“Rules must change in such a way so that rider and horse are protected. The focus must be on the welfare of the animals and the fair competition for athletes.”
The same horses are used for both the men’s and women’s competition although some rides can be removed from contention between the two events. Saint Boy was not on the draw list for the men’s competition after the previous drama.
Germany has two male athletes in today’s competition – Fabian Liebig and Patrick Dogue. For the showjumping, which they will do without the absent Raisner, the former has been drawn on one of the replacement horses, Merlot Castillion. Dogue competes on Pecora, a horse that proved a struggle to control for Egyptian Amira Kandil, who racked up 50 faults by the end of her round.
After the conclusion of yesterday’s competition, in which top ranked Michelle Gulyas, of Hungary, and Ireland’s Natalya Coyle also suffered similar fates with their horses, leading to their own podium hopes being crushed, the president of UIPM, Dr Klaus Schormann, said there was ‘”no basis for athletes to complain” over the performance of the horses.
“The presentation of the facility and the horses were of a high quality,” he said in a press conference.
“Maybe there were a few moments that you would say were not so nice but I tell you – the horses are absolutely excellent. We tested them and they were well prepared, and there is no basis for athletes to complain. It is only because of the athletes themselves if they were not successful in some parts of the competition.”