude adjustment. 
   It's not even enough anymore that these people are the best in the world, 
   that they beat out hundreds of hopefuls just to GET to the Games! 

   I also heartily agree with your second comment. Just think how boring 
   life would be if the whole world was managed by WDW. ;^) Brings to mind a 
   few sci-fi novels, doesn't it? :^)

re: .59
>    collapsing from heat exhaustion, maybe they'd ease up.  On the other
>    hand, it hasn't effected horse racing...

    I have personally watched thousands of harness races over the last
    10 + years, and have seen maybe 4 accidents.

    What were there, 4 out of 100 horses killed at Badmitton ?


    SHORT EDITORIAL

        There have been other responses to this and I have repeated it
        in here too.  The top level riders in any equestrian discipline
        basically train to the same level.  It dosen't matter if
        your doing Dressage on a warmblood, barel racing or running
        a TB at Saratoga.

        My complaint is people who have a horse as a pet or a replacement
        for human compainship,  These horses are never worked, and spend
        all their time in a stall, being groomed and bathed.  The person
        should get a Goldfish and I think the horse would also be better
        off if the person got a Goldfish.

    END EDITORIAL

re: .69

    well said.


      

    re:last
    
    Sounds like you don't think horses should be kept as pets, only to be
    worked and slaved. I, for one, think a horse makes a great friend and
    companion.  When they're a pet, they'll always try to please you, 
    they'll be happier and perform better.
     
    Sharon

re: .76, .77

    Not totally.  I ride 'cause it's fun.  After a couple of years
    of Dressge lessons and year and a half of leasing I'm at the point 
    where I can get some of the proper responses from the horse.

    I'm just so tired of the complainers.

    I'm not successful at shows because...
        I'm not successful at shows because...the judge doesn't like my horse
        I'm not successful at shows because...the judge doesn't like (my breed)
                                              of horse
        I'm not successful at shows because...the winners have coaches
        I'm not successful at shows because...the winners buy the best horse
        I'm not successful at shows because...the winners take more lessons than
                                              I can
        I'm not successful at shows because...because...because...

    Recently I've heard some pretty incredible thinks at the Olympics, The
    Chinese womens gymnastics team penalized because the judges didn't like
    their leotards, and the boxing !!!!!

    But in general, the winners won because they worked the hardest and were
    prepared.  They train as much as they ride.

    Do I show ?  No.  Will I ?  When I'm schooling at second level Il'l enter
    my first show, maybe training level because hey, I want to win !

    Bill

    Bill,
    
    I'd have to disagree with your last point that at the olympics the
    winners won because they worked the hardest and were the best prepared,
    although I'd say that's what got them to the Olympics to begin with.
    
    I think after you get to that level of competition, pretty much
    everyone has worked equally hard and is equally prepared (except for
    Shannon Miller who they admitted had not prepared a second vault!). 
    When you're winninng or losing by 1 or 2 thousands of a point, having 
    an off day, the wrong color or shape outfit, not being a judges favored 
    type, etc. are more likely to impact whether you're 1st or 2nd.
    
    Whereas, an Olympic quality competitor having their worst day will
    still be significantly better than some, who, for example, is only a 
    state or regional quality.
    
    And when judges openly penalize a team because they don't like the
    style of their leotard, or when 10 judges openly admit that one person 
    really won, but the computer system screwed up so -- tough break, you
    can only wonder how many other bad decisions take place that are never
    admitted to.
    
    However, I think the real problem lies in the winning is the only thing
    attitude.  And I find it hard to believe that that boxer's career is 
    ruined just because he didn't win an olympic medal.  What he's really
    lost is 6 months of t.v. commercials.  Which is, admittedly, a large
    financial loss.
    
    Mary

    I have to agree with Mary's observations about the financial aspects of
    the Olympics. Success at the Olympics can mean a lot of financial
    reward for the athlete. Not just in endorsements or TV Commercial
    contracts but within the sport as well. A rider who wins Olympic Gold
    or a World Championship in showjumping or 3-Day will get better mounts 
    sent to him/her, get corporate sponsorships easily and be able to charge 
    owners more for showing the horse.
    
    Some well known examples of this are Budweiser Gem Twist and Henderson
    Milton. Neither riders nor the corporation own the horses. Presumably,
    the riders are paid for board/training/showing and entry fees by the
    owners. The corporate sponsors support the running of the stable
    because they think the succesful combination is a good vehicle to keep 
    their corpaorate name before the public in a positive way.
    
    Successful 3-day riders like Ian Stark also can get corporate
    sponsorships fairly easily.
    
    The situation is somewhat different in dressage. Perhaps because the US
    riders haven't been particularly successful in international
    competition but it may also be because dressage is not a "Thrills and
    Chills" type sport. In fact, to the uninitiated, it's quite boring
    except for the Kur. I honestly can't recall any dressage rider from any 
    country having corporate sponsors. Showjumping and 3-day are exciting
    and the scoring is easily understood even by non-horse folks. Everybody
    can see knockdowns, falls and refusals and understand that those are
    "bad things" to have happen. Dressage is a lot more esoteric and the
    scoring is subjective as well as harder to understand.
    
    I'm getting off the soapbox!
    John

    The Team Dressage Competition ended as expected with the German Riders
    finishing in the top four individual places and taking the Team Gold
    Medal. This does not mean that it was an uninteresting competition even
    though  Nichol Uphof and Rembrandt made everybody else look a little
    clumsy. Carol Lavell and Gifted did very well finishing in sixth
    position and winning the Bronze Medal for the U.S. Team.
    
    T.V. coverage started before the advertised time so I may not have seen
    all the rides broadcast. I'll try and get them all taped on the Encore
    tomorrow morning. Individual placings and scores as far as the
    TripleCast gave them were:
    
    1.	Nichol Uphof		Rembrandt	Germany		1768
    2.	Isabelle Wirth		Gigolo		Germany		1762
    3.	Klaus	Balkenhol	Goldstern	Germany		1694
    4.	Monica Theodorescu	Grunox		Germany		1675
    5. 	Andy Van Grunsven (?) Ride Not Shown	Netherlands	?
    6.	Carol Lavell		Gifted		U.S.A.		1629
    7.	Elizabeth Max Theurer	Lichtenstein	Austria		1577
    8.	Kyra Kyrklund		Edinburg	Finland		1571
    .
    	Margit Otto-Crepin	Maritin (?)	France		1521
    22.	Robert Dover		Lectron		U.S.A.		1507
    27.	Michael Poulin		Graf George	U.S.A.		1495
    27. Charlotte Bredahl	Monsieur	U.S.A.		1495
    	Cindy Ishoy		Dakar		Canada		1466
    
    The top sixteen riders go forward to compete for the Individual Medals
    in the Grand Prix on Wednesday, also being covered by the TripleCast.
    
    Team Placings were:
    
    	Gold Medal	Germany		5200+
    	Silver Medal	Netherlands	4742
    	Bronze Medal	United States	4643
    
    Gifted went extremely well for Carol Lavell despite putting in an
    additional (bowel) movement "Poop at X" when she saluted at the start
    of her test. This seemed to catch her by surprise but she recovered. I
    felt that after completing the passage and piaffe Gifted canter work
    was a bit "heavy" compared with the Germans. Lectron gots his tongue
    over the bit as he entered the ring and Robert Dover had to ride the
    entire test that way. Thanks to the early start, and I set my VCR to
    start ten minutes early anyway, I only saw half of Nichol Uphof's ride
    on Rembrandt, which was spectacular. I will stay up late to see and
    tape the repeat.

    At the completion of the first round of jumping in the Nations Cup Team
    Jumping in Barcelona the team standings are:
    
    	1.	Netherlands		4 faults
    	2.	Austria			4.75
    	3=	Belgium			8.75
    	3=	France			8.75
    	5=	Great Britain		12.75
    	5=	Spain			12.75
    	7	Switzerland		16
    	8	United States		20
    
    The jump crew was kept extremely busy. In the first part of the
    competition in the early morning shadow caused a great many problems
    particularly at the last fence 14, a Liverpool. At least seven riders
    were eliminated. The triple combination, fence 8 A, B and C also caused
    refusals and many knockdowns.
    
