Swiss Dressage Team Withdraw.....

Tempi

Tempi

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So the Swiss dressage team have withdrawn from the Olympics because Silvia Ikle bascially dosent want her horses to go through the following :

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- The extreme humidity of 97% and heat of over 30° in a subtropical climate. Taifun season in July - September (In July and August no horse races take place in Hong Kong because of the extreme climate)
- Horses will be travelling for five and a half weeks, which include 7 days of quarantaine in Aachen and 10 days post arrival isolation in Hong Kong
- Two long flights of more than 11 hours (Amsterdam - Hong Kong non stop)
- 6 hours time difference
- Salieri already experienced problems with the short flight to Athens in 2004
- Romario has breathing problems in high temperatures and will not be able to perform at his best

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Surely she shouldve said something before hand on this matter? Instead now the team isnt strong enough to go without her, and the Team coach has just resigned aswell. I can totally understand his decision and if i was him i would be pretty p*ssed off aswell.

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Because of Silvia Ikle's decision not to participate in the Olympic Games in Hong Kong, nor allow her second horse Romario to compete there under his rider Veronika Marthaler, the state of dressage in Switzerland has taken a dramatic turn," Koschel explained. "The late withdrawal of Mrs Ikle and the decision by the Swiss Equestrian Federation not to replace her with an alternative pair and with the complete withdrawal of the Swiss team as result, are a total surprise to me as team coach and totally incomprehensible."

Koschel believes that Switzerland as small dressage nation with a tiny group of top riders should take great pride in the fact that they were already able to qualify for the Olympics, while other small dressage countries such as Denmark and Spain are still striving for team qualification.

"The flight time as well as the climate in Hong Kong were known as soon as it was announced that the Games were going to be held there and they were accepted by all international riders, who also competed at the Olympics in Seoul, Atlanta or Los Angeles, which were successfully held under the same circumstances," Koschel stated.

Koschel continues his argument that "top teams such as the German and the Dutch team will send their best riders to Asia. The presence of the best dressage athletes in the world is essential because the last few years the discipline of dressage has been under fire as an Olympic discipline. The withdrawal of a rider because of physical strain on his/her horse would be acceptable, when these would have been communicated from the start. The withdrawal of a nation is in my opinion totally against the Olympic spirit. For each athlete, it is great honour and life achievement to participate in this global highlight."

"Because of this reason, I feel urged to resign as Swiss team trainer. I regret this decision, but the situation allows me no other conclusion," Koschel argued

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(quotes taken from Eurodressage)
 
How selfish of her?!
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I'm not saying her worries are unfounded but like Koschel said Silvia Ikle would have been aware of the hours/flights/humidity for a long time now and she should have said something sooner so the Swiss team had a chance to organise a substitute

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For each athlete, it is great honour and life achievement to participate in this global highlight.

[/ QUOTE ] I guess some people have forgotten this
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well done her. i have hear it is the opinion of one of the leading players with team GB that thee olmpics will be 'very hard' on ther horses. i beieve that because of the hong knog regulations some of the horses will be there for over a month as all horses in all disciplines must arrrive by a certain date to enforce the quarantine which meas the ones competing in the later events will be there for a month. i should she will not be the only one and this is a very big desicion because i think ts fair to say the swiss were medal contenters in dressage for sure.
 
Agree with L. That trip and the actual competition conditions will be very hard on horses. It is a shame that the Olympics could not be held somewhere more horse friendly. Cudos to Mme. Ilke, but she will not be the only one.

I remember years ago when Mary McCann wouldn't let Cruising go to the Atlanta Olympics because of the heat and humidity. He was one of the top Show Jumpers in the world and very much in contention for a medal, but he didn't travel. In the end its the owner's choice what they put their horses through, and some owners would rather a healthy horse than an Olympic medal.
 
the Swiss were definately medal contendors, and yes i do agree that it mustve been a very hard decision for her.

however she wouldve known for a long time about the conditions envolved, so why not say something sooner??
 
agreed, i would always choose my horses health - however why did she not say anything sooner, rather than now letting the whole team down when its too late for them to do anything about it?
 
