Horse Connection

geoff young

Hoy’s Blunder Gives U.S. the Team Bronze in Eventing

There is one thing that is certain in equestrian sport--nothing is predictable. That was the case as the Olympic three-day-eventing competition got underway at the Markopoulo Equestrian Center in Athens. Medal hopes were high for the U.S. squad, but these are the Olympics and anything can happen.

The U.S. finished in fourth. Then they were awarded the bronze medal. It was soon taken away and they were put back in fourth. But, surprise, they were again awarded the bronze, and that is the medal that they will take home. Confused? Let’s start at the beginning.

The Americans, team gold medallists at the 2002 World Equestrian Games, began the dressage with Amy Tryon. Amy and Poggio II, who replaced My Beau shortly before the Games began, was hoping to score in the forties but finished with 50.60, leaving her in 29th place.

Julie Richards and Jacob Two Two turned in a disappointing score of 65.40 for 58th place. The last of the three Americans to compete on day one was Rolex winner Darren Chiacchia and Windfall 2. Despite the gale force winds that had many riders tense and many horses spooked, things started looking up for the U.S. team when the pair posted a 44.6 for 15th place.

Day two saw John Williams and Carrick finish twenty -third with 47.60 points. America’s top eventer and two-time Rolex winner, Kim Severson with Winsome Adante, didn’t disappoint with a 36.20 which left them in fourth place.

Germany’s Bettina Hoy and her Irish Sport Horse, Ringwood Cockatoo, posted a 32.00, good enough for third, with eventing’s Grand Slam winner Pippa Funnell in second with a score of 31.40. Leading after the dressage phase was France’s Nicolas Touzaint aboard his gray Selle Francais gelding, Galan de Sauvagere, with the enviable score of 29.4.

Cross Country Day

With dressage out of the way, the Americans could focus on cross-country. The thirty-four jump layout, designed by Italian course designer Albino Garbari, was considered “horse friendly.” Details included flowers atop many of the fences. There were alternate routes with less difficult jumping efforts and the second half of the course was less challenging than the first, anticipating the horses’ fatigue. Despite these considerations, the course claimed one casualty. Belgian rider Joris van Springel fell at jump 26, the coffin, and his horse, Over and Over, broke his femur. Despite surgery, the horse had to be put down.

Kim Severson improved one position on the scoreboard, jumping into third place overall after a clear cross-country round on Winsome Adante. Darren Chiacchia and the Trakehner stallion, Windfall, went clear and moved up three spots to the twelfth position. John Williams and Carrick went clear but incurred a 1.20 time penalty, which put them in 19th place. Amy Tryon and Poggio II also had a 1.20 time penalty and were sitting in 22nd place. Vindicating their dressage ride, Julie Richards and Jacob Two Two jumped clear with a 1.60 time penalty to move up to thirty- sixth place.

French rider Nicolas Touzaint had no problem on the cross-country course and maintained his lead atop the scoreboard. Germany’s Bettina Hoy climbed one spot to second after her ride. Pippa Funnell took her time in the cross-country phase and it cost her, slipping from second place after dressage to eighth.

With two phases completed, the French remained first in the team ranking followed by Germany, Great Britain, and the U.S. The difference between first and fourth was 16.20 points—five rails. The Americans would need help to get into the medals on the final day of stadium jumping, and they got the help they needed in the most bizarre way.

Strange Show Jumping

After Amy Tryon rode a beautiful clear round on Poggio II, and Julie Richards followed clear on Jacob Two Two, there was hope that a medal would be salvaged for the U.S. Darren Chiacchia and Windfall had two fences down, but the U.S. wasn’t out of it yet. Unfortunately John Williams and Carrick collected 12 faults and hope started to fade. Kim Severson and Winsome Adante put the U.S. in the medals until the last fence. A downed rail and one time penalty put the Americans on the outside looking in with a fourth place finish.

Britain went from first after dressage to third after cross-country and was hanging on to that position during show jumping. William Fox-Pitt’s withdrawal of Tamarillo put the pressure on the rest of the team, but Pippa Funnell and Leslie Law went clear and their team score of 143.00 was good enough for bronze.

In what had to be a major disappointment, the French team settled for the silver medal after being comfortably in gold medal position after dressage and cross-country. Their three leading riders knocked down five rails for twenty penalty points and added another seven time penalties.