    The course designer, who had never built an international course
    before, designed a very light and "airy" course with minimal wings to
    the jumps and very "open" fences including the wall which was not
    solid. However, faults were incurred all around the course and none of
    the riders had any previous experience with this designer's courses.
    
    Results of the two rounds will determine not only the team positions
    but which riders go into the individual competition at the weekend. the
    second round will be ridden this afternoon over the same course. It is
    also being televised by the TripleCast.
    
    "Famous" horses had mixed results in the first round. Big Ben ridden by
    Ian Millar for Canada had 12 faults but Milton ridden by John Whitaker
    for Great Britain went clear (Let's hear it for Big Grey Horses!). Mark
    Todd, having not completed the 3-Day competition, had 4 faults.
    
    U.S. Team first round:
    
    	Anne Kursinski		Cannonball	Eliminated at Fence 8
    	Norman Dello Joio	Irish		12 faults
    	Lisa Jacquin		For the Moment	4 faults 
    	Michael Matz		Heisman		4 faults
    
    Great Britain first round:
    
    	Nick Skelton		?		Eliminated at Fence 14
    	Tim Grubb		Denizen		8.75 faults
    	Michael Whitaker	Monsanta	4 faults
    	John Whitaker		Milton		Clear Round
    
    All of these standings can change quite dramatically with this
    afternoon's second round. The first round was completed 90 minutes
    before the TripleCast expected it so they are now "filling in" with two
    sadistic players committing acts of violence and cruelty against a poor
    defenseless white ball, cheered on by a noisy crowd lusting for blood.
    
                                   :-)!

    For the "encore" repeat broadcast of the Team Dressage I hooked up all
    my VCR's and made an extra tape, in case folk want to borrow it. Since my
    second VCR only records at standard playing speed, the first and last
    rides in the broadcast are not complete. The telecast lasted slightly
    longer than a T130 tape. Send me mail if you would like to borrow it.
    You will need to come to ZKO or LKG. 

re: 79

    Let me try that again.  I got so wrapped up in my answer
    that I kind of lost the question.

    My original intention was to reply to the notes re - how
    can anyone ride an advanced CT cross country course ?

    The answer is that they train for it.  Yes there may be 
    accidents but you can't believe it is someone's goal to
    ride into a fence.  Jackie Joyner Kersee's husband received
    alot of abuse, telling his wife to continue in a race
    last year where she was hurt.  His intention was to motivate
    the best woman athlete in the world (she has 2 golds in
    the Heptathlon), not have her splattered on a race track.

    Everyone want's to ride well, but few of us excell.  Many who
    can't comprehend the work (physical & mental) involved
    are the couch potatoes with pet horses.

    I would no more ride an advanced CT cross country course
    than try boxing Marvin Haggler or Mike Tyson or try 1 play    
    on a pro football field (not even the N.E. Patriots).


    Besides Boxing, which is beyond explaination, and possibly some
    politics being played by the judges I suspect noone really wins
    anything by 0.001, but the judges rank each competitor and then
    back-assign a number to fit.

	Ian,

	I have to say "thanks" for all of the results that you've been
	postings (not to mention the great "commentaries"!) I especially
	like the one about that poor white ball being brutalized. 

	Thanks again!

	Linda

I would like to believe that the judges don't already have the winners
determined.  It is possible for anyone to win, if they work hard enough,
and do their best on the day of competition.

Ed..

    BS! There's no way anybody from the US is going to beat any German in
    dressage in our lifetimes. As those of you who watched the Triplecast
    of yesterday's dressage heard Melanie (Smith) Taylor say "The judges
    are so taken with the heavy Warmblood type of horse, especially the
    German ones, that lighter breeds like the TB are at a severe
    disadvantage."
    
    She also said something like "Dressage is a sport where you have to pay
    your dues. Until you get out there in front of the judges enough that
    they know what you can do, you're not going to score well." In other
    words, build yourself a reputation and then we'll give you a score.
    
    So far, Melanie Smith's commentary is the only thing about the coverage
    that NBC has done right! Her comments are insightful and accurate
    without being demeaning of those she is criticizing. I prefer her frank
    style to sycophantic American-biased style of previous Olympic 
    commentators.
    
    NBC has done little to warrant the kind of price they put on
    the Triplecast. They dropped 6 hours of 3-day coverage and later said
    it wasn't there fault. Yesterday, they cut the team dressage coverage by
    1.5 hours to add coverage of women's basketball. 
    
    This morning's first round of showjumping, as noted earlier, was turned 
    into 2 guys sadistically beating up little florescent colored balls. The 
    second round of showjumping was delayed more than half an hour to allow 
    guys in skimpy bathing suits to jump into the water just one last time. 
    
    That totals more than 9 hours of equine coverage that they promised and 
    didn't deliver! Their lame excuses like it's somebody else's fault or
    it finished early don't wash. They could have inserted tape coverage of
    more dressage yesterday. Half of what they did show was already taped
    footage as the competition takes 2 days. Same with the showjumping, a
    tape delay would have allowed the coverage that they promised.
    
    John

    For those who didn't set their VCR's early enough, I'll describe what I
    think the differences between Nichole Uphof/Rembrandt's test and
    Isabelle Wirth/Gigolo's test.
    
    Nichole Uphof and Rembrandt gave a very light stylish performance. His 
    transitions were INCREDIBLY smooth. Uphof is a very quiet and soft
    elegant rider. Her position and style are admirable. If she didn't get 9's 
    for rider marks, she was robbed! I thought Rembrandt's collected
    gaits(piaffe and passage) lacked sufficent engagement for a top caliber 
    Gran Prix horse. This also showed in his extended gaits although less 
    obviously. The both the canter and walk pirouettes were good. So
    frequently, we see horse's who pivot on their hindleg more like a
    reining horse's rollback spin than a true pirouette. It was a real
    treat to see it done so well!
    
    Isabelle Wirth and Gigolo gave a very respectable account of
    themselves. Wirth's riding lacks the finesse of Uphof's. Wirth bounces
    around and flails her arms and legs too much to be considered elegant.
    Gigolo is not as light on his feet as Rembrandt and therefore is also
    less elegant. The transitions between gaits/movements were not as
    smooth as Rembrandt's. However, Gigolo shows an appropriate amount of 
    engagement in his collected work, especially the piaffe and passage. His
    extended gaits were functionally better than Rembrandt's but not as
    pretty to watch. Gigolo's pirouettes were good but not QUITE as good as 
    Rembrandt's. One tiny tiny fault that I noticed in Gigolo's canter 
    pirouette was that on one stride, he planted his foot and pivoted 
    slightly . He quickly picked it up and regained his rhythm. I don't think
    I would have noticed it in person but the camera was zoomed in on his
    feet so it was quite clear.
    
    In short, the edge for style, transitions and pirouettes go to 
    Uphof/Rembrandt while the advantage for collected/extended gaits go to
    Wirth/Gigolo. Other than that they were VERY close in quality of
    performance. If I were judging, I would have a VERY VERY hard time
    picking a winner. I prefer the elegance of Uphof/Rembrandt but feel
    that the collected work is not as good as it should be. What
    Wirth/Gigolo lack in style, they make up for in correctness of their
    collected work....I think I'd flip a coin unless one of them made a
    mistake.
    
    John

    Correction to 1592.81:
    
    We set our VCR to record early and caught the beginning of the
    dressage.  Charlotte Bredahl was the first rider they showed and she
    got a score of 1507 which was tied by Robert Dover later.  So the
    table should be:
    
    .
    .
    .
    22. Charlotte Bredahl	Monsieur	U.S.A.		1507
    22.	Robert Dover		Lectron		U.S.A.		1507
    27.	Michael Poulin		Graf George	U.S.A.		1495
    
    There was quite a contrast between Charlotte's ride and Robert Dover's.
    Charlotte had a nice quite, accurate test, but her horse didn't show
    much engagement or impulsion.  With Lectron's tongue over the bit,
    Robert Dover had lots of problems - stiffness, resistance, etc., but
    Melanie Smith Taylor made the comment that the judges really like the
    horse so he got a half-way decent score.
    