Well, it's not an easy decision, and I imagine she would have been under a lot of pressure to wait until the test events had been held and the findings evaluated. Also, the Swiss team would have been in the same position whenever she made her decision. It is a pity, but IMHO it is a pity that the Olympics are being held in China at all......but that's another argument.....
 
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I can fully understand her reasons for not going, and good on her for putting her horses first BUT the Olymics is a team event, she has let down her team and her country and I am gobsmacked.
The strains the HK is going to place on horses has been big news for a long time now - to leave her withdrawal so late is disgraceful. What a blow for Switzerland
 
Sorry I think she's done totally the right thing, they'r promised all sorts of wonderful facilities and studies for Hong Kong but the final facts about what is happening are only now coming out.
The quaratenine and travel periods are different for each country so somehow I doubt she knew about them last year.

Personally good on her for doing right by her horses.

I think it should beup to every individual to decide if they want to compete there or not.
 
exactly, and it is - but either way, shes known for a long time where they are being held, all the travelling involved etc.

Like i said above, i respect her for making the decision with regards to her horses, but i think its unfair that shes let the team down when she wouldve known full wel the circumstances for a long time prior to all this...
 
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I can fully understand her reasons for not going, and good on her for putting her horses first BUT the Olymics is a team event, she has let down her team and her country and I am gobsmacked.
The strains the HK is going to place on horses has been big news for a long time now - to leave her withdrawal so late is disgraceful. What a blow for Switzerland

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Exactly.....
 
I can understand what yourself and madmare are saying but I still agree with Tempi.

No one is questioning her reasons for dropping out it is her timing - she has known for a long time the problems that there could be but by leaving it this late she has left the Swiss team with no choice but to pull out.
 
I think she is quite right not to allow her horses to got to Hong Kong if she thinks it will have a detrimental effect on them. However, surely she would have known about the climate, flights, quarrantince arrangements etc long before now so why let everyone down so late in the day?!
 
The exact transport arangments have not been know perhaps she thought htey could fly direct? I don't know but I can expect there's reasons for it.

Also one of her horses is known to have respiritory problems I wonder why it was even selected in the first place? Perhaps these problems have only occured recently in which case it explains the recent withdrawal?

There's know way I can know enough about it to be judgemental, she's doing the right thing by her horses so thats all good with me.
 
Well I certainly wouldn't let my horse go. If you remember, the Bradley's didnt let Milton go to Seoul for exactly those sort of reasons - they put their horse first. Good for all of them for being strong enough to do what they know is right for their horses.
 
The reasons were milton were slightly different.

However it is nice to see horses being put first in light of the recent horse neglect
 
I can fully understand her decision to not want to put her horses through that. I can hand on heart say if i was given the choice to ride there, id decline (not that it would happen, but you know ;p)

However, its not like the conditions there have suddenly come to light and its a ridiculously late time to withdraw. I feel so sorry for the rest of the swiss team as im sure, if she'd made her feelings clear from the start, they could have found replacements.

I only wonder if something else has gone on behind the scenes to encourage this decision by her and shes using the conditions as a mask.
 
Yes but refusing from the start is a lot different from cancelling at this point.

She AGREED to go and then pulled out. It's not like the details of the weather conditions or the journey would have been kept secret from her.
 
she was quoted just a few weeks ago saying she was saving her horse for the Olympics rather than pushing world cup qualfication with him. Any other team that might be called to step in to the Swiss teams gap has now missed the New Year deadline for horse change of ownership into the competing nation.
 
I find it all a bit absurd as Hong Kong was named as the Olympic destination what 8 years ago? For me the results of the test event came back very positive especially in the eventing as horse care has become so advanced. The horses sent for the test event were deliberately chosen in eventing for being not pure TB, over 16.2hh and older over the age of 14 as it was thought these would be most affected by the conditions. Maybe the Swiss have not put as much planning into it as the Brits??
 
She is well within her right to withdraw and I can understand her worries entirely BUT she should have said something sooner - dropping the team in it at the last minute is not professional and is not on.
 
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