Germany was considered an outsider for a medal in eventing. The team hadn’t won a medal since 1988 and hadn’t been a factor through the 1990’s. With Ingrid Klimke pulling her horse Sleep Late out of the final phase, the hopes of the German team rested on the shoulders of Bettina Hoy. But it was the shoulders of her gray gelding Ringwood Cockatoo that carried Hoy through a clear jumping round and onto the medal podium to receive gold. The German team went crazy and Bettina’s husband, Andrew Hoy, a former gold medallist himself, was in tears. More tears would be shed in the next twenty-four hours.

The French launched a protest that Bettina Hoy had a false start and her ride should be disqualified. Hoy crossed the start line twice in her ride. Judges and officials agreed with the French protest and assessed Hoy twelve time penalty points. The result moved Germany down to fourth, the French to first, Great Britain to second and the U.S. to a bronze medal.
Germany immediately filed an official complaint and appealed the decision. The Germans denied it was a false start and blamed the officials who made the late call. “If I was wrong crossing the starting line too early, the judges should have penalized me right away,” said a tense Hoy. The officials decided to keep the initial score, which gave the gold back to the Germans and dropped the U.S. out of the medals. The medal ceremony was held with emotions running high and uncertainty in the air.

The National Olympic Committees of France, Great Britain, and the United States immediately filed a protest with the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The decision by the CAS is that the
FEI Appeal Committee had no jurisdiction to deal with the appeal lodged by the German Federation against the time penalties assessed to Hoy.

Consequently, France won the team gold medal, Great Britain the silver and the U.S. the team bronze medal. According to the IOC procedure, the medals will be returned by the respective National Olympic Committees to the IOC and the FEI will redistribute them in due time during a dedicated ceremony.

The ruling also affected the individual medal winners. Kim Severson, who won the individual bronze medal, was now the recipient of the silver, Pippa Funnell of Great Britain won the bronze, and Leslie Law of Great Britain is the new individual gold medalist.

David O’Connor, President of the United States Equestrian Federation, released the following statement concerning the controversial decision: “The United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) is satisfied with the decision made by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and believes it is the correct outcome, maintaining the integrity of our sport. The entire affair is a very unfortunate situation for all the countries involved, but most especially for our athletes. Everyone at the USEF feels badly for the German team and especially for Bettina Hoy, because no one wins in a situation such as this.”

There are always controversies in the Olympics, from subjective scoring irregularities to doping scandals. But there are rules in place to give a definitive foundation for judgments and rulings. There is also the human factor and mistakes are made. Sometimes they are minor and sometimes they can be extremely costly. That is what makes the Olympic Games the most compelling sports competitions on earth.

United States Wins Olympic Bronze in Dressage

It took a stellar effort by Team USA to stay in the medals in the team dressage competition and they came through with flying colors and flying changes to take the bronze for the fourth straight Olympics. The competition was as tough as it gets with the dressage nation of Germany once again capturing gold, their eighth straight, and a strong team from Spain taking the silver.

Spain led the team competition before the fourth rider from each team rode in the grand prix. It was only appropriate that Ulla Salzgeber and Rusty were the ones to bring home the gold for the German team. This will be Rusty’s last Olympics and he went out on top as usual with a score of 78.208. Spain, whose riders have trained with coach extraordinaire Jean Bemelmans, won its first Olympic dressage medal with a score of 72.917, pushing the U.S. back to bronze.

The U.S.’s top scoring pair, Debbie McDonald and Brentina, put in a good performance that showed how close the connection is between them. With tears in her eyes, Debbie proclaimed that it was Brentina’s best performance ever. However the five judges placed the pair from third to ninth for a score of 73.375. Once again it was a question of what was more important in dressage—harmony or brilliance as McDonald and Brentina were scored lower than Anky van Grunsven and Salinero, who had noticeable mistakes in a tense and uneasy ride for a score of 74.208

Robert Dover, in his sixth Olympics, scored well, earning a 71.625 on his horse Kennedy, but wasn’t happy about Debbie’s score. “I saw that test as among the best tests I’ve ever seen, and I don’t see how the scores could not have reflected that.”

The dressage judges should be thankful that the judging blunders in the gymnastics took the spotlight off of them. It wouldn’t hurt our chances in the future if we could get a judge from North America to accompany the European judges either. But in all fairness, the Dutch and German judges gave the American riders high marks.

