A new formula designed to host indoor eventing competitions doesn’t go quite as planned.

Britain’s rising star Oliver Townend won the landmark $145,700 prize and unqualified praise for his stunning horsemanship at the inaugural Express Eventing International Cup tournament at Wales’ Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Nov. 30.

But the death of Mary King’s Olympic ride Call Again Cavalier, the elimination of 11 top riders and a serious funding shortfall mean that the formula needs a serious overhaul before it is attempted again.

Organizer Stuart Buntine, a British-based Australian, has long dreamed of bringing a shorter form of eventing to a stadium where “one seat sees all.” He based it on the “20-20” concept which has breathed new life into cricket, the traditional English and Australian sport in which one match can famously drag on for days.

Three years ago he met businessman and event horse owner John Peace, who shared his vision and was prepared to underwrite the expenses, which Buntine freely admits exceed 1.4 million dollars, of which an unprecedented $364,000 was offered in prize money.

Sadly, its practical application fell short in key areas, not helped by being an autonomous event with its own quirky rules, not governed by either the national body, British Eventing, or the Fédération Equestre Internationale. Many senior personnel were drafted in at the last minute, but most could do little more than troubleshoot behind the scenes.

Townend and Flint Curtis won by a tremendous 30-second lead from Lucy Wiegersma (Shaabrak) and William Fox-Pitt (Ballincoola), who pocketed $72,800 and $29,100 respectively. Clayton Fredericks (Ben Along Time), Vittoria Panizzon (Rock Model) and Caroline Powell (Lenamore) were the only others to complete.

A System That Didn’t Work

It was uncomfortable and embarrassing to watch horse after horse struggle with a blizzard of Pierre Michelet’s questions, ratcheted into what literally was a soccer field. Only six completed, and if a new audience had been attracted to the sport they would have gone away with the shameful impression that such distinguished horsemen as Mark Todd, Mary King, Tina Cook, Phillip Dutton and Andrew Nicholson were inept. In that respect, it was a mercy that only a fraction of the 75,000 seats had been sold.

At one stage, multiple British Olympian Ian Stark remarked over the headset commentary: “What is going on here? Why don‘t we just divide up the prize money between the spectators, then we can all go home?”

Dutton and Buck Davidson traveled a long way to be eliminated and may not even see remuneration for their trouble. The catalogue stated that the 20th placed of the 20 invited riders wins $4,300, but Buntine announced that only the finishers would receive money “in keeping with British Eventing rules.”

The morning started with dressage to music, and there was no doubt that riders had enjoyed preparing their four-minute freestyles and that people enjoyed watching them.

Andrew Lloyd-Webber and Arlene Phillips—a judge on Strictly Come Dancing, the U.K. TV show which spawned the global franchise Dancing With The Stars—judged artistic merit. Their trenchant observations helped the crowd interaction that the organizers had sought.

Davidson had the misfortune to go second, immediately after Fredericks’ showstopper to a medley of Robbie Williams hits. Davidson’s choice of “Mack The Knife” was perhaps too subtle for some and may have affected his marks unduly, though My Boy Bobby—recovering from an abscess—was neat and forward going. Neither he nor Dutton and Connaught fell flat on their faces when attempting optional extra movements such as the canter pirouette, as did some, though Connaught—clearly wound-up in the buzzy atmosphere of this giant echo
chamber—broke stride a couple of times and so, like his compatriot, fell into the bottom 10 after dressage.

The first phase, not surprisingly, was “won” by Bettina Hoy and Ringwood Cockatoo, to an uncomplicated but smoothly executed routine to Beatles music, just ahead of King and Call Again Cavalier.

Race Against The Clock

The amalgamated show jumping and cross-country phases were judged entirely on time, with seconds added for knockdowns or run-outs, the horses running in reverse order of merit. In hindsight this was to compound the technical test ahead, for as the cross-country route could not be roped-off, riders had to memorize 48 jumping efforts across both phases. Invariably they got lost and, with the clock ticking, were panicked into switchback manoeuvers they would not normally attempt.

