German national eventing coach and double Olympic team gold medallist Peter Thomsen is being treated in hospital following a riding fall.

The German equestrian federation said Peter, 65, is “on the road to recovery” from the accident on 14 June.

“He has been receiving medical treatment in hospital ever since. His health has improved significantly in recent days,” said a federation spokesperson yesterday (22 June).

“Due to the fall, Peter was unable to attend the German championships in Luhmühlen last weekend. The coaching team took over his duties there, supported by team manager Dr Annette Wyrwoll of Equestrian Sport Germany.”

The spokesperson added that the federation’s eventing coaching team will “continue to provide athletic support for the national team athletes in the coming weeks”.

“Rodolphe Scherer, eventing coach, will temporarily assume the role of head coach, particularly with regard to the final selection and nomination process for the World Championships in Aachen in August,” he said.

“He will be assisted by dressage coach Anne-Kathrin Pohlmeier and showjumping coach Lara Weber, as well as eventing specialist and under-25 youth coach Andreas Dibowski. This arrangement will remain in place until further notice.”

Peter enjoyed a highly successful eventing career before he took over as national eventing coach following Hans Melzer’s retirement at the end of 2021.

He won team gold at the 2008 Olympics with The Ghost of Hamish, and was part of the gold medal-winning team at London 2012 with Barny. He competed in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, seven European Championships and four World Equestrian Games. He was seventh in his final four-star event in 2020, and competed up to CCI2* until spring 2022.

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Tributes have been paid to showjumper superstar Authentic, the “true championship horse” who won three Olympic medals with US showjumper Beezie Madden.

Yesterday (10 April) his owner Abigail Wexner and a spokesperson for John and Beezie Madden announced that Authentic, “the king of Madden Mountain” had died, aged 30.

Beezie and Authentic were part of the team that won gold at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Two years later they won team and individual silver at the World Equestrian Games in Aachen, and in 2008 they helped the US team retain their title at the Beijing Games, where Beezie and Authentic also won individual bronze.

“Bud was a true championship horse, logging countless clear rounds for the USA,” said the spokesperson.

“John and Beezie first met Authentic as a three-year-old in 1998, at Stal Heins, under Johan Heins and Harrie Smolders. Even at that age, they felt he was something special and with the help of Mrs Elizabeth Busch Burke, he came to John Madden Sales as a coming six-year-old”.

Authentic was given the stable name Bud in honour of Mrs Burke’s brewing company Anheuser-Busch, whose brands include Budweiser.

“John, Beezie and Mrs Burke eventually put together a syndicate that got Authentic to his first Olympics. After Athens, the syndicate had a significant offer for him to go to a European rider, at which point Mrs Wexner stepped up to purchase Authentic, so that he would stay with Beezie and continue to compete for the United States,” said the spokesperson.

Beezie added that looking back, Mrs Wexner stepping up when she did “ultimately meant Authentic’s place in the history books was guaranteed”.

“She trusted our partnership and never put pressure on him or me. Whatever he needed, he got, and when it was time for the competition days to be behind him, she never wavered in his support. Every horse should have an owner like her,” she said.

Beezie and Authentic’s other achievements included big wins on home soil such as the Budweiser American Invitational, being crowned two-time US Equestrian showjumping horse of the year and winning the grand prix of Aachen.

“Bud’s intelligence and cheerful personality made him exceptional to work with and carried him through his many great accomplishments, as well as his long retirement. So many of my big ‘firsts’ of my career were with him as a partner,” said Beezie.

“I owe him so much and am grateful to everyone, especially Mrs Wexner, who made it possible for him to be such a special part of my life for so long.”

Authentic retired in 2009 to John and Beezie’s farm Madden Mountain.

“Authentic took over caring for the weanlings and yearlings, as Uncle Bud, and enjoyed posing for photos with endless visitors, especially if they came with carrots,” said the spokesperson.

“His longtime groom, Clark Shipley, was able to watch Bud grazing in his pasture from his window before Clark passed away in 2020.”

The spokesperson added that John and Beezie are “endlessly thankful to have had Authentic in our lives for nearly 11 years of competition followed by 15 years of peaceful retirement” – and that “he had no shortage of family, both horse and human”.

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German dressage star Isabell Werth’s Olympic, world and European gold medal-winning ride Satchmo 78 has died aged 28.

The “good-looking, sensitive, lovely” Hanoverian gelding, owned by Madeleine Winter-Schulze and bred by Albert Kampert, spent 25 years with Isabell and the partnership were a fundamental part of the German team.

“This horse taught me humility,” said Isabell. “He was the most difficult, but also the most important horse in my career from the point of view of the trainer and the rider.”

The pair’s dazzling medal collection included individual and team gold at the home World Championships in Aachen in 2006. The following year, they collected individual gold, plus freestyle and team silver at the European Championships in Turin, going on to take Olympic individual silver and team gold at the 2008 Games.

They also finished second in the 2009 World Cup final in Las Vegas, claimed countless international wins and broke the grand prix world record with their performance at Stuttgart in 2005, where they scored 79.958%. The record now stands at 87.46%, set by Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro at Olympia in 2014.

Satchmo returned to Stuttgart aged 17 to bid farewell to competition in a special retirement ceremony.

“I just think it’s wonderful when the horses say goodbye to the sport in a sporty fit and are left with great memories. The horses deserve that too,” Isabell added.

She said that “with a heavy heart” they had to say goodbye to Satchmo on Saturday (30 July).

“My dear Satchi, just the day before you were running happily on the meadow with your beloved Kelly when I made my way to the training camp for the World Championships in Herning. How nice to see you like this,” she said.

“I remembered Aachen 2006 again. What a unique experience we had there. What emotions! We had enough of that in our time together – in every respect. After 25 years together, the fact that I could not be with you at this crucial moment weighs particularly heavily in my heart.

“Bon voyage my great, brilliant fighter and thank you for everything.”

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Marius Voigt-Logistik’s consistency and desire to do right across country took his amateur rider to eventing’s peak. Pippa Roome remembers him

TOP-CLASS horse sport becomes more professional every year, with riders, trainers and team staff striving for the marginal gains which will win medals, prize money and funding.

But for five years through the middle of the 2000s, a brilliant German dentist and his genuine grey horse galloped through the professional ranks, putting in one excellent performance after another, snaffling up medals and eventually reigning supreme when they claimed the individual gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Much of the charm of the Hinrich Romeike and Marius Voigt-Logistik story is down to Hinrich’s personality – every time he spoke about his horse, his admiration was palpable.

“The horse gets recognition now and I always wanted people to see how lovely he is,” he said in an interview after his Olympic double golds in 2008. “I like to have him in the spotlight. Of course I made him, but for me he is the star.”

Hinrich made everyone laugh, too. Like many Germans, he speaks excellent English, but the joy of a non-native speaker is that rather than resorting to cliches, they find unique ways to express themselves.

At Aachen in 2008, he remarked of his cross-country: “Marius seems to work like a machine – he sniffs the track and goes off like he’s after a fox. You could tie a mechanical ape on his back and I’m sure he would do it.”

The son and grandson of dentists, Hinrich never wanted to be a full-time rider, saying: “For me, it’s the best hobby, but I wouldn’t want to do it professionally. If you do that, you have to cope with owners, and I like to be independent. I own my horse and I don’t have to ask anybody about anything.”

Maybe it was because of Hinrich’s amateur status that few named him as a favourite going into the 2008 Olympics, despite his consistent results during the previous five years. He remembers that H&H flagged up the pair with a feature during the build-up – a sign, perhaps, that other media hadn’t highlighted them.

Maybe also Hinrich’s affable nature hid the steely ambition at his core. A quick way to make this happy man angry is to mention the loss of the German gold medals at the 2004 Athens Olympics, after Bettina Hoy went through the start line twice and the case ended up at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

In that 2008 interview, he said: “It’s still my opinion that it was wrong for the French, British and Americans to protest. That’s not what sportsmen do, because obviously our team was the best. We wanted to show we can do it. So winning the team gold in Hong Kong was a big relief.

“Individual gold was unbelievable. Think about it – Olympic individual champion – poof! I dreamt of it, but I never expected it. Normally in big things I am fifth.”

When I interviewed Hinrich in July 2008, I asked him about the rumour that he had forged a template of his Athens medal to keep before he gave it back.

“I have heard another rumour that I made a template and gave back the template,” he replied with a secretive smile. “All I can say is I’m a dentist and I can work on templates very, very well.”

How the partnership began

MARIUS was bred by Hans-Werner Ritters – who also bred Ludger Beerbaum’s 1992 Olympic showjumping individual gold medallist Classic Touch – and his son Jens, a friend of Hinrich’s. The rider first saw him at a Holstein breeders’ association event, where the young horses performed a few jumps and a little dressage, and a test rider – the Olympian Marina Köhncke (née Loheit) in Marius’s case – assessed them.

“I was stunned by Marius’ canter and he stood and moved like a king,” recalls Hinrich. “I asked my friend the price and it was too much for me. This was the beginning of April, so I said to Jens that if he hadn’t sold the horse before my birthday on 26 May, my present would be for him to let me ride him once.

“So I went to his yard that day, rode the horse and we had a drink. Then I forgot about the horse, but the next winter we were talking on the night train on the way back from skiing. Jens said the horse was sold, but came back because his new rider fell from him twice.”

Hinrich ended up taking the horse on a two-week trial, but phoned after three days to say he would keep the horse, no matter what the cost. His trot wasn’t impressive but he was a “giant galloper”.

“He was like a thoroughbred with a big head and he had a very kind character, he was always interested, always ears pricked when there was something to do,” says Hinrich, who also fell off Marius in those early days. “He was just bucking at a bird or something – I don’t think he wanted to throw me off. He’d come back sniffing, like he was apologising.”

Named after a popular German singer Marius Müller Westernhagen – “when Marius was at his breeders’ he was hairy and had skinny legs, just like the singer,” Hinrich explains – the horse’s name carried the suffix Voigt-Logistik “just for fun” because Hinrich’s father-in-law runs a lorry transportation business of the same name. At the Olympics was he known simply as Marius because commercial links within horses’ names are not allowed at the Games.

Hinrich knew he had a potential superstar and invested in intensive training with 1988 Olympics showjumping bronze medallist Karsten Huck and renowned dressage trainer Georg Otto Heyser.

“I said to them I didn’t want to reach the top and find I’d left something out two or three years earlier,” he says.

Hinrich was also aware through his career that Marius had a slightly weak back – he is a big horse, with high withers, and his back legs are some three or four inches shorter than his forelegs. To combat this, Hinrich rode him a lot in rising trot, cantered him in a light seat and worked over poles on the floor to strengthen his back.

The pair were best of the Germans in 15th at their first Europeans in 2003 and attended the next five championships – an extraordinary record. The only time Marius didn’t finish a championship was when he was withdrawn after suffering a stifle injury across country at the 2007 Europeans.

Marius at Badminton

FOR Hinrich, who spent a year at boarding school in Dorset when he was 16, to compete at Badminton was a “big dream”.

