Tokyo
Team GB have sealed Team Gold this week out in Tokyo and what a performance from the squad - they have delivered the lowest ever finishing score by a team in the history of Olympic Eventing!
Now comes the realisation that basically Tokyo has filled all my conversations for seemingly the last 18 months, so what next, team picks for Paris 2024 anyone?!
Read MoreBlink and suddenly it’s June, then its July and the sun has finally arrived
Apologies for the radio silence, the blogs seem to have come to a crocked halt on the centre line… Life has been rather hectic since the Eventing season finally got started; typical after seemingly waiting through the longest of winters, once the season got going it’s been a whirlwind. Events have come thick and fast, albeit not all the usual venues we are used to, and I have been very lucky to continue to work with some fabulous clients, new and existing along the way.
Read MoreSo, although it’s a later start than we’re all used to, we’re all standing in the start box and the countdown is on - good luck to all competitors, owners, grooms, officials, volunteers and ‘togs. There’s lots to look forward to and some very exciting combinations to keep an eye on!
Eyes up, heels down and kick on!
Here’s to a safe, continuous and successful season to you all and hope to see you all out on course soon.
Read MoreThe countdown in on to the Tokyo Games, with less than four months now till the Eventing medals are decided…
There’s no doubting Team GBR have an embarrassment of riches to give the selectors some sleepless nights over. But this could arguably be the most competitive Olympics for some time. Leaving the GB dilemma to one side for now, here’s my quick look at the International medal contenders:
What a year that was! A pandemic was rather an extreme way of focusing the mind. Focusing on what mattered. What was worth the effort and what was not. What stirred the soul and what no longer mattered.
We may not have had a full season, but 2020 was definitely a year to savour ‘Quality over Quantity’ all the way.
Read MoreThe beautifully colour-coded calendar on the fridge of all my national and international Eventing fixtures is now obsolete. Wiped out. Gone.
One by one the fixtures make the inevitable announcement, cancellation is sadly communicated.
When all the social distancing is but a weird, distant memory, we shall again begin to plan those adventures and journeys. The color-coded calendar shall be re-born and off Eventing we shall go.
Read MoreUltimately Eventers (both competitors and supporters) are a bloody tough breed, we’ve got through previous outbreaks, disasters and wartime; the sport will make it through this. We’ve weathered cancellations and abandonments before, and this time will be no different.
Whether Tokyo comes or is lost, all that matters is everyone is still here when we pick up where the season paused, be that hopefully in a few weeks or we draw stumps and start a fresh next season with renewed energy. As long as the friends I have made on this wonderful journey are here with me, that’s all that ultimately matters.
Read MoreWith January finally completed, we can all now look forward to brighter evenings, snowdrops giving us a hint of the springtime to come and finally we can say the Eventing season starts this month!
So with the impeding starting klaxon, I thought I’d share a few ramblings about what the season may have in store for us all.
Firstly, at the risk of stating the obvious, 2020 is an Olympic year – the greats of our sport will be heading east to Tokyo for the Eventing medals at the end of July.
Read MoreIt’s not just the Premiership that is the home of big money transfers anymore; the FEI deadline for horses and riders to be declared for each nation ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. And this impending deadline of 15th January seems to have bought with it scenes akin to Sky Sports News Deadline Day news coverage.
Quarrycrest Echo & Piggy French, FEI European Championships, Luhmuhlen 2019
Recent, assumed big money, transfers have included Cekatinka, Fischer Chipmunk FRH, Superstition, Creevagh Cooley and most recently bought the biggest news of all to Team GBR supporters last month: Quarrycrest Echo, the dependable chestnut gelding who has helped propel Team GBR to Team Gold at WEG and Team Silver at the Europeans this summer, has left Piggy’s yard in a big transfer deal.
Red, as he is affectionately known, has joined Team Japan.
Quarrycrest Echo & Piggy French, FEI European Championships, Luhmuhlen 2019
Team Japan have been busy building an enviable team of top horses - Cekatinka joined them last year, along with Vinci de la Vigne and now Red has joined them too. An enviable yard of stars.
Team GB can’t be too down in the mouth though, they have benefitted from Superstition leaving New Zealander Lucy Jackson’s yard and going to Harry Meade’s stable.
Lucy Jackson & Superstition, Chatsworth, May 2019
Personally it rather leaves a tiny sour taste in the mouth....
It, in a small part, appears that medals are being ‘bought’ rather than the traditional buy them young, put hours/weeks/months/years into schooling them and hope one day you have a championship winner in the yard. Whilst this is nothing new, the trend seems to be increasing.
As much as you can expect these high level transfers, ones at this end of the sport are rare . Mostly I’m guessing due to money, Quarrycrest Echo will not have come cheap - £millions I can only imagine. The supply will also be a factor, there aren’t an abundance of top level horses that people wish to part with.
If you want to make money, Event horses aren’t the typical place to look, very few manage to break even let alone make a notable investment return. So who can blame owners when they have the chance to finally see their investment mature. These chances rarely come along, if ever, so they must be taken.
Team GBR’s loss is most definitely Team Japan’s gain - Red has a fantastic championship record. Whilst I really hope he fulfils his potential for his new Team, there will be a tinge of sadness watching him in Tokyo.
But what success does this move bring, last years big-money transfer of Cooley SRS to Australian rider Hazel Shannon’s yard hasn’t bought the assumed 5* success, with ‘Aero’ an absentee from Adelaide’s big showpiece.
Although the German machine that is Michael Jung did achieve a Silver Individual & Team Gold at the Europeans with Fischer Chipmunk FRH less than 12 months after the horse moved to his yard.
Michael Jung & Fischer Chipmunk FRH, FEI European Championships, Luhmuhlen 2019
Will a recently bought team really bring home the medals - the allure of equestrian sports, more so Eventing in particular is the dynamic partnership that riders build with their horses over a long period of time - can this really be achieved with only less than 9 months till Tokyo?
Can a medal-winning partnership be fast-tracked? Will Team Japan deliver a medal for the home nation?
With a new year fully underway I decided why monkey with tradition, so here comes the customary new year look-ahead to what the upcoming year may have in store for all us Eventing fans.
We have just passed the 200-day countdown mark to the opening ceremony in Tokyo, with Olympic fever sure to set in if it hasn’t already. “Who’s on your team?” will surely be asked several hundred times as early season events get underway.
I’ve picked my team….
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