Todays most important horsey news item......

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lucretia

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and you lot have all missed it. Today the IOC annouced the sports who have made the short list for inclusion into the 2016 games. Golf and Rugby. their inclusion will be voted on in Octobers IOC meeting.
ten brownie points to everyone who knows why this is a VERY important horsey annoucement.....
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presumably it means the horse events that were trying to get into the olympics (was reining one) haven't suceeded
 
No that wasn't it. There wasn't another equestrian sport being considered. They were these seven:

baseball, golf, karate, roller sports, rugby, softball and squash
 
Because if something new is in then something else has to make way? And equestrian sport is high on the 'make way' list.

The recent doping nonsense & FEI rules kerfuffle don't help matters either
 
mulbry is the winner. the games can only have so many sports if these two are voted in, then two are voted out. and did i mention that i beleive equestrian counts as one discipline. like yacting or gymnastics, technically all the same sport but totally different disciplines in practise....... i.e. reining might still get in to replace a current part of equestrian say eventing, but there might be no horses at all.
within a 'sport' there is room for manouver for how many subdivisions there are hence why ladies boxing has just been added to the current boxing classes. but we all better hope there isnt another equestrian disaster before october.
 
Of all the times I didn't want to be right :-(

I didn't know they'd all count as one either. I figured it'd just be eventing. That really does suck...
 
That's depressing - it really is
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Wonder if Pippa Funnell will stay true to her word from Sydney 2000 when she said that if Eventing's dropped, she'll take up Tiddlywinks?

Who's on the board for deciding because surely with the likes of Princess Haya and Princess Anne - their say should have some weight surely?
 
the IOC delegates vote i believe and sadly a lot more of them play golf or rugby than ride and when you add it to the huge unnessecary waste of money the london games is wasting on their olympic equestrian site because they are too stuborn to change their minds, we will be damn lucky if horses get a vote at all.
as for the venue, Rio was lovely, they had the eventing for the pan americans on the race course which is tiny but after greenwich it will likje as not be a five minute 1* xc anyway so it wont matter that much. And south america proper have never hosted, mexico was the nearest, and they are hosting the 2014 world cup so there is a precedent, the usa and atlanta, for doing both in a short space of time.
 
As much as I would like this to be true (I do believe the best thing that could happen to equestrian, would be it’s exclusion from that nonsense, yes), it isn’t.
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There were 28 disciplines in 2008, London will host 26 disciplines. Softball and Baseball were voted out (in 2005) for 2012 = 26.

Rugby and Golf are in contention now and very likely to get voted in for 2016. And 2016 - as it was declared today - is supposed to have 28 disciplines. So right now, no discipline has to make way. That's for now of course, and as I sad, frankly, I'll be happy to be corrected.
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the IOC has a list of 26 core sports. it says the new ones are 'additional for consideration'. they do not mention in it they will increase the number again. the IOC can change quite alot of things between winning a bid and hosting, let alone before the bid winner has been annouced. Note the other press release makingsome changes to the 2012 programme.
there has been much talk (especially by the london organisers) of how the IOC wants a more streamlined and compact Games, this meeting in October is very important, and no-one should be getting too complacent until after it.
 
So Lucretia you honestly think that having put all this funding into equine sport at 2012 that they will just decide not to bother and have something else instead.

To be honest I think you are trying to scaremonger for the sake of it.
 
That could be the point though, they are putting in all this funding and still not getting results ( sj at least ).

Personally I don't see it happening.
 
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So Lucretia you honestly think that having put all this funding into equine sport at 2012 that they will just decide not to bother and have something else instead.


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Umm, the IOC doesn't put any funding into equestrian sports afaik, it's up to the host nation to find the money to stage the entire shenanigans. Also, the Lottery money that has meant so much relies on medals, so if Equestrian Sports get dropped from the Olympics - and let's face it, they're elitist and cost a LOT of money to stage - surely that will jeopardise the whole Lottery Funding?

Surely one of the biggest deals is that since the U.K. is going to have to spend a fortune to stage the Equestrian events, the very best thing to do would be to stage them on a permanent-from-then-onwards facility, so it could be a fantastic training and competition base for riders for many years. That's why a lot of us are dead against the whole Greenwich Park idea, it may be historically wonderful and close to the heart of the city for a fantastic spectacle, BUT for exactly these reasons it is completely useless ever after as a training and competition base, so it's a one-off! I could cry when I think of the quality of permanent facility that could be built somewhere in the Midlands or South, only an hour or two from London (so perfectly feasible, closer than Hong Kong was to Beijing I guess!) and yet all that money will be wasted.
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If Equestrian is dropped then there will be absolutely no funding whatsoever for the top riders is this country. It would be an absolute disaster for eventing. Paid for out of this money is:
Team training at all levels (Pony, Juniors & YR)
2012 Potential horses
Riders on all the lists get up to £20k a year.
Coaches who travel all round the world (Kentucky etc)
Even national competitions in this country would be affected as BE80 was introduced for more lottery money!!

Sponsorship would also be affected as the sport would drop down a level in world recognition. Equestrian is too elite to possibly survive this without serious changes. Notice how the two sports being proposed are very popular sports worldwide. In this country 750,000 are members of the RFU.
 
TBH eventing is more global than Rugby (which would be Sevens). Can't see golf taking off as tennis has suffered from the biggest names not always prioritising.

Fencing and modern pentathlon probably more at risk than equestrianism and I am sure there are other sports that have more issues. Equestrianism does have the advantage that men and women can compete against each other on equal terms - I can't think of any other sports where that is the case - even archery and shooting are split between the sexes!
 
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If they vote equestrianism out while retaining effing beach volleyball I will lose the will to live
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Female beach volleyball is a highly skilled sport played out by athletic, bronzed, toned people wearing nothing but bikinis. I am so impressed that I offered my sand menage as a training centre for the female teams.........


The trouble with the equestrian sport is the cost involved not only of hosting them but the cost of the travel and associated costs (grooms, vets, owners etc etc) and I think they may look at the cost per competitor. I would not be suprised if 2012/2016 is the last with they way things are going and what happend in 2008.
 
But Rugby would explode if it became an Olympic sport. USA, Russia and China would take it more seriously for a start. At Rugby world cup more nations take part than teams who compete at Olympics in Equestrianism.
 
Sailing is mostly single sex - there are different classes of boats, and given certain boats have a minimum weight requirement (or you spend your whole time swimming) I can't think of any obvious classes. The Yngling is definitely women only and Finn is definitely men only (Ben Ainslie said he had to gain about a stone to go from Laser to Finn). I still remember watching a slight lady try and sail a laser in moderate wind conditions. She spent more time bringing it upright than actually sailing as she was just too light to balance the sail!
 
Sailing's been a separate discipline since the late 1980s.

Equestrianism is the ONLY sport in the Olympics now where men and women compete on equal terms!


Whoever mentioned the issues with staging Modern Penthathalon - they've merged the run and shoot so that as soon as you finish running, you can aim at your targets, have a look at this: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/modern_pentathlon/8198327.stm
 
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