There are 366 British athletes in Rio de Janeiro, competing for medals in the pool, on the track and in the bright Brazilian sunshine all over the city.
You may be surprised to learn that, here at Synergy Vets, our interests lie in much more than simply vet recruitment! Starting with this year’s summer of sport. There are twelve riders representing TeamGB in the equestrian events, which begun on Aug 6th, with Gemma Tattersall and William Fox-Pitt competing in the dressage. Equestrian events continued over eleven days of the games with the most intense multi-sport event, modern pentathlon, beginning on day 13. So it’s not just runners, rowers and rugby players that have travelled across the globe to Rio, but over two hundred horses. Some are experienced flyers, others won’t have travelled by other means but road or ferry. In flight, horses will often wear a compression coat and socks, to aid circulation during the flight and minimise recovery time upon landing. The horses are trusted to handlers for loading and in-flight safety and, in Rio, were then escorted to the Olympic housing venue on arrival.
The modern pentathlon, is comprised of five Olympic sports: fencing, swimming, riding, running and pistol shooting. The riding event is usually considered the hardest part, as the competitors are randomly assigned horses and have just twenty minutes to bond with their steed before the pair will face the showjumping course together. In all other equestrian events, riders will have had years to build a relationship with their horse. Some riders in the solely equestrian events may even have broken and brought on their horses themselves, so to have just twenty minutes to get to know the horse you’ll compete with at the biggest sporting event on earth is, surely, quite a task.
Baron Pierre de Coubertin founded the modern Olympics, and he wanted the pentathlon to test ‘a man’s moral qualities as much as his physical resources and skills, producing thereby the ideal and complete athlete.’ The events were chosen based on the skills of the perfect, relentless military messenger, who, riding his horse in enemy territory, loses the horse and must select another, before facing attackers with his sword and pistol, before swimming across a dividing river to deliver his message on foot.
Bonding quickly with a horse involves recognising its body language and getting to know its stride length, its action and its responsiveness to aids. Getting to grips quickly with these characteristics is essential to ensure that the rider and steed can complete the showjumping course as smoothly as possible. Penalties are given for jumping, refusal or time faults. Getting to know the strength and rhythm of your assigned horse is essential to ensure that the fewest mistakes are made and that the rider and mount appear unified and in control. It’s actually rather like our vet recruitment process, as we get to know people’s characteristics and strengths to make sure no mistakes are made when finding you the perfect job…
With the Paralympics starting next month we’re hoping for more British success in the Equestrian centre – Go team GB!