“If you are a showjumper you want to compete in Aachen, when you are an eventer you want to compete at Badminton,” he says. “I just wanted to do it once. I went to Badminton the year before to get an impression and I was impressed. The course was like, ‘wow’, and there were hundreds of thousands of spectators. There is no competition in Germany or championships like that.”

Third after dressage, Hinrich held his place with a fast cross-country round in which Marius showed his generosity in a dodgy moment at the Colt Pond.

“I turned him like a lawnmower and I don’t know how, but he managed to get over the rail,” he said in a hilarious press conference which few present will have forgotten.

Two showjumps down dropped the pair to sixth.

“They were the most expensive poles in my life – I could have been second,” said Hinrich. “But I was very happy. It is always a good memory and I love thinking about it.”

The silver horses given to the top 12 at Badminton were modelled on the three on the main Mitsubishi trophy and awarded in rotation – the year that Hinrich competed, it was the showjumping horse, “which is lovely, because that is what I did sh*t!” he exclaims.

A brilliant cross-country horse

MARIUS was best known for his brilliant cross-country performances. Chris Bartle, German team trainer throughout Hinrich and Marius’s career, recalls that Hinrich was frustrated by his 16 time-faults in the pouring rain at the 2005 Europeans.

“Afterwards we talked about how we could make sure Hini always went inside the time in future and our strategy was to save two seconds per fence,” says Chris. “He had such a partnership with the horse he was able to save time at every fence by riding the tightest line, coming to every fence in a rhythm and leaving it to Marius to do his job without interfering.”

Hinrich adds: “He was so brave and you could ride him into fences at high speed and he would never be spooky in the cross-country, which he would be when walking and trotting.

“There were faster horses than him, but very fast horses need a braking distance of 100 yards before the fence; with Marius, your prep point was 10 metres before the jump. Other horses went like hell, but Marius was like a good diesel engine and you didn’t have to cost speed or power in braking and accelerating.”

Also, Marius “had a very strong conscience”, as he strived to go between the flags.

“He never gives up and he is never frightened,” said Hinrich in 2008. “Even when he hurts himself, he doesn’t become shy, he just says, ‘That was a sh*tty jump, let’s do it better next time.’”

Unusual fitness work

Chris remembers: “Hini and Marius were nothing without each other; it’s all about the partnership. When you first set eyes on Marius, you didn’t see him as an Olympic gold medallist. He was a workmanlike type, with a good jumping technique, but he wasn’t an out-and-out jumper. The fact Hini produced clear rounds at the critical moments was because of the training they put in together.

“It’s very flat where Hini lives, so I was always suggesting new ways of conditioning the horses. Hini came up with two, the first of which was that he’d trot and canter round a large pond on his property, with water up to the horse’s chest.

“He’d also put a harness round Marius’s neck and shoulders and he’d pull a carpet round the field, with weights on top of it. On one occasion when I visited, the weights consisted of his two sons, who were hanging on for dear life. It was a particularly wet day – Hini was riding in shorts and the boys were wearing wax coats and goggles because of the mud and grass coming up in their faces.

“For Athens, I appointed Hini the Kaleun Romeike – the Lieutenant Commander in English. He came to squad training with a CD of music from the film Das Boot about the submarine. The first bit of music is the preparation, the second the attack, the third the celebration on the way back to port.

“Athens was like that – we prepared, attacked and celebrated, but then the submarine was blown out of the water because we lost the medal in the Court of Arbitration for Sport. It was uncanny how the story mirrored the film and Hini stayed on in Athens fighting the case after everyone else went home. Four years later, our U-boat came up from the bottom of the sea.”

Golden glory in Hong Kong

IN Hong Kong, Hinrich and Marius were seventh after dressage. No one made the time across country and their 12.8 time-faults was the third fastest round of the day, so they rose to pole position. Marius did not have an impeccable showjumping record and Hinrich told himself not to be disappointed the next day. But four faults in the team barrage helped the Germans to gold and a final clear sealed individual honours.

“When we finished, I had to be dope tested – I had to pee and I couldn’t,” remembers Hinrich. “I had to drink two or three litres of water with this harsh doctor looking at me.

“Finally I came back to the hotel where this mega party was going on. It was 3am and everyone was waiting for me. We had a killing party until 7am.”

Hinrich says his amateur status meant his fellow competitors could be particularly wholehearted in their delight: “My win didn’t take anything from anybody else. I’m not a professional – it didn’t mean I would get more horses or whatever. They all knew I just had this one horse, a stunning team, but the result would change nothing.”

Marius was 14 in Hong Kong and didn’t recover from a tendon injury after that in time to return to competing. Now aged 27, he is retired with Hinrich.

On 1 April this year, Hinrich was voted chairman of the German Holstein breeders’ association, at whose event he first saw Marius.

“He not only took me to the moon and back, he took me to the throne of the Holstein breeders’ association too,” he smiles.

.

This exclusive feature, which forms part of the Horse & Hound Legends series, can also be read in the magazine, on sale date 1 July 2021

More from Horse & Hound’s Legends series:

Sir Wattie: ‘He had a heart of gold and would always bust a gut for me’ *H&H Plus*

Toytown: Zara Tindall’s superstar who would ‘buck, bolt, nap and rear’ but went on to win at the highest level *H&H Plus*

Priceless: Ginny Elliot on her ‘brainy, awkward and a law unto himself’ Burghley, Badminton, world and European champion *H&H Plus*

Regal Realm: from Australian stock horse to Badminton winner and world champion

Merely-A-Monarch: A ‘superstar from day one’ who made the Olympic shortlist in all three equestrian disciplines *H&H Plus*

• What is eventing?

What do you get when you cross Ben Maher’s Olympic ride Rolette with Nick Skelton’s dual gold medallist Big Star? Well, if the genes have anything to do with it, this five-year-old is going to be one megastar showjumper.

The Belgian Warmblood gelding Polaris SCF is owned and bred by the US-based Spy Coast Farm LLC, where the fantastic mare Rolette retired as a broodmare in 2012. On 25 October her blue-blooded youngster topped the $5,000 Developing Jumper Series 5-Year-Old Jumper Championship at Tryon International Equestrian Center under rider David O’Brien. The pair produced the only clear round in the jump-off.

“Both Polaris SCF’s father and mother jumped at the Olympics, which is kind of cool,” said David. “He is a pretty straightforward horse. The bigger the set, the more he is impressed, so it was nice to get him in there with that kind of atmosphere. In the jump-off, I was the last to go and the other two had a rail down, so I was able to take my time and, as my boss would say, ‘equitate it’.”

The top showjumping mare Rolette took Ben Maher to the 2008 Olympics where they were the best-placed Brits, finishing 19th individually. The 10-year-old left Ben’s yard in 2008 after being bought by Lisa Lourie for a rumoured £3.5million and went on to be ridden internationally by Irish-born Shane Sweetnam before she retired to stud.

This popular developing jumper series showcases and educates young equine talent in the United States and David swept all three age divisions in the finals with Spy Coast Farm-owned horses. He headed the six-year-olds with Octavius SCF (Diktator Van De Boslandhoeve x Beluga) and the seven-year-old final with Nightshade SCF (Baldev x Olisina).

Spy Coast Farm in Kentucky was founded in 2003 and offers a holistic approach to the breeding, training and healthcare of broodmares and foals. Owner Lisa Lourie has made a significant investment in American-bred sport horses.

Continued below…

Ben Maher’s Olympic horse Rolette sold to America

Show jumper Ben Maher has revealed exclusively to H&H that Rolette has been sold abroad for an unspecified sum

H&H exclusive: Rolette will leave for Florida this week

Ben Maher's former top show jumper will be ridden by Ireland's Shane Sweetnam at Spy Coast Farm when she arrives

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“Initially, it seemed like a part of the industry that was sort of left on the table – that it was an untapped resource,” she said. “I never like to see waste, and I knew that some of the best mares in the world were not being used to their best advantage, so I saw an opportunity to just jump into the breeding industry.”

“Rolette is still alive and kicking at 22 years old. She has been retired from breeding but enjoys her life out with the ‘Golden Girls’.”

Horse & Hound magazine, out every Thursday, is packed with all the latest news and reports, as well as interviews, specials, nostalgia, vet and training advice. Find how you can enjoy the magazine delivered to your door every week, plus options to upgrade to access our H&H Plus online service which brings you breaking news as it happens as well as other benefits.

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Chinese event rider Alex Hua Tian describes his Olympic memories as “totally surreal” when he looks back and that’s hardly surprising when you consider he became the youngest eventing competitor to ride at the Olympics when he competed at the 2008 Beijing Games, aged 18.

“It’s a bit crazy looking back at it all,” says Alex, while being interviewed by H&H’s eventing editor Pippa Roome for episode 19 of the Horse & Hound podcast. “I think it was a combination of a few factors, such as being half Chinese certainly gave me the opportunity to compete for China in my home Olympic Games. But at the same time, being also half British gave me the opportunity to assimilate into the eventing world comfortably and take on the whole lifestyle and so on.

“But also, I had incredibly supportive parents, who not only gave me all the opportunities to do what I wanted to do, but also allowed me to make the decision to do it, because for the Beijing Olympics I ultimately took a year out of school the year before my A-levels — I owned that decision as they never pushed me to do it, and I think that was a very important part of my life.

“Then there’s also the crazy amount of money generously given to that project by Mr Jiang, who funded my Beijing Olympic campaign. I think the combination of all those things and the timing, all brought it about.”

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The Horse & Hound Podcast: episode 19 – Alex Hua Tian | Vet advice: blackthorns | News round-up

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Unfortunately Alex’s Olympic debut didn’t go according to plan when he parted company with FBW Chico at fence eight on the cross-country – “It was such a heartbreaking moment for me personally and really burst the fairytale bubble I was living in at the time.” But while he admits it took a while to get over the disappointment, with hindsight he thinks it helped to set him on his way to making eventing his career.

“Looking back on it now I think I’ve got more out of falling off at the Olympics than I would have done if I’d finished 50th or whatever. I very much felt after that I still had something to prove, which is why I’m still here.”

After narrowly missing out on qualifying for London 2012 – “by 1.6 penalties” he recalls ruefully – Alex headed to his second Games at the Rio in 2016, where he rode Don Geniro to eighth place (pictured).

“Again, it’s surreal to look back now at those Olympics as Don was a young horse at nine years old, and was admittedly not the horse I was planning to take originally, which was Harbour Pilot C,” explains Alex. “We didn’t know if he was old enough and experienced enough to handle it all, but he seems to be a horse that loves the southern hemisphere!”

To hear more of Alex’s exclusive interview, listen to episode 19 of The Horse & Hound podcast or search “The Horse & Hound Podcast” in your favourite podcast app.

Horse & Hound magazine, out every Thursday, is packed with all the latest news and reports, as well as interviews, specials, nostalgia, vet and training advice. Find how you can enjoy the magazine delivered to your door every week, plus options to upgrade to access our H&H Plus online service which brings you breaking news as it happens as well as other benefits.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Paralympian Felicity Coulthard’s 2008 freestyle silver-medal winning partner Roffelaar has been put down at the age of 21 owing to colic.

