Leaders Criticize Format at Show Jumping Trials

With the final two rounds of the Olympic equestrian show jumping trials scheduled Sunday in Del Mar, several riders criticized the format after Friday’s competition at the Oaks/Blenheim Riding Park in San Juan Capistrano.

When the four leaders, Nona Garson, Laura Kraut, Margie Goldstein-Engle and Francie Steinwedell-Carvin, and former Olympian Norman Dello-Joio gathered for interviews, talk turned to the format of the trials and the physical pressure being put on the horses.

After the first five rounds were completed in New Jersey in June, the trials continued with one round Wednesday and two Friday in San Juan Capistrano. The hot weather and a short 20-minute break between rounds had riders voicing their concern for the safety of their mounts and the possible effect on the final results.

“This is asking a tremendous amount from these animals,” said Dello-Joio, a 1992 bronze medalist who rides Glasgow. “It’s an awful lot of stress for the horses.”

Some horses cooled down by standing in buckets of ice and others were given fluids intravenously for dehydration. The horses were then shuttled on two 15-horse trailers to Del Mar.

“It could definitely affect the outcome,” said Garson, who with her mount, Rhythmical, leads the field. “There was very little letdown time between rounds. The horses barely had time to cool down and get a normal drink. And now they have to get on a truck. . . . another sweaty, stressful event.

“It’s not like checking into the Hilton with the bed turned down and a mint on the pillow. There are a lot of things that have to be done to make the horses comfortable.”

The competition will continue Sunday with the possibility of producing an all-woman Olympic show jumping team for the first time. The top six riders going into the final rounds are women.

Garson and Rhythmical, a 15-year-old Russian Warmblood gelding, lead the field with a total of 20.5 faults.

Rhythmical--once the property of the Russian government before being sold, along with several other horses, for 150 used washing machines--didn’t begin competitive jumping until Garson bought him five years ago.

However, Rhythmical’s bloodlines may have something to do with his talent. His father, Ries, was a famous Russian show jumper and competed in the 1980 Olympics in Moscow.

“I feel I have a horse that even though he’s 15, he hasn’t used himself up,” Garson said. “He’s like the little general. It’s very important for a horse like him to think he’s king. He’s been through a lot in his life.”

After being used by the military in Russia, Rhythmical’s new owner took him to Estonia, where he became a lesson horse.

“They said he was very bad,” Garson laughed.

He was then sold to an owner in Finland, where Garson saw him in a junior jumping exhibition and snatched him up.

“He has a lot of scars,” she said. “I know if he could talk he’d have some great stories to tell.”

Kraut and Liberty, a 9-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare, are in second with 20.75 faults. The pair has posted four clean runs throughout the trials, the most by any duo.

Goldstein-Engle, in third with 21.25 faults, rides the biggest horse in the competition, Hidden Creek’s Perin, a 10-year-old Westphalian gelding that stands 17 hands high.

Steinwedell-Carvin and Moonstar, an 11-year-old German-bred Holsteiner gelding, are holding the fourth and final qualifying spot at 27.25.

Todd Minikus and Oh Star, who led the competition after Wednesday, tallied 20.25 faults in Friday’s competition and dropped to seventh place.

“This is clutch time,” Kraut said. “That’s only the third time I’ve done two rounds on her and we aren’t done yet. Anything can happen. I wish it was over today.”