    						Jan

    
    I also have the tripple cast and I am having a terrible problem w/ the
    listing in my TC guide!  Example:
    
    It said the jumping would be today from 5:00am - 9:00am and again at
    2:00pm - 5:00pm
    
    I woke up at 5:00am to check to see it was on and it was.  I went back
    to bed and got up at 7:00am and Tennis was on!  All my listings have
    been wrong so far..has anyone else had this problem w/ Tripple Cast?
    
    Lou

    Yup, they have repeatedly changed the amount of coverage and the times
    at which things start/stop. For example, today's listing said
    Showjumping Round 2 at 8:15(Pacific)...The blow-dried air-heads in the
    studio show at 2AM said Showjumping would start at 8:00(Pacific)...In
    fact, it started at 8:40...40 minutes later than the air-heads said and
    25 minutes later than the listing said...
    
    Odds are that this will shorten the coverage by about half an hour because 
    round 2 will probably end about when expected.
    
    

    Clear rounds were as hard to come by in the second round of the team
    showjumping competition as the first. Only six riders went clear.
    Despite having jumped the same course in the first round, some riders
    were still having difficulty, with Fence 14, the Liverpool as the last
    fence on the course proving several riders' undoing as in Round 1. The
    Swedish rider Peter Ericksson was the only rider to have gone clear in
    both the first and second rounds until the last few riders went at the
    end of Round 2.
    
    Peter Ricksson, Hervet Godignon for France, the U.S.'s Michael Matz,
    the home team's Luis Astolfi, Thomas Fruhmann from Austria and Jos
    Lansink from the Netherlands were the riders going clear in the second
    round. Anne Kursinski, having been eliminated in the first round,
    completed the second round with great vigor for four faults. Other
    members of the U.S. Team had four (Lisa Jacquin) and eight (Norman
    Dello Joio) faults.
    
    Most of the leading competitors were getting one rail down (or a foot
    in the water jump) for four faults. Big Ben and Milton had this score
    as did Michael Whitaker on Monsanta. Nick Skelton riding Dollar Girl,
    also eliminated in the first round, got round with eight faults.
    Nations Cup scoring allocates eliminated riders twenty faults over the
    worst score of a rider completing the course and allows those
    eliminated riders to coninue to the second round. Team scores are
    determined by adding together the best three scores in each round from
    the four members of the team.
    
    In the "Woops!" category for the second round was Ludger Beerbaum from
    Germany. His horse's bridle, a Hackamore, broke while he was on course
    leaving him with no steering or brakes. Before his horse got to far out
    of control he made an emergency dismount.
    
    The final team standings were:
    
    	1.	Netherlands
    	2.	Austria
    	3.	France
    	4.	Spain
    	5=	United States
    	5=	Switzerland.
    
    The TripleCast did not give the team socres nor identify the riders,
    the top 50%, who will be going forward to the qualifying round of the
    individual jumping competition on Friday.
    
    TripleCast scheduling, as noted previously, is also out of control.
    Only the last thirty minutes of the coverage of the first round was
    repeated last night. More than an hour of the repeat time was taken up
    with the U.S. losing to Cuba at baseball. I lodged a complaint with the
    1-800-OLYMPIC number, who collect and forward all the many complaints
    and comments they receive to NBC once a day. I also yelled at Stephen
    Lake's (V.P. of Consumer Services) answering machine.

The Individual Dressage competition was held this morning. NBC delayed 
equine events by 30 mins yet again(this time so the track & field 
commenators could debate whether or not a decathalon athelete had fouled 
out in the qualifying trials!) and then they cut to dressage in the middle 
of a ride! However, they did stay until the completion of the event.

The top 6 rides in the Gran Prix Special test were
1. Uphof/Rembrandt		Germany	1626
2. Wirth/Gigolo			Germany 1551
3. Balkenhol/Goldstern		Germany	1515
4. Van Grunsen/Olympic Bonfire	Holland	1447
5. Kyrklund/Edinburg		Finland	1428
6. Lavell/Gifted 		USA	1407

As you may guess from the scores Rembrandt performed significantly better
than he did in the team competition. In fact, this was without a doubt
the BEST RIDE I HAVE EVER SEEN in competition! Yes, that puts Rembrandt
ahead of Ahlerich, Marzog and Granat, etc but it's true!

Uphof seemed determined not just to win the Gold but to bury the opposition.
She took EVERY chance and pushed for the best that Rembrandt could offer. As 
a result, Rembrandt showed better engagement than he did in the team 
competition. He showed FANTASTIC extensions. His extended canter was the
best I've seen. For the most part, he also showed extremely smooth 
transitions. The piaffe and passage were significantly better than those he 
showed in the team competition. The pirouettes were as good and, I think,
also showed more engagement than in the earlier test.

Uphof's "aggressive" ride caused 2 of the 3 tiny flaws that I saw. The third
may have been simple mental fatigue by either horse and/or rider. In the 
transition from passage to extended trot, she pushed a little too hard and 
Rembrandt made a jerky transition. In the extended walk on the diagonal, 
Uphof was really pushing with her seat and Rembrandt got a little quick. 
However, he was extending well so I doubt that their score suffered much 
for that. Their final halt at G was not square so that probably cost them 
a few marks.

On the whole, Uphof's determination to go for it worked. She got an 
outstanding performance from her mount. Throughout the ride, she maintained 
her elegant style and she was so quiet that I doubt that most people could 
have detected her aids. At last, an Olympic champion who can win with style 
and elegance! Uphof came out of the arena looking very tired and as if she had 
been holding her breath throughout the ride. She broke into tears and was 
hugging teammate Klaus Balkenhol while she was still mounted. She was 
overjoyed to put it mildly!

Wirth and Gigolo performed very well too. Their extended trot and passage 
were outstanding and overall the test was excellent. With a score like 
that, it would have to be! But, they would have been much closer to 
Uphof & Rembrandt but for a few errors. Gigolo missed a tempi change on the 
center line after the canter pirouette. They may have drifted of the 
centerline while doing the canter pirouette too. It's hard to tell from the 
camera angle. Although their transitions were acceptable, they not as good 
Uphof/Rembrandt's and looked a bit ragged by comparison. Since horse 
and rider are 9 and 23 respectively, we're likely to see them in Atlanta in
1996. I'd be surprised if they didn't improve quite a bit by then.

Balkenhol and Goldstern were the only other combination to break the 1500
point barrier. There performance was consistent and uniformly good. IMHO,
they showed the best engagement of the lot. Goldstern comes under himself 
more and lifts his body higher in his collected work than the others. He's
also fairly light on his feet for a horse his size and bulk. Frankly, I was 
surprised that they were placed behind Wirth and Gigolo because of the 
latter's mistakes. Balkenhol and Goldstern are EXTREMELY popular with the 
knowledgeable German fans. I was glad to seem them on the team over some of 
the other choices that could have been made.

John

    Wow, I wish Dr van Schaik could have lived another year to see this. 
    Holland has not won an Olympic showjumping medal of any kind since he 
    and his teammates brought home the Team Silver in 1936! He would have 
    been in his glory to see them win the Team Gold in jumping and Team Silver 
    in dressage.
    
    He may have lived his last 38 years in the US and been a citizen but he
    was still Dutch at heart. He was a true chauvinist in the original sense
    of the word(my countrymen are better than any other nation's people). 
    For years, he refused to go to a Doctor who wasn't Dutch! 
    
    John

    Re .90 and following.
    
    TripleCast schedules are like Digital First Customer Ship dates. If the
    day is right (year in the case of FCS) that's close enough. Not even
    the 1-800-OLYMPIC number knows what the updated schedule is. Certainly
    the "anchor persons" don't. I have resorted to being home or staying up
    at the time an equestrian broadcast is supposed to start so I can
    manually start my VCR and leave it to record until it runs out of tape.
    The individual dressage competition coverage started thirty minutes
    late this morning and the rides had already started. Instead of
    dressage I got to see the Reverse Rock Fetch (Shot Put) of the
    Decathalon and some folk leaping over a jump with the aid of a pole
    instead of a horse like normal folk do.
    
    The TripleCast is delivering less coverage of equestrian events than
    represented in their Program Guide. Since, according to the Wall Street
    Journal, they are in the hole for $150 million on this venture (since
    they have Digital's Marketing as well as Scheduling skills  :-) ! ), I
    suspect they are favouring mass market sports for which they can get
    daily subscribers. The radio spots I am hearing promoting the reduced
    daily rate ($19.95) never mention the equestrian events.