The striking gelding also secured a bronze medal in the kur at the 2007 world championships and went on to a second Paralympic team slot at London 2012, loaned to a South African rider.

Grade II rider Felicity, who has cerebral palsy, purchased “Roff” in October 2006 while on a buying trip to Holland.

“My family and my trainer at the time, Adam Murdin, went and met with Frank De Kok at his stables. We’d looked at several horses before seeing Roff and he was just what I was looking for in a grade II horse — he had enough expression in his movements without me not being able to ride him through his gaits,” Felicity recalled.

She said the bay proved to be a “kind soul who always looked after me”, although he “could be cheeky”.

“He was a softie but he had a spark about him,” Felicity said. “He always loved to work whether in the arena or out on a hack. He came alive at competitions and would show off when he had an audience — he always loved having his photo taken and would pose when he saw a phone.”

While Felicity’s stand-out memory is her success at the Beijing Paralympics, where the partnership scored 71.06% to take silver, she said Roff’s character also stood out day-to-day.

“Hong Kong was made extra special by going into the medal ceremony and having it presented by Prince Edward,” she said. “However, I have a fun memory where lately when we went on a hack he would always head through the trees and try to get me with the branches. It was like a joke to him and as if he was laughing at me.”

After returning from loan after London 2012 — which Felicity had chosen not to contest in order to focus on family commitments — Roff spent time in Gloucestershire before moving down to live near his rider permanently in Lancashire.

Despite suffering some injuries, Roff was still ridden in semi-retirement and ventured out competing last year after an eight-year hiatus.

“When I got him back he suffered with a suspensory ligament injury in both front legs and had coffin joints problems as well. However after six months of rest and gentle exercise, eventually he was back fighting fit,” Felicity said.

“I rode him three or four times a week on veterinary advice and last year we went to Myerscough college and competed in the NDG novice test and came 4th out of 11, which showed me that he still enjoyed competing.

“After coming back after a operation to realign my ankle and stretching my tendon last year, we were getting ready to go out competing regularly this year.”

Continued below…

Felicity Coulthard wins freestyle silver medal at Paralympic Games

Felicity Coulthard and Roffelaar produced the performance of their lives to win silver in the grade II freestyle out in

‘Show off up there, big man’: Top rider’s tribute to his world-beating superstar

The multiple medal-winning rider has paid tribute to the horse with whom he ‘took on the world’, who has died

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She added that Roff had been thriving before the sudden colic.

“He was 21 years old but acted like a five-year-old most of the time. Everyone who saw and treated him always said that they had never seen a 21-year-old in such good condition as he was,” she said.

For all the latest news analysis, competition reports, interviews, features and much more, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, on sale every Thursday.

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FBW Chico, the horse Alex Hua Tian rode at the 2008 Olympics, has been put down, aged 19.

Zhao Ning’s grey by Carolus I spent his retirement in the field at Alex’s Cheshire yard, but had started to feel his arthritic fetlocks.

“It was a really tough decision, but we all knew it was the right time,” said the Chinese event rider.

Alex is the son of a Chinese father and British mother. He was propelled into the spotlight when a private individual decided to fund a campaign for him to ride at his home Olympics in 2008. He took a year out of Eton and embarked on a whirlwind campaign to buy experienced horses and qualify for the Games.

Chico started his career in Germany and Alex bought him in December 2007, just before the registration deadline for the Beijing Olympics (horses have to be in the ownership of the nationality for which they will compete at the Games by the end of the previous year).

“We bought him from an amateur as a back-up for the superstar horses we had bought beforehand,” said Alex. “Frankly, at the time he was an unlikely contender to go to Hong Kong. I remember thinking he wasn’t a great mover, was a bit skinny and held his tail too high.

“But once we saw him jump we knew he was a good horse and all I had to do was jump him once to know he was something special.”

“He definitely had a cheeky side to him. I remember our first dressage test at Barroca d’Alva 2008 in the CIC* earned us an unpromising 70.3. Clayton [Fredericks, Alex’s trainer at the time] decided we should crack on and do the CIC3* the following weekend and we bombed around with a 44 dressage to get half our qualification for Beijing.

“Throughout that summer it became increasingly obvious that he was the horse I got on with the best and I remember at Barbury CIC3* our final run before the Olympics we went into the cross-country in fourth place in most nations’ final trial.”

At 18, Alex became the first Chinese rider to contest the eventing at an Olympics, but after a good dressage test, he had a fall from Chico across country.

“Hitting the turf in Hong Kong was a really difficult thing to come to terms with, especially as Chico and I hadn’t made a mistake all year but the lessons I learnt and confidence he gave me was invaluable,” said Alex.

“In the years following the Olympics, we struggled to keep him on the road and made the difficult decision to retire him in 2010.

“Since then he has lived in various different fields with my other campaigners from that generation. He was completely feral at the end and used to run the girls ragged around the field trying to catch him to have his feet trimmed.

“He was a cool customer with an amusing combination of machismo and sense of humour. He was definitely the king of the yard or field.”

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Connaught, the horse with whom Australian-turned-American eventer Phillip Dutton finished in the top seven at Kentucky CCI4* four years running – including winning the event in 2008 — has been put to sleep aged 21.

The bay Irish Sport Horse gelding, who was produced in Ireland by Carol Gee and Paul Donovan, contested the 2006 World Equestrian Games and notched up plenty of other placings at three- and four-star level during his career.

In 2007, as a 14-year-old, Phillip and the horse’s owner, the late Bruce Duchossois, received an offer to buy him — which the pair accepted after much discussion.

But the gelding failed a vetting on his x-rays.

The following year he won Kentucky and then went on to compete at the Beijing Olympics.

Connaught bowed out from international competition with a seventh place in Kentucky in 2009 and spent much of his retirement at Bruce’s South Carolina stables.

A statement on Phillip’s Facebook page, read: “It’s with great sadness that we’ve learned Connaught [Simon] was laid to rest this morning due to complications from old age…

“[He] did so much for me. He had an incredible record at Kentucky, never having a rail down there. We take comfort in knowing that Bruce [who died from cancer in July] and Simon are together again now. Thank you, Simon, for all the memories.”

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Germany’s 2008 Olympic individual eventing champion Marius Voigt-Logistik has been retired, aged 18.

Although the grey had not campaigned seriously since an injury in 2009, rider Hinrich Romeike had hoped to get him ready for London. But finding the Holsteiner less supple than previously, he decided to retire him healthy so he can enjoy a long retirement.

Marius became famous for his wonderful cross-country partnership with Hinrich, a dentist who competes as a hobby and so is a rare amateur rider in the world of top-class horsesport.

German eventing team manager Christopher Bartle told H&H in an interview in 2008: “Marius is a character so similar to Hini himself, the partnership fits like a hand in glove. They are both so chilled out, and particularly cross-country, whatever Hini thinks, Marius does.”

Hinrich’s appreciation of Marius’s generosity made for some fabulous quotes over the years.

“I turned him like a lawnmower and I don’t know how, but he managed to get over the rail,” he said of their dodgy moment at the Colt Pond at Badminton 2007 (the pair are pictured at the Lake, left).

And after another successful performance across country at Aachen in 2008, Hinrich said with a grin: “Marius seems to work like a machine – he sniffs the track and goes off like he’s after a fox. You could tie a mechanical ape on his back and I’m sure he would do it.”

Named after a singer

Marius was bred by the father of a friend of Hinrich’s, Hans-Werner Ritters, who also bred Ludger Beerbaum’s 1992 Olympic showjumping individual gold medallist Classic Touch.

The Ritters family suggested Hinrich take the horse on a two-week trial when the rider expressed an interest in buying him as a five-year-old and after three days Hinrich knew he wouldn’t be sending Marius back.

The Holsteiner-thoroughbred by Condrieu XX was named after the German singer Marius Muller Westernhagen.

“When he had his greatest hits he had a lot of hair and when Marius was at his breeders he was always a bit hairy and had very skinny legs, so that’s how he got his name,” explained Hinrich in an interview with H&H before the Games in 2008.

The suffix to his name – Voigt-Logistik – is a lorry transportation business run by Hinrich’s father-in-law.

“It was just for a joke, for fun,” said Hinrich, a devoted family man with three children with wife Susanne. “He likes it when ‘his’ horse does well and we like to do things as a family and have fun together.”

Hinrich and Marius contested six consecutive championships between 2003 and 2008, winning team gold at the 2006 World Equestrian Games in Aachen as well as double gold in Hong Kong at the 2008 Olympics (right). Apart from this, his best individual championship placings were two fifths, at both the Athens Olympics and the 2006 worlds. The only time Marius failed to complete a championship was when he had to be withdrawn due to a stifle injury before the final horse inspection at the Pratoni Europeans in 2007.

The pair were in the top 10 at three- and four-star 18 times, including finishing sixth at Badminton 2007 and winning Marbach CIC*** in 2006.

“This horse has such strong morals,” said Hinrich, meaning he always wanted to do the right thing and please his rider. “He never gives up and he is never frightened. Even when he hurts himself, he doesn’t become shy, he just says, ‘That was a shitty jump, let’s do it better next time.’ He’s very keen across country – he almost eats the obstacles.”

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British endurance rider Megan Lewis suffered an unexpected hold-up on the Hungarian/Ukrainian border of more than three weeks as part of her 8,000km Long Horse Ride.

The ride is a five-part journey on horseback from Beijing to London, in aid of the charity Schoolchildren for Children.

It began after the closing ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics and will be completed in time for the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics.

But at what should have been the end of the fourth phase of her journey Megan found herself in an impossible situation – Hungarian customs would not let her horses into the country, but Ukraine would not let them return there either.

And it looked as though there was no alternative but to put them down.

“But I finally got out, with the help of a friend with contacts high up in the Ukrainian government and now have just nine days to get the horses across Ukraine and into Russia before the permission runs out,” said Megan.

Megan, and horses Bolashak and Zorbee, arrived at the border at Chop in Ukraine on 12 November but was told as the horses originated in Kazakhstan they were not allowed into Europe.

“I fully understand this and had been prepared to sort out new horses in the event this was an issue,” said Megan.

“The real problem arose when the horses were not allowed back into Ukraine as we had officially left the country.”

So started three weeks stuck in the veterinary inspection centre on the border.

The international body for horse sport, the FEI, got involved, by contacting the Ukrainian Ministry of Agriculture.

Then finally on Tuesday, 6 December, the Ukrainians agreed to let her pay 40% of the value of the horses and was finally able to take them back into the Ukraine.

She now must get the horses to friends in Russia where their journey will end.

Megan however will set off on the last phase of her trip in January – across Europe, from Hungary.

• To learn more about her journey, go to www.thelonghorseride.com and http://thelonghorserideblogspot.com.

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The Swiss showjumping team of Steve Guerdat, Christina Liebherr, Niklaus Schurtenberger and Pius Schwizer were presented with the 2008 Olympic bronze medal at the International Geneva Horse Show on 11 December.

