How equestrian sport works and why they are trying to remove it from the Olympics

They are trying to exclude equestrian sport from the Olympic Games for cruelty to horses. But this is one of the oldest competitions at the Olympics. What is equestrian sport - in the material of RBC Why equestrian sport will be excluded from modern pentathlon

Animal rights activists have long called on Olympic organizers to abandon equestrian sport at the Games in order to stop cruelty to animals. And due to the events that took place at the 2020 Games in Tokyo, the number of opponents of such competitions has increased significantly.

In August 2021, the world received the heartbreaking news that Swiss jockey Robin Godel's horse had been euthanized at the Olympic Games due to injuries sustained during the competition while passing the 20th barrier on rough terrain during the competition.

A few days later, German pentathlete Annika Schleu, during a show jumping competition, tried to force her horse to obey the command with blows of the whip and spurs. Next, the German coach Kim Reisner began hitting her horse with her fist, urging the athlete to be tougher. After the incident, Kim Reisner was disqualified for the rest of the competition, and Shleu was harassed on social networks.

Animal rights activists immediately got down to business. The organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) sent a letter to the leadership of the IOC, in which it demanded that equestrian sport and show jumping be excluded from the modern pentathlon program at the Olympics. “The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games were unprecedented in many ways, but one thing we could all predict was that the suffering of horses used for equestrian events would continue. Jumping, dressage, cross-country and other equestrian sports can be extremely brutal,” PETA said.

Animal rights activists managed to achieve their goal, and in early November 2021, the International Federation of Modern Pentathlon (UIPM) decided to exclude horse riding from the Olympic Games program after 2024 , despite the resistance of the athletes. An official statement from the UIPM said that equestrian sport will be replaced by another discipline. It is worth recalling that modern pentathlon competitions started in 1912 and included five disciplines - fencing, swimming, equestrianism, shooting and running .

However, equestrian sport is still represented at the Olympic Games as a separate sport, and animal rights activists have so far been unable to do anything. At the 2020 Games, six sets of medals were awarded in equestrian sports, and at the moment the IOC has no plans to reduce the program.

However, it is possible that the IOC will have to reconsider equestrian programs in the coming years due to public pressure. Moreover, more and more new facts of cruel treatment of horses are emerging. For example, in May of this year, the US Equestrian Federation fined rider Kevin Lemke $4 thousand and suspended him for four months for “unsportsmanlike conduct involving the use of excessive force on a horse.” At the US Championships, Lemke used the whip four times in a row, and then two more times after the horse refused to go forward. His actions were considered aggressive.

At the Tokyo Olympics, blood gushed from the nose of a horse named Kilkenny, but Irish rider Cian O'Connor forced the horse to complete the race.

Sports are not for everyone

Olympic equestrian sport is a niche sport and is interesting to a narrow circle of people. Firstly, the rules for determining the winner are quite complex compared to popular horse racing. Secondly, this is a sport for the rich. At the Olympics you can often meet the daughters and sons of celebrities and representatives of royal families - both in the stands and among the participants.

For example, the daughter of multiple Grammy and Oscar winner Bruce Springsteen performed at the Tokyo Olympics. Two of the Swedish team's horses belonged to Charlotte Söderström, the daughter of Stefan Persson, co-owner of H&M.

Equestrian sport is an expensive sport, since it is expensive not only to maintain a team, but also to participate in competitions. For example, 325 horses were delivered to the Tokyo Olympics (the cost of shipping one horse can reach $30 thousand) to participate in equestrian competitions. Together with them, 59 grooms, 20 tons of feed and water and 100 tons of special equipment also arrived. Eight flights were carried out to Tokyo from the Belgian city of Liege, where horses were delivered from different parts of the world. The fact is that it is in this city that the most convenient airport for transporting horses was built. There is also a special hotel for equestrian lovers, Horse Inn, where both horses and their accompanying people can relax.

In addition to accommodation, the Horse Inn has facilities for pre-flight HEALTH checks and document and passport checks for travel. From the hotel, horses can be loaded directly onto pallets for flight, making the entire process less stressful for everyone involved.

The costs of delivering the horses were compensated by the organizing committee of the Games, however, despite this, not all those who qualified for the Olympics were able to go to Tokyo due to high costs.

Mounted delegation of 64 people

In total, the horses spend about 20 hours on board during the flight from Liege to Tokyo with a stopover in Dubai. But for some horses the flight lasts several times longer, as, for example, for the US team. Using the example of the American team, we tell how equestrian delegations get to the Olympic Games.

