2004 Olympic Games - Eventing

A NEW DAY – A NEW WAY
The New Look for Eventing is Gaining Support

Text and Photos by Diana DeRosa

No one knows for sure how the new Eventing format will play out since only a few events have held the shorter format, which eliminates both the Roads & Tracks and the Steeplechase. Riders and horses go straight into a tough cross country course on the second day and they are still figuring out how to successfully warm up their horses for this new way of Eventing. The 29 th Olympic Games featured this new format today in Athens Greece at the Markopoulos Equestrian Centre and the outcome was promising.

While many still lean toward the “traditional” format everyone seems to agree that a new face had to be put onto the cross country phase if it was going to continue to be an Olympic sport. And so those here at the 2004 Olympic Games agree that like it or not this must be the wave of the future. A new day, a new way, a new look for Eventing.

Even course designer Albino Garbari agrees that (translated from Italian) “there is a need for change if the sport is to remain in the Olympics.”

Nicolas Touzaint, who finished first following cross country riding Galan de Sauvagere for France said (translated from French) the new format “doesn’t compare to the old. It’s very different and it’s too early to judge. There’s a huge difference in the way you train the horse.”