Norway, original winners of team bronze in Hong Kong, were stripped of the medal as a result of the legal procedure which followed team member Tony Andre Hansen’s disqualification when his horse Camiro tested positive for the prohibited substance capsaicin.

The procedure began on 21 August 2008 and was completed on 30 July 2010.

Consequently, the 2008 Olympic showjumping team results have been amended as follows:

• 1 USA – gold medallists and Olympic champions
• 2 Canada – silver medallists
• 3 Switzerland – bronze medallists
• 4 The Netherlands
• 5 Great Britain
• 6 Sweden
• 7 Australia
• 8 Norway

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Catriona Williams must have done some serious persuading to get friend and fellow New Zealander Mark Todd to run the New York Marathon on 7 November 2010.

“I’m a patron of Catriona’s charity Catwalk and as she’s doing the race in a wheelchair I thought I could do it on my legs,” Mark said.

Twenty Kiwis are taking part in the race to raise funds for the CatWalk Trust, a charity that funds research into spinal cord injuries. Founder and former showjumper Catriona was paralysed in a jumping accident in 2002.

“As people like Rodney [Powell], Ginny [Elliot], and I think even Ian [Stark] have run marathons I thought it was another thing I should tick off,” said Toddy.

“I’m not sure it’s going to be another career though.”

Having bounced back from retirement to contest the Beijing Olympics and now part of the New Zealand performance squad for London 2012, for this eventing legend, anything is possible.

Mark is yet to start training for the race but says he will be looking to hire a trainer and plan his preparation carefully to avoid injuries.

“I’m actually not a great fan of running but I’m going to get started…soon,” he said.

Fitting running around his riding will be a juggling act for the 53-year-old.

“I suppose when the horses go out I’ll have to go on foot and run and lead,” he quipped.

“I haven’t run since I was at school and right now I don’t think I could run to the end of the road!”

Nevertheless, Mark Todd is nothing if not ambitious. He has set his sights on a target time of under three hours for the 26mile race, but has been told that could be a bit hopeful.

“Everything I do I like to do well so I’ll give it my best shot,” he said.

Following the loss of his Beijing ride Gandalf in January, Toddy is relying on the rest of his string to win a place in the New Zealand team for his seventh Olympics.

“Land Vision is a very talented horse and is my best hope at this stage. He’s potentially as good as any horse I’ve had in the past,” he said.

“Hopefully it’ll be a horse I’ve trained myself, though I wouldn’t rule out getting another like Gandalf late in the day.”

Gandalf was produced to three-star level by Angela Lloyd and Toddy took him on just months before the 2008 Olympics.

“He did his job very well in Beijing – he was never going to be amazing at dressage but he jumped clear across country and double clear in the showjumping so you can’t ask for much more than that.”

For more details on the CatWalk Trust see www.catwalk.org.nz.

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Members of the Norwegian Olympic show jumping team have been stripped of their bronze medals by the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) today.

The FEI tribunal’s disciplinary committee returned their decision today, that Norwegian rider Tony Andre Hansen will be suspended from competition for 135 days and forfeit his Olympic medal.

This means his team-mates also lose their medals won in Hong Kong.

Mr Hansen’s horse Camiro tested positive for the prohibited substance capsaicin at the Olympics in August.

He is one of six riders to break FEI medication rules at the Games.

Mr Hansen has been suspended since 21 August, so his disqualification will run until 2 January 2009.

He is also fined Swiss Francs 3,000 (£1,870) and must pay Swiss Francs 8,000 (£4,900) legal costs.

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Irish show jumper Denis Lynch has been banned from competition for three months and fined €1,142 (£897) with €1,305 (£1,026) costs, by the International Equestrian Federation (FEI).

Lynch’s Olympic ride Lantinus tested positive for a banned substance, capsaicin, in Hong Kong during the Beijing Olympic Games in August.

Lynch’s ban from competition runs until 21 November.

Horse Sport Ireland (HSI) chairman Joe Walsh said that an expert group formed to eradicate prohibited drugs and practices from Irish equestrianism would look closely at the FEI decision.

“I want to assure people that we will be relentless in dealing with this issue,” he said.

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America has lost its Olympic team dressage 4th placing following the disqualification of Mythilus for a positive dope test.

A random drug test on Mythilus carried out during the Games picked up traces of the prohibited substance Felbinac in the horse’s system.

The horse’s rider, Courtney King-Dye, claimed afterwards that Mythilus was contaminated while being treated for stress at the Hong Kong Jockey Club

But this afternoon, the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) announced that its disciplinary tribunal has disqualified Courtney. Her disqualification automatically loses America its fourth place in the Olympic team dressage competition.

In its ruling, the FEI disciplinary tribunal dismissed as “speculation” Courtney King-Dye’s claims that her horse was contaminated while being treated at the Hong Kong Jockey Club.

But while it dismissed their claims as speculation, the FEI tribunal said it found the evidence of the rider and US dressage team vet “credible”.

An FEI statement said: “The tribunal accepted [Courtney King-Dye] and US Equestrian Federation’s arguments that they have done almost everything in their power to ensure no rule violation shall occur”.

The disciplinary tribunal also weighed up the evidence that Felbinac, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), has therapeutic applications and is considered as a “doping substance”.

As a consequence, the FEI has imposed a one-month suspension on King-Dye. This has been in place since the Olympic Games, and ended yesterday (21 September). It has also fined her and imposed costs.

The FEI added that it took into consideration “the hardship already caused to Courtney King-Dye, including the fact that the US dressage team has already lost its 4th place at the Olympic Games”.

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Felicity Coulthard put up the performance of her life to win silver in the grade II freestyle out in Hong Kong.

Riding Roffelaar, she was the first to go in the evening session and she scored an impressive 71.056% with her medley of Fiddler on the Roof. Only Canada’s Lauren Barwick managed to better the score with 72.776%, with individual gold medalist Britta Naepel (Cherubin 15) in bronze.

“They told me to go out and enjoy myself and have fun,” said Felicity, who had Roffelaar up a gear from Monday’s individual performance, “and we did just that.”

South African rider Philippa Johnson won gold in the grade IV freestyle to the delight of the huge crowd at the Sha Tin racecourse. This was Philippa’s second gold medal, having won Monday’s individual as well. Her score of 77.272% is the highest of the week so far and she and her lovely chestnut gelding Benedict certainly deserved the marks.

“When I started on this road 6 years ago, my dream was just to represent my country,” she said. “We won silver in Athens two years later but to come here and achieve this is incredible.”

Philippa beat her Athens conqueror and good friend Ann Cathrin Lubbe into silver position. Ann Cathrin’s score of 75.046% would have been enough to win most classes, with bronze going to Australia’s Georgia Bruce riding Victory Salute, Australia’s reserve horse for the Olympics.

The rest of the British team are in action in their respective freestyles on Thursday. This is the final day of the equestrian games and there is plenty of hope that the current medal tally will be raised.

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History was made in Hong Kong as two teams jumped off for the gold medal for the first time and 61-year-old Ian Millar, the oldest Olympic show jumper ever completed his record ninth Games with his first medal, silver for Canada.

In a thrilling finale, the US won back-to-back gold, beating Canada, the two teams having tied on 20pen after the second round of team jumping, in a jump-off against the clock over a shortened course.

Canada, down to three riders after the withdrawal of Mac Cone, whose horse was sore, was at a disadvantage. When Jill Henselwood hit a brick off the Chinese calligraphy wall and first three Americans, McLain Ward, Laura Kraut and Will Simpson, jumped clear, it was all over.

Norway has taken bronze, its first equestrian Olympic medal ever and the first occasion the country has fielded a show jumping team since 1936.

Britain finished seventh, on 37 faults. Ben Maher jumped a beautiful clear round, and all three qualify for the individual final on Thursday.

Olympic jumping photo gallery

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John Whitaker and Peppermill have not been allowed to compete for the British team in today’s second round of the Olympic team jumping competition in Hong Kong.

Following the horse’s withdrawal from the first round, due to the horse having come out of the stable extremely stiff, the British team requested that the horse be allowed to run today. The ground jury agreed.

However, 7 out of the 9 teams competing today — only Germany abstained — lodged a protest. The ground jury upheld its original decision to allow Peppermill to run.

The 7 nations then launched a formal appeal to the appeal committee. The appeal committee decided that the horse was not eligible to compete.

Had he just been cantered through the start in the first round, he would have been eligible, but the team decided it was neither in the horse’s nor the sport’s interest to do that.

Article 264.4 in the Rules for Jumping Events (nations cups) states:

4.1 A full Nations Cup team comprises four competitors, each riding the same horse throughout the competition. All members of each team must take part in the first round, except as stated in paragraph 4.2 below and in apragraph 7.2.

4.2 If a team, comprising four competitors, cannot improve its placing in the first or second round after its third competitor has completed his course, the fourth competitor may be withdrawn.

Because they have not competed in the team competition, John and Peppermill will not be eligible for the individual competition.

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Imke Schellekens-Bartels and Sunrise of the Netherlands, the reigning European team gold and individual bronze medallists, are out of the individual grand prix special contest at the Olympics.

The 14-year-old mare, Sunrise, runner-up in the 2007 World Cup final, was found to be lame after the medal ceremony on Thursday night.

“I can’t believe it,” said an emotional Imke, who was lying in fifth place individually after the team contest and who was considered a medal contender with her 2007 World Cup final runner-up.

“The injury must have developed during the team competition. Before that she was 100% in order. But afterwards we noticed a small problem that could well develop into something bigger and could harm the horse. This is the last thing I would want.”

Imke’s withdrawal allowed in a second Australian competitor, Hayley Beresford riding the Lusitano Relampago, which is the first time the nation has had two competitors through to the individual competition.

Olympic Games dressage photo gallery

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The defending Olympic show jumping champions will be last to go in the team competition in Hong Kong after three of the four America riders jumped clear in the preliminary jumping round.

Britain, who made an excellent start with two clears and two four-fault rounds, will run 10th of the 16 teams.

Under this new system, in which the first round has been used to determine the draw in the nations cup, which starts on Sunday, scores do not go forward into the team effort. However, they do count as part of the qualifying procedure for the individual contest.

Nick Skelton made a great start, accumulating just one time fault on Russel, who looked in fine form, despite this being his first competition for about seven weeks.

“If he didn’t compete for a year, it wouldn’t bother him. If he’s well behaved, there’s nothing he can’t jump,” said Nick. “He’s a Jekyll and Hyde character.”

Ben Maher also produced an excellent clear on Rolette, picking up a single time fault.

“That’s one out of the way,” he said. “She was jumping a little high in the warm-up, and I was a bit worried that she was almost jumping too well. She’s an unbelievable horse, and I wouldn’t swap her.”

Tim Stockdale and John Whitaker both had excellent rounds as well, only hitting one fence apiece. John had the influential narrow upright gate which faced into the big screen and one time fault, while Fresh Direct Corlato rolled the front pole off the final oxer.