    In case you've been wondering what kind of uniform Dressage Individual
    Bronze Medalist Klaus Balkenhol is wearing, it's his POLICE uniform!
    He's a mounted policeman in the Dusseldorf Police Force.
    
    In fact, this is as close to a "rags to riches" story as you get in
    dressage. Balkenhol, who is 53, is a career mounted cop. Many years
    ago, he became interested in dressage and studied. He got permission to
    compete in dressage on his patrol mounts. He first rose to German
    national prominence with Rabauke who was one such mount.
    
    Goldstern is another! Goldstern was bought by the Dusseldorf Police
    Force for DM6,000 (about $3,000 US depending on the exchange rate) to
    serve as a patrol horse. Balkenhol was assigned as his rider and he
    started out controlling crowds at soccer games. Balkenhol exposed 
    Goldstern's talent for dressage and developed it achieving prominence
    last summer. They won the 1991 German Men's National Championship; placed 
    2nd at the Aachen Grand Prix and won the Kur there; They were also second 
    in the Kur at the European Championships by a mere fraction of a 
    mark(0.51 to be precise!)
    
    The Dusseldorf Police Force was offered DM 1,000,000 for Goldstern last
    summer after those successes. They turned it down. 

    Wow!  Thanks for the Balkenhorn/Goldstern story!!!!  I love
    rags-to-riches stories like that -- they keep my little flame of hope
    from burning out totally :-)  :-)  :-)
    
    
    BTW, thanks for your coverage of the Olympics. Boy am I glad I decided
    not to get the triplecast -- I'd be seeing red. However, someone at my
    barn has been taping it, so I'm hoping to borrow her tapes!
    
    Mary

    I know ALL of us who got the Triplecast have been grumbling about
    getting jerked around with the schedule changes and loss of 9+ hours of 
    promised coverage. I freely confess that I'm probably the biggest 
    grumbler. 
    
    However, I hope whichever network does the Olympics from Atlanta will do 
    something similar. Despite their shortcomings, NBC has supplied over 20
    hours of equine coverage so far on this Triplecast(10 for 3-day; 4.5
    for dressage; and 6 for team showjumping). They are still saying that
    they will provide 2 hours of the 3rd qualifying round and the 4+ hours
    of the finals of Individual Showjumping on Fri & SUn.
    
    That's about 27 hours of equine events! And it's about 25 hours more
    than we've gotten from any other Olympics. Since I haven't watched
    anything else(intentionally anyway) and Jan has only watched women's
    gymnastics, that works out to about $5/hour for the equine coverage.
    That's cheaper than paying $60 for a 1.5-2 hour tape of the '84 L.A.
    Olympics or the exhorbitant prices they were getting for tapes of the
    1988 Seoul Olympics. In fact, it would cost us something like $5/hour
    to go to a "local" movie theatre. I say "local" because the nearest one
    is 20+ miles away and the charge $7 per ticket.
    
    I just hate to get less than promised and have the schedule changed w/o
    notice or consideration for those paying for the service. Yes, I'm mad
    but I'd do it again!
    

    With the TripleCast organization facing about a $150 million loss on
    their Barcelona Olympic coverage, according to the Wall Street Journal, I
    am not sure who is going to rush forward to do the same thing for the
    Atlanta Olympics in 1996. I hope that somebody does and learns something 
    from this first attempt.

    I perceive the major problem this time around is that NBC does not
    understand the potential market. It's not a mass market anymore. They
    assumed that the Great American Couch Potato(e) who watches network
    sports between trips to the refrigerator (i.e. their regular audience)
    would be a major purchaser of this uninterrupted coverage at $125. While
    they had heard of complaints about constant interruptions and
    distractions in network coverage they assumed these comments came from
    their regular audience. 

    I believe that the complainers represented a new market with different
    characteristics. The regular network audience has a short attention span,
    is inured to the constant interruptions and content free programming and
    is quite happy with the way things are right now and won't shell out $125
    for something that requires more of their attention. I understand that
    the audience share for NBC's network coverage of the Olympics has been 
    rising and is about 5% higher than NBC promised to their advertisers, 
    again according to the Wall Street Journal. So the traditional audience 
    still exists out there in T.V. land.

    On the other hand, there are others, including a few of us, who never
    watch network T.V. coverage. Generally interested in a particular sport,
    probably as a participant in that sport, these folk are not catered for,
    unless you count the fishing shows on ESPN! Having a long attention span
    for their favourite activity, these people are quite a different
    audience. For example, in two weeks time I have been in these United
    States for twenty four years. Never, until last week, had I sat in front
    of an American television set for six and a half hours (watching the
    3-Day Endurance competition). I am sure there are others who would sit
    and watch six hours of Reverse Rock Fetching, as I have called the shot
    put in a previous reply, because of their interest in that sport. (These
    folk will return the compliment by equating Dressage with Paint Drying -
    but not if they saw Rembrandt's test.) Thus packaging up the Olympic 
    coverage to specific sports audience targets would have got more business 
    for the TripleCast. However, this would require a change in behaviour on 
    the part of the "broad"casters; even their name indicating a contrary 
    philosophy. 

    While the TripleCast coverage of the equestrian events has been far
    better than anything previously provided, it could have been better yet. 
    Ten years ago, having purchased a Super 8mm sound movie camera, for my 
    own amusement and satisfaction, I made a 90 minute movie of the 1982 
    Badminton Horse Trials. In those pre-CamCorder days, one could wander 
    into a lot more places just by carrying an expensive camera. So I tried 
    to cover all the aspects of the event - Vet inspections, competitors 
    course walks, warm up, steeplechase as well as each fence of the cross 
    country course in turn. I wasn't at the water jump when Princess Anne 
    fell in but did show her dressage ride. If I could do that alone, just 
    think of what a professional outfit could do if they put their mind to it 
    - and the technology now exists to get a rider's eye view!

    May be this what I should go and do if I get TSFO'd :-) !

    Echoing John's comment, Rembrandt's test was magnificent. While other
    horses may have made bigger movements, for example Gifted thrust his
    extensions further forward, no other horse put it all the movements 
    together so smoothly and rhythmically. The Passage and Piaffe, for which 
    the marks are doubled in the scoring, are the critical movements in the 
    test and this is where Rembrandt excels.

    I have a slow-motion function on my VCR and I went through Rembrandt's
    final Passage/Piaffe/Passage movement frame by frame. He lifted is entire
    body with each step, each leg was raised equally in absolute rhythm. His
    vertical movements remained constant. All that happened is that he 
    stopped moving forward for a short period and then moved on, without ANY 
    other change in his actions! 

    It was not that the Gigolo's test was bad, it just didn't quite reach the
    same level of excellence. Gigolo is only nine so he is only at the
    beginning of his career. The Germans prefer no markings on their horses.
    Gifted is a big horse with four large white socks and a blaze. Seeing him
    head on in a wide angle shot coming down the centre line my reaction was
    "Clydesdale" (which he is not). I wonder if the judges got the same
    subliminal message. 

    re "Seeing him(Gifted) head on in a wide angle shot coming down the 
    centre line my reaction was "Clydesdale" (which he is not). I wonder 
    if the judges got the same subliminal message."
    
    I suspect they do. I had a similar impression the first time I saw
    Gifted. I thought he looked like a refined Clydesdale w/o feather. The 
    impression is amplified by the fact that he has larger feet than the
    other warmbloods in the competition. I did find all that "chrome" 
    distracting. 
    
    On the other hand, not all of the judges were German so maybe some of
    them liked flashy horses.

    SURPRISE! NBC delayed the start of equestrian coverage again! This time
    to allow 2 WOMEN to brutalize those little balls. And they claim to be
    the "gentler" sex! ;-)
    
    They started equestrian coverage about 1.5 HOURS late. So, run home and
    fix your VCR's if you can!
    
    Now I admit that a Gold Medal tennis match is more importatnt than a
    qualifying trial but they were hanging around waiting for the medal
    ceremonies, doing interviews, etc after the match.
    
    But, on Weds they delayed going to the Individual Dressage medal
    competition so 2 fools could argue about whether or not a guy had
    fouled out of a qualifying event in the decathlon! And the didn't hang
    around for the medal ceremonies on ANY of the equestrian events. It's
    like they said "OK last horse is done. We're outta here!" 

