VII. SHOW JUMPING

 

PARIS ‘24 HORSE WELFARE CAMPAIGN

“The welfare of Olympic horses should no longer be overlooked and neglected”

This blog is an excerpt from the PARIS 2024 HORSE WELFARE CAMPAIGN MAGAZINE  which is free to download and read online.

Photo credit: Crispin Parelius Johannessen

 

The vast majority of riders and professionals in the show jumping world strongly wish that, in the interest of horse welfare, the Paris 2024 Olympic Games returns to teams of 4 rider-horse pairs with a “drop score”.

Indeed, for Tokyo, a new event format had been set up with three horse-rider combinations in order to allow a greater number of nations to participate, some of which do not have a sufficient number of high-level riders.

In addition, previously, only the 3 best scores of the 4 combinations counted in the classification and this drop-score system allowed riders not to finish the course if their horse was in poor shape.

This is no longer the case since Tokyo, where the scores of all horse-rider pairs count and are added together to form the overall team score. Where a team rider withdraws, their score is also counted, and the resulting pressure pushes the rider to finish the course even if the horse is in poor shape.

This format was again chosen for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, perhaps also because it increases the suspense since the placings can change up to the last participant.

During the Tokyo games, Sophie Dubourg, national technical director of the France CSO team declared:

“We are very happy! The French team is qualified and will be in the final tomorrow. Nevertheless, we clearly doubt the validity of this new Olympic format imposed by the FEI. So many points and penalties earned just for qualifying! Certainly, the course was difficult but usually, the drop score does its work since there are 4 couples in the team. This Olympic format even worries us. Mainly because many countries end up with only 2 team members, not to mention that it is far from favouring animal welfare. Finally, I do not see how emerging nations can imagine doing well in a competition imagined more for the media than for sport. I hope that real balance sheets will be drawn after all that happened in Tokyo.“

On November 15, at the FEI General Assembly, Steve Guerdat also spoke as the riders’ representative and, in a sincere and alarming speech, did not fail to point out the issues and dangers of such a format, particularly concerning animal welfare:

“We have seen too many images of riders who simply did not have the level to compete in the Olympic Games. Moreover, I am firmly convinced that no rider should ever find himself in the obligation to finish his course whatever the cost. This new format requires us to finish our turn so as not to eliminate our team. It goes without saying that a team of four couples and a “drop score” is much fairer for the sport”.

Unfortunately, these arguments were not heard by the FEI who voted and made the decision to maintain the Tokyo format.

To increase the number of participating nations in the equestrian events, it would be possible to keep to three horse-rider pairs, but count only the scores of the two best, or penalise the team in the event of a horse-rider pair withdrawing from an event, without going as far as disqualifying the whole team.

World-renowned dressage rider Isabell Werth recently warned the FEI about the sporting level required for championships like the Olympics: “It is essential that an adequate level is maintained during the Olympic Trials, as there are flags qualified who do not have the Olympic level: the well-being of the horses then necessarily suffers”, she said in particular. Even setting aside the subject of teams of three or four pairs, it is essential that all teams are able to compete at an Olympic level. It is especially necessary in show jumping and eventing, disciplines where the risk is high for both horses and riders. We do not want to have a bad image of the sport because of the pressure put on the shoulders of the riders.

Recommendation #32:

Return to the pre-Tokyo Olympic Games show jumping format of 4 rider-horse pairs per team, with a drop-score.

The individual events are of a higher standard than the team events and the difficulty of the courses for the horses should be increasing throughout the Olympic jumping competitions, not decreasing.

Recommendation #33:

Accept the French Equestrian Federation’s (FFE) request to reschedule the individual events after the team events.

The horse’s vision is altered by sudden variations in light (Ref M.A. Leblanc) and the horse is “more alert” during night events because of the effect of artificial lighting. Many riders, therefore, ask that jumping events take place in broad daylight, unlike what was done in Tokyo. Nevertheless, in order to ensure the horses do not get too hot, it will be necessary to avoid the hottest periods of the day for jumping events.

Recommendation #34

Organise events involving show jumping in daylight, while avoiding the hottest periods of the day. Consider changes to the schedule depending on the weather.

 

 

This blog is an excerpt from the PARIS 2024 HORSE WELFARE CAMPAIGN MAGAZINE  which is free to download and read online.