The other two American riders, Guenter Seidel aboard Aragon and Lisa Wilcox riding Relevant 5 had to be disappointed with their marks, both falling below 70 percent. Wilcox, who was ranked as the world’s number two rider earlier in the year, had many difficulties, perhaps as a result of several injuries to Relevant. But overall as a team, the Americans more than held their own, and as one of the world’s top three dressage teams, have nothing to be ashamed about.

Anky’s Mastery of the Freestyle Continues

Defending Olympic Champion, Anky Van Grunsven, and her young horse, Salinero, put in a beautiful and moving test in the freestyle to take the individual gold medal in dressage. Their performance fortunately did not resemble their grand prix special. The pair wowed the crowd and the judges with a record-scoring kur of 85.75.

Salinero, a nine-year-old Hanoverian gelding, put in an accurate and flowing performance. His brilliant movement, combined with the stirring music and Van Grunsven’s steady riding, were nothing short of stunning. Anky once again proves her mastery of the art form that is the freestyle.

The six time World Cup Champion was impressed with how Salinero held up on the big stage. “ He felt better than expected. Salinero was in good shape and felt very relaxed. He is a happy horse and I was surprised how frightened he was during the grand prix. He felt very nervous then. So what we did was to practice with noise, photographers around and umbrellas so that he would get used to it. Today I rode him in the morning and then I let him play for an hour and so he came in the arena feeling well and relaxed." On the day of the freestyle Anky rode the horse twice prior to his performance, including 30 minutes of cantering on a loose rein. Anky won one for the ages and Salinero came of age on the biggest day of his young life. His future looks to hold many more golden moments.

Silver Swan Song

Ulla Salzgeber and Rusty made their swan song a silver one as the accomplished pair improved on their bronze medal at the 2000 Games. Rusty had a little spook and once again showed the unusual hitch in his piaffe, but his extended trot showed its usual power and elevated the pair to an 83.450, good enough to win the silver medal. Rusty will now be retired, and hopefully will get to sleep through those early morning workouts.

The bronze medal went to Spanish rider Beatriz Ferrer-Salat after earning a 79.575% in the freestyle. Ferrer-Salat proved that her 2002 WEG silver medal was not a fluke. Her horse, Beauvalais, had a little hop out of a pirouette, but other than that gave a brilliant performance to the music.

American Finishes

Debbie McDonald and Brentina were hoping to get an individual medal, the first for America since 1932, but it was not to be. Riding to a Gershwin medley, the pair couldn’t move out of fourth place. Brentina began with double pirouettes immediately following her salute-- a bold move to start the test, and then performed huge trot half-passes. The pair had mistakes in the two tempis, but continued with their difficult choreography. The piaffe was in sync with the music and the piaffe pirouette into passage was spectacular. Ending with her trademark one hand on the rein, Debbie and Brentina finished with a 78.825. After they left the ring, Debbie could be heard apologizing to Brentina. In her comments after the ride she said, “I am not happy with myself, but I am pleased with my horse. It was out of my control, it is just one of those times, that the body doesn't work with the brain. At least I lived the Olympic experience and I can return back home with my head up high.”

Robert Dover and Kennedy finished sixth after having the “ride of his Olympic life” in the grand prix special. Kennedy had great transitions with the music and beautiful flying changes on a circle right into a double pirouette. The pair scored a 74.713, but turned in a solid Olympic performance, despite the scoring that got under Robert’s skin a little. “Dressage is an art,” he explained. “It is one way to look for the greatest truths in life. It is very unfortunate that the dressage world is so much different than the jumping world, because the judges do not face a fault in dressage as if they had one rail down. They become either very ungenerous or unseeing."

With team bronze and a strong showing, the U.S. Dressage Team still has work to do but they are heading in the right direction. They are going to get an individual medal sooner rather than later. Incidentally, there was an earthquake in Athens before the finals in dressage began. It was measured on the Richter scale at 4.5 but the dressage judges marked it down to a three.

Beezie Leads U.S. to Silver Medal in Team Effort

Chris Kappler on Royal Kaliber and Beezie Madden aboard Authentic went clear in the first Nation’s Cup round at the Olympic Games. This set up a dramatic second round that came down to a jump off for the silver medal.

