London 2012 Olympics: Equestrian Coverage

The Last Amateur Games?

Jennifer — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 13:53:00 GMT

Baron Pierre de Coubertin of France, founder of the International Olympic Committee and the generally acknowledged father of the modern Olympic Games, envisioned a field of amateur athletes for whom "the essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well."

Very sporting, but perhaps less so when one learns that de Coubertin was against female athletes' participation, and that he came from the kind of aristocratic background that enabled leisure sporting pursuits without regard to concerns about earning a living.

Although for years the Olympics touted so-called amateurism in sport, the truth is that the Olympic playing field has seldom truly been level. Until the 1950s, Olympic equestrian competitors had to be cavalry officers; that is to say, college-educated men and Army leaders. There was no opportunity for the rank and file or for the non-military rider, no matter how talented. And do I need to point out that a cavalry officer was by definition a professional equestrian, or at least an equestrian professional?

Fans love the idea of the amateur athlete--one whose dedication to a sport is motivated purely by love of the sport, unsullied by finances and sponsorship obligations. The rationale, I suppose, is that a true amateur embodies the highest form of sportsmanship and therefore will never be tempted to stoop to cheating, doping, or other nefarious means of winning at any cost.

Unfortunately, human nature being what it is, there are always some who will try to win at all costs, even if they don't need the pot of the gold at the end of the Olympic-medals rainbow.

What's more, the Baron presumably did not anticipate such Games-related issues as broadcast coverage, live streaming, and security. Olympic Games are crazy expensive to produce; things like sponsorships, tickets, and merchandise sales help to defray those costs. They're also crazy expensive to qualify for and to attend. Elite athletes today are almost always professionals, often with business deals and sponsorships of their own; there's no other way they'd be able to afford to train, travel, and compete to the extent that's required in order to make it to an Olympics.

But the Paralympic Games aren't quite at that level of production expense, at least not yet (although they're garnering more attention every quadrennium). And here we see athletes who perhaps aren't "brands" with agents, clothing lines, clinic tours, and book deals (although some surely deserve them!).

I took a look at the online biographies of a random smattering of equestrians at the 2012 London Paralympic Games. Some do indeed list their professions as "athlete" or "horse trainer." But many have real jobs, so to speak. We amateur riders and horse-sport fans can identify with those Paralympic equestrians who are taking time off from work or school to compete. Perhaps, generally speaking, we now have more in common with the Paralympic equestrians than we do with their Olympic brethren.

Hot-rodding victory lap: 2012 Paralympic Games Grade II Freestyle medalists (from left) Britta Napel of Germany (silver), Natasha Baker of Great Britain (gold), and Angelika Trabert of Germany (bronze).

Don't Call Them Disabled

Jennifer — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 21:22:00 GMT

Do I feel sorry for a person with a limp, a missing limb, or some other physical challenge? Yeah, I do -- until that person climbs in the saddle and proceeds to kick my able-bodied dressage-riding butt.

That's about the size of it when it comes to the elite riders whose physical disabilities disappear as if by magic when they're on horseback. The world's best dressage riders and other athletes who happen to have physical disabilities are currently vying for medals at the 2012 London Paralympic Games. Make no mistake: These are not a kinder, gentler Olympic Games. Paralympic athletes are tough, serious, and competitive. Here's a look at the Paralympic equestrian competition.

Like the Olympic equestrian events, Paralympic equestrian competition is conducted under the auspices of the International Equestrian Federation (FEI). The FEI writes the tests for para-equestrian dressage. Instead of levels, in para-dressage the divisions are called grades, and each grade corresponds to a degree of physical disability. The Grade Ia tests are for the most profoundly disabled riders and are conducted at the walk only. There are Grades Ib, II, III, and IV, with IV being the most advanced (for the least-disabled) and roughly equivalent to US Equestrian Federation Third Level, with walk, trot, and canter, lateral work including half-pass, half-pirouettes in walk, and simple changes of lead through the walk.

Prior to competing in FEI para-equestrian dressage, a rider must be "classified" into a grade at an official classification event, by specially trained officials. Of course no two disabilities are exactly alike, but the exhaustively detailed classification system ensures as level a playing field as possible.