    It's So nice to be able to see any of the dressage on tv though! I
    watched the dressage finals and it was so nice. I have a question
    though. It was obvious they had the riders in order so the best would
    be last. 
    How come they did this?
    Was this the order of the trial scores?
    
    Sharon

    The order of rides in the individual competition was decided by the
    placings in the team competition. Each rider's score from the team 
    competition were ranked. Those with the top 16 scores got to ride in
    the individual competition. They rode in reverse order so that the
    best came last. One other little twist on who got to ride is that no
    country is allowed more than 3 riders in the individual event.
    Therefore, Monica Theodorescu from Germany did not get to ride for an
    individual medal even though she placed 4th because the top 3 riders 
    were all German. She was replaced in the individual event by the rider
    who placed 17th.
    
    I don't know why it's done but they do something similar in all the 
    equine events. For example, the 3-day rider with the best placing after 
    cross country goes last in stadium jumping. In show jumping, those with 
    the best score in qualifying rounds go last in the next round...
    
    I suppose it gives the better riders an edge because they know 1) How
    the course is riding and 2) Exactly what they need to do to win. From
    the show management's or advertiser's point of view, people might leave 
    if they put the best first. This way excitement/expectation builds and 
    we stay for the whole event...and buy more popcorn and beer!

    The Wall Street Journal today,  7-AUG-1992, did a little prediction
    over the U.S. T.V. rights for the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. These will
    be bid for later this year or early next year. Even though NBC is in
    the hole for $100 Million on the TripleCast, they expect the T.V.
    rights for the next Olympics to go for $600 million or more, a 20%
    increase. Ted Turner is expected to be in the bidding along with the
    three major networks. The WSJ predicition is the T.V. coverage will be
    a three way split between a T.V. network, cable (TNT) and Pay-Per-View
    (similar to TripleCast) with little overlap in coverage. The feeling
    was that nobody shelled out $125 to see events of which the highlights
    were broadcast later on "free" network T.V.
    
    So, if these predicitions are accurate, what little equestrian coverage
    there is on "free" T.V. will dissappear along with any other sport for
    which the advertisers don't consider the audience to be desirable. It
    costs a lot to broadcast the cross country phase of the Three Day event
    so I would not be sure that a cable channel would pick that up as
    included in their monthly subscription. So it will probably be
    Pay-Per-View or nothing. I don't consider such an arrangement to be
    inherently unreasonable so long as the Pay-Per-View provider charges a
    reasonable fee and delivers full coverage.
    
    This morning the TripleCast scheduling went totally brain dead. At 9:00
    a.m. (EDT) they broadcast a schedule showing the Jumping Qualifying
    Round coverage starting at 10:00 a.m. (instead of 10:30 a.m. as in the
    printed Program). At 9:30 a.m. the final gold medal match of the Women's
    Singles Tennis competition began between Steffie Graff and Jennifer
    C(?) from Florida. Even a non tennis player like me knows that this is
    going to be a long match, which it was, finishing just before noon,
    when the coverage of the jumping began. They seem to be going out of
    their way to aggravate the equestrian enthusiasts. Perhaps all those
    USET inspired postcards upset them.

    For those interested in the background of Melanie Smith Taylor ...
    
    Melanie Smith Taylor is a retired showjumping rider. Before she was
    married, she won numerous Grand Prix jumping events as well as titles 
    like AGA(American Grand Prix Association) Rider of the Year.
    
    She was the anchor rider on the USET's showjumping team for the 1984 
    Olympics in which the US won Team Gold. The US won the Nations Cup
    by such a wide margin that year that Melanie didn't have to ride the
    second round. (That was before the current scheme where they use the
    Nations Cup as part of the qualifying rounds for the individual
    medals.)
    
    Melanie was also on the USET's Olympic team in 1980 but the US
    boycotted the Moscow games that year. The team went to the Alternate
    Olympics in Holland or Belgium I can't recall which.
    
    According to an article in The Chronicle, Melanie doesn't miss
    showjumping at all because she had accomplished everything she wanted
    to do and is now enjoying a domestic lifestyle. No, I did not say that
    she's a "domestic"! She and her husband raise and train polo ponies.
    
    Her commentary on NBC has shown that she's remarkably knowledgeable
    about all 3 Olympic disciplines. I was pleased that a jump jockey
    would know so much about dressage and be able to tell bad from good
    from the best. There probably aren't many that could. Other than Bernie 
    Traurig that is...he's competed in all 3 disciplines at an international 
    level! She must have done a lot of "homework" to sharpen her eye. 
    
    John

    Mentioning Melanie Taylor's current domestic lifestyle reminded me of
    some other "color" they mentioned on the broadcasts...Jay Randolph gets
    to sit there and say real fluff like "This rider is married and
    father/mother of 2..." I think he's there so Melanie has a chance to
    get a drink or go to the ladies' room...
    
    Anyway, they mentioned one woman rider who travels to shows with her
    year old baby. I think it was Jennifer Foster (Team Canada). She walks
    the courses with her baby on her hip! Not only that, she beat out her
    husband(Danny Foster) for the team! He used to ride Zeus but they
    switched mounts for schooling one time and the horse went so much
    better for her that she's now Zeus's regular rider. He went to the
    trials on another horse but you know who's carrying the family name to
    glory!
    
    They mentioned that another woman whose name I can't remember was
    riding in the Olympics even though she had just given birth to her second 
    child in March of this year! Pretty good recuperation, eh?
    
    Other fluff that has been mentioned:
    One showjumping team(Brazil) has a father & son on the same team; another 
    has a brother and sister(Korea) while two teams have a pair of brothers
    (Swiss bros. Fuchs and English Bros Whittaker)
    
    Only in equine sports! Well, maybe baseball is a close second...there was a 
    time when you had to be one of the Allou brothers to play outfield for 
    the baseball Giants and the Seattle Mariners made a big deal over having 
    Ken Griffey Sr and Jr on the same team last year...But you'll never see
    a brother and sister on the same major league team!

    re .107 by A1VAX::GUNN -< Next Time. >-
    
    Thanks! I consider that pretty good news. Like I said in a previous
    note, I consider the $125 that NBC charged to be fairly cheap for the
    amount of coverage we actually got. It would have been even cheaper per
    hour if they had done what they said they would.
    
    I would gladly pay $125-$150 for 25-30 hours of equine coverage even if
    events were taped/edited to fit into the time slots the had assigned
    them....
    
    But where does that leave those who are less fanatic than I? For
    example, a non-horsey friend of ours(we do have a few non-horsey
    friends) was complaining that there was no equestrian coverage on the
    networks. She likes to watch the dressage. Her daughter and the
    daughter's friend like to watch jumping.
    
    I guess those of us who are fanatic enough, financially sound enough
    and sociable enough will have to have "Olympics Parties" like the football
    fans have "Super Bowl Parties" so that our friends can see a few good
    riders and their horses
    
    John

    The Individual Jumping Competition has had its bizarre moments. The
    third qualifying round was held on Friday. The results of this round
    along with the individual rider's results from the two rounds of the
    Nations Cup team jumping competition on Wednesday determine who will go
    forward to the final competition on the last day. Riding in reverse
    order of standing based on the Nations Cup results over a more
    demanding and "technical" course, the first competitors to go became
    the "Crash and Burn" division. These less experienced riders were
    completely over-faced by the size and complexity of the course.
    
    The method by which the finalist would be chosen appears to be
    difficult to explain, at least beyond the capabilities of the NBC
    commentators and most of the riders. Those in the middle of the field
    after the Nations Cup had to enter this third round to have a chance in
    the final. The leading riders probably did not have to ride in order to
    qualify for the final. Therefore there were a lot of "scratches"
    (no-show's) in the competition. From what I could determine from what
    the commentators said, qualifying points were assigned by order of
    finish rather than actual jumping penalties in the qualifying rounds.
    So if a rider finishes first in a competition with 87 riders, he/she is
    assigned 87 points, second place gets 86, etc:. If the round only had
    45 riders, first place is worth 45 points, second 44, third 43, etc:,
    and last and 45th one point. The top 50% of the riders under this
    scoring system went forward to the final, with 50% being extended to
    included all riders with the lowest qualifying score in the case of
    ties. So those riders recognized that they had no chance of qualifying
    and wanting to save their horse from competing in Friday's hot (>90
    degree F) and humid competition withdrew.
    