In the first round, Ludger Beerbaum was clean leaving the German team in first place with just four faults. One rail behind them was the U.S. and the Netherlands tied with eight faults; Sweden, Belgium and Switzerland trailed with twelve faults.

Under Lights

Ten teams out of sixteen made it to the medal round. Held in the evening under the lights for the first time in Olympic history, it proved to be very difficult with rails falling throughout the competition.

Two fences caused problems for many riders. For the early starters, a sharp turn to fence three, an oxer, caused the rails to fall as horses misjudged the fence due to lighting conditions. Peter Eriksson, the first rider from Sweden, had his horse run right into the jump. They never really recovered and ended up with ten faults. That oxer also caught Peter Wylde, the first American on course. It wasn’t long before the coaches had their riders taking a wider turn to the number three to avoid the issue. Fence four, the Greek coins, were also tricky with their silver and gold rails reflecting the lights.

German Gold

Peter Wylde and Fein Cera hoped to rebound from an unsatisfactory morning round where they collected twelve faults. But it wasn’t to be as a rail at fence three, a foot in the water and a rail at the gate jump finished the pair off with twelve faults. Peter’s score would be the discard for the second time that day, not exactly what he’s used to.

After Germany’s Christian Ahlmann picked up eight faults, it appeared the U.S. had a chance to make a move. Behind by only one rail, McLain Ward and Sapphire took to the course, and finished with the same score they had on the first round - eight faults, for a two round total of 16.

Although Germany’s Otto Becker knocked down a rail on the last jump for four faults, Germany had locked up the team gold medal without top rider Ludger Beerbaum even having to go. Ludger went anyway, and with another clear round left no doubt that he is the best jumper rider in the world.

Each member of the German team is so disciplined; the way they ride the course is the way they walk the course. They are the gold standard in every way. They showed the depth of their team when their second rider, Marco Kutscher, who was filling in for the number one rider in the world, Marcus Ehning, went clear on his ride.

Although the gold medal was now out of reach for the rest of the field, silver and bronze were still on the line. When Sweden’s rider/fashion model Malin Baryard and Switzerland’s Fabio Crotta had four faults each, second place started to get crowded. The Netherlands joined the group in second place with a four-fault ride by Gert-Jan Bruggink, and the pressure was on just to stay in the medals.

Fighting for a Medal

Chris Kappler and Royal Kaliber cut sharply right after the water and at the next fence caught a rail. With four more faults, the U.S. needed a clear round to stay in the medal hunt, and they had the rider to do it.

The Netherlands started to falter, but Sweden got tougher as Rolf-Goran Bengtsson, in perhaps the best ride of the night, went clear to give Sweden a total of twenty faults for the two rounds and a firm hold on second place.

The pressure continued to build as former World Cup Champion Marcus Fuchs aboard Tinka’s Boy, crossed the start line for Switzerland. If he could go clean, the Swiss would take the silver. Unbelievably, Tinka’s Boy had a knockdown at the first fence. The pair faulted again on the liverpool, and when the horse almost refused the second to the last jump, knocking down the rail, the Swiss were no longer knocking on the door. With thirteen faults, Fuchs’ score would be the team’s drop score. It was a shocker, and with Wim Schroder of the Netherlands accumulating four faults for a team total of twenty-four, Team USA was still alive, with their anchor rider still to go.

Beezie Madden and her magnificent horse Authentic had to go clear for a chance to tie the Swedes for the silver medal. American horse enthusiasts had their hearts in their throats as the pair took off for the first fence.

Towards the end of the course, the pair had been clear, but as Authentic rubbed three of the final four jumps, the U.S. contingent probably suffered a few heart attacks. But the rails defied gravity, as did most of the fans that were jumping up and down for the clear score. The U.S. finished with twenty team faults and would jump off with Sweden for the silver and bronze medals.

Jump Off for Silver

They call this team show jumping for a reason. One rider can make a difference, but it takes a team to win. The jump off had competing riders go alternately in the same order that they rode for their team. Time would count in case of a tiebreak. Sweden, who had not won a medal in jumping since 1928, sent Peter Eriksson out on the course where he went clear in 45.31. Peter cut the last corner by jumping over some rocks, saving time to set up for the last jump. This was a strategic move that probably saved about three seconds, an eternity in a jump off.

