In an echo of the elimination of Adelinde Cornelissen from the pure dressage earlier in the week at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, French individual Karim Florent Laghouag was eliminated from the eventing dressage this afternoon after blood was seen in Havenir D’Azac’s mouth during his test.
However, unlike Adelinde, Karim did finish his test because the ground jury were not sure until late on that there was blood.
American ground jury president Marilyn Payne explained: “When he started we didn’t see the blood. Then in the middle we saw a little pink, but sometimes the riders give the horses a peppermint and we weren’t sure, so we hoped it would go away and kept judging.
“Then he passed the judge on the side [Denmark’s Anne-Mette Binder] who said it was getting much worse. By then, he was turning the corner to do the last two [flying] changes so we let him finish and inspected the horse and there was definitely blood. It was a hard thing to do but there is no decision [because blood in the mouth automatically means elimination].”
Read more about the eliminations for blood in the mouth in next week’s H&H, out 7 October.