Many para-equestrian competitors ride with special equipment that allows them to compensate for, say, a missing or weakened limb or side. Riders must obtain dispensation certificates, as they're called, in order to compete with equipment other than that permitted in standard FEI dressage competition. For instance, some para-dressage competitors carry two whips or have specially modified saddles or stirrup attachments,

Para-equestrian dressage riders come into the sport in various ways. Some are born with a condition, such as cerebral palsy. Others were accomplished able-bodied riders who became disabled after an accident. One of the best-known riders who is currently making the latter transition is 2008 U.S. Olympic dressage competitor Courtney King Dye, who suffered a severe traumatic brain injury in a helmetless fall from a horse two years ago. Although she did not make the 2012 U.S. Paralympic dressage squad, Dye has been competing in para-dressage and has stated that the Paralympics are a goal.

Of the four 2012 U.S. Paralympians, two were born with their disabilities and two developed them later in life. The 2012 U.S. Para-Equestrian Dressage national champion, the Grade II rider Rebecca Hart, was born with a condition called familial spastic paraplegia. Hart, 27, now lives in Unionville, Pa., so that she can train with Missy Ransehousen, the U.S. para-dressage chef d'equipe. Hart's mount for the 2012 Paralympics is Lord Ludger, a Holsteiner gelding owned by Missy's mother, the dressage Olympian Jessica Ransehousen.

First-time Paralympian Jonathan Wentz, 21, of Richardson, Tex., has cerebral palsy. His mount in London is the handsome Shire-cross gelding NTEC Richter Scale, owned by his coach, Kai Handt. The pair earned the 2012 U.S. national reserve title. Wentz competes in the Grade Ib division.

Donna Ponessa, 51, of New Windsor, NY, rode as a youngster but was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis during her college years. Her MS progressed to a rare form called Devic Disease. Ponessa competes with Wentz in the Grade Ib division. Ponessa's Paralympic partner is Western Rose, a nine-year-old Oldenburg mare owned by Wesley Dunham.

Dr. Dale Dedrick, 56, of Ann Arbor, MI, was a successful orthopedic surgeon and a Grand Prix-level dressage rider when she was diagnosed with lupus. The disease caused her to lose most feeling in her hands, thus ending her medical career. The Grade II Paralympian rides her own horse, Bonifatius, a fourteen-year-old Hanoverian gelding.

If you haven't seen these riders and their peers in action, prepare to be impressed and humbled. They sit better and are more effective riders than a lot of able-bodied types. And their horses are not necessarily sedate, push-button types either. I saw Lord Ludger at the award ceremony at the 2012 USEF Dressage Festival of Champions in Gladstone, N.J. (the Paralympic selection trials), and the big gelding was pretty worked up at the cheering crowds. These are not the placid mounts you may picture being used for therapeutic riding. And their riders are up to the challenge.

Follow the 2012 Paralympic equestrian competition at this link.

Behind the Scenes at the London Olympics and Paralympics Veterinary Clinic

Jennifer — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 13:12:00 GMT

Just days before the closing ceremony of the 2012 London Olympic Games, accredited media were finally invited to take a tour of the veterinary facilities. (I take full credit for the opportunity; I think I finally wore down the officials with my eager pestering.)

As I suspected, other journalists were interested in seeing the clinic, as well. Olympic veterinary-services manager Dr. Jenny Hall was a gracious and accommodating host, and I thank her for the fascinating peek behind the scenes. (Read my interview with Dr. Hall here.)

So come along and I'll give you a photo tour of what, for a few weeks every four years, is the world's most important equine veterinary clinic. (And it's still very much in operation as I write this: The same facilities will be used for the horses competing at the 2012 London Paralympic Games, which get under way on August 29.) Hover your cursor over each photo and a full caption will be displayed.

I hope you've enjoyed this pictorial tour. And if you're suffering from Olympics withdrawal the way I am, not to worry: Two weeks from today is the start of the Paralympics! I'll be bringing you news and interesting horse-health-related information about the Paralympic horses, so stay tuned.

"Rollkur": Dressage's Dirty Word

Jennifer — Sat, 11 Aug 2012 22:32:00 GMT

Exaggerated flexion of a horse's poll and neck, although surely practiced in the past, became popularized (so to speak) in dressage in the 1980s when Nicole Uphoff of Germany used it as a training technique with her horse, Rembrandt. Riding the notoriously spooky gelding in what was then referred to as a "low, deep, and round" outline helped Uphoff to manage the horse, according to much of what was published at the time. Switching to a competition-acceptable outline or "frame," Uphoff piloted Rembrandt to back-to-back team and individual dressage gold medals at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games and the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

Uphoff's methods, not surprisingly, were emulated by other dressage riders, both professional and amateur. The German champion Isabell Werth, who won a string of team and individual Olympic gold and silver medals from 1992 through 2000, reportedly schooled some mounts low, deep, and round. The rider whose name has become most closely associated with the method is the Dutch star Anky van Grunsven, Werth's chief rival in the 1900s and 2000s and who herself racked up a running string of team and individual dressage medals, ending with individual golds aboard Salinero in Athens 2004 and Hong Kong 2008.

