Horse & Hound – 01 August 2019

1 August 2019Horse& Hound 63

ASI write,it is exactlyoneyear

togountiltheTokyo 2020

OlympicGames.Inmany

waysthatis stilla longway

off, butpeoplearealready

speculatingwhowillbeonthe

teamsandwhichteamswillbe

thetoughesttobeat.

Oftenthisseemsobvious,

butintheequestrianworld

weknowhowfastthesethings

canchange,notonlythrough

injurybutalsonewtop-scoring

combinationscomingoutofthe

woodworkatthelastminute,

whichhasevenmoreimpact

whenit is teamsofthree.

ForTokyo,theextreme

conditionsmustalsobetaken

intoconsideration.Howfit

canwegethorsesandridersin

ordertocopewiththeheatand

humiditywithoutinjury?

A longyearinsomerespects

is a shortyearinothers.I

amsurethoseinvolvedin

organising the logistics of

gettinghorsesandriderskitted

out,preparedandsafelytotheir

destination,wouldconsiderthis

yearshort.

Somuchmustbethoughtof,

fromarrangingfeed,hayandall

thehorses’kit,includingthings

likespareshoes,togettingthere

ontime,accommodationfor

owners,groomsandriders,plus

flightsandsomuchmore.

INCREASING

KNOWLEDGE

EQUESTRIANsportas

a wholeis becomingmore

andmorescientific andthese

Gamesofferanopportunity

forustobecomeyetmore

knowledgeable.

Withthecurrenthot

weatherconditionshereinthe

UKandthroughoutmostof

Europe,wearegettinga tasteof

whathorsesandriderswilldeal

withinTokyo.

Weknowwemustcool

horsesaggressivelyafterwork,

weknowtheyneedmore

electrolytes,butthereis stilla

gapinthedetailofknowledge.

A track and fi eld athlete will

bemonitoredsoclosely.

Expertswillknowhowmuch

a runnersweatsandhow

muchwaterandsaltsheor

sheneedstoaidbestpossible

recovery.Butwedonotknow

howmuchourhorseswill

sweat,loseinsaltsandhowbest

togetthesereplenishedforthe

quickestrecovery.

Wehaveanideaandwe

canusecommonsense,butit

wouldbegreattogeta scientific

edgeoverothernationson

whata horseandriderneed

toeat,drinkandsupplement,

andwhen,inrelationto

performance,inordertobein

the best state to succeed.

Overthenext 12 months,

researchandpreparationwill

becarriedoutinheatchambers

thatsimulatetheconditions

inTokyo.Horsescannotbe

workedinsuchchambers,but

riderscangoinandsitona

simulatorhorse.

Thisis a steponfrom

2008 whenwewereableto

gointosucha chamberin

preparationforHongKong

conditions,butonlytowalk

ona treadmillinthehigh

temperaturesandhumidity.

I rememberwalkingon

a treadmillinthechamber,

withmydadaskingmemaths

questions.Weweretestingmy

abilitytostaysharpandfocused

mentallywhilemybodywas

understress,buttheproblem

wasthatmymathsis notgreat

atthebestoftimes.

BythetimeI hadthought

aboutmyanswer,evenDad,

whowasnotonthetreadmill,

hadforgottenthequestion.

Let’sseeif theresultsare

greaterthreeOlympic Games

later.H&H

‘Science could give us the edge’

Laura Tomlinson discusses Olympic preparation and maths in the heat

International

riderandtrainer

Anna Ross

NEXT

WEEK

ONLY IN HORSE & HOUND

OPINION

LauraTomlinson(née

Bechtolsheimer)isa world,

EuropeanandOlympicmedallist,

whowonteamgoldatLondon2012.

ShelivesinGloucestershirewith

herhusband,poloplayerMark,

andtheirchildren,Annalisa,four,

Wilfred, two and baby Hanni.

‘ITHASN’T

BEENAN

EASYROAD’

FINNISHrider

MikaelaSoratieputa

troublesomerideat

HartpuryCDIbehind

herbysecuringher

firstinternationalwin

hereinthegrandprix

special.Mikaelahas

ownedthe10-year-

oldDacorsincehe

wasa four-year-old

andthepair,whojust

pippedEmileFaurie

andQuentano2,are

intheirfirstseason

ofgrandprix.

“Thespecialsuitshimashehasstrongextensions,”

said Mikaela,whois long-listedfortheEuropeans.“Ithasn’tbeen

aneasyroadandI’vereallystruggledwithhim—at

Hartpuryweweresecondtolastanddidn’tevenmake

it intothespecial.ButhereI couldreallyshowwhathe

candoathomeand I only hope we can keep up this

level of work.”

FIRST

WIN

fromthepreviousday.
“Shegetsbetterthemore
shedoes.Todayshewasbrave,
consistentandreallylistening,”
saidMark.“Wehada small
mistakeinthecounter-canter,but
I wasabletopickit upagain.She
makesit lookasthoughnothingis
toodifficult,evenif it is.Shehas
threegoodpaces,buthercanter
andherabilitytorelaxareher
biggeststrengths.”
OliviaWhitelaw,16,and
Brouwershaven’sViceroyenjoyed
a fantasticfinaletotheirpony
careertogether,winningboththe
individualtestandthefreestyle
here.The10-year-old“Leo”was
outofactionfornearlya yearafter
a fieldaccidentin2017,buthas
nowwonatHicksteadfortwo
yearsonthetrot.
“Hehasa bigheartandtries
sohardforme,”saidOlivia,who
is currentlywaitingforherGCSE
resultsandwantstobecomea
doctorinthearmy.
Germany’sEmelyvanLoon
madeherfirstforaytoEngland
count, sweeping the board in

thejuniorrankswithFBW

Despereaux.

“Hedida superjobandthis

wasourbestfreestylescore,”said

the17-year-old,whoposteda

fractionunder76%onthefinal

daywiththe10-year-oldDon

DiamondFBWsonthefamily

havehadsincea two-year-old.

“Histrotworkis a highlightand

weincludemoreofthatinour

freestyle,buthiscanterandwalk

is alsogood.Hisextendedcanter

feelslikeyou’reflying.”

BritainandNorwayshared

thespoilsinyoungriders,with

JasmineHardingHeitzmannand

Decotoppingtheteamtestand

KajaTharaldsenOlsentakingthe

individualandfreestylehonours

atherfirstinternationalwith

Solhoej’sLordFalcor.

Kaja,19,arrivedintheUKjust

undera yearagoandhasbeen

basedwiththeEilbergswiththe

10-year-oldDanishwarmblood.

“It’sbeenanamazingweek,”

sheenthused.“Myhorsehasbeen

freshwithgreatenergy—he’s so

much fun to ride.”H&H