A spurious, timed “pit-stop” between show jumping and cross-country required the rider to change hat and colors and don a back protector, which could easily have been worn throughout.

First out, Rodolphe Scherer (Makara de Montiege) fell jumping onto the first artificial bank, while Nicolas Touzaint (Hildago de L’Ile), Dutton, Alex Hua Tian (FBW Chico) and Austin O’Connor (Hobby du Mee) were eliminated for errors of course which ranged from getting lost, jumping the wrong side of a flag or jumping a fence partially lowered earlier in the round. The show jumping was over-complicated by a circular in-and-out, which had to be navigated three times from different directions.

Karin Donckers (Chirizard) retired, while Mark Todd (Gandalf), Tina Cook (Miners Frolic), Andrew Nicholson (Avebury), Linda Algotsson (Stand By Me) and Davidson were all ousted for three refusals, many incurred at an offset brush coming off the bank and a later similar pair set just feet from the raised edge of the field.

In a country as fixated with health and safety as the United Kingdom, it was surprising that there was no solid barrier to stop out-of-control horses crashing straight down on the concrete walkway that surrounded the field. But then the organizers had only the night to assemble the whole thing, for the Australia-Wales rugby international took place the previous day. Work was only completed by 10 a.m., in time for the gates to open to the public, so no wonder riders had so little time to inspect the course.

Fox-Pitt jumped clear on the cross-country but with considerably less style than we are used to. He needed all his survival skills to guide around Ballincoola, even though the horse is an “old pro.”

“I am glad it’s behind me,” he said. “Not a lot about it was relaxing fun.”

Gandalf had a lucky escape after putting down on a filled corner that gave way. It could not be repaired so was removed for the last few riders. Todd said: “Horses don’t know what this type of competition is. We don’t really train them for this sort of thing.”

Lucy Wiegersma said: “I went much steadier than planned after watching the others. It was all such a surprise for these horses; they needed time to adjust.” Tina Cook felt it was “sad to see these lovely horses struggling, not sure what they have to do” while for Fredericks, “it was all about keeping Ben on his feet.”

Even Townend, who would have deserved to gloat about his exceptional riding achievement, kept most of his comments to the effect the prize money would have on his mortgage and unqualified praise for Flint, “a horse that picked-up for me on some horrific distances.”

Not As Planned

Accidents can happen anywhere, but the complexity of the jumping test and the extra challenges when cross-country goes in reverse order of merit and crowd noise distracts surely contributed to the fall of Call Again Cavalier at a filled corner, three from home. “Cavvy” tried to bank it and skidded onto the floor, sustaining a suspected broken femur in his off-hind.

The downside of stadium events is that the audience really does see it all. There was a collective moan as “Cavvy” somehow got up and whinnied out loud. As this sad scenario had not been fully rehearsed, the horse ambulance got stuck on a ramp, needlessly protracting Cavvy’s final journey. After this, no one could blame Hoy for jumping slowly round the show jumps and then putting up her hand.

Mike Tucker, the “technical delegate” (though delegated by whom is unclear, as this was not an FEI event), was one of many who had worked tirelessly through the night before. At the final press conference, where he shared a platform with long-faced colleagues Mark Phillips, Mike Etherington-Smith and Pierre Michelet, Tucker’s considered view was: “We all recognize that eventing has to be showcased to a wider public. We have the best designers in the world here, so there is huge backing. It’s much the largest first prize the sport has seen, so we had to find a suitable challenge that was fair and safe.

“We’ve learnt a lot about stadiums and that they magnify all the problems. It was not the most enjoyable day, but it should benefit the sport long term. I hope people will draw on the positives rather than the negatives that came out of it.”

Stuart Buntine remains convinced Express Eventing has a future. He said: “It’s a steep learning curve, and in hindsight of course there are things we could have done differently. Next year, what we’ve learned today will bear fruit.”