Eventing has been the poor relation of the Olympic disciplines pretty much since horse sport was included in the Games, but suddenly two schemes have been announced in the UK, and one in the USA that might change all that. All of them have large prize funds, unheard of in eventing so far, and all centre around the shorter CIC format at 3* level. Moves that have been hailed as the most positive things to happen in the sport for 50 years.
Strange really, how these were still being discussed when the latest in a long list of deaths occurred in Australia. The list of the fallen in horse trials is getting so long now, it is hard to remember everyone that is on it, and despite the more upbeat news of large new prizes, it is increasingly difficult to find support for an activity that has taken more lives than Formula One motor racing.
So, although eventing has these new sponsors, questions have to be asked. Realistically, how long can sponsors stick around with more headlines being made by tragedy than triumph? And will shaking off the poor relation tag, just make the sport show jumping’s slightly poorer cousin?
If these latest ventures succeed, featuring huge prize money at CIC (International One Day Event) level, is it going to be the last nail in the coffin for the traditional CCI Three Day Event. Blyth Tait thinks not. He said: “There will always be room for both, people will always want to Badminton, Burghley and Rolex and the first leg of the Event Rider Masters is Chatworth, the weekend after Badminton, so I can’t see people not entering Badminton to go to a CIC instead. You are probably going to need a different sort of horse for each anyway.”
Blyth is probably right if you have chance of winning a 4* event or if it is your dream just to compete at one, but thinking that riders and owners won’t follow the money is a mistake that nearly saw the end of the Nations Cup series in show jumping, once the Global Champions Tour (GCT) started. Like event riders with CCI4*s, the show jumpers did not need the Nations Cup for Olympic qualification because show jump rankings are entirely money based, so they deserted the Nations Cup series in droves. Which left team managers to chose from second, third and fourth string riders and prompted some notable fall outs with their top stars, who could not afford to ignore GCT cash, declined to go for national glory instead. The FEI was forced to restructure their flagship team competition by finding a good sponsor as well as demanding that the venues must also guarantee a certain amount of prize money to remain in what was then the Super League.
You don’t need to have completed at eventing’s highest level for Olympic or World Championship qualification either. In fact, there are horses qualified for Rio that have barely managed to complete a 3* CCI, and instead done most of their qualifying at…you guessed it, CIC3* events.
In show jumping, the Olympics are the purist pinnacle of the sport with huge tracks and no novelty horse swap last round, where combinations would not be selected without good 5* form, which ensures that following the money is a necessity in that discipline. Event riders do not even have to do particularly well at the one CCI3* they are obliged to complete. They can have a stop, enough time penalties to jump all the long routes, fell several show jumps and the completion still counts.
The popularity of indoor and arena eventing competitions with their significant prize money for much less effort is proving that audiences and the media like as short a format as possible, because it is easy to see who has won before our attention has been taken by the children, dogs or drive home. There is no shortage of competitors lining up either. Look at the recent one in Wellington, Florida with 30 odd starters. As a spectator, don’t have to spend two, three or four days outside, probably in the rain, to see your favourites or pay for a week worth of stabling if you are a competitor. Popularity encourages sponsors as well as audiences….
So the thing is, does eventing really need 4* events at all, except as a demonstration of what can be achieved? Or even CCI’s in general? You can demonstrate a horse’s level of training just as easily at a one day event now because there is almost no differences between the two things. The Rolex Grand Slam of CCI4* was a great idea, and when Pippa Funnell won the bonus at the first attempt, it looked infinitely attractive and winnable. Thirteen years on, few event riders have the horse power to even attempt it, but three wins from five possible CIC 3* competitions for £50’000 in prize money? There will be queues round the block to get in.
It is 12 years or so since long format CCIs with the roads, tracks and steeplechase disappeared, during which Jan Tops started the Global Champions Tour show jumping with simple principles: the best horses, the best riders, the best venues, the best prize money. He began with just a handful of shows. Now, in its 11th year there are 15 shows, partnerships with Sky and other TV stations and the rest of show jumping has had to raise its game to keep up.
The Event Rider Masters is planned to run along similar principles, so who would bet that the result might not be the same? Will the influence of this £300’000 ($500,000) CIC series and the Tri-Star Grand Slam filter down the levels making for shorter a cross country phase run in reverse order at other events? What will that do to courses and riding? Is it going to lead to that mythical beast, the CIC4*? Tina Cook probably summed it up best: “People have worked hard to get these new competitions, all of us have wanted better prize money and here is some, so we have to be positive about the effect of it all but realistically? We are going to have to do it for a season or two and see. It is too big a change, putting so much emphasis on the one day format to know now.”
