How things change

Jessey

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Dec 20, 2004
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Suffolk, UK

I find it fascinating, how different it all is, the stamp of horse, the movements required, even those lines in the ring.

2019
 
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It used to be if you didnā€™t have a 7/8s TB you werenā€™t in the best position to finish a 3 day event due to the extra stages.

Now itā€™s all WB and crosses to get better dressage results. Changed times
 
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The original 3 day events had an element of endurance, didn't they, with a roads and tracks section as well as a "galloping over big jumps" section? I was really startled by that dressage clip from 1953, those warmbloods are just so athletic. I think the emphasis must have changed but I don't really follow it so cannot say how that came about...
 
The original 3 day events had an element of endurance, didn't they, with a roads and tracks section as well as a "galloping over big jumps" section? I was really startled by that dressage clip from 1953, those warmbloods are just so athletic. I think the emphasis must have changed but I don't really follow it so cannot say how that came about...
That rings a bell, isnā€™t it short format now? Not that I really know what that means šŸ¤£

Googled it - long format over four phases. Phase A was roads and tracks, required for warming up, B was steeplechasing at a gallop over brush type fences, C was back to roads and tracks, before horse and rider were then vet checked in a 10-minute holding box. The horseā€™s heart rate had to get below 80 within 10 minutes of being in the holding box, if the horse was declared fit, off they would go across country.
This type of scenario was crucial to show a horse was up for the job on a battlefield. It was a true test of endurance.
 
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the stamp of horse,
The sad thing is that horses are bred to gain dressage points. And if you come to think of it the goal is not to produce a useful riding horse but the money from prizes and breeding thereafter.
crucial to show a horse was up for the job on a battlefield. It was a true test of endurance.
Absolutely. My question is whether the Germans ever had the long format? What was the format at Berlin Olympics in 1935?
As for jumping, hunting was encouraged in England for military purposes. But were the Germans demanding more? Hickstead Derby copied the one at Hamburg.
By the way, a few of the German military I have read about, rode their horses home from the Eastern front in WW! There was even a Nazi film about that but it is not accurate.
 
The original 3 day events had an element of endurance, didn't they, with a roads and tracks section as well as a "galloping over big jumps" section? I was really startled by that dressage clip from 1953, those warmbloods are just so athletic. I think the emphasis must have changed but I don't really follow it so cannot say how that came about...
I think the format was changed to 'enable' non horsey nations to compete but sadly it appears to have become much more dressage driven which is a shame.
 
That rings a bell, isnā€™t it short format now? Not that I really know what that means šŸ¤£

Googled it - long format over four phases. Phase A was roads and tracks, required for warming up, B was steeplechasing at a gallop over brush type fences, C was back to roads and tracks, before horse and rider were then vet checked in a 10-minute holding box. The horseā€™s heart rate had to get below 80 within 10 minutes of being in the holding box, if the horse was declared fit, off they would go across country.
This type of scenario was crucial to show a horse was up for the job on a battlefield. It was a true test of endurance.
It was a true test and many of the horses were hunter types heavier not the tbs of today
 
@Skib and others with historical interests: here is the format for the Eventing at the Berlin Olympics (thank you Wikipedia)!

Eventing[edit]​

50 riders from 19 nations contested the eventing competition, but only 4 of the 14 nations fielding a team would finish, most with incredibly high scores. Germany won both individual and team gold medals, and there is some speculation as to whether, as the home nation, they knew some of the pitfalls of the cross-country course that the other teams did not. Three obstacles on the August Andreae-designed course would have been removed under today's standards of competition, especially after the heavy rain that fell the day before Endurance. Germany won with 676 points, Poland finishing second with 991 points. Britain finished third with 9,195 points, after one of their riders fell on cross-country and his horse had to be caught (the penalty clock continued to run, and with no time limit, the team just continued to rack up penalty points). Czechoslovakia finished fourth with 18,952 points, after Capt Kawecki fell (breaking 2 ribs) and loose his horse that had to be caught, while Otomar BureÅ” took nearly 3 hours to complete the course, resulting in him accruing 18130.70 penalty points.[2]

The dressage test was 13 minutes in length. The 36 km endurance course included a 7 km Roads and Tracks (Phase A) to be completed in 29 min 10 sec, followed by a 12-obstacle, 4 km steeplechase (6 min 40 sec optimum time), then Phase C (15 km Roads and Tracks in 62 min, 30 sec). The cross-country (Phase D) was an 8 km, 35-obstacle course with an optimum time of 17 min and 46 seconds. Phase E was a 2 km gallop in 6 minutes. The jumping phase had obstacles with a maximum height of 1.15 meters, width of 1.50 meters, and a water jump 3.5 meters wide.
 
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Thank you Jane. The German winners were all military and trained by Felix Burkner the Chief army (Wehrmacht) riding instructor. I have been writing about Burkner but his autobiography is not in English.

There is a video on line of the pond crossing in the 1936 Eventing with riders falling off. I wanted to post a link but it occupies the whole of this post. So google it may be.

All but one of the German medal winners were promoted and I cannot find out why the winner of the Eventing was the only one who was not.
It may have been social class. His name was Major Ludwig Stubbendorff, killed in action on the Russian front in Belarus. 17 Jul 1941.
 
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