Nine American athletes competed at the Tokyo Olympics in three equestrian disciplines, and three athletes competed at the Paralympics. In addition to the athletes, there are four reserve riders in case of injury to the main participants, seven coaches, and six team leaders who deal with logistics. There are 16 grooms who look after the horses, a farrier who cares for the hooves and shoes them, as well as four veterinarians and two equine physiotherapists.

In total, the US equestrian delegation to Tokyo consisted of at least 64 people. There would be even more of them - 76, if not for covid-19 restrictions . And that's not counting the mountains of equipment or the real stars of the show - 16 horses.

So it's not surprising that even without U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee contributions and the significant costs borne by the athletes themselves, the equestrian program at the Tokyo Games is worth six figures.

Preparation for the Olympics can take years

In an ideal situation, coordination for an event of this magnitude begins long before the Olympics. Athletes take on most of the financial responsibility for competing—riding their own horses, hiring their own grooms, and purchasing most of their own equipment. But the national federation also takes on a lot of worries.

Accommodation is arranged a couple of years in advance, and horse flights are booked a year in advance. It is planned to carry out pre-export quarantine of horses - a requirement of each country's agricultural regulations regarding the transport of livestock. General crew equipment—from horseshoes and manure forks to chairs and coffee makers—is shipped by container ship. Will Connell, sports DIRECTOR for US Equestrian Sports, told FORBES that the federation is already planning logistics next year for the 2024 Paris Olympics and developing a program for the 2028 Los Angeles Games.

2021 hasn't been any easier. Strict COVID-19 protocols imposed by the Japanese government and Olympic organizers have made accreditation a long and grueling process. More importantly, the impact of the pandemic on airlines has left few cargo flights for horses and prices have skyrocketed , with a round-trip business class ticket to Europe for a horse and its equipment typically costing $25,000.

So in late April, with the help of logistics company Peden Bloodstock, the federation decided to ship team horses from the United States to Europe for pre-export quarantine and then to Japan, rather than ship them directly from Chicago to Tokyo as originally planned. Thus, the American team solved the problems of six months of planning in six weeks.

However, the additional stages of travel increased costs for the federation - especially since the group in Europe included several reserve horses and staff who were not expected to travel to Tokyo. Also , about $30 thousand was spent on CORONAVIRUS tests during the quarantine of horses. However, many American horses in equestrian disciplines such as show jumping and dressage are still based in Europe, and traveling from there allowed the U.S. teams to share flights with other countries heading to Tokyo.

Sending a delegation and horses to another country is not an easy task

Flights themselves are a huge expense, even under normal circumstances. First, the horses must be transported by trailer from their farms to the airport, where they are examined by the team veterinarian. When it's time to fly, they're walked for about 20 minutes to improve circulation before the long ride, and another trailer ride takes them to the airport's horse pick-up area - about seven hours before departure time. There they are given another health check and, using a cart and scissor lift, are loaded onto the plane in jet racks (business class with two horses in a stall).

Each horse's groom and team veterinarian travel on the same flight to check and feed the horses every few hours along the way (16 or 17 hours from Liege to Tokyo, with a stop in Dubai to refuel). The veterinarian carries medicine in case of emergency. Meanwhile, the grooms try to pack everything they might need during their time away from home into three large suitcases. Luggage includes approximately 500kg of horse feed, nutritional supplements to treat ulcers, bedding for each horse, buckets for them to eat from, and all tack: bits, bridles, saddles, stirrups and more.

Landing abroad begins with another operation that can last one to three hours. Horses, like people, have passports to record their movements, and these records are checked along with microchips embedded in the horses' necks to confirm their "identity." The equipment must clear customs and the horses must be checked again by veterinarians.

In addition to the coronavirus restrictions in Tokyo, there were two other unusual problems: the overlap of the Olympic schedule meant that all three U.S. teams would have to share a stall for several days, and the events would be held in short sessions in the morning and evening rather than at the same time, to protect horses from day heat. This is an adjustment for the entire delegation, but especially for the grooms, who arrive at work around 5:30 a.m. and finish at 10 p.m.

At the end of the Games, the delegation can relax, but not for long: it will have to go through another quarantine and a long trip home. Conditions for horses are undoubtedly grueling. Perhaps canceling equestrian competitions would actually be a good idea and make life easier for animals.