DeRosa Daily Equestrian Olympic News
Horsesdaily Veteran Olympic Reporter Diana DeRosa Brings Us Into Her World

The Art of Creating an Olympic Cross Country Course

We had a chance to speak with the Eventing riders today, except for Becky Holder who was walking the course and couldn’t quite make it back in time.  Yet the four remaining riders gave us some real insight into what this particular cross country course has in store for them.  Karen O’Connor, Phillip Dutton, Gina Miles and Amy Tryon took some time to share their thoughts with a few of us.

In Eventing even though both the dressage and show jumping are key to the event it is truly the cross country course that is the nucleus, the heart and the pulse of the three days.   While it’s always an artistic skill to create a course up to the standard of the number of “stars,” an Olympic cross country course requires a special kind of finesse.  This is because the Olympics crosses all the borders and brings the countries together and while many of those who compete are extremely talented, some of the countries don’t have the same level of opportunities and thus experience as others.

In order to accept the maximum number of competitors allowed and to give an opportunity for each country to be represented, the course designer creates a course that permits all levels of competitors to compete over the same, yet different course.  The most skillful horses and riders will choose to take the more technical tests and the most direct route in order to finish in the time allowed and with little or no time faults, while those who are not up to the challenge have alternate routes.  These other options will take them a fair bit longer and cause them to incur penalty points but it will also allow them to get around the course.

Course Designer Michael Etherington Smith Meets the Hong Kong Challenge