Versailles, France—July 28

South African eventer Alex Peternell is his country’s only representative in the equestrian competition at these Paris Olympic Games.

It’s a lonely position, but not an unfamiliar one, for the athlete. It’s also one that carries the responsibility of not only representing South Africa well, but also to encouraging younger riders working their way up the ranks in the country Peternell left decades ago.

“I’ve been based in the U.K. for 20 years now, and it’s hard because, you know, I’m South African, I’m competing against the Brits, the New Zealanders, etc.,” he said after his dressage test Friday aboard Figaro Des Premices. “It’s a one-man band, trying to take them on, like David and Goliath.”

But that’s not a dynamic he minds, because he sees his role within the bigger picture for his country, which is hampered by distance and strict import/export regulations (though recent changes could loosen them) from easily transporting horses to compete internationally.

“I can encourage the riders back home to be brave and come out,” he continued. “And honestly, I think some of the South African riders are easily capable of being amongst the best. It’s just, it’s hard to take that step into Europe with without that support, that family structure, and then not even having your horse to rely on. So it’s very tough, but it’s still [possible]. I’m here.”

Peternell was the first South African rider to complete England’s Burghley and Badminton CCI5* events in England , and contested his first Olympics at London 2012, after winning a contentious court battle, where he was the only South African athlete.

He attended these Olympics with his wife, Susan, who works as a hospital pharmacist. “We’re self-funded pretty much, so everything we go to is a hard work at the hospital for me and a lot of teaching for [him],” she said.

This year, he had hoped to be part of the first South American Olympic eventing team with Alex Munn and Jessica George, but it wasn’t to be.

“We very nearly had a team together, but we just we weren’t really gelled enough and experienced enough as a team to make it happen,” he said.

He’s optimistic that will change in the future.

“The pool of riders coming in from South Africa is ever increasing,” he said. “The talent is incredible. There’s probably about four junior riders that I can name that I would like to be able to compete on with the team, but if they keep going, I wouldn’t be able to [keep up with them]. So I think there’s a lot that South Africa can offer. The problem with South Africa is that we can’t export our horses, but they’re working on a [solution]. It’s always been very hard for the South Africans, because it’s all about partnership with your horse, and you know, to come out to Europe, it’s a whole different pool of horses, and then starting from scratch against some of the world’s best riders is very difficult.”

At these Games, Peternell is mounted on Figaro Des Premices, his own 9-year-old Selle Francais (Quidam De Revel— Acapela De Kreisker). The young horse’s inexperience showed in the big atmosphere of the dressage arena at the Palace de Versailles, earning them a score of 39.0, but Peternell said the gelding came out of the ring a better horse than he entered.

“It was a lot to take in, the atmosphere and everything like that, but he’s just got an amazing heart, he’s incredibly trainable, and I think he’s got an incredible future ahead,” he said. “He went into the arena thinking, ‘Oh my God, what’s going on here?’ And then he’s walking out to the people cheering, on loose rein, going, ‘Yeah, yeah.’ ”

Sunday’s show jumping was similar, when the gelding entered and was spooking at the crowds and the jump crew enough that Peternell briefly wondered how they’d navigate to Fence 1, before clicking into the job at hand and notching 5.6 penalties to complete his first Olympic Games.

On Saturday’s cross-country, Peternell said when he first encountered the crowds on Saturday’s course, Figaro Des Premices kept deviating from his lines as he moved away from their noise.

“The first minutes I think he was a little shell-shocked, and then he was like, ‘Yeah, of course you should be cheering for me,’ ” he said. “It was fantastic.”

Peternell estimated that he was down 30-40 seconds in that first minute, and that, plus a couple long routes to account for his horse’s relative greenness, contributed to their 33.2 time penalties.

“The French were so enthusiastic, and I wish we could just draw that into the English atmosphere, because, you know, it was amazing,” he said. “Just, like, the French were going ‘Allez, allez, allez!’ And I’m like, ‘I know, I going slow.’ “

But he sees the young horse as one for the future, and has the 2026 world championships more in his sights than these Games, where he wanted to give him a positive experience with crowds and atmosphere.

“[One of the stewards] said he’s got a fantastic eye,” he said. “He’s a generally incredible horse, and he’s a real trier. I think in another two or three years, he gets a bit stronger a bit more experienced, he won’t need as much setting up for combinations; I can ride tighter lines. And then dressage, I can I know he’s got another 15-20 penalties to take off that, so I think it’s going to be awesome.”

The Chronicle has a reporter on site at the Paris Olympics. See all of our coverage here.

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