Leopoldo Palacios’s track proved straightforward, providing a gentle start for horses who would not have done that much work in recent weeks.

Defending individual champion Rodrigo Pessoa described it as “the softest first day I’ve seen in four Olympics”.

Thirteen riders jumped completely clear, including Hong Kong’s Patrick Lam on Urban, and a further 14 had one time fault. They included Pessoa and the reigning World Champions Jos Lansink and Cumano.

The Germans, under pressure to emulate their eventing and dressage compatriots, made a surprisingly slow start, and were fifth from bottom with 24 faults between them.

But Ludger Beerbaum said: “I wouldn’t say that it was a tactic exactly, but we were not very worried about this first round. I’ve never jumped a championship round just to decide team order before.

“The final 35 competitors won’t be decided from this evening; it’s all going to get much bigger, wider and faster, and we will be going ahead of quite a few other teams, I think.”

Olympic Games show jumping photo gallery

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Britain’s show jumpers are in good, positive order, as they go into the first, individual, round of the Olympic competition in Hong Kong.

“We can’t wait to start,” said Tim Stockdale.

Team manager Derek Ricketts said: “We’re as well prepared as any other nation, thanks to the huge technical help we had as a result of the test event last year, and I think we’ve got an excellent chance of a medal. We might even do better than the eventers!”

The team has been drawn sixth out of 16 — there are 87 competitors from 29 nations in total. Nick Skelton will act as pathfinder, followed by Tim Stockdale, Ben Maher and John Whitaker as anchorman.

Ben Maher, who makes his senior team debut, said that Rolette had settled well and was feeling fresh. “She’s used to the heat because she’s competed in America. In fact, she’s never felt better; I’ve got high hopes.”

John, for whom it is a sixth Olympics, said that Peppermill was working well. “It’s not perfect conditions for him, but it’ll be the same for everyone. He’s used to jumping under floodlights and the height of the jumps certainly doesn’t worry me.”

Germany, who lost the gold in Athens after the disqualification of Ludger Beerbaum’s horse, are obvious favourites, fielding an interesting combination of experienced and young horses.

They have two European champions, Christian Ahlmann’s 2003 gold medallist Coster, and Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum’s World Cup champion Shutterfly, plus two nine-year-olds, Ludger Beerbaum’s All Inclusive and Marco Kutscher’s Cornet.

Photo gallery: British Olympic show jumping squad

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HINRICH Romeike maintained his composure during the most pressurised show jumping round of his life to add individual Olympic eventing honours to the team gold he had already secured.

“I was expecting team gold but not the individual gold, but somehow it just came,” said Hinrich, a true amateur who works full time as a dental surgeon and only rides his horses in the evening.

The final individual show jumping round, held in an electrified Sha Tin arena and over a shorter course than that used for the team contest, prompted a shake-up of the other medal placings.

A clear round from America’s Gina Miles and the Irish-bred McKinlaigh gave them individual silver.

“I’ve done everything I set out to do, but I just wish my teammates could have been here with me too,” said Gina in reference to the disappointing result of the US squad which finished in seventh in the team standings.

Britain’s Tina Cook edged her way up through the rankings and her second clear round of the night ensured that she collected a “surprise” bronze. It was just reward for Tina, who had got so close to competing at Sydney in 2000, when she was the travelling reserve.

“This [result] means the world to me,” said Tina, who went into the arena with less than a fence between her and the leader Hinrich Romeike. “It’s what you dream about for years. I’ve got just three event horses, but I’ve concentrated on this one because I think so much of him.”

Megan Jones and Irish Jester, who had been lying third, were nearly home and dry, but to gasps from the crowd the final fence fell.

“I just didn’t sit up enough to that fence. I’ve only had five fences down with this horse and two of them were tonight,” said a disappointed Megan.

Ingrid Klimke suffered a similar fate, four faults collected at the second show jump by Abraxxas, together with one time fault, leaving her out of the medals in fifth place.

France’s Didier Dhennin did a great rescue job for his luckless country, which failed to complete a team, by securing sixth place with Ismene Du Temple after recording one of only 10 clear rounds in this deciding contest.

Clayton Fredericks and Ben Along Time were seventh with a four-fault round, while two rails down dropped Andreas Dibowski to eighth.

Mary King and William Fox-Pitt finished just out of the top 10 in 11th and 12th respectively.

“We came to this competition full of hope, although we knew things would have to go our way to beat the Australians and the Germans. For both of them things went incredibly well, while for us things just went very well,” said William.

American Phillip Dutton, who finished 16th in the individual round on Connaught, was disqualified from the competition when he contravened the FEI horse welfare ruling, introduced in February this year, that horse boots should weigh no more than 500g.

Read the team competition report

View Olympic eventing photos

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GERMANY has made amends for losing out on top honours at the Olympics four years ago by securing the team gold medal in the eventing competition in Hong Kong.

They narrowly increased their advantage over Australia in the team show jumping round, held under floodlights at the Sha Tin arena.

Two of their squad, Hinrich Romeike (Marius) and Ingrid Klimke (Abraxxas), who remain in the gold and silver medal positions going into the final individual jumping phase, added four faults to their scores leaving the individual placings following the cross-country unchanged.

Andreas Dibowski and Butts Leon, whose score also counted for Germany, jumped one of the 14 clear rounds notched up during the team contest to rise into individual fifth place with another round of jumping to come.

“It is so wonderful to possess such a wonderful, magical horse,” said Hinrich Romeike. When asked whether this medal was fitting compensation for Athens he added: “There is no disappointment from Athens. Athens is put away and everyone in our sport is friends again.”

Britain maintained its third place following yesterday’s cross-country and collected the bronze medal. Individually, though, Mary King’s eight faults with Call Again Cavalier down the final line of fences proved expensive and this pair is now in individual 13th place.

“He was jumping beautifully, but he went a bit quiet down the last line. The first part of the double was quite small and he lacked a bit of spring,” said Mary of Call Again Cavalier, who hasn’t had a fence down in competition since 2005. “It was a shame he had to save it for here. I’m very disappointed, but my second Olympic medal spurs me on to keep going for the next four years to get the gold.”

A lovely clear round from Miners Frolic has elevated Tina Cook into equal sixth place with Clayton Fredericks. Megan Jones and Irish Jester remain in third after collecting four faults.

America’s Gina Miles has capitalised on a clear round to rise a place into fourth, although earlier in the afternoon she almost saw her Olympic dreams turn to dust when McKinlaigh was sent to the holding box at the final vets’ inspection. Another horse reinspected by the ground jury this afternoon, Ringwould Jaguar, the ride of Australia’s Sonja Johnson, also jumped clear improve in the reckoning from 13th to ninth.

Dressage leaders Lucinda Fredericks and Headley Britannia left all the fences intact, but added two penalties for exceeding the tight 94sec optimum time, thus missing the cut for the individual final.

One casualty from yesterday’s cross-country phase, Keymaster, the ride of Sweden’s Magnus Gallerdal, underwent an operation at the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s equine clinic today for a hairline fracture to his pastern. The gelding, who completed yesterday’s cross-country in one of the fastest times, only became lame when he was in the cooling station after finishing the course.

Viktoria Carlerback’s Bally’s Geronimo was withdrawn before the final vets’ inspection suffering from a tendon injury, while Danish horse Silver Ray, the ride of Peter Flarup, has incurred a minor leg injury.

The top 25 will go through to the final round of jumping, although with each country allowed to field only three riders some competitors below 25th will get the opportunity to jump for individual honours.

Read the individual competition report

View Olympic eventing photos

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GERMANY has turned the tables on Australia following the cross-country phase of the Olympic three-day event in Hong Kong.

Dental surgeon Hinrich Romeike and Marius are now in the gold medal position, with teammate Ingrid Klimke and Abraxxas reinforcing this country’s dominance in second.

Germany leads the team medal standings too, while Great Britain has risen into bronze position behind Australia.

Four out of the five members of the British squad came home with clear rounds, with William Fox-Pitt and Parkmore Ed the fastest with 10 penalties to add.

Mary King and Call Again Cavalier have moved up from ninth to equal fifth place despite having to contend with running across country during a torrential downpour.

“I didn’t notice the rain. I was just trying to go so fast. It was a very busy course to ride,” said Mary, who added 18 time penalties after stopping the clock on 8min 45sec.

The 8min optimum set for Mike Etherington-Smith’s 29-fence cross-country course proved impossible to attain. Shane Rose and All Luck came the closest, stopping the clock on 8min 23sec.

Tina Cook and Miners Frolic have also entered the top 10 with a polished clear round for 17.2 time faults.

Sharon Hunt and Tankers Town were the only Britons to record a jumping mistake when they collected 20 penalties for a run-out at the influential penultimate fence, the Pagoda ditch and brushes at 27/28, when the gelding, like several others in the field, ducked out at the second part.

In a thrilling three hours of cross-country action at Beas River on an unseasonably cool and drizzly August day, Australia lost the advantage it had gained during the dressage phase when the individual leaders Lucinda Fredericks and Headley Britannia notched up an expensive 27.2 time faults and dropped to 11th place.

“Sometimes you just don’t get into a rhythm on a course. I found it difficult to get her opened out on the first part,” said Lucinda.

Megan Jones and Irish Jester are now the best placed Aussies in the bronze medal position.

Karin Donckers relinquished her second dressage placing when notching up a raft of time penalties with Gazelle De La Brasserie.

US rider Becky Holder and Courageous Comet, who had been fifth, disappeared from the reckoning with a stop at fence 21, the Crouching Dragon, where they added an additional 20 penalties for crossing their tracks on their way to the alternative.

Gina Miles and McKinlaigh are now the highest placed American partnership in equal fifth, just behind Clayton Fredericks and Ben Along Time.

In all there were eight eliminations on course, including one for Andrew Nicholson who fell off Lord Killinghurst at the Pagodas when they were on track to set the fastest time of the day.

Amy Tryon made history by becoming the first competitor ever to be eliminated for a rider fall in international competition, a ruling which came into force on 1 August. She fell off a hard-pulling Poggio when he caught his right hoof and then stumbled at fence 10, the Birdcages.

FEI president Princess Haya said that cross-country day, during which there were no reported injuries to horses or riders, had been a good one for the sport.

“It was one of the most exciting days; a top level competition in which the standards of riding exceeded anything we have ever seen,” said the Princess.

Going forward to tomorrow’s show jumping, which will be held under floodlights at 7.15pm local time, following an afternoon final horse inspection at 4pm, 60 combinations remain in the competition.

Read the full results

Olympic photo gallery

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Beatriz Ferrer-Salat has withdrawn her horse Faberge from the Olympic dressage competition. The black Hanoverian has suffered a leg injury.

The news is devastating for the Spain team as they have no travelling reserve in Hong Kong, which just leaves riders Jordi Domingo and Juan Manuel Munoz Diaz to ride as individuals.

This is the second time that Beatriz Ferrer-Salat has missed out on a major championship due to an injury to her horse. She also missed the 2006 World Equestrian Games because of an injured Beauvalais.

