Rachel Mawhood
Well-Known Member
In the current issue of H&H, it is suggested that critics of using Greenwich Park as the Olympics venue were won round or "disappeared". They haven't disappeared; rather, their reasoned voices have been drowned out by the white noise of propaganda and hype.
Consider this: 7 years ago, the BEF feasibility study concluded that the 2012 equestrian competition could be staged for £6.2 million. By 2010, the budgeted figure was £42 million. Guess how much it has actually cost to stage the Olympic equestrian events ... £120 million.
This has massive implications for the future of UK equestrianism. Once the "feel good" factor passes, and you start the next equestrian seasons with reduced prize money and increased registration fees; when more shows and events struggle to survive, will you only then appreciate that 95% of the same effects could have been achieved at Windsor - with that little shack as the iconic backdrop, instead of Canary Wharf - and perhaps also feel that in hindsight £120 million could have been better spent!?
From where I am standing, it looks as if the "master race" within UK equestrianism have played a blinder. Not only have they spent three times the budget - remember, these are millions we are talking about, not thousands - they have "pulled up the ladder" after themselves at the Olympics. They have eaten the seed corn - taxpayers' money - that could have built up the facilities for the whole of UK equestrianism. Their sense of entitlement has been pandered to, indulged and reinforced: look, they were allowed to take over and massively damage a Grade I Listed Baroque English landscape, a UNESCO World Heritage Site no less, with a palace in the background. They broke every international and domestic wildlife, environment and conservation law that protected Greenwich Park. They almost got away with stealing mains water and electricity for the event.
"Inspire a Generation"? Such hypocrisy. In future international competitions including the Olympics, the up and coming young competitors are likely to be those anointed by the master race within UK equestrianism, mostly from their own class. (No matter how talented a young equestrian from a council estate, the master race don't want to find themselves having to share facilities and glory with the untermenschen.) And that is because it is still the 14th century in UK equestrianism - the master race have eaten all the pies.
Consider this: 7 years ago, the BEF feasibility study concluded that the 2012 equestrian competition could be staged for £6.2 million. By 2010, the budgeted figure was £42 million. Guess how much it has actually cost to stage the Olympic equestrian events ... £120 million.
This has massive implications for the future of UK equestrianism. Once the "feel good" factor passes, and you start the next equestrian seasons with reduced prize money and increased registration fees; when more shows and events struggle to survive, will you only then appreciate that 95% of the same effects could have been achieved at Windsor - with that little shack as the iconic backdrop, instead of Canary Wharf - and perhaps also feel that in hindsight £120 million could have been better spent!?
From where I am standing, it looks as if the "master race" within UK equestrianism have played a blinder. Not only have they spent three times the budget - remember, these are millions we are talking about, not thousands - they have "pulled up the ladder" after themselves at the Olympics. They have eaten the seed corn - taxpayers' money - that could have built up the facilities for the whole of UK equestrianism. Their sense of entitlement has been pandered to, indulged and reinforced: look, they were allowed to take over and massively damage a Grade I Listed Baroque English landscape, a UNESCO World Heritage Site no less, with a palace in the background. They broke every international and domestic wildlife, environment and conservation law that protected Greenwich Park. They almost got away with stealing mains water and electricity for the event.
"Inspire a Generation"? Such hypocrisy. In future international competitions including the Olympics, the up and coming young competitors are likely to be those anointed by the master race within UK equestrianism, mostly from their own class. (No matter how talented a young equestrian from a council estate, the master race don't want to find themselves having to share facilities and glory with the untermenschen.) And that is because it is still the 14th century in UK equestrianism - the master race have eaten all the pies.
