What will happen this year in the equestrian Olympic disciplines of Dressage, Para Dressage, Show Jumping and Eventing that is likely to be important to Australia? What do we need to know?

Realistically, 2023 is the year before the Paris Olympics and is the quiet before the storm; 2022, which has just gone, hosted the FEI World Championships which are considered a lead-up to the next Olympics in two years’ time. The World Championships are always two years before the Olympics. Winning the World Championships is a big, big deal; however, it is really a preliminary international competition where nations trial new ideas and policies and training techniques, and sometimes less experienced riders. All of this in mind for the Olympics in two years’ time. The World Championships are a forerunner for the Olympics.

The official trialling and qualifying period for Paris Olympics 2024 starts now. When I say now, I mean from 1 January 2023. We, as in Australia, should have selection criteria for Para Dressage, Show Jumping, Eventing and Dressage posted on the Equestrian Australia website. At the time of writing, Australia does not have any selection criteria posted for any of the Olympic disciplines.

Historically, we are always terrible in getting our house in order and sometimes the selection criteria does not appear for another year. This does add to confusion and makes it very difficult to adjust the criteria if it represents unrealistic expectations. A selection cycle is two years from World Championships to Olympic Games back to World Championships. For the last three selection cycles, the Australian Dressage selection criteria has required two scores of 69% or more at a CDI3* or above or a CDI-W competition. One of these scores being in the calendar year of the Olympics or World Championships.

Over the years, this has caused Australia so much trouble. At the last World Championships, Australia had only three riders qualify as per the Australian selection criteria which ended on the 4 July 2022. This criteria is still posted on the EA website under “Selection Policies”. Jayden Brown, who was the fourth team member for Australia on WillingaPark Sky Diamond, got his second 69% on 8 July 2022. This was four days after the Australian qualification period – as per the selection criteria – closed. Jayden scored this second 69% at Hartpury CDI3* in the UK on 8 July. The Australian selectors decided to include Jayden in the team (thank goodness!) despite him not meeting the selection criteria.

Selecting a combination that has not fulfilled the selection criteria does expose everyone to potential legal difficulties. As it turned out, Mary Hanna and her horse Calanta, who did meet all the Australian selection criteria and were selected on the Australian team, were unable to compete at the last moment, and had Jayden not been included Australia would not have had a team at the World Championships. Jayden and WillingaPark Sky Diamond went on to perform very well. So clearly, the Australian selection criteria which requires two 69% scores before a combination can be considered for Australian dressage representation needs immediate reconsideration.

So anyway, the selection criteria for all the Olympics disciplines, Para Dressage, Show Jumping, Eventing and able-bodied Dressage for Paris 2024 does need to go up on the EA website sooner rather than later.

What do the Olympic disciplines in Australia plan for 2023?

EVENTING

The eventers had an awful result at the 2022 FEI World Championships, coming 10^th out of 16 teams. We had hoped to even win a gold medal. Nope! Not this time. To qualify for the Paris Olympics we needed to be in the top seven teams at the World Championships. Australia now has to concentrate on qualifying for Paris before we can concentrate on participating and trying to win an Olympic gold medal – which we are capable of.

The Eventing High Performance administration under Chris Webb and Will Enzinger does seem to be really, really on the front foot. On 9 December just gone, seven of the Australian riders involved in the final cut for the World Championships came together for a face-to-face debrief in Brisbane. My understanding is that there were no bells and whistles and the whole process and debrief was gruelling.

The first thing this debrief clearly outlined was that Australia was no longer qualified for Paris and something had to be done straight away.

So, Australia is now destiny bound to send an eventing team to Ireland for the Millstreet Three Day Event. This is a three-day event being run alongside the existing Millstreet long format in support of the FEI as a qualification event for Paris. We believe there are six nations going to Millstreet from our region all trying to qualify for the Paris Olympics. These nations include Japan, China, Thailand, India, Taipei and Australia. The top two placings from this group achieve a ticket to the Paris Olympics. Complication! The qualifying event will be a 3* three-day event! The Olympics are 4*. So this means that the course will not be top-of-the-range difficult, which would normally advantage Australia and disadvantage some of these other nations. We will be much more on an equal footing with some of these countries that normally would really struggle to compete with us at the top. The Millstreet Three Day Event is on 1-4 June 2023. So, this will be a critical Australian team to be selected early this year and we will be needing a critical result before we can confidently go forward to addressing a Paris Olympic program. We must come first or second. No pressure! Oh my goodness.

What happens if our team fails at Millstreet?

A world of pain, however, there is a second prong attack which involves competing in Nations Cup competitions around the world and this will take all year and lots and lots of money. Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!

What else?