The Spanish rider won team silver and individual bronze in Athens four years ago.

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LUCINDA Fredericks and Headley Britannia will start the Olympic cross-country tomorrow in the gold medal position.

Their first-phase score of 30.4 was not bettered by any of the 25 horses who performed under floodlights and during high humidity at the final early morning dressage session at Sha Tin in Hong Kong.

Ingrid Klimke and Abraxxas came closest to toppling Lucinda when they scored 33.5 which has left them in third place. They only relinquished marks in the medium trot when Abraxxas spooked at a camera.

“He’s always interested in the surroundings,” said Ingrid. “The atmosphere was quite electric in there.”

Mary King and Call Again Cavalier, second last to go, became the best of the British contingent when they broke the 40 barrier and slotted into ninth place. Mary’s score of 38.1, together with Sharon Hunt and Tankers Town’s mark of 43.5, has elevated the British team into fourth place, behind Australia, Germany and the US. In the individual standings just 8.9 penalties separates the leader from 10th placed Gina Miles.

Before the competition started the British squad was informed of the death of 23-year-old Emma Jonathan while contesting the CCI** at Hartpury.

“We were all devastated to hear the news,” said Mary.

But basically sprits have been high in the British camp. Sharon Hunt commented on the camaraderie among Britain’s squad members. “William and Mary have both been really helpful and have walked the course with me and told me here to shaved the time off.”

The dressage phase apparently did not appeal to Hong Kong locals. One is quoted as saying in the Sunday Morning Post that her family was “deeply bored” by the experience of spectating and that she didn’t believe equestrianism “is an appealing sport visually”.

This afternoon Hong Kong time the horses will be transported to the cross-country venue Beas River, where they will be stabled overnight in readiness for tomorrow’s 8am start.

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NICOLAS Touzaint has been forced to withdraw Galan De Sauvagere from the Olympic three-day event in Hong Kong. In a second blow to the French squad, already depleted by the loss of Jean Teulere’s injured Espoir De La Mare, the announcement was made as the European Champions were due to enter the arena at 9.23pm local time.

The horse had fallen over in his loose box on Friday morning during a thunder storm and damaged his stifle, an injury which had worsened as Nicholas tried to work him in prior to his test.

“I find it difficult to believe,” said Nicolas. “Yesterday we had doubts about him which were confirmed this morning. We gave it another try tonight, but his condition had worsened and we had to give up.”

Lucinda Fredericks has maintained her lead following the second dressage session, held under floodlights and in front of a near capacity 18,000 crowd. Husband Clayton, however, is now in fifth place having relinquished his second spot to Belgium individuals Karin Donckers and Gazelle De La Brasserie, who brought the second session of dressage to a close.

Australia’s Megan Jones and her home-bred Irish Jester, who scored 35.4, are lying in third place, with US rider Becky Holder and Courageous Comet in fourth on 35.7. Germany’s dental surgeon Hinrich Romeike has also entered the reckoning and is lying sixth with Marius.

Tina Cook and Miners Frolic boosted British morale with a score of 40.2 which is good enough for eighth place at this stage.

“He’s only 10, he’s never been in an atmosphere like this and he’s done his best ever test so I couldn’t be more pleased,” said a delighted Tina.

A protestor tried to disrupt the proceedings for the second time during the competition when Chinese rider Alex Hua Tian was in the ring. The demonstrator, Leung Kwok-Heung, a well-known activist, waved a banner which stated ‘Freedom for China, no dictatorship’. The on-site security forces acted efficiently, as they had during the protest during the morning session and quickly ejected Mr Leung.

After three riders Australia has increased its lead in the team standings and is lying first with 102.8 penalties. The USA is in second on 121.5 penalties, followed by Germany, Sweden and the UK with 142.1.

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AUSTRALIAN husband and wife duo Lucinda and Clayton Fredericks are lying in first and second place at the Olympic three-day event in Hong Kong after the first session of dressage.

Clayton, who was sixth into the arena at the Sha Tin venue at 7.05am, earned a score of 37 penalties with Ben Along Time, but he relinquished his lead when Lucinda and her Badminton and Burghley winning mare Headley Britannia performed their test towards the end of the first morning session.

Britannia’s mark of 30.4 for this slightly shortened version of a four-star test was a personal best at top level and included a perfect 10 from judge Christian Landolt for her final flying change.

“She always gets good marks for her changes,” said Lucinda. “She’s not flashy, but very correct and the judges appreciate this and that she shows big differences with her little body. However, the dressage is the easy part for me and we’ve got a long way to go from here.”

pro-Tibet protest

Mid-way through Clayton’s test there was a pro-Tibet protest in the stands which was quickly quelled by the on-site security. Although Clayton was aware of the noise and commotion, which lasted around a minute, Ben Along Time’s concentration was not affected.

America’s Gina Miles and McKinlaigh were the only other pair to break the 40 barrier, earning 39.3, a personal best for them which has left them in third place.

Britain’s pathfinders Daisy Dick and Spring Along scored 51.7, which has left them in 13th place. The 15-year-old bay lost marks for spooking during his test.

“It had been so soft and beautiful up to that point,” said Daisy. “I’m disappointed with my mark, but at the same time we all know what he’s capable of and it could have been in the mid-sixties.”

Disappointment for Britain

William Fox-Pitt is lying in 11th place after a tense Parkmore Ed gained a mark of 50.2.

“He’s been lit up since he’s been here, but I had hoped he would do better than that,” said William.

First into the arena this morning, Mark Todd, who has returned to the sport after an absence of eight years, is occupying ninth place with Gandalf.

At the end of this first dressage session and with the next due to start at 7.15pm Hong Kong time, Great Britain is lying off the pace in sixth place in the team standings. Australia leads, with the US in second, Sweden in third, Germany in fourth and Italy fifth.

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The French eventing team has suffered a heavy blow after Jean Teulere’s 2002 World Equestrian Games winning mount, Espoir de la Mare, aggravated an old ligament injury.

French Chef d’Equipe Thierry Touzaint confirmed yesterday (Wednesday) that the 16-year-old gelding has been withdrawn from the 2008 Olympic Games on veterinary advice.

Espoir de la Mare aggravated the old injury some weeks ago but had made a good recovery and travelled to Hong Kong.

However the leg flared up again after a gallop last weekend.

Mr Touzaint insisted however that the injury is not career-threatening and that the horse should be back in action with his 54-year-old rider within the foreseeable future.

Teulere and the gelding claimed the individual gold medal at the World Equestrian Games in Jerez, Spain in 2002, team gold and individual fourth at the Athens Olympic Games in 2004 and fourth at last summer’s FEI European Eventing Championships at Pratoni in Italy.

The remaining French horses and riders — Eric Vigeanel and Coronado Prior, Nicolas Touzaint with Galan de Sauvagere, Jean Renaud Adde with Haston D’Elpegere and Didier Dhennin with Ismene du Temple — and the other 23 nations, face a vet inspection tomorrow at 4pm local time or 9am BST.

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A typhoon is threatening to marr the first few days of Olympic equestrian events in Hong Kong.

Humidity in the region is set to rise as the bad weather moves in over the next few days. The rain and winds forecast in Hong Kong follow a spell of settled conditions, during which horses were flown in.

But Olympic event rider Mary King told H&H the typhoon is not expected to be “too bad”.

“We were prepared for the worst [weather],” she said, “but it’s been much more bearable than we expected.

“We are told there is a typhoon coming but that it’s just a little one.”

Similarly, British equestrian team manager Will Connell told H&H the humidity had been reasonably low over the past few days.

“The weather is about to change, and we’re expecting it to get wetter, which might change things,” he added.

The Olympic equestrian events kick off on Saturday (9 August) with the eventing dressage.

Over the next few days, leading up to the weekend, the BBC is forecasting rain and showers. Temperatures of up to 29C are expected, with a 20% rise in humidity — from 74% to 90% — and wind speeds of up to 25mph.

British equestrian team manager Will Connell said the horses were all settling in well.

“The riders are all happy, the horses came off the plane well, we’re just going to get wet in the next few days!” he said.

Keep in touch with breaking news and competition reports from Hong Kong on Horseandhound.co.uk through the Games

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Olympic fans can keep up to date with TeamGB with a behind-the-scenes daily online diary written by equestrian team manager Will Connell.

Will’s colourful diary is following the journey of the Olympic and Paralympic equestrian teams throughout this summer’s Games in Hong Kong.

The equestrian team manager wrote his first installment when he arrived in Hong Kong on 24 July. He was one of the first people to arrive at the Olympic village.

Will makes funny and informative reading as he talks all aspects of the “Olympic experience”. He charts the arrival of the horses and their training, the hot and humid weather — as well as his experiments with the local cuisine, including a plate of whelks that looked like “they’d had a dose of radiation”.

Visit: www.equestrianteamgbr.co.uk

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The American Olympic eventing team has suffered a blow with the news today that Heidi White has had to withdraw Northern Spy for “veterinary reasons”.

Heidi had competed Northern Spy in Britain several times, including finishing 10th at Badminton in 2005 and 15th at Barbury CIC*** in the same year (pictured).

The United States Equestrian Federation has named Karen O’Connor to replace Heidi, riding Mandiba. This will be Karen’s fourth Olympic Games. Her husband David won the individual gold medal at the Olympics in Sydney in 2000.

Karen and Mandiba are in Britain — they were due to run in the British open at Gatcombe this weekend — and will fly out to Hong Kong tomorrow. The British team horses also depart tomorrow.

Karen joins Phillip Dutton (Connaught), Becky Holder (Courageous Comet), Gina Miles (McKinlaigh) and Amy Tryon (Poggio) on the American team.

Stay up to date with all the Olympic news on www.horseandhound.co.uk and don’t forget to buy H&H next Thursday (7 August) for our full Olympic preview including form guides, predictions, full timetable and TV listings.

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Mary King, Tim Stockdale and Jane Gregory share their highs and lows in the run up to, and throughout, the Olympic Games.

Tim Stockdale

Individual competition

Team competition

First round of the competition

Arrived in Hong Kong

2 days to go

8 days to go

16 days to go

23 days to go

30 days to go

Tim’s picture gallery

Meet Tim Stockdale

Mary King

Show jumping day

Cross-country day

Dressage day

1 day to go

10 days to go

17 days to go

25 days to go

29 days to go

37 days to go

Mary’s picture gallery

Mary’s career history

Mary King interview on Countrylife.co.uk

Jane Gregory

The team competition

The opening ceremony

5 days to go

11 days to go

18 days to go

27 days to go

35 days to go

Jane’s picture gallery

Jane’s firsts and lasts

Who is Jane Gregory?

Nine British equestrian 2012 Olympic hopefuls are traveling to Hong Kong to experience this year’s Games — to try to give them an edge should they make it to the London Games.

The British Olympic Association has invited three young talents from eventing, show jumping and dressage, to join “Britain’s Olympic Ambition 2012”.

They will see Team GB’s preparation camp, the Olympic village and the athletes’ lodge, watch the equestrian competitions and attend a press conference.

