aAbout five minutes into the eight-minute cross-country race, the oldest horse in Olympic history, 21-year-old Forever Young Wundermask, jumped his jockey out of the saddle and galloped off as he approached the second water obstacle. Watching from home in Australia, I couldn’t help but laugh when a soaked Ecuadorian jockey, Ronald Zavala Getchell, stood up to look at Wundermask’s back. He’d owned the horse, Patchito, for nine years.
Patchito has a relaxed schedule. “He’s always on the go,” Getchell said. Chronicles of the Horse After two failed attempts at retirement, Patchto is ridden once a week and jumped once a month. “He knows what to do,” he says.
Watching Olympic eventing, I always feel joy in the way horses and riders build partnerships, trust each other, and compete at a high level in a difficult and dangerous sport. Two jockeys, Australian-born American Boyd Martin and France’s Stephane Landois, rode horses owned by friends who died in riding accidents. Martin took over the ride on Federman B (Bruno) after former jockey Annie Goodwin died in a training accident on Bruno in 2021. Landois rode Chamant Dumonceau in memory of former jockey Thais Meust, 22, who died in a fall while riding Chamant Dumonceau at the National Eventing Championships in 2019. Australian jockey Shane Rose, who broke 18 bones in a riding accident a few months ago, began to cry when a reporter asked him how much his 19-year-old horse Virgil meant to him. “He watched over me while I recovered,” he said.
This is what it’s all about: a partnership between a human with equal parts stubbornness, perseverance and skill, and a 2,000-pound horse that’s trying so hard to please.
It hasn’t been an easy 12 months for fans of equestrian sports. Issues that have been simmering for decades have come to the surface. This latest crisis is one of many, but at least we’re talking about it now.
The scandal that made the headlines was when British dressage gold medallist Charlotte Dujardin was suspended from international competition pending an investigation into a video taken four years ago that was subsequently made public and led to the sport’s governing body, the British Dressage, stating: The FEI “Conduct contrary to the principles of horse welfare.” Simply put, in the video she is seen hitting the horse’s legs with a lunge whip 24 times in less than a minute. Dujardin, who voluntarily withdrew from all competitions, including Paris, before the FEI’s suspension was finalized, released a statement describing the incident as an “error in judgment” and saying it “does not reflect how I train horses or mentor my students” and that she is “deeply ashamed.”
The news has been described as shocking, but I think disappointing is a better word. I wasn’t shocked last year when Danish television aired a documentary alleging abuse at top dressage training facility Helgstrand and top Danish rider Andreas Helgstrand was banned for 12 months. The incident didn’t get much attention outside of the equestrian community, but I think it has more significance in terms of the challenge of long-term change in the sport. Helgstrand HorseWendy is the favorite to win at least one gold medal in dressage at this year’s Olympics, along with Isabelle Werth, the most successful German rider in Olympic equestrian history. Werth has been riding Wendy since January, and just a few weeks ago she won the Grand Prix, Grand Prix Special and Grand Prix Freestyle at the Aachen CDIO5* in Germany. Results this good quickly overshadow any criticism.
The FEI deserves praise for its strong response to the allegations against Dujardin, and appears to be applying strict standards to its riders in Paris. Top U.S. rider Marcus Orlov said on Tuesday: Nick is on the right hind leg of his horse, Janebegan bleeding during the examination, a literal application of the blood rule and a huge disappointment for Orlov and the US team, but a welcome sign for anyone who expected the FEI to strictly police its own welfare standards.
Watching from my sofa as three horses ate up my paycheck in the paddock, I have been closely monitoring my reactions. The horse world is prone to factions, which undermine evidence and rational thought on all sides. There is a certain amount of glee at top-class jockeys being rewarded, but also scorn from those who believe only those who have ridden at the highest level should be throwing stones. As we bicker, there is a stubborn ignorance on all sides that the social licence of equestrian sport is rapidly fading. Some who have been trying to change the situation for decades now argue that the sport is beyond saving.
But when Moroccan jockey Nour Slaoui and her horse Cash in Hand crossed the finish line in the cross-country race and again after the show jumping race, there was a huge smile on her face. South African Alexander Petternel showed exceptional gentleness and skill as he congratulated nine-year-old Figaro des Premises on every success. Australian jockey Kevin McNab made the decision to stop shortly after the cross-country race because he felt his horse Don Quidam was injured. There are many quiet achievements, from jockeys who celebrate their personal bests, to those who root for their horses even when they fail, to those who celebrate their successes.
“There was some great horsemanship on display. There was far more good than bad. It would be a shame to see this as the moment to declare that international equestrianism is past its prime. It could be the moment to finally decide to improve it.”