    Middle of the pack riders who did compete, watched by British Prime
    Minister John Major amongst others, included:
    
    	Norman Dello Joio	Irish	16 faults	United States
    
    	Tim Grubb		Denizen	 4.75 		Great Britain
    
    There was one clear round ridden by Soeren Von Roenne ridding Taggi for
    Germany. Big Ben and Ian Millar crashed into Fence 4 and retired,
    showing obvious lameness in his left hind. 

    The Chef's D'Equippe of the leading riders agreed to withdraw their 
    riders en masse rather than subject their horses to this competition 
    under hot and humid conditions. They believed that all their riders could 
    qualify for the finals based on their Nations Cup scores. While the U.S. 
    Department of Justice might consider this action to be "collusion" it's 
    O.K. in the Olympics. Thus this third qualifying round suddenly ended 
    when these riders withdrew.

    Sunday's final day of the Individual Show Jumping competition was
    delayed by a violent thunderstorm in Barcelona. The first round began
    before the storm had finished, having been pushed back fifty minutes as
    it was. The first of 44 qualifying riders rode in a downpour (as in
    Wylye weather - see previous reply). Water covered more of the course
    than just the water jumps with puddles in various places on the course.
    
    The order of go was determined by a draw so those riding early had the
    great disadvantage of riding in the wet. Nevertheless some of the early
    riders completed their round with only four faults and Herve Grodignon
    of France riding Quidan de Ravel had a cleared all the fences with only
    one time fault. Less lucky was Jos Lansink of the Netherlands riding
    Egano who was eliminated. Egano has had a "problem" with water jumps,
    but he cleared the water jump in fine style. It was the Wall with its
    large informal puddle in front which provided his undoing with three
    refusals.
    
    The weather cleared and the course dried very quickly as the
    competition progressed. Michael Matz almost parted company with Heisman
    and did lose his hat but finished with 4 faults. Mark Todd did not do
    as well with Double Take taking five rails down. Michael Whitaker and
    Monsanta had eight faults as did Lisa Jacquin with For the Moment. For
    the Moment left all the rails up but had a foot in the water, a refusal
    and one time fault. Denizen ridden by Tim Grubb took one of my banner
    lines ("Real Horses Plow") too much to heart as he plowed into the ground
    after a fence and stumbled along for six or so "strides". His face and
    Tim Grubb's back were caked with sand when they got up. They withdrew
    at that point. 
    
    Four riders had clear rounds. Ludger Beerbaum riding Classic Touch for
    Germany, Piet Raymakers on Ratina Z for the Netherlands, John Whitaker
    on the great gray horse Milton for Great Britain and Norman Dello Joio
    riding Irish for the United States.
    
    Based on the penalty points gained in this round the top twenty riders
    went on to the final round with the "twenty" being extended in the case
    of a tie with the highest penalty point score.

    Twenty two riders went forward into the final gold medal round of the
    Individual Jumping competition. Going in reverse order based on their
    scores in the first round earlier this morning, they took with them
    their scores for this first round so the final results were determined
    by the total scores from both rounds. The course was reset for the
    final round with fewer larger fences with an enormous triple
    combination with critical striding in its approach. Fence types
    alternated between the simple but large vertical to the broad oxer
    putting great emphasis on the agility and responsiveness of the horses
    and the skill and "eye" of their riders to put them in the right place
    for each fence.

    Most riders had problems with both fences and time, some firewood being
    created, with the triple jump causing many of the penalties. Thomas
    Fruhmann riding Genius for Austria retired part way through the course
    after having several rails down when he realized he had no chance for a
    medal and wanting to save his horse. Luis Cervera withdrew Let's Go
    without starting the course. Leslie McNaught-Mandli riding Pirol B was
    eliminated for three refusals at the double. Michael Matz with Heisman
    brought three rails down. 

    The first of the four horse with no faults from the first round, the
    Great Gray Horse Milton disappointed his fans by catching his front leg
    on the back rail of the first element of the double and then refusing
    the second element. This discombobulated him and John Whitaker so the
    pair rather scrambled the second and third elements of the triple and
    another fence.

    Tension rose as Norman Dello Joio came into the ring on Irish, a rather
    young, green and small 15.3 hand horse to still be in competition at this
    stage. He rubbed several fences including the triple but brought down the
    front rail of the large yellow oxer, Fence 8. He also gained 0.75 time
    faults, winning at least third place and the Bronze Medal. 

    Now it only remained to see how the last two horses, also coming in
    with no faults, went. The Netherlands pair Piet Raymakers and Ratina Z
    went for a careful first and then quick round and came in no jumps but
    only 0.25 time faults, leaving Ludger Beerbaum and Classic Touch to go
    for careful AND quick round which they did masterfully. So two mares
    won Gold and Silver with a small inexperienced gelding taking the
    Bronze and the two sentimental favourites, Big Ben and Milton nowhere
    to be seen.

    My tally of the final scores are:
    					  |---------- Round 2 ----------|
    Place  Rider	Horse	  Round 1  Jump Time	Total	Country.
    =====  =====	=====	  =======  ==== ====    =====	========
    1.	Ludger Beerbaum	Classic Touch	0    0	0.00	0.00	Germany
    2.	Piet Raymakers	Ratina Z	0    0	0.25	0.25	Netherlands
    3.	Norman Dello Joio  Irish	0    4	0.75	4.75	U.S.A.
    4.	Herve Gaudignon Quidam de Revel 1    4	0.25	5.25	France
    5.	Jan Tops	Top Gun		4    4	0.25	8.25	Netherlands
    6.	Maria Gretzer	Marcoville	4.75 4	1.50   10.25	Sweden
    7.	Merethe Jensen	Maxime		4    8	0.75   12.75	Denmark
    8.	Rodrigo Pessoa	Special Envoy	4   12	0.00   16.00	Brazil
    9=	Michael Matz	Heisman		4   12	0.25   16.25	U.S.A.
    9=	Ludo Philippaerts  Darco	4   12	0.25   16.25	Belgium
    11.	Eric Navet	Quito de Baussy 8    8	0.50   16.50	France
    12=	Eveline Blaton	Careful		8    8	1.00   17.00	Belgium
    12=	Markus Fuchs	Shandor II	8    8	1.00   17.00	Switzerland
    14.	John Whitaker	Milton		0   15	4.25   19.25	G. Britain
    15.	Michael Whitaker  Monsanta	8   12	0.00   20.00	G. Britain
    16. Thomas Fuchs	Dylano		8   12	0.75   20.75	Switzerland
    17=	Lisa Jacquin	For the Moment	8   12	1.25   21.25	U.S.A.
    17= Jerry Smit	Governor	8   12	1.25   21.25	Italy
    19.	Luis Astolfi	Fino B 92	4   20	1.50   25.50	Spain

    	Thomas Fruhmann  Genius		8   Retired on course	Austria
    	Luis Cervara	Let's Go	8   Withdrew		Spain    
	Leslie McNaught-Mandli  Pirol B 8   Eliminated		Switzerland
    

    
    Jumping Question Regariding the horse that diggered out and came up all
    muddy in the face.  The rider got back on and jumped over 1 more jump
    and left the ring.
    
    Why did he do that?  Was it to show us or the judges that he is fine? 
    Was it to show the horse that everything is fine?   Why?  I would of
    just left the ring, walking my horse.  I would not want to get back on
    just incase my horse did hurt him self.  I would want him all check out
    before I got back on..let alone jump.  But, I am a worrie wort.
    
    Lou

                I think the reason is so the horse won't think
    it can refuse and get away with it.  Also so the rider can
    end the ride on a better note, as compared to leaving after
    a refusal.  
    
                 Bob

    
    Another question.  Is the jump after a fall, choice?  or is the jump
    expected at that level?  Refusals I can understand.  The horse did not
    refuse, he made the jump but after, he had a hard time recovering and
    his legs just would not lock back up.
    
    L

    Re: 1592.113 Medal Round
    
    I'll take over from Jan in the nit-picking department! There was a 
    small error in 1592.113.
    