As the years progressed, some dressage enthusiasts became increasingly alarmed by what they viewed as an improper training technique that violated the principles of classical horsemanship. Allegedly less egregious when used by knowledgeable riders, "rollkur," as detractors dubbed it, could be downright harmful to horses when used by inexperienced riders, they asserted. In the mid-2000s the German veterinarian Dr. Gerd Heuschmann, working with German Olympic dressage champion Klaus Balkenhol, created headlines when they publicized the findings of Heuschmann's anatomical and biomechanical studies of hyperflexion. Heuschmann said that hyperflexion not only fails to develop the proper musculature for upper-level dressage, but the exaggerated flexion can also restrict the horse's airway. Heuschmann published a book, Tug of War: Classical Versus "Modern" Dressage, detailing his findings and arguing against the practice of hyperflexion.

Before long, rollkur had gone from innovative training method to dressage dirty word. The change in public sentiment happened to coincide with the rise of the Internet and the social-media age, and as a result the practice and the practitioners found images of themselves posted online as dressage spectators and media alike snapped photos and shot video of riders apparently using hyperflexion in schooling and in competition warm-up arenas. Meanwhile, Heuschmann, Balkenhol, and other like-minded people founded an organization, Xenophon, to bring attention to what they said was a harmful practice. And the dressage community began to press for change.

Sometimes change doesn't happen until it's legislated. In 2010, the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) added a section, Annex XIII, to the FEI Stewards Manual for dressage. The addendum includes illustrations of three "permitted stretches," all variations on the low-deep-round or long-and-low outlines. Stewards at CDIs (FEI-sanctioned dressage competitions) are now instructed to intervene if they see riders performing "deliberate extreme flexions of the neck" for more than "very short periods." Stewards are also charged with intervening if they see "neck stretching through forced or aggressive riding" or "a rider deliberately maintaining a sustained fixed head and neck carriage longer than approximately ten minutes," among others.

Some dressage enthusiasts remain convinced that rollkur still occurs. During the dressage competition at the 2012 London Olympic Games, some photos circulated on the Internet, appearing to show Swedish competitor Patrik Kittel on Scandic riding in a hyperflexed position. Online forums and the FEI's Facebook page, among others, were barraged with expressions of outrage and accusations that the FEI was failing to enforce Annex XIII of the Stewards Manual. A statement by the FEI indicating that it considers a photo a "moment in time" and asserting that the Olympic horses were in fact properly supervised did little to calm the storm.

I asked FEI 4* dressage judge Stephen Clarke of Great Britain, who was a member of the seven-judge panel at the London Games, if he thinks there is any fire behind all the smoke. He stated emphatically that the Olympic training and warm-up arenas are so well policed by the stewards that it is not possible for a competitor to have violated the rules on stretching and hyperflexion and gotten away with it.

Inasmuch as I was there, some people have asked me for my opinion. Although I was unable to watch every training session, I did observe some of the Dutch dressage riders schooling and saw no evidence of rollkur. At an Olympic Games, you can't just be a railbird at the competition warm-up arena the way you can at an ordinary show. I couldn't get close enough to the warm-up to be able offer any sort of educated assessment, but I can tell you that the area was not hidden away and there were plenty of stewards on hand.

Of course, I can't tell you what riders do at home, when the stewards, the spectators, and the media aren't around. But it is true that the judges in London marked down horses whose necks became short and tight and whose profiles tended to duck behind the vertical, as it's called. According to Stephen Clarke, such horses lost anywhere from 1 to 2 points per movement, depending on the sum total of factors for the movement in question. And it's also true that the dressage gold medalists in London did not persistently get short in the necks and go behind the vertical.

For education's sake, I'd like to end this discussion with three photos I took in London. All are of Adelinde Cornelissen and Parzival of the Netherlands, who won a team bronze medal and the individual silver. All were taken just before or during their team Grand Prix test. The first shows Adelinde overflexing Parzival before entering the arena. This position is what would be termed rollkur. It is not pretty to look at, and I am not defending the rider, but I can tell you that she held that position very briefly--a stride or two.

