I was there, and whilst the arena looked so impressive to begin with, once the jumping started, the whole competition looked dangerous. Yes, accidents do happen, but the surface was poor, it had no depth to sustain the force of the horses pushing on it, like a true surface or old turf would. Even with studs, they were skidding and slipping on the corners, it was terrifying. The jumps were full up to height, incredibly technical and some were not anchored down, and one broke because the horses were banking it instead of jumping it, it had the same surface and structure as the previous one they were supposed to bank. It was pure luck that Mark Todd's horse didn't break his legs when he went through the top of that jump. I have evented to intermediate level, back in the 80s before back protector, frangible pins etc. so I'm no chicken, I struggled to watch after the first few, I knew it was dangerous and was waiting for something terrible to happen, praying that it wouldn't, but it did. that poor horse, his final whinny will haunt me for ever.