Paris is not holding a test event this year; normally Olympic host nations stage events the year before the Games to allow nations to become familiar with accommodation and stabling and weather conditions and the footing etc, which ultimately maximises a country’s chances of performing to their potential. So, the Eventers, along with Para-Dressage, Show Jumping and Dressage, are sending a whole forum of main staff and senior riders to Paris in November this year. This forum will check out transport and facilities, the competition site, athlete accommodation and training facilities and weather conditions etc. so that the Australian equestrian team will know exactly where it is going and what it is up for in 2024.

EVENTING SQUAD SCHOOLS

Squad schools are something that all of the equestrian disciplines conduct in some form or another. Once this was innovative and did contribute to the sport and the ongoing standard. Well, in all disciplines this seems to have fizzled and although squad schools still exist, the standards in the main do not change or improve. Many of the top riders no longer support these squad schools and have adopted programs of their own. (The exception is the Dressage Victoria Young Rider Squads and Development Program run by Jan Smith and Bianca Veneziano, who are getting amazing results including the reigning Australian Grand Prix Champion who is still a young rider!).

There is a lot of Australian Institute of Sport money put into these squad schools and this is a resource that for the last couple of decades has pretty much been wasted. The idea is great. Making it work is very hard work! This aspect of the sport is about to get a huge overhaul in the eventing discipline. Athletes IPPs (Individual Performance Plans) will be used to identify areas of growth with their performances before attending a squad school. The riders’ weaknesses and strengths will have already been analysed and the coaches at the squad school will already have been debriefed on what each rider needs to focus on.

In eventing, the sport is changing and completing the cross country without penalty has gone a full circle and is once again the most important consideration. Show jumping clear around maximum height courses is indeed very different to schooling exercises at lower heights. Maximum height show jumping courses for the eventers is now bread-and-butter schooling for the top combinations. Dressage coaching will focus in on movements which regularly achieve the lowest score for each rider in the dressage phase. The focus in the Eventing Squad Schools is now being sharpened up and as a result, the riders’ performances will be more closely monitored. Very exciting.

THERE’S MORE!

The Australian High Performance people feel that Australian eventing riders should be encouraged to do an overseas stint then come back to Australia where their families and support crews and sponsors are. Rather than do a three-day event, it looks as though riders are going to be encouraged to do five or six short format events. This program is going to be launched very soon and go for the next 18 months. Funding has not yet been granted. However, the aim is to totally support a number of riders for this overseas campaign. At the moment, the High Performance people feel hopeful that some funding will come through but riders may well have to do chook raffles and fundraising to supplement their grants. That is the second option, as I understand it, so this is just revolutionary. I have no idea just who is going to be targeted for these campaigns, but my initial impression was it would be our up-and-coming riders. So, so exciting.

So the eventers have six major outcomes which they have considered after the World Championships and are now responding to:

1. The poor performance at the World Championships resulted in Australia not qualifying for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
2. All seven riders (except Sammi Birch who was the eighth rider and could not make the trip from England) in the final selection frame came together for a no-holds-barred World Championship debrief.
3. A plan is already in place to wrench back our qualifications for the 2024 Paris Olympics. This involves going to Ireland for a Paris qualifying three-day event. A second pronged attack already in place should Plan A fail.
4. No Olympic test event this year, which is unusual in the year leading up to an Olympic Games or World Championships. Australia has already put together a program that includes all disciplines – Para Dressage, Show Jumping, Eventing and Dressage – to promote a study tour of Paris and the Olympic facilities in July/August 2023.
5. Revamping and refocusing squad schools.
6. Fully funded (hopefully) short tours for our eventing riders to do five or six competitions in the northern hemisphere and then return home. This is to give international experience to up-and-coming riders who the selectors feel will benefit from such an opportunity.

In my experience, this has to be one of the most positive reactions I have ever seen from High Performance after an Olympic Games or a World Championships. I am truly hopeful for a great outcome. We will see.

This eventing response is a great blueprint for the other disciplines. As far as I know, none of the other disciplines have taken decisive action as have the eventers. I do think, as I mentioned earlier, that there is a particular bright patch of sunlight in Victoria with the Dressage Victoria Young Rider Squads and Development Program. This can actually be viewed online and is “inclusive” as opposed to “exclusive”. They are driving enormous results which have the potential to positively change Australian dressage. EQ

Cheers,

Heath

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE TO READ BY HEATH RYAN:

Heads Up Next Gen, Brisbane Awaits – Equestrian Life, December 2022

Planning for Paris, Leading to LA, Building for Brisbane – Equestrian Life, November 2022

Eventing Results: Disappointing but Promising! – Equestrian Life, October 2022