The second photo shows Parzival during an unfortunate moment in passage. The FEI dressage rules specify that the horse's poll should be its highest point, and its profile should be on the vertical or slightly in front of the vertical. Parzival is tight in his neck and behind the vertical, and a point on his neck slightly behind his poll appears to have become the highest point as a result. I've added a red line and an arrow to the photo to help show this. These are undesirable factors for which Adelinde was marked down; however, this position is not rollkur.

The final photo, of Parzival in piaffe, is much better. Even in this highly collected movement, the horse's neck does not appear cramped. His poll is the highest point, and his nose is slightly in front of the vertical.

Although the rollkur controversy is not over, I suspect that it is on its way out as a riding technique. There is enough outcry and watchdog efforts on the subject that I doubt the FEI will look the other way when it comes to stewarding. Ultimately, competitors tend to do what scores well with the judges. The judging in London makes me optimistic that correct--yes, classical--training and riding are being rewarded.

Switzerland's Guerdat Dominates Individual Olympic Jumping Standings

Jennifer — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 16:57:00 GMT

None of the British team jumping gold medalists stood on the individual jumping medal podium today. Instead, one member each of the silver-medal Dutch team and the fourth-placed Swiss team, plus one individual competitor, bested such well-knowns as Nick Skelton, Ian Millar, Eric Lamaze, Rodrigo Pessoa, and the two U.S. qualifiers, McLain Ward and Rich Fellers.

The only rider to achieve fault-free trips in both rounds of the individual competition was Swiss competitor Steve Guerdat, 30, on the eleven-year-old Selle Francais gelding Nino des Buissonnets (by Kannan).

Dutch team silver medalist Gerco Schroder, 24, blazed around Bob Ellis's jump-off course aboard London, a ten-year-old Belgian Warmblood stallion by Nabab de Reve, to finish with zero faults and the individual silver. Irish individual competitor Cian O'Connor, 33, had one rail with mount Blue Loyd 12, a twelve-year-old Oldenburg gelding by Landor S, to take the individual bronze.

It was a day of no alarming crashes but lots of rails. "My aim was to build up from day one," said Ellis of his course, which was noticeably bigger and tighter today than in Monday's team competition. Lots of horses put a foot in the water, and rails came down, well, pretty much everywhere, but particularly in the tight, big triple combination. British riders Scott Brash and Nick Skelton each finished on four faults, and Ben Maher had eight.

The highest-placing U.S. combination, Rich Fellers on Flexible, finished eighth in the individual standings with four jumping penalties and one time fault. He called his effort aboard the sixteen-year-old Irish Sport Horse stallion (by Cruising) "a pretty good round but not good enough."

Riding Antares, a twelve-year-old Baden-Wurttemburg gelding by Araconit, McLain Ward had three rails for a total of twelve jumping penalties. They finished tied for 29th place individually.

Storm Continues over Canadian Jumper's Disqualification

Jennifer — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 15:43:00 GMT

As I reported in a previous blog post, the Canadian jumper Victor was disqualified from the 2012 Olympic team jumping competition after failing a hypersensitivity test. According to the International Equestrian Federation (FEI), Victor had a small area of "clear and obvious sensitivity on the front of the left forelimb."

Rider Tiffany Foster was reportedly devastated. Her coach, fellow Canadian team member Eric Lamaze, is reportedly outraged. So was the Canadian equestrian-team manager, Terrance Millar, who decried what he saw as a lack of common sense in the decision to disqualify a horse for what he termed a minor and insignificant nick.

As some see it, the Canadian national equestrian federation, Equine Canada, poured salt in the wound when it issued a statement August 7 that "We fully support the FEI in its hypersensitivity testing protocol." The statement went on to acknowledge that the Canadian team is "disappointed in the outcome" but affirmed that "the welfare of the horse...must always be paramount."

The Equine Canada statement did acknowledge the fact that Foster was not being accused of any wrongdoing. Read the full statement here.

Some Canadian horse-sport fans are angered that Equine Canada did not respond to the disqualification with an expression of support for Foster. They are also upset that FEI ground-jury decisions made on the basis of the hypersensitivity protocol are unappealable, and therefore a protest against the decision cannot be lodged.

Lamaze took it a step further: He reportedly has issued a statement that he will no longer compete for Canada unless Equine Canada shows more support for Foster.