    The family name of the man reported as Luis Cervera is actually
    Alvarez. When a Spaniard uses two family names(Mom's & Dad's) as 
    Senor Luis Alvarez Cervera does, The first one is their "legal" name.
    NBC certainly confused the issue by sometimes referring to him as 
    Luis Alvarez, other times as Luis Cervera and still others as Luis A.
    Cervera as if Alvarez were his middle name! They had plenty of
    opportunity because this guy rode in both the 3-day and showjumping
    divisions as did Mark Todd of New Zealand.
    
    Yes, technically Milton refused but that refusal was caused by a stumble
    on landing in the first part of a combination which left him no chance to 
    jump the second part of the combination. Whittaker just turned Milton out 
    to the left and started the combination over. Technically that's a
    refusal because it was part of a combination. If he had stumbled after
    a single jump, Whittaker could have rebalanced the horse and just
    adjusted the striding to the next fence. Bad luck was part of the
    problem.
    
    But, Whittaker and Milton certainly were discouraged by that and they
    never showed their usual brillance in the remainder of the round.
    Have you ever even HEARD of Milton having 19+ faults in a round?
    
    This was a terrible round especially in light of the fact that the
    Bradleys have announced that they are retiring Milton after the
    Olympics. It would be humiliating for such a great horse retire with that 
    round as his final performance. I hope they reconsider. They owe it to
    the horse. 
    
    I also think it would have been more fitting for Milton to be retired
    after a big show in England so that many of his fans could attend and
    cheer him out. I hope they at least give him a big retirement ceremony.
    
    John

    Typically, a rider will take a jump on the way out after being
    eliminated for a fall or refusals so that the horse leaves the arena on
    a positive note. It's supposed to be good for their courage because they
    remember the last thing(i.e. a good jump) as well as the "disaster"
    which may have frightened them.

    Well, someone from my barn got the dressage on tape.  I jokingly
    suggested to her husband, John, that they should have an "Olympics 
    Party" and invite the barn to watch.  Asked one of the other boarders 
    what she wanted to eat and drink.
    
    John took my tease to heart!!!! They're having the party tonight --
    dressage and pizza :-)  :-)  :-)
    
    Mary
    

    Of the eighteen equestrian medals awarded in the Barcelona Olympics, 
    Germany won the most (7), with six other countries sharing the rest. The 
    Dutch team had a much stronger showing than expected and the British went 
    home empty handed.

    Final tally:

    Country		Gold	Silver	Bronze		Total
    =======		====	======	======		=====

    Germany		3	2	2		7
    Netherlands		1	2			3
    Australia		2				2
    New Zealand			1	1		2
    United States			2		2
    Austria			1			1
    France				1		1

    The appearance of Far Eastern countries in Barcelona with high quality 
    horses albeit ridden by inexperienced riders suggests that they could 
    become more serious competitors in future. Their disadvantage is that 
    riding is not a common activity "at home" so they have a limited 
    population of riders from which to draw. The second more confirmed trend 
    is the concentration of competitors who live/train in Great Britain and 
    Germany. This lets them compete against each other on a regular basis.

    re .117 & Milton
    
    I caught part of an interview with Miltons rider after the event.
    His comment was that after the bad peck, Milton lost his confidence 
    and had to be pushed the rest of the way round the course.
    (Sorry can't quote verbatum).
    
    It's a great shame that such a well respected horse had to wait
    so long before being given the chance to compete in the Olympics.
    I for one will hope that he's allowed the opportunity to retire
    on a high note, not this unfortunate event.
    
    Judy

    Well, I got to see some of the dressage Monday night.  It was
    interesting, too, to hear Kris Bobo's commentary in the background!
    Melanie did a GREAT job of commentating (when I could hear her :-) -- 
    I think all the of rest of the Olympic commentators could learn some 
    lessons there.  Of course, it requires some understanding of what 
    you're talking about (as opposed to a quick course in buzz words and
    superlatives) so maybe what they really need to do is replace all 
    the other commentators!
    
    Robert Dover did quite a good job of riding by leg/seat 100% -- really
    too bad about what happened.  Lectron's passage is great.
    
    RE: Rembrandt -- although some of the other horse's had more brilliant
    individual paces at specific moments (Lectron's passages, Gifted's
    extensions), I felt his performance was the most classical in terms of
    lightness, ease, harmony, fluidity, grace, etc.  His
    passage/piaffe/passage transitions were so textbook perfect they left
    me gasping.
    
    It was interesting to note that one of the commentator's asked whether
    Rembrandt's winning was a sign that the style was moving back toward
    lighter horses and compared his build and way of going to a
    thoroughbred's!
    
    Kris and I were in total agreement about our favorite horse of the 
    competition (the horse we would most like to own and ride) was a
    beautiful, bouncy Danish warmblood named Lichtenstein.  Unfortunately,
    his owner found in necessary to literally kick him through everything
    (she was literally straightening her knee and booting him through the
    tempi changes -- grrrrr).
    
    Mary 

    After all the over-runs and diversions the TripleCast eventually
    broadcast 26 hours of original equestrian coverage with 3.5 hours of
    the final day of showjumping being repeated. Before the event, the
    schedule called for slightly more than 30 hours. This coverage was far
    more than had been provided previously and was of acceptable quality.
    The camera operators at the beginning of the 3-Day endurance phase
    needed a bit of time to get the hang of what they should be showing and
    Jay Randolph needed to babble less (he reminded me of the sports
    commentator on "Spitting Image") but otherwise it was O.K.
    
    Not all the equestrian events were shown. There was a preliminary "warm
    up" jumping competition help on the middle weekend of the Olympics. I
    saw and heard no mention of the equestrian segment of the Modern
    Pentathlon (swimming, fencing, shooting, running and riding - all the
    skills necessary for a modern military officer). Since riding tended to
    be one of the weaker skills of most Pentathletes, the media delighted
    in showing the more spectacular fence crashes and falls in the previous
    Olympics.
    
    Now if somebody wants to hold a 26 hour party you can relive it all
    again, :-) !

    Mary,
    
    Re "Kris Bobo's commentary in the background!"
    
    Where was that? I'd like to find it. I think it would be interesting to
    hear a dressage rider's first hand comments about the rides.
    
    Do you remember whether it was in the team competition or the
    individual? Or which riders were going?
    
    I agree about Melanie's commentary being great. What I liked most about
    it was her frankness. When something stank, she said so. In the past,
    the networks have had Chris Schenkel(A former NFL football player) and
    Bill Steinkraus doing the commentary. While Steinkraus is well
    qualified to comment on equine events, He always said every ride was 
    always wonderful. The riders never made mistakes. They just had bad
    luck! ;-) He was especially lavish with the praise if the rider 
    was American! This was really a pleasant change!

    Another thought about the TV Olympic commentary. 
    Did anybody watch the women's gymnastics competition? I understand
    there was an uproar among women's organizations because the
    commentators referred to the gymnasts as "little girls." I can
    understand why women would object to being called girls but weren't
    these competitors girls? Most of them were 13-15 year olds. Hardly
    women! In fact, one of the commentators was a women and former gymnast
    who said something like, "We always joke about this being women's
    gymnastics because the girls are so young." But the advocates claimed that 
    this was sex discrimination because nobody would dare to call the male 
    gymnasts "little boys"...Hard to justify calling them little boys as most 
    of them are 19-22 year olds.
    
    What does that have to do with this conference? That's easy! Where was
    the uproar when Melanie several times referred to REAL ADULT MALES as
    "boys"???? For example during the individual rounds last Sunday, she
    referred to on rider as "a lucky boy" when his horse rubbed a jump and
    it stayed up. She also referred to the Fuchs brothers as "these boys"
    on Sunday. Now, the Fuchs brothers are certainly old enough to qualify
    as men....
    
    Should we men be appalled and right nasty letters to NBC, our
    Conressional Representatives, Senators and the White House?
    Frankly, Scarlet I don't give a darn....Just don't call me late for
    dinner. But it might be nice if people kept things in perspective
    before they turned on their flames.
    
    John

    One thing I noticed during the dressage competition that I hadn't seen
    (well really heard) at other competitions was the classical music
    playing in the background.  Since I really like riding with background
    music, I thought it was pretty neat that they did that.  It wasn't loud
    enough to be distracting to me and kind of made the rides more
    interesting.
    
