For those of us not fortunate enough to travel to Athens to watch the Olympic equestrian events in person, this time the sting of staying home wasn’t nearly as sharp as it’s been in the past. And that’s primarily due to the hours of eventing, dressage and show jumping coverage provided by NBC and their subsidiary channels Bravo and USA Network.
While our Tivo and VCR machines may have gotten a vigorous workout due to the early morning hours, having the opportunity to watch such extensive coverage was well worth any lack of sleep.

Not only were we able to see more equestrian coverage than ever before, but NBC also provided experienced and entertaining commentators, such as Tim Ryan, Robert Ridland and David O’Connor. Ridland gave such in-depth analysis of the show jumping rides that it was almost like auditing a clinic. The way he described the technicalities of the rides was educational to knowledgeable horsemen–such as mentioning a horse’s drift to the left as to why he had a rail down–yet he also provided interesting tidbits of information for the general audience.

In addition, online coverage of the Olympics was widely available and thorough (go to www.chronofhorse.com), even on non-equestrian websites like Yahoo! and The Washington Post.com. And the Athens2004.com website did a phenomenal job keeping results in almost real time, so that we could sit at our desks while working and yet follow the results by just hitting the refresh button.

USAToday.com posted a question during the second week of the Olympics that asked readers which lesser-known sport they most enjoyed viewing. And on Aug. 24, shortly before they changed the poll to a new question, equestrian had a landslide lead of more than 50 percent of the 4,400 respondents. Badminton followed with 10.89 percent, fencing was 9.46 percent, water polo 9.41 percent, table tennis 8.54 percent, canoe/kayak 8.04 percent, and team handball 2.91 percent. That unofficial polling shows that equestrian sports do have a huge following, so maybe the networks will finally cater to our desires.

The best thing about Bravo’s coverage was the number of rounds and rides they aired. For all three sports, but especially the cross-country and show jumping, they showed nearly every competitor. I especially enjoyed watching the cross-country because by virtue of the many rounds they aired, I was really able to study the course and the different routes available for them to ride.

While some fans expressed disappointment that NBC didn’t allot much time to equestrian sports, I understand their feelings. Not everyone has access to cable or satellite to watch Bravo and USA. But I’ll bet if NBC had opted to air, say, the dressage freestyle, we’d have probably only seen two or three horses, not the dozen or so that we watched on Bravo. I’m also a huge fan of diving, and I found that the coverage of that sport during primetime (8 to 11 p.m.) wasn’t nearly as thorough as the horse sports were on Bravo. There are simply too many sports vying for that limited amount of network time.

For decades we’ve clamored for equestrian TV coverage and received little. And in the past, the TV coverage the sport has received (especially eventing) has sometimes been negative. So, it would be especially timely for those who remained home watching our wonderful U.S. riders win medals in every sport to write a letter or send an e-mail to NBC (nbcolympicsfeedback@nbcuni.com). Let them know how much we appreciated their work. After all, the next best thing to being there this time deserves a big bravo!