So who's the bigger villain here, the rigid FEI hypersensitivity protocol or Equine Canada, for not coming out in furious defense of its rider? You decide. Meanwhile, I doubt we've heard the last of this.

No Injuries to Retired Dutch Jumper, Rider Says

Jennifer — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 13:27:00 GMT

After pulling three rails in succession early in the first of two rounds in today's Olympic individual jumping medal final, the Netherlands' Maikel van der Vleuten pulled up his mount, Verdi.

The ten-year-old Dutch Warmblood stallion (by Quidam de Revel) on Monday helped the Dutch team to secure team silver. So although Verdi did not appear unsound when van der Vleuten retired, naturally we wanted to know what prompted his decision to abort the round.

"The horse has done already a lot this week," van der Vleuten said. "We had already, like, five rounds in a row. Yesterday [the day off between jumping competitions] I rode my horse a bit, and I could feel he did already quite a lot. He was not as loose in his body as normal. This morning it feels already much better, so then it was a bit, 'Shall I go today or not?' It's the choice you make. He jumped very well in the practice arena, but I still did not have that hundred-percent feeling, so I made the decision to try. But then your mind is more with your horse than with the thing you have to do. Then I got a fault on number three, and I did not have a hundred percent a good feeling. And there was not a chance to come be the best three [medal]."

"He did a good job," van der Vleuten said. "He did a very good Nations Cup, he made a clear round in that, so I am very happy with that."

Van der Vleuten's father, Eric, also an international jumper rider, has owned Verdi since the horse was a four-year-old. This the first Olympic Games for both Verdi and van der Vleuten, 24.

Slow Boat to Germany

Jennifer — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 08:53:00 GMT

Now this sounds like a great way to end one's silver-medal-winning Olympic experience: The 2012 German dressage competitors will be taking a cruise ship, not a plane, home from London.

Anabel Balkenhol (the individual competitor) and team members Kristina Sprehe, Dorothee Schneider, and Helen Langehanenberg will return home to Germany aboard the MS Deutschland, which is currently moored at South Quay, near London's Canary Wharf. They depart London on August 13 and will arrive at Hamburg harbor on August 15, according to a London Games press release.

The four women will pair up in the two booked cabins. The arrangement is sure to feel familiar by now, as they've been rooming together at the Olympic Village.

I actually saw the ship a few days ago, as my Docklands Light Railway (DLR) train whisked past South Quay. Wish I'd gotten a photo!

There's one more competition to go for Sprehe, Schneider, and Langehanenberg before they can sail into the Olympic sunset. All three qualified for tomorrow's individual dressage medal final, the Grand Prix Freestyle, which begins at 12:30 p.m. London time.

Now THIS Is Why We Agreed to Host This Thing!

Jennifer — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 16:29:00 GMT

All the complaints--about cost, ticket availability, traffic hassles, and more--evaporated in an instant when Great Britain's Peter Charles and Vindicat brought it home in the team gold medal jump-off.

Their fault-free, under-time round secured the Olympic team jumping gold medal for Great Britain, the first for these Games' host country since 1952.

The largely British capacity crowd of 22,000 erupted with the biggest display of cheering yet at the Olympic equestrian stadium in Greenwich Park. The entire audience was a sea of madly waving Union Jacks, and the roar was so deafening that the announcer had to shout to be overheard.

Joining Charles on the gold-medal podium were teammates Ben Maher (Tripple X), Scott Brash (Hello Sanctos), and Nick Skelton (Big Star). Team GB secured the gold after a battle with the Netherlands (Jur Vrieling/Bubalu, Maikel van der Vleuten/Verdi, Marc Houtzager/Tamino, and Gerco Schroder/London), which had to content itself with silver.

Of the gold medal, Great Britain's Nick Skelton said, referring to his age: "It has taken me 54 years. It is unbelievable, and what a place to do it. I have got a wonderful horse, and it is a dream come true."

Skelton has been paired with Big Star, a nine-year-old Dutch Warmblood stallion, since the horse was five. "Our goal was to come here," Skelton said.

"This is the best day of my life," agreed Scott Brash. "The home crowd behind you--it can't get any better than that."

Skelton and his teammates all qualified for the individual jumping medal final, which takes place Wednesday. The top 35 riders advance to the individual final.