Advanced medium national dressage champion Charlotte Dujardin, 20, is one of the nine heading to Hong Kong.

She told H&H: “It will be such an eye-opener and a great opportunity.”

Team GB chef de mission Simon Clegg said: “Research shows that a high percentage of medallists at any Olympics have attended previous Games.”

This news story was first published in Horse & Hound (17 July, ’08)

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The United States has named its eventing team for this summer’s Olympic Games.

Amy Tryon and Poggio II, Gina Miles and McKinglaigh, Phillip Dutton and Connaught, Heidi White and Northern Spy and Becky Holder and Courageous Comet will all be heading to Hong Kong to represent the USA.

Phillip Dutton said: “It is an incredible honor. To represent America for the first time is something I’ll remember for the rest of my life.”

The reserves will be Buck Davidson (Ballynoe Castle RM), Phillip Dutton (Woodburn), Bonnie Mosser (Merloch) and Karen O’Connor (Mandiba).

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Irish event riders Geoff Curran, Niall Griffin, Louise Lyons, Austin O’Connor and Patricia Ryan have been selected for the three-day event team to represent Ireland in the upcoming Olympics.

Four-time Olympic medallist and Horse Sport Ireland High Performance Coach Ginny Elliot said: “I have picked the squad based on what I consider to be the best team of horses and riders for the physical and mental challenges they will face in Hong Kong.

“Our focus will be on the team competition and I have selected the horses and riders with this in mind.”

Geoff will be bringing Kilkishen, who he finished in 21st place with at Barbury Castle CIC *** last weekend (4-6 July) — the highest placed Irish combination at the event — and Balladeer Alfred.

He will bring both into quarantine and will decide on which one he will be riding nearer to the games

Niall will be riding Lorgaine, Louise will be riding Watership Down, Austin will ride Hobby Du Mee and Patricia Fernhill Clover Mist.

Sacha Pemble with Hyanie d’Aubrie and I’ve Been Dunn has been selected as official reserve.

And Sam Watson with Ballybolger Bushman and Jayne Doherty with Art Attack have also been placed on the reserve list

Ginny added: “I want to thank all the riders and their owners for the tremendous effort they have put in to make the team, particularly over the last month.

“It is gutting not to make the squad but I have stressed to them they need to be ready if called on between now and the games.”

The eventing squad will enter quarantine in Aachen, Germany on 17 July and will fly to Hong Kong on 29 July.

Ireland’s three-day eventing team finished eighth at Athens in 2004.

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Tipperary-born Denis Lynch and the ten year-old gelding Lantinus will be Ireland’s sole show jumping combination at this August’s Beijing Olympic Games, Robert Spaine of Horse Sport Ireland has revealed.

Splaine said: “Their superb clear round at the Nations’ Cup in Aachen was the final confirmation I needed that we have a really top class combination here that can hold its own with any in the world.

“Denis and the horse are at the peak of their form, and if they can maintain this until August then Ireland will be very competitive in Hong Kong.”

Lynch, who is 32, currently tops the Global Champions’ Tour rankings with ‘Lantinus’ and has racked up an almost unprecedented series of victories in Grands Prix including Doha in Qatar, La Baule in France, and Rome, Italy, together with notable Nations’ Cup performances for

Ireland in the Samsung Super League.

He said: “It was always my ambition to jump for Ireland, and I was very fortunate to achieve that. But now to have the honour of representing my country at the Olympics will be a dream come true.”

Irish number one show jumper Jessica Kurten ruled herself out of Olympic contention last month and is currently serving a two month FEI ban following the detection of a banned substance in one of her horse’s systems last year.

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Canadian show jumper Ian Millar will make history this summer by competing for his country at the Beijing Olympics at 61 years old.

Beijing will be the ninth consecutive Games for Ontario-based Millar, who will become the oldest show jumper in Olympic history.

And the veteran rider’s place on the team looks as certain as it could be because not only has he been selected with In Style, but he is also named as first reserve with Redefin.

“I’m very lucky to have two Olympic-quality horses,” said Millar, the most decorated equestrian in Canadian history.

He is joined on the team by Eric Lamaze (Hickstead), Jill Henselwood (Special Ed) and Mac Cone (Ole).

He added: “Of all the Olympic Games that I’ve been to, this is the first time I can say that I have two possible mounts. We have a really solid team.”

This news story was first published in Horse & Hound (3 July, ’08)

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Lucy Wiegersma will not ride on the British eventing team at the Olympics in Hong Kong this summer.

Lucy’s mount Shaabrak (pictured finishing second at Badminton this year) has been suffering from a poisoned foot, which has meant he has missed some fitness and preparatory work, although when H&H spoke to Lucy yesterday she was still hopeful he would be able to reach peak fitness in time for the Games.

“It’s bad timing,” said Lucy. “It started about two weeks ago — he had a bit of broken foot one day, then the next he was lame, with a thumping pulse and a hot foot.”

First reserve riders Tina Cook (Miners Frolic) and Daisy Dick (Spring Along) have been selected to replace Lucy and Zara Phillips, who had to withdraw three weeks ago after an injury to Toytown.

Will Connell, British equestrian team leader commented: “I am of course extremely disappointed for Lucy, who has worked so hard over many years to win her place in the team; however, in Tina and Daisy we have two experienced campaigners who both have horses that should be able to turn in some excellent performances at the Games. The team remains strong, capable and focused on winning medals in Hong Kong.”

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Ruth Edge’s ride Two Thyme is no longer in contention for the British eventing team for this summer’s Olympics after incurring an injury.

“He was fine after Salperton, but galloped earlier this week and was lame the next day,” said Ruth (pictured). “It’s a new front leg injury which will put him out for the rest of the year.”

Two Thyme won an open intermediate section Salperton last Saturday (21 June) with an outstanding 15.9 dressage score.

Ruth was one of three riders expected to run at Barbury Castle next week (3-6 July) in the hope of being selected to fill the space on the eventing team left open by the withdrawal of Zara Phillips’s Toytown through injury.

The first reserves still in contention for that place are Tina Cook (Miners Frolic) and Daisy Dick (Spring Along and Hope Street). Oliver Townend was also on the first reserve list, but Flint Curtis has also been withdrawn.

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Carl Hester has announced that one of his Olympic potentials, Dolendo, has been ruled out of this summer’s games due to injury.

The 17.2hh chestnut gelding, owned by Mrs Ann Cory, won the National Championships last September. Dolendo will now be ruled out of Olympic selection for 2008 and will spend the summer walking and recovering.

Carl told H&H: “It’s a repeat strain of an original injury which happened about 18 months ago. It’s only a small injury but there’s such a lot to do before the Olympics so we decided to call it a day.

“It’s not career threatening but he needs about three months to recover, but it’s definitely not over. We are still hopeful for the Europeans.”

Carl is now focusing on preparing Sasha Stewart’s Lecantos for the Olympics, who performed well recently at Gelderland.

“It is disappointing but I’m really excited about taking Lecantos — he’ll be more suited to the Olympic conditions,” he said.

“The Olympics were always going to be difficult for Dolendo as he is bigger and older and the conditions in Hong Kong would not have suited him so I’m actually in a way quite relieved that he doesn’t have to go through it.”

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Ireland will send an eventing team to this summer’s Olympics, Horse Sport Ireland announced last Sunday

The decision follows a meeting between chef d’equipe Ginny Elliot and owners, riders and trainers — and Geoff Curran’s win at the World Cup qualifier at Tattersalls (read report in the current issue of Horse & Hound, p44).

A squad of 14 has been selected (see full list below), which will be reduced to eight before 16 June, with the final line-up to be announced after Barbury Castle horse trials in early July.

“I am happy that enough riders will give full commitment to the programme over the next two and a half months,” said Ginny.

Ireland secured five Olympic places through riders’ individual world rankings.

Irish eventing squad

• Geoff Curran (Balladeer Alfred and Kilkishen)
• Jayne Doherty (Art Attack)
• Niall Griffin (Lorgaine)
• Louise Lyons (Watership Down)
• Joseph Murphy (Master Boy)
• Austin O’Connor (Hobby Du Mee)
• Michael Owen (King Bob)
• Sacha Pemble (Hyanie d’Aubrie)
• Elizabeth Power (Kilpatrick River)
• Michael Ryan (Old Road)
• Donal Healy (Master Imp)
• Patricia Ryan (Fernhill Clover Mist)
• Steven Smith (Quality VH)
• Sarah Wardell (Kincluny)
• Sam Watson (Ballybolger Bushman)

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The Hong Kong Jockey Club has handed over the Olympic equestrian venue in Sha Tin to the organising committee of the Olympic Equestrian Events. A key was presented during the delivery ceremony that symbolized the delivery of the project and the marking of a milestone in the preparation for the equestrian events.

“The Hong Kong Jockey Club made the decision to build the best venues for the Olympic horses and riders to support Beijing’s vision of staging the best Olympics,” said T. Brian Stevenson, deputy chairman of the club.

A significant sum of US$150 million has been invested in the venues that will stage the Olympic equestrian events from 9-21 August.

“The venue has been specially designed so that it is very ‘horse-friendly’”, said Henry Tang, HKSAR Chief Secretary for Administration.

“There are a number of world firsts: everything from the stables environment, training facilities, horse transport, equine sample testing, waste recycling, as well as measures to combat the bad weather.”

Beas River, the venue for the cross-country phase of the eventing competition will be handed over to the equestrian company next month.

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Ireland’s top show jumper Jessica Kurten has informed selectors she will not be available to compete for her country at this summer’s Olympics.

Jessica, 38, is currently ranked world number two in show jumping. She competed for Ireland in the Atlanta Olympic Games in 1996 and at Athens in 2004.

But this week she decided, together with owner Lady Georgina Forbes, to inform Ireland’s show jumping chef d’equipe, Robert Splaine that she would not be available to ride for her country.

“We already decided at the beginning of the year, that after I qualified a reasonably quick decision should be made to allow enough time for training of horse and rider for such a tough event,” said Jessica.

In a statement released this afternoon, Jessica says she and Lady Georgina decided that Castle Forbes Libertina needs a rest after a busy indoor season culminating in the World Cup final in Sweden last month and said there were “many reasons” why her other leading horse, Quibell, should not go.

Jessica says Quibell is a nervous flyer, and at 14 the stress of taking her to Hong Kong could take “a lot out of her”. The mare is also likely to be off for four weeks with an injury that ruled her out of last weekend’s Samsung Super League in Rome.

Ireland has been allocated one show jumping place at the Olympics due to Jessica’s high placing in the individual FEI rankings.

Chef d’equipe Robert Splaine said: “Obviously it is a pity that Jessica will not be available for the Olympics, as world number two she would have been one of the favourites.

“But her performances over the past year have secured us a place in the Olympics and I am now focusing on selecting a horse and rider to fill that place.”

Speaking from her home in Hünxe, Germany, Jessica said today: “To compete at the Olympics is a dream for every rider and I wish the horse-and-rider combination who flies the Irish tri-colour in Hong Kong the very best of luck.”

