Athens and the Equestrian
Sports
at the Markopoulo Center Part One
Click here to view Part Two-MORE Photos!
All Photos by Kathy Dress
My mom and I ventured to our seventh Olympic Games by cheering on our Equestrian Teams in Athens! We were joined by a friend and photographer Kathy Dress who will dazzle us with her photos!
Our first adventure was finding transport as we stayed in a roomy apartment
in Porto Rafti, within walking distance of the Aegean Sea (and the gorgeous
seaport) but out of the loop for transport except by taxi. And the taxi drivers
would change the prices depending on how valuable their services were to you!
With the 104 degree sun drenched day and a six mile walk, the transport was
very important!! We learned to speak Greek quickly and spend those Euros!
The equestrian venue was super- great stalls with a elaborate vet facility,
good warm up rings with excellent sand/felt footing and very limited riding
out areas. The spectator area was small in comparison to other Olympics so
you felt a part of the action and one side of the arena
was partially covered so you could have some relief from the very hot
sun. We changed our tickets to the covered area so my mom could have some
shade! Greece is very dry, sunny, and windy- always a breeze blowing with
lots of gusts. The wind played havoc with the dressage tests- horses losing
their concentration and reacting to the wind. In the show jumping, the wind
even blew acouple of the jumps down so they had to be changed and fastened
with stakes! The cross country course was well prepared, gorgeous fences with
thick grass footing, and the track looped up hill, around the corner, and
back down again. Each fence has a description and a history of Greece on a
plaque so the spectators could enjoy some education as they walked the course!
This was a modified CCI*** and the course was inviting and fairly easy as
we need to keep our great sport public friendly and keep our sport in the
Olympics! There were some questions to answer and many rider questions with
change of terrain, combinations, corners, and skinnies! The footing was tough
on the horses with many bumps and lumps with the change of terrain. The true
four star horses went double clear and the competition was won with the dressage
and show jumping results. The show jumping competition phase for the team
competition proved to be the big challenge. One rail knocked down cost four
heavy penalties which changed the placings indeed! And then the leader of
the day made a mistake in crossing the starting line twice so Betina Hoy from
Germany earned 14 time faults giving Kim Severson (USA) the individual silver
medal and our US Team earned the bronze! Please look up the results for all
of the countries and riders with The Chronicle of the Horse, www.chronofhorse.com.
We watched the Team dressage competition and I was inspired with the delight
of the harmony between the riders and horses. And I enjoyed seeing all of
the different breeds doing the very hard work at the FEI Grand Prix Special.
We applauded each rider and I came home resolute to improve my dressage position
and harmony with my event horses!
On to the show jumping competition! We had great seats on the front row and
the jumps were HUGE! The jumps were gorgeous and airy. The footing seemed
to be a big challenge- it was grass footing that seemed to break up in tuffs
when the horses jumped and a very hard surface beneath the grass. The horses
seemed to slip so the riders put in bigger studs and then the horses got 'stuck'
in the hard surface. WoW, it's so difflicult to get all the aspects just right!
The competition day was long with the horses jumping in the morning and then
coming back to jump again at 8:30 in the evening.
The Horses, the horses, the horses! It was so exciting to watch the horses and riders! They all were good jumpers with talent and the competition was on how the rider and horse did on that day. The German horses did not want to touch the fences and were so well educated! Our US Team looked good, alittle tense in the first rounds but sharp in the jump offs. Chris Kappler and Royal Kaliber were consistant and won the individual bronze medal. It was a delight to spend time in Athens and see the very best horses and riders compete.
I've returned home invigorated, eager to improve my riding, and motivated to give excellent lessons! I'll put some photos up so everyone can enjoy the beauty of Greece. Onward to our fall season!
Photo by Kathy Dress