Peter Wylde and Fein Cera redeemed themselves when the team needed them. They went clear in a crisp ride, although Peter opted to not jump the rock short cut, and finished in a time of 45.66, just thirty five one hundredths of a second behind Eriksson. It was a good start for the Americans and you could feel the momentum.

Peder Fredericson and Magic Bengtsson went clear in a time of 48.05 and the stage was set for another rider to step it up big for the U.S.

McLain Ward and the young but gifted Sapphire, had practiced the short cut over the rocks before the jump off began. It was a sage move by Ward, only matched by the brilliant, risky, brave ride he and Sapphire put in. They blistered clean through the course and set the benchmark time of 42.49. The Americans were starting to put down the hammer on the silver medal.

Malin Baryard and Butterfly Flip went clear in their ride and posted a time of 45.12. There was no quit in any horse and rider and the determination showed, with no rails down in the jump off for either team.

Chris Kappler and Royal Kaliber entered the pressure cooker of the jump off by going, what else, clear in a brilliantly fast ride of 42.94. It was the second fastest round behind Ward and it gave the U.S. a huge lead with the anchor riders left to go.

Rolf-Goran Bengtsson would have to go impossibly fast to beat the Americans. The Swedes gathered around Rolf and his horse Mac Kinley, and after conferring, conceded the silver medal to the Americans! Beezie and Authentic, who had gotten Team USA to the jump off, had done their job without having to go again. It was a marvelous team effort and the first medal since 1996.

These 2004 Olympics mark just the second time ever that the United States had medalled in all three Olympic Equestrian events. All that remained would be the individual jumping test. To the riders, Peter, McLain, Chris and Beezie, and to the horses, Fein Cera, Sapphire, Royal Kaliber and Authentic, congratulations on a stirring performance and a silver lining to show jumping in
the U.S.

Individual Jumping Gold Medal Goes to Ireland

The bad luck that plagued Team USA in the finals of the individual show jumping, turned out to be the luck of the Irish as that country won it’s first ever Olympic equestrian medal. The pot at the end of the rainbow held a gold medal for Ireland’s Cian O’Connor as he went clear on the final round with his horse Waterford Crystal. O’Connor finished with four faults for the two rounds.

Americans Chris Kappler and McLain Ward advanced to the second and final round of individual jumping, but Beezie Madden, who had not knocked down a rail through the entire team competition, pulled three rails in round one, and would advance no further.

There was no luck in the final for McLain Ward, who had completed two thirds of the course before his bridle broke and he had to dismount. Ward and Sapphire had a great Olympics and they will be back.

The big story of the final round had to be Great Britain’s Nick Skelton, who had gone clear in the first round, and was in position for a gold medal. Nick was back from a two-year layoff after he broke his neck. It was amazing that he was back riding, much less competing at an Olympic level. Unfortunately, he knocked down three rails and was out of the competition.

Rodrigo Pessoa, the 1998 World Champion went clear in the final round, and with eight total faults was in the hunt for a medal.

Kris Kappler, with four faults, had one rail down and with eight faults would go head to head with Pessoa in a jump off for the silver medal.

Pessoa and his wonderful horse, Baloubet de Rouet, went first, and almost went clear but he caught the last rail and finished with four faults in 49.2 seconds. Kappler and the brave Royal Kaliber tried to beat Pessoa’s time, but as they cleared the double vertical, Royal Kaliber appeared to land wrong. Kappler, sensing something was wrong with his horse, immediately jumped off. Their Olympic dream would end with a bronze medal and a strained flexor tendon.

Winning the silver medal was bittersweet for the classy Pessoa. "It is never nice to defeat an opponent in this way. We want to find out why the horse got injured. I have mixed feelings, I didn't want to do it that way and I already told Chris that he is a super rider and that he is worth a medal."

Winning the bronze medal was the last thing on Kappler’s mind as Royal Kaliber was loaded into the horse ambulance. "We have been working together since he was four. This horse has won so many competitions for me. He has been a great friend all these years. Before we came to Athens, we had in mind a good performance in the Nations Cup. I thought that if I didn't mess it up, he would perform well in the Individual." Royal Kaliber was splinted and iced and is expected to make a complete recovery.

Congratulations to the great country of Ireland in winning their first Olympic medal. It is validation at last for a country with a storied equestrian heritage.