    I agree with Mary about Lichtenstein - he was pretty neat.  I also
    liked Edinburg ridden by Kyra Kyrklund.  He was the only horse outside
    of Rembrandt that kept the same rhythm in the passage-piaffe transitions.
    
    						Jan

I've been watching borrowed tapes of the dressage Olympics, and what a thrill
its been!  I thought the commentating was excellent.  And agreed with Melanie
that Charlotte Bredahl got slightly cheated on her ride's scoring, but 
there's not much you can do when you draw an early time.   Poor Poulin,
with Graf George so tense.  I wondered if the horse's tension came from the
rider, since I don't believe he hadn't been warmed up enough.  Anyone
watching him warm up in the past knows he usually over does it, if anything,
out of 'rider nerves.'  And I suspected Lectron may have had a physical
discomfort causing the tongue to come out...  did anyone else?  I suspected
overriding in the warmup on his part too, causing a bit sore.  But that's
just my intuition, maybe since its happened to me too.  Also, since
Dover is famous for being nervous... generally running to the rest room
frequently before his test.  I think Charlotte and Carol handled the pressure 
extremely well.

I've got a few more hours to watch still... 


Melinda

               Okay, now that they're over perhaps I'll try again.
    Is there anyone that would be so kind as to let myself and
    my wife borrow any of the taped competition?  Jumping, dressage
    or what-ever, we'd love to view them and be willing to pay a
    fee for the use of them etc.  
    	       
                   Last try........
    
                          Bob
    285-3259
    SALEM::ALLORE  or call (603)437-0521  My wife's name is Michelle 
                                                                    
    
    

    Re: -1
    
    Several folk have put in notes in this conference saying they have
    various tapes they are willing to loan and, as far as I know, nobody is
    asking for any fee. Now why, exactly, should they make the effort to
    contact you, rather than the other way round?

              Was my request that unreasonable?  Only the owners
    of the tapes know who has them, when they'll be returned etc.
    I wasn't trying to be offensive, just perhaps trying to get
    next on the list.  I'm sorry if anyone thought my request was
    out of line.  As far as my paying a fee goes, I just thought
    it would be a good gesture, since it wasn't a free broadcast.
    	      
                 Bob

    John,
    
    Sorry, Kris' commentary isn't available -- she was sitting on the chair
    behind me!!!!
    
    Mary ;-p

    
    
    Does any one know how I can get all the names of the horses that
    particpated in the olimpics?
    
    

re:       <<< Note 1592.129 by A1VAX::GUNN "I couldn't possibly comment" >>>
                               -< Etiquette.... >-


>    Several folk have put in notes in this conference saying they have
>    various tapes they are willing to loan and, as far as I know, nobody is
>    asking for any fee. Now why, exactly, should they make the effort to
>    contact you, rather than the other way round?


Yes, talking about etiquette...

I can identify with the person who made the inquiry
about borrowing tapes, and I was offended by the above
response.

I can think of one immediate answer to your rhetorical question:
Saving time.  There are over 100 replies to this note.  
On a slow system, it could take half an hour to search 
through them all looking for people who may have 
offered their tapes.  And even then you don't necessarily know
if those people are geographically located nearby.

    Mary,
    
    Thanks. Jan had already explained it to me. She said it was obvious from 
    your original note that Kris was at the same party that you were...No 
    "dumb men" jokes, please!
    
    John

    Melinda,
    
    I agree that Charlotte Bredahl's ride got a lower score than it
    deserved compared to Poulin's and Dover's. Hers was better than either
    of the other 2 and deserved a better score than they. Bredahl's test
    was steady and consistent with very few glitches. 
    
    I too thought there may have been some physcial problem that caused
    Lectron to stick his tongue out especially since they claim he's never
    done it before even in training! I'm just not a believer in "luck"...
    there's usually an explanation if one is willing enough and honest
    enough to look for it.
    
    Re Graf George's tenseness... I'll bet it did come from the rider!
    Horses don't know it's the Olympics but the riders do. Sure, the horses
    can get hyped up from the crowd and the commotion but they usually take
    their cues from the rider...in more ways than one!
    
    John

    RE: .133
    
    Well said! I also entered a note .64 similar to .128 asking to 
    borrow/buy a tape from anyone, not knowing who that may be and I 
    did not see anything offensive in it either. 
    
    RE: .129 
    
    Even though people are offering to lend their tapes without payment,
    I think it would be proper "etiquette" to offer $$$ for the tape
    anyway. I think it would be a good opportunity for those that spent
    $125 on the Triplecast to re-coup some of their investment. And to
    those people that do have the tapes, you should not feel akward (sp)
    in asking for a fee. 
    
    IMHO, I would not feel right watching a tape for free, that someone
    had to spend alot of $$ to get.
    
    my 2 cents, T
                                                          

    re: .last
    
    While I agree in principle, in fact charging a fee could possibly
    constitute copyright violation (depending on whether Triplecast 
    copyrighted the filming -- not sure whether it applies to live
    broadcasting or not).
    
    But certainly it would be polite for borrowers to offer a donation :-)
    
    Mary

    RE: .137
    
    Wow!,
    
    I never thought of that Mary. You have a good point about
    copyright violations. Of course, we could get around that
    in some way.      :-)
    
    T
    

    It is in fact a copyright violation to tape shows from cable or PPV
    services and charge rental fees for the use of your tapes or to copy
    and sell such tapes. The minute there is money involved, you can be
    be accused of piracy! NBC(or whoever) might say you were subverting
    their sales of the Triplecast or the tapes they are offering for sale.
    
    John

    The note about the future of equine events in the Olympics reminded me
    of something I meant to say here. We always complain about network TV
    coverage focusing on spills in the equestrian events. I think I know
    why! It's the only thing the vast majority of the uninitiated can
    understand. In fact, I would bet that equestrian events are boring to 
    lots of folks.
    
    These thoughts came to me while watching the XC phase of the Barcelona
    3-Day. There were many shots of a horse & rider "just" galloping in the 
    green open space of a golf course. Even though I knew what was going on
    and that they weren't "just" galloping, I occassionally found the
    idyllic setting and the rhythmic fluid motion to be nearly hypnotic.
    
    Now, the last thing your average couch potato wants when they tune in a
    sports event is a meditative experience. The want action and
    excitement. You know; "Monster trucks squashing compact cars." or "Joe
    Louis punching somebody's lights out." or "Giant mutants breaking
    backboards with a slam dunk."
    
    With that mentality in mind, what would you show of a 3-Day XC? Right,
    the crashes. Would you show dressage at all? Nope. How about
    showjumping? Sure! Lots of action and excitement. It's easy to understand 
    too!
    
    I think that explains a lot about TV coverage. Other than the Olympics,
    I've seen 2-3 3-Day events on TV, no dressage and an infinite number of
    Grand Prix showjumping tournaments. So, if we wanna change what the
    networks show on TV, we'll have to change the knowledge base of the
    general population. There'a bout as much chance of that as of world
    peace! 

    Interesting theory, but how do you then explain the frequent appearance
    of golf tournaments? I mean, don't the commentators  whisper so as not
    to wake the couch potatoes from their naps? :-)
    

    Golf? Do you mean that sadomasochistic ritual which involves hitting a 
    little white ball and then chasing it? ;-) Yeah, I think they do try to
    let the couch potatoes nap during those.
    
    Obviously, I've never understood why golf is popular. It has no appeal
    to me! Nonetheless, it is quite popular in general and playing golf is 
    almost required in order to be a corporate bigwig. I suspect golf is on TV
    because the network bigwigs like golf and they can justify putting it
    on because it's a popular "game". 
    
    Similar logic might explain why ABC has more horse racing than the
    other networks: Jim McKay is an TB owner/breeder.

    For any game to be interesting to the public, I think they have to know
    the rules.  Even action games can be boring if you don't know the how
    the scoring is done.  Also, if you've ever played the game your
    watching, you can imagine yourself in there doing it with the player.
     
    Obviously, with horses, this leaves most of the public out, and
    especially with dressage vs jumping.  Even to a person who rides horses
    regularly, it looks like a horse just doing a bunch of circles.
    
    With jumping the rules are bit more obvious.
    
    Sharon