France, whose riders were in medal contention when the Tryon endurance race was cancelled close to the end, is one of the leading endurance nations to speak out over the conduct of the first day of the World Equestrian Games. Benedicte Emond-Bon, the team’s long-standing chef d’equipe, believes the chaos that unfurled yesterday could “sign the death of endurance.”
Even before the ride, the ground jury was pressured by some chefs d’equipe into reversing a special measures that had been put in place specifically to encourage a slower speed. While the ground jury retained the reduced presentation times, it was persuaded to raise the heart rate parameters back up to 64 bpm from 60 bpm. Shorter presentation times and lower heart-rate requirements usually have the effect of slowing riders down on the loops, so that the horse has less exertion from which to recover.
Dr David Marlin, adviser on climate effect on horses, was involved in the decision to cancel. He says the decision was made soon after there were 13 metabolic eliminations from 29 horses presented. He said on his personal Facebook page: “If it was stopped then the medallists are unhappy. If it had continued and horses had died I’m not sure what effect that would have had on me. Not good though.