Horse & Hound – 22 August 2019

4 Horse&Hound 22 August 2019

Pictures by Yohei Osada/AFLO/Press

Association

Editedby

Eleanor Jones

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HOPESarehighfornextyear’s

OlympicGamesaftera successful

Tokyotestevent.

BritisheventersGeorgie

SpenceandWilliamFox-Pitt

competedintheCCI3*-SReady

SteadyTokyotestevent(12-

August).Multipleparadressage

medallistNatashaBakeralsowas

amongtheBritishcontingent

visitingthevenue.

Georgie,thehighest-placed

Brit,finishedfourthaboardher

2019 BadmintonrideHalltown

Harley.Thepairaddednothingto

theirdressagescoreof30.6toend

thecompetitionlessthenthree

penaltiesbehindwinnersMichael

JungandFischerwildWave.

GeorgietoldH&Hit wasa hot

butamazingweek.Sheexplained

shedida shorterwarm-upand

factoredincoolingtime,with

Harleycopingwell.

“Intermsofintensity,hefound

thedressagetestontheeasierside

[ashehascompetedatfive-star]

andhedida supertest,”shesaid.

“Wewerepleasantlysurprised

athowwelltheyhadproducedthe

groundonthecross-country.The

firstminutewasuphillwiththree

fairlystraightforwardquestions.It

wasthenquitetwisty,butcleverly

builtsocombinationscameon

turnswhereyouhavetoslowdown

andit didn’tfeelastwistytoride.”

Sheexplainedthedistances

ontheDerekdiGrazia-designed

coursewereonthelongside,

whichencouragedforwardriding.

Georgieaddedtherearea few

thingsthatmayneedtweakingfor

nextyear,butoverallthefacilities

were“incredible”.

“Theteamworkingthere

were brilliant — they were really

Importantinsight

andanalysistook

placeduringthe

testevent,which

willbeshared

with all nations

listeningtousandanything

werequestedtheywouldtry,”

shesaid.“Itwasanamazing

experiencetobeinvolvedwith.”

TOP-CLASSFACILITIES

NATASHAtoldH&Hshewas

veryimpressedand“sogladto

havetheopportunitytogo”.

“Ithinktheycouldprobably

hostit withinthenextcoupleof

weeks!”shesaid.“Thefacilities

arereallytopnotch.Ithasallbeen

reallywellthoughtthroughand

feelsmorecompactthanRio—

nothingwastoofarawayfrom

anywhere,whichis whatyouwant

giventhatheatandhumidity.”

Sheaddedthestableswere

“beautiful,big,airyandair-

conditioned”andshefoundaccess

wasgoodinthecityandvenue.

“Itwasseriouslyhot;I love

theheatbutI haveneverbeen

anywherequitelikethatbefore,”

shesaid.“Theyhavedone

sucha fantasticjobalreadyand

it hasallthemakingsofbeingan

awesomeGames.”

TheFEIis workingona

researchprojectidentifyingbest

practicesandmanagementof

horses performing in hot and

humidenvironments.Datawas

collectedatthetesteventandthe

findingswillbesharedwiththe

organisers,nationalOlympicand

Paralympiccommitteesandon

theonlineFEICampus.

FEIveterinarydirectorGöran

AkerströmtoldH&Hfroma

vet’sperspective,theeventwent

“extremelywell”.

“Cross-countrywasthemost

crucialday—weequipped

horsesandteamswitha number

ofsensorsthatrecordedvital

dataandwealsomeasuredthe

surroundingclimate,”hesaid.

“Thatmorningstartedoff

relativelycoolforTokyo,thenthe

skiesclearedandwehada very

hotandhumiddaywitha nice

breeze,justliketheconditionswe

expectnextyear.”

Headdedthatfroma scientific

pointofview,thiswasexactly

whattheywanted,andhorses

copedwellwithboththeclimate

andmitigatingfacilities.

“Itwasverypositive,butthe

wholechainmustbeinplace

[nextyear]ona largerscale,”

hesaid,addingthisincludes

potentiallyexpandingthecooling

tentsandthefrequencyand

volumeofice added to water.

ByLUCYELDER

Tokyo test on track

for Olympic Games

GeorgieSpenceand

HalltownHarleyontheir

waytofourthplacein

theCCI3*-SReadySteady

Toyko Olympic test event

●Five-personcoolingteamledbyexpertPhilineGanders Meyer, plus

twovetsoncross-countryday.

●Air-conditionedstables(23°C).

●Waterstations,allwithcooledwater(16°C).

●Cool-downstationsatstables,includingshowersandwatertubs.

●Cool-downstationsdirectlyaccessiblefromtrainingringsand

cross-countypractice,andatcross-countrystoppingpoints.

●Mistingfansfilledwithicedwater.

●Mobilecoolingunitforanyhorsewhoneedsattention on course.

●2,400kgoficewasusedoncross-countryphase.

●Vetmonitoringacrossalltrainingandphases.

● Vital signs taken at the end of each phase.

COOLING FACILITIES AT THE TEST EVENT