Wanted: riders with attitude
Jenny MacArthur
 |
From Jenny MacArthur in Sydney
While Britain basked in her best Olympic Games since 1924 - with many sports showing a prompt return for their lottery funding - the equestrian teams, with the notable exception of the silver medal-winning three-day-event team, all underperformed.
The dressage team, which had hoped to reach the top five finished eighth (out of nine). The showjumpers, who had realistic expectations of a medal, also finished eighth. The individual showjumping contest on Sunday - in which Geoff Billington’s 24th place on It’s Otto was the best of the three British riders - concluded a dismal second week.
"There are lessons to be learnt - we need to go home and analyse what went wrong here and put in place a strategy for Athens" John Tulloch, the outgoing President of the British Equestrian Federation, said. Jane Kidd, the chairman of the dressage selectors, who had thought that “the medal zone” would be within the dressage riders’ grasp after the structured training programme that lottery money has enabled them to introduce also spoke of the need for a “re-think”.
No blame can be attached to the management and preparation of the horses. The extra funding had contributed to the “five-star” comfort which the horses had enjoyed on the flight and tip-top veterinary care throughout the build-up to the Games - with all the most up-to-date equipment. The training facilities at the Horsley Park equestrian centre were second to none. Mary King, who had been one of the favourites for a medal in the individual dressage competition but finished eighth, said that her horse, Star Appeal, felt ready to compete within a week of arriving.
A more obvious reason for failure is rider attitude. The Olympic Games is the ultimate barometer of a rider’s nerve and mental approach. Those making their Olympic debut can be overawed by the occasion - as Carl Edwards appeared to be in the team showjumping event - while the “old hands” are in danger of treating the Games too lightly.
Malcolm Pyrah, the showjumping trainer, accused his team of the latter. “They’re not focused enough - they don’t treat the Olympic Games as a special event,” he railed after their disappointing performance. “No team has had a better build-up - the lottery money has seen to that - but the riders are not positive enough.”
It was the same in the dressage where, apart from the admirable Emile Faurie, none of the riders achieved their usual standard. Kidd had known that only a “great deal of luck” would get them into the medals but had thought the top five was well within their reach - if they all produced their best performances. In the event only Faurie rose to the occasion.
In the individual three-day-event King, Ian Stark and Karen Dixon, three of the most experienced riders in the sport, all underperformed - most conspicuously in the dressage phase. As with the showjumpers - where the three "regulars" Billington and John and Michael Whitaker are all in their 40s - many of these riders may have made their last stand. Sydney may prove to be the rout of the old guard.
Significantly the three riders responsible for the silver medal in the three-day-event team - Pippa Funnell, Jeanette Breakwell and Leslie Law - were all newcomers making their Olympic debut - but all achieved personal best performances. Nothing should detract from the outstanding performances of these three.
Under the intelligent guidance of Yogi Breisner, the new team manager, they displayed the type of brave, positive riding with which Britain is traditionally associated. “We felt confident from the start,” Funnell, who has never ridden better, said. Frustratingly it failed to rub off on the other teams.