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British Eventing and the British Olympic Association have today announced the GB eventing team for the Beijing Olympics.

Team members are William Fox-Pitt riding either Ballincoola, Parkmore Ed or Tamarillo; Sharon Hunt and Tankers Town; Mary King with either Call Again Cavalier or Imperial Cavalier; Zara Phillips and Toytown and Lucy Wiegersma on Shaabrak.

Yogi Breisner: “As the team manager I am fortunate to have five such talented riders on the team, and I am very grateful to all the owners for making such excellent horses available.”

Two groups of reserve riders have been named.

1st Reserves (in alphabetical order)

• Kristina Cook (Miner’s Frolic)
• Daisy Dick (Hope Street or Spring Along)
• Ruth Edge (Two Thyme)
• Oliver Townend (Flint Curtis)

2nd Reserves (in alphabetical order)

• Georgie Davies (Fachoudette)
• Pippa Funnell (Ensign)
• Rodney Powell (Zin Zan II)
• Polly Stockton (Tom Quigley)
• Oliver Townend (Coup de Coeur)
• Nicola Wilson (Opposition Buzz)

Share your thoughts about the team in the H&H forum

Team member stats

WILLIAM FOX-PITT

2008 third, Badminton (Ballincoola)

2007 first, Burghley (Parkmore Ed)

2006 team silver, individual

15th World Equestrian Games, Aachen (Tamarillo)

2005 first, Burghley (Ballincoola)

2004 team silver, Olympic Games, Athens, Greece (Tamarillo)

2004 first, Badminton (Tamarillo)

MARY KING

2007 team gold and individual silver, European championships, Pratoni (Call Again Cavalier)

2007 second, Pau CCI**** (Imperial Cavalier)

2006 team silver, World Equestrian Games, Aachen (Call Again Cavalier)

ZARA PHILLIPS

2007 team gold and individual sixth, European championships, Pratoni (Toytown)

2006 individual gold and team silver, World Equestrian Games, Aachen (Toytown)

2005 individual and team gold, European championships, Blenheim (Toytown)

SHARON HUNT

2008 fifth, Badminton (Tankers Town)

2006 sixth, Badminton (Tankers Town)

2006 senior squad debut as an individual at World Equestrian Games, Aachen — finished ninth (Tankers Town)

LUCY WIEGERSMA

2008 second, Badminton (Shabraak)

2007 seventh, Burghley (Shabraak)

2006 seventh, Badminton (Shaabrak)

2004 first, Blair CCI*** (Shabraak)

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

United States names Olympic eventing team [15 July, ’08]

www.horseandhound.co.uk/olympics/7285/263523.html

Samantha Taylor joins Canada’s eventing squad [15 July, ’08]

Samantha Taylor and Livewire have been selected as the fifth rider/horse combination for Canada’s eventing team, following the withdrawal of Jessica Phoenix and Exploring.

Bettina Hoy ruled out of the 2008 Olympic Games [14 July, 2008]

www.horseandhound.co.uk/olympics/7285/263426.html

Albert Zoer may miss the Olympic Games through injury [14 July, 2008]

www.horseandhound.co.uk/olympics/7285/263412.html

William Fox-Pitt to ride Parkmore Ed at the Olympics [09 July, ’08]

www.horseandhound.co.uk/olympics/7285/263106.html

Irish eventing team selected for the Olympics [7 July, ’08]

www.horseandhound.co.uk/olympics/7285/262978.html

Australia names Olympic Games equestrian teams [7 July, ’08]

www.horseandhound.co.uk/olympics/7285/262955.html

Canada’s Jessica Phoenix out of the Olympics [7 July, ’08]

Following an injury sustained during training, Exploring ridden by Jessica Phoenix, has been withdrawn from the Canadian Olympic eventing team.

Canada names Olympic eventing team [18 June, ’08]

• Kyle Carter riding Madison Park
• Sandra Donnelly riding Buenos Aires
• Selena O’Hanlon riding Colombo
• Jessica Phoenix riding Exploring
• Michael Winter riding King Pin

New Zealand Olympic eventing team announced [17 June, ’08]

www.horseandhound.co.uk/competitionnews/391/258804.html

Canada names Olympic show jumping team

• Eric Lamaze on Hickstead
• Jill Henselwood on Special Ed
• Mac Cone on Ole
• Ian Millar on In Style

British dressage team chosen for Beijing Paralympics [16 June, ’08]

www.horseandhound.co.uk/competitionnews/397/258781.html

Two British Olympic pentathletes named [16 June, ’08]

www.horseandhound.co.uk/news/397/258746.html

Zara Phillips out of the Olympics [11/06/2008]

www.horseandhound.co.uk/news/397/258336.html

Dolendo ruled out of Olympic Games for Carl Hester [09/06/2008]

www.horseandhound.co.uk/competitionnews/388/258189.html

Ireland to send eventing team to the Olympic Games

www.horseandhound.co.uk/competitionnews/391/257955.html

America reveals Paralympic dressage team

• Robin Brueckmann riding Radetzky
• Barbara Grassmyer riding Mibis
• Rebecca Hart riding Norteassa
• Keith Newerla riding Walk on the Moon
• Lynn Seidemann riding Rolex Toltien

America names Olympic eventing short-list [22 May, ’08]

• Stephen Bradley with Brandenburg’s Joshua
• Bruce Davidson, Jr. with BallyNoe Castle RM
• Phillip Dutton with Connaught, The Foreman or Woodburn
• Will Faudree with Antigua
• Becky Holder with Courageous Comet
• Gina Miles with McKinlaigh
• Karen O’Connor with Mandiba or Theodore O’Connor
• Kim Severson with Tipperary Liadhnan
• Amy Tryon with Leyland or Poggio II
• Heidi White with Northern Spy

The following horse/rider combinations are substitutes:

• Stephen Bradley with From
• Clark Montgomery with Up Spirit
• Bonnie Mosser with Merloch
• Jennifer Wooten with The Good Witch

British eventing team named [9 May, ’08]

The British Olympic eventing team will comprise William Fox-Pitt, Mary King, Zara Phillips, Lucy Wiegersma and Sharon Hunt. Read the full story.

42 countries qualified for Olympics [9 May, ’08]

A total of 42 countries have qualified, either with team or individual, to participate in the 2008 Olympic Games.

Jumping teams

• Australia
• Brazil
• Canada
• China
• Great Britain
• Germany
• Hong Kong
• Saudi Arabia
• Mexico
• The Netherlands
• Norway
• New Zealand
• Switzerland
• Sweden
• Ukraine
• USA

Jumping individuals

• Argentina – 1 rider
• Azerbaijan – 1 rider
• Belgium – 1 rider
• Bermuda – 1 rider
• Colombia – 1 rider
• Egypt – 1 rider
• Guatemala – 1 rider
• Ireland – 1 rider
• Jordan – 1 rider
• Japan – 2 riders
• Russia – 2 riders
• United Arab Emirates – 1 rider
• Venezuela – 1 rider

Dressage teams

• Australia
• Brazil
• Canada
• Great Britain
• Germany
• Japan
• The Netherlands
• Switzerland
• Sweden
• USA

Plus countries with three individuals qualified from the same nation to make up a team.

• Denmark
• Spain

Dressage individuals

• Antigua – 1
• Austria – 2
• Belgium – 1
• Belarus – 1
• China – 1
• Finland – 1
• France – 2
• Italy – 1
• Korea – 1
• Mexico – 1
• South Africa – 1
• Russia – 1

Eventing teams

• Australia
• Brazil
• Canada
• France
• Great Britain
• Germany
• Italy
• Sweden
• USA

Plus countries with three individuals qualified from the same nation to make up a team.

• Ireland
• New Zealand

Individual eventing

• Argentina – 1
• Austria – 1
• Belgium – 2
• Belarus – 2
• Chile – 2
• China – 1
• Denmark – 1
• Jamaica – 1
• Japan – 1
• The Netherlands – 2
• Poland – 2
• South Africa – 1
• Russia – 2
• Switzerland – 1

America eventing squad news [8 May, ’09]

The United States Equestrian Federation intends to announce the US Olympic eventing team on 15 July, based on the performances of short listed riders at Barbury Castle Horse Trials CIC*** (3-6 July) and The Fork Stables in Norwood, North Carolina (11-12 July).

Australia: Two riders selected [23 April, ’09]

The Australian Equestrian Federation has named dressage rider Kristy Oatley and show jumper Edwina Alexander as Olympic riders in Hong Kong. Kristy has Quando-Quando and Don Bolero, while Edwina has three horses to choose from — Isovlas Pialotta, Isovlas Socrates and Isovlas Itot du Chateau.

Australia: dressage short-list released [23 April, ’09]

Australia’s dressage selectors have announced their short-list for the Olympic Games. The combinations selected are:

• Mary Hanna (Port Said 10 and Rambo)
• Kristy Oatley (Quando-Quando and Don Bolero)
• Brett Parbery (Victory Salute)
• Rozzie Ryan (Donna Carrera)
• Maree Tomkinson (Lanzaro)
• Heath Ryan (Greenoaks Dundee)

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Double Olympic gold medallist Mark Todd is heading to the UK this weekend in a late bid for 2008 Olympic Games selection. He is due to arrive on British shores on Sunday 20 April.

After successfully completing the first leg of the Olympic qualifying criteria at the Puhinui three-day event in March, he now needs to complete another three star competition within the set guidelines to be considered.

Mark’s hopes are currently pinned on the Saumur three-day event in France on 15-18 May, where he will be riding Gandalf, the 10-year-old grey gelding he bought in January.

Failing that Mark and Gandalf have one other chance to be selected — at Bramham in June.

Mark said: “I am very comfortable and happy with Gandalf. We’ll do another couple of competitions in the UK and again, I won’t have a lot of time before Saumur and hopefully if that all goes well, then we’ll just concentrate on the build-up towards Beijing.”

Eight New Zealand riders are competing for five spots at the Olympics. The successful team will be named in late June after they have all competed in a series of events in the UK.

Mark added: “I don’t really know how I rate in form against some of the others, but obviously when I go to Saumur I will need to put up a good performance to catch the selectors’ eye.”

It would be a record sixth Olympic Games for Mark, 52, who won gold medals in 1984 and 1988.

View pictures of Mark Todd’s career from the Horse & Hound archives

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Eventer Mark Todd (pictured) has passed the first major hurdle in his attempt to qualify for this summer’s Hong Kong Olympics.

The 51-year-old New Zealander — who retired from eventing eight years ago but announced a comeback last month — needed two qualifying results in the advanced class at the Hawke’s Bay event at Arran Station on Sunday (24 February) to qualify for the Puhinui International Horse Trials (14-17 March).

Mark had two cross-country refusals on his first ride, Judge’s Decision, but won the class on Tom Collins and finished third on his Olympic hope Gandalf.

Reports in the New Zealand press say Mark seemed a little rusty on his first ride, but that by the time he rode Gandalf the old magic looked to be returning.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now