Horse & Hound – 22 August 2019

THETokyotestevent

experiencewasaneye-opener,

evenif inmanywaysit feltlikea

homefromhomewithsomany

familiarfacesfromnational

teamsandofficials.TheOlympic

experienceis soin-demand—

severalUSfencejudgeshad

paidtheirownwayinthehope

ofbeingselectedfornextyear.

Tokyohasa realexcitement

toit,butit’salsocrazyand

overwhelming—thelanguage

barriermadeit feellikethefilm

LostinTranslation. Thetraffic

is horrendousatcertaintimes

anda taxiis £80-120fromthe

citytothevenue.Therewill

bebusesfromtheAthletes’

Villagenextyear,butforanyone

withoutaccreditation,public

transportwaschallengingto

navigateinitially,although

efficientonceyouunderstoodit.

I wasinvitedtotake

CatherineWitt’sthree-star

horseSummerAtFernhillandit

wasfuntosharetheexperience

witha long-term,loyalowner.

A MINDSETTOCOPE

WITHTHEWEATHER

STEPPINGofftheplanewas

likewalkingintoanairing

cupboard—theheatand

humidityis a shock.Butit’s

mostlya mindset—wearespoilt

inBritainwithourclimateand

ridersneedtogetusedtothe

ideathattheycanmoveinthat

heatandsweatingis normal.

I noticedI puffeda bitatthe

endofthecross-country,but

I didn’tfeeltheheataffected

riderperformance,althoughour

jacketsseemedtoletinallthe

rainandletoutnoneoftheheat.

Thehorsespuffeda bittoo,but

generallycopedamazingly—

butofcourseweonlyhada half

dosecomparedtonextyear’s

cross-countryintermsoflength.

Temperatureswerevaried

—thereis a differencebetween

“feelslike41°C”and35°C.There

areconditionsthatthecross-

countryjustwon’tbeabletorun

in,soit’spossibleeverything

willslipa daylate.I don’tknow

thecontingencyplan,butthat

wouldmeanourshowjumping

clashingwiththefirstdayofthe

purejumping.

Intermsofhorses,a

sensibleenergy-saverwho

hasthoroughbredblood,is

snaffle-mouthedanddoeswhat

he’stold,ratherthana strong,

exuberantenthusiast,wouldbe

bestsuited.

Weintroducedthepermitted

feedtoourhorsesinadvance,

butnothay,whichturnedout

tobeverydenseandbulkyand

didn’tagreewithallofthem.

Morethoughtis neededonthis.

DISTANCEORA HILL?

THEmainequestrianpark,

builtbytheJapanRacing

Association,is a greatfacility.

Thestablingis firstclass—one

ofthethingstheJapanesedo

reallywellis air-conditioning.

A fewmorearenasare

neededtogivespacetowork

thevolumeofhorsesattending.

Theindoorarenawasnotair-

conditioned,solet’shopethey

cangetfansatleast.

Forthefirsttimeinrecent

Olympicmemory,eventerswill

havetocopewithnotbeingthe

firstequestriandisciplineandso

owningthespaceattheoutset,

asthedressageteamswillbein

placefirst.

Themainarena’s

developmentwaswell

advanced,withthestandsup,if

notallfinished,andhorseswere

generallyquiterelaxedinit.

Thejourneyfromthepark

totheman-madecross-country

islandtookabout 45 minutes

andthehorsestravelledwellin

luxuryair-conditionedlorries.

Theyhadair-conditioned

woodenstableswithintents

there.Thismovethenight

beforeandaftercross-country

happenedattheHongKong

2008 Gamestoo,butthe

facilitiesarebetterinTokyo.

Thecross-countryhaslots

ofmoundsanddips—it’snot

ashillyasBurghley,noras

flatasBadminton.Thefirst

minuteis uphillandthechat

wasthatintheseconditions,

horsescan’tcopewiththat

anda 10-minutecourse—if

thehillstays,thecoursecan

onlybeeightminutes.I think

eightminutesis plenty—does

anyonerememberhowlongan

Olympiccoursewas,whenallis

saidanddone?

Thegoingwasasgoodasat

anyOlympics—sportsturflaid

onfirm,sandygroundwhich

hasbeenirrigated.Ithada bitof

give,butnotmuchspring.

Thewarm-upwasnearthe

stablesandwillbedoubledin

sizefornextyear;thereis also

a greathackingtrackround

theisland.Therearenotrees,

butthelimitedshadewillbe

improvedfornextyearandthere

willbecopiousfansandice.

It’sincrediblyreassuring

thatourhorsesweremonitored

throughout,byvetswetrust,

andthatGermanFEIsteward

PhilineGandersMeyerhasa

specific rolesupervisingthe

coolingteam.Ridersneedto

plancool-downperiodsduring

thewarm-up—I spentas

muchtimewashingoffasI did

warmingup.

Theshowjumpingwasupto

heightandhorsesjumpedwell

offthesandandcarpetsurface.

Itwasborderlinefirmwhen

wearrived,whichthepure

showjumpersprefer,andwith

a teamofprofessionals

I’msuretheycantweakit for

eachdiscipline.

Thereis muchtothink

about,butoverallTeamGB

willfeelmorepreparedafter

ReadySteadyTokyo.Weare

soluckywiththesupportwe

receivethroughtheBritish

EquestrianFederation(BEF)

—fromperformancedirector

VikkiUnderwooddownwards

—andthelotteryfunding.Not

everynationhadhorsesorthe

fullsupportstaffattending

andsuchexperienceis really

ata premium.It’salsovital

thatweallgetbehindtheBEF

fundraisingeffortoverthenext

12 months;it’sanexpensivetrip.

Wecameawayfeeling

positiveandtherewillbe

noexcuseforTeamGBnot

deliveringatTokyo 2020 —

nothingis beinglefttochance

andriderswillhavetogothere

WilliamFox-PitthaswonBurghley andperform.H&H

sixtimesandBadmintontwice.He

haswon 20 seniorchampionship

medals,includingtwoOlympicteam

silversandoneteambronzeinfive

Olympicappearances.

‘Tokyo is amazing — but crazy’

WilliamFox-PittrevealsallabouthisexperienceattheOlympictestevent

H&Heventingeditor

PippaRoome

onBlair

NEXT

WEEK

ONLYINHORSE& HOUND

OPINION

WilliamFox-Pittand

SummerAtFernhill

inTokyo:horses

werewellcared

forinthehotand

humidconditions

22 August 2019 Horse&Hound

35

Picture by Getty Images

dited by Pippa Roome

[email protected]

@pipparoome