The other big story of this Nations Cup is the bronze-medal team. Saudi Arabia has never won an Olympic team jumping medal (its only other Olympic equestrian medal was an individual silver in Sydney 2000). According to team rider Kamal Bahamdan (Noblesse des Tess), the Saudi Arabian king established a fund for buying horses, and that has helped to fuel the nation's emergence as a player in international horse sport. Most of the riders now train in western Europe with internationally recognized jumper trainers.

Bahamdan was joined on the bronze-medal podium by teammates HRH Prince Abdullah al Saud (Davos), Ramzy al Duhami (Bayard van de Villa There), and Abdullah Waleed Sharbatly (Sultan).

Although horse sport has only about a 20-year history in Saudi Arabia, "We had this goal [of an Olympic medal] for such a long time," said al Duhami. "It is not easy for the Saudis. We worked all year to try to get the horses ready for the Olympics."

The only tense moment of the medalists press conference was when Sharbatly was asked to comment on a reporter's assertion that some Olympic competitors were unhappy that he had been allowed to take part in these Olympic Games. Sharbatly had been suspended from competition for eight months by the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) after his mount Lobster tested positive for two banned substances at a February show. His suspension, which was supposed to have lasted through October 2012, was subsequently reduced to two months, thereby enabling him to take part in the Olympics.

"No comment," Sharbatly said.

In the team jumping competitions, it wasn't the Americans' best week. Team USA finished in a tie with Sweden for sixth place. Two riders, McLain Ward on Antares and Rich Fellers on Flexible, will advance to Wednesday's individual final. No rider was fault-free: Ward had eight jumping penalties, Beezie Madden on Via Volo four, Fellers eight, and Reed Kessler on Cylana twelve.

"I would have liked to turn in a clean round for my team," Kessler said afterward, "but I'm pretty happy to take a step back and realize that I'm eighteen years old and this is my first major championship. I'm happy to have three solid performances under a great deal of pressure. But I wish I could have brought home a medal, not just for the country but for Cylana."

Of his celebrated partner, the sixteen-year-old Irish Sport Horse stallion Flexible, Fellers said: "He did feel a little more tired today. But I felt like he finished up great, and it will be nice to give him a day of rest, and we'll come back ready to go in the individual [final]."

Fellers wasn't yet sure what Flexible will do tomorrow--possibly just hand-walking or maybe some light walking and trotting under saddle. "It won't be a lot; I can guarantee you that," he said.

With a Zero-Tolerance Rule, There's Going to Be Collateral Damage

Jennifer — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 08:30:00 GMT

As you know if you read yesterday's press release from the International Equestrian Federation (FEI), the Canadian jumper Victor, ridden by Tiffany Foster, was disqualified after FEI hypersensitivity tests found an area of "clear and obvious hypersensitivity on the front of the left forelimb."

A protest by Canada was to no avail because disqualifications by the ground jury on the basis of hypersensitivity or injury may not be appealed.

Foster, who learned of the decision 15 minutes before she was to ride, reportedly left the arena in tears. The BBC quoted Canadian team manager Terrance Millar as calling the FEI's decision "a blind application of a rule without any common sense at all." Miller described the area in question as a small nick on the horse's leg--an everyday sort of minor boo-boo.

I feel for Foster and the Canadian jumping team. How foolish it must seem to them to have an apparently otherwise fit and ready-to-go horse removed from competition for the kind of minor injury that horses get all the time. We spray or dab some wound stuff on the area and off we go.

At the same time, I was in Hong Kong four years ago when jumper after jumper at the 2008 Olympics was eliminated for testing positive for substances that can increase skin sensitivity. The rationale, of course, is that a horse whose legs are super-sensitive will be that much more loath to touch a rail. As a horse lover, I find the idea of using the threat of pain to gain a competitive edge repugnant. Presumably so does the FEI; thus the hypersensitivity protocols.

I've been hearing the following unfortunate pronouncement since, oh, about kindergarten: When one or two people try to take advantage, then rules have to be effected that hurt everybody. A pompous statement, but sadly one that's too often true. And that is what appears to have happened to Foster and the Canadians: If indeed all Victor had was a little nick (and I have no reason to believe otherwise), then they were the unfortunate "collateral damage" of a tough, zero-tolerance rule enacted to help protect horses' welfare. Canadian team manager Miller may be correct that it's nonsensical to DQ a horse for a tiny cut, but using common sense entails introducing human judgment. And judgment can be flawed--or worse, biased.

The bottom line here is that the FEI makes these rules because, if it didn't, a few people would do bad things to the horses they say they love. And that's the saddest part of all.