PrintMembers of the U.S. eventing community can agree on one thing: our team should be winning medals at international championships. But beyond that, the common ground continues to recede in the wake of the U.S. Equestrian Federation’s announcement of a two-man short list for the chef d’equipe job in 2013.
Riders couldn’t even agree on whether the turnout of about 50 people in person and via phone at the candidates’ open forum, held March 10 at the Red Hills Horse Trials in Tallahassee, Fla., was good or bad, let alone what should happen next.
Allison Springer, the event’s eventual winner, said she was “incredibly pleased” with the attendance. But Becky Holder, who most recently represented the United States at the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games (Ky.), said she “was actually really, really disappointed in the representation.”
One thing isn’t being disputed: David O’Connor and Leslie Law, the short-listed candidates, have excellent plans for the U.S. team. Both Springer and Holder were impressed by their ideas and praised the Search Committee’s efforts.
“But I would like to see more choice too,” said Springer, of Upperville, Va., after the forum. “This is a huge decision for a lot of us, and I, along with a lot of people, was surprised that specifically Phillip [Dutton] and Bobby [Costello] were left off [the short list].”
Boyd Martin, the top U.S. rider at the WEG, stepped to the mic more than once to reiterate the questions he’s already posed on his blog about why other candidates weren’t allowed to present their plans to the riders.
“This is a crucial decision in American history,” he said. “The coach who gets picked here is going to seriously change the lives of a lot of riders in this room. These two guys we heard today were fantastic, but if we mess it up or don’t give someone a chance to say what they’ve got to say, we’re only chopping our own arms off.”
Martin likened the Search Committee culling the candidate field to two without conducting in-person interviews to him choosing a new farrier or veterinarian based on a 15-minute phone call.
“To cut off someone’s chance to show what they’ve got because they’re not a good [phone interviewer] is ridiculous,” he said. “A great coach might not actually be the best person on a phone call.”
USEF CEO John Long answered that the Search Committee had convened a meeting on Monday night, March 7, as a result of the criticisms they’d been hearing. At the end of the more than hour-long call, he asked whether the committee wanted to change their recommendation and add more names to the short list.
“And guess what?” he said. “The Search Committee unanimously agreed—and I would say adamantly unanimously agreed—to keep the two candidates going forward.”
“I’m curious about that,” said Springer afterward. “All of us are. I was definitely shocked and amazed.”
Another Bite At The Apple
The Search Committee will now make recommend either one or both of the short-listed candidates to the Eventing High Performance Committee. The Eventing Eligible Athletes Committee may recommend any applicant or applicants they like.
