The Olympics begin this weekend! I'm excited, and I hope Emily will bring a television or a computer out to my paddock so I can watch! There will be Show Jumping, Dressage and Eventing. Eventing is my favorite (even though I don't do it!!!) because the horses and riders compete in three different phases, all different: dressage (obedience and grace), cross country jumping (speed, endurance and athleticism over solid, natural obstacles) and show jumping (obedience and suppleness over painted jumps that knock down).
Here are some links to see for yourself what takes place in Hong Kong at the '08 Summer Games! (Equestrian sports are held in Hong Kong rather than in Beijing because of very difficult quarantine regulations in mainland China.)
http://equestrian.teamusa.org/ The official equestrian team site at US Equestrian Federation.
http://equisearch.com/equiwire%5Fnews/olympics2008/ The best press site for equestrian.
http://special.equisearch.com/blog/maxcorcoran/ A great blog by Max Corcoran, groom to Karen O'Connor, who is riding at her fourth Olympics!
http://special.equisearch.com/blog/brianoconnor/ Brian O'Connor's Olympic blog; Brian is an equestrian announcer at the Olympics in Hong Kong. He is a professional announcer in the U.S., brother to David O'Connor, who is the president of the USEF, and brother-in-law to Karen O'Connor, riding Mandiba in Eventing in Hong Kong.
http://special.equisearch.com/blog/debbiemcdonald/ Debbie McDonald is riding Brentina on the US Dressage Olympic team. Debbie is not only a marvelous rider, she writes well. One of our favorite books is "Riding Through" by Ms. McDonald. (This book is available for check out in the Fish Bowl Farm library.)
The horses must be having such an adventure after flying to Hong Kong, getting acclimated to really humid hot weather, and living at a gorgeous venue. There is a race track, dozens of arenas, a stadium (they'll compete under the lights there - imagine the noise!!), and of course the cross country course and all the barns. And vets. And grooms. And riders. And coaches. Transporting horses by air is one thing. Think of all that has to go with them to keep them in top form for world class competition: hay, grain, tack, grooming equipment, therapeutic equipment, etc. WOW!!
Go Team USA!!
