Horses Came First, Second and Last by Jack Le Goff

Author:Jack Le Goff
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Trafalgar Square Books

BARCELONA ’92

And so, in 1992 I was back in the routine of selection trials and training sessions. The Barcelona Olympics were significant for a number of reasons. The cross-country course was elevated to new heights both in terms of design and expense, and it was the last Olympics to give two medals for one performance. The high temperatures of a Spanish summer combined with the complexity of the course created an almost impossible challenge for many of the horses and the resulting falls provided the media, and in particular television, with sufficient material to almost get the sport shut down.

There was an enormous public outcry about the perceived inhumane treatment of event horses to the extent that the Humane Society of the United States turned its attention to the sport and called for changes to be made. It was made very clear that eventing would now take center stage but not for the reasons we had all wished.

The Australians and the New Zealanders, thanks to the superb preparation of their horses and the experience of their riders, came out of it all with the gold and the silver medals and Matt Ryan and Kibah Tic Toc won the individual gold. Herbert Blocker and that great mare, Feine Dame, took the silver, and Blyth Tait and Messiah took the bronze. Blyth and Messiah had suffered through a disastrous dressage test that left them in 69th place, but their incredible ability in both of the jumping phases saw them soar up the standings and take the bronze medal. Thinking back on Messiah’s performance, I have to ask myself if our sport in the 21st century will allow us to see a feat like that repeated.

As it turned out, Rob Stevenson and Risky Business were able to pace themselves nicely throughout that long, hot cross-country course and finished the day with 0.8 time penalties on the steeplechase and 47.6 time penalties on the course. The other team members for Canada were King Plantagenet and Rachel Hunter, Sir Lancelot and Nick Holmes-Smith, and Von Perrier ridden by Stuart Black. Rachel and Nick placed forty-ninth and fifty-third respectively, and Von Perrier gave me another “first”, but this one I didn’t want. In all of my years of coaching teams, I have never, ever had a horse excluded at the final inspection. At Barcelona, Von Perrier, after being jogged about eight times for the Ground Jury, was spun, which caused great disappointment to Stuart and me.

There was no doubt about it, though: the FEI and the entire international eventing community were on alert. Atlanta, just four years away, was going to be just as hot, and a lot more humid than Barcelona. The sport was undergoing changes and in Atlanta, we would see for the first time both team and individual competitions. While this answered those critics who were complaining that eventing was being given two medals for one performance, it did nothing to answer those who said that the Olympic three-day event was far too expensive and required too much land and too many volunteers.

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