š¶ It's Not a Warm-up
Itās always telling when someone downplays a major championship, which is exactly what happened to two the showjumping Euros the other week. For some it was basically considered a āstepping stoneā for bigger goals. Read the World Championships and the God all mighty Olympic Games.
And let me tell you this, the stepping stone references triggers me.
Not because it would be wrong to develop younger or less experienced riders. Over the years we have seen plenty of proof, in various disciplines, what happens if one fail to do so.
Still, when you openly refer to senior championships as stepping stones for higher goals, it says a lot about the current state of our sport. Never mind the direct insult against any organising committee out there.
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Personally I believe it's fair to say we need start thinking about the consequences of this way of treating our equestrian flagship events in dressage, eventing and showjumping. Before it's too late and we'll have to face those consequences.
Cause when these events more and more are considered as warm-up sessions for something else. Something bigger. Something more appealing, at least for the riders in terms of prize money, then we're in trouble!
Over one million three hundred and fifty nine thousand, Euros!
To get the full picture, we need to talk about the prize money [sportswashing] issue in getting things in perspective.
Last year, H&M Indiana was the second highest earner in show jumping, with a total of ā¬1,359,821 in earnings. Sounds amazing now doesn't it?
At least till you realise over one million of it was cashed in in her final three starts of the year. Yes, you read it right. Three starts ono made her cash in over one million Euro...
In late October she banked a nice ā¬100.000 by finishing second in the Longines GCT Grand Prix of Rabat in Rabat, Marocco.
She then went on to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia where her GCL team Stockholm Hearts shared ā¬200.000 for finishing third in the GCL Super Cup Semifinal.
Later on that weekend the team of three brought the whole GCL Super Cup series to victory ending up sharing a whopping ā¬2.500.000. In total, no less than ā¬6.500.000 was earmarked for this class.
To set these numbers in perspective H&M Indiana earned ā¬50.000 out of the total prize pot of ā¬500.200 when finishing 4th in the Rolex Grand Prix at Falsterbo International Horse Show a couple of weeks ago.
The Rolex Grand Prix in Aachen had a total prize pot of ā¬1.500.000., which is the same amount distributed in the GCT event in Monte Carlo, Monaco the very same weekend.
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Little league vs. Big league
Which makes an all time classic as Falsterbo International Horse Show a little league event.
Which is probably why they sold out to the Middle East earlier on this year.
Which back fired BIG TIME and made the horse population of Sweden go bananas.
Which is why they decided to break and pull out of the deal.
Which is a complete other story already told here on Hoofbeat Online.
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The Falsterbo after stoy
Truth is, fewer and fewer European venues [the author's home base] are interested in hosting major championships on any level!
It doesn't matter if it is ponies, juniors, young riders or seniors or what discipline one choose. The amount of bids to actually host these championships are few, and over the past years there are many bidding processes that were reopened after the winning bid pulled out.
Which makes it even more shocking someone came up with the idea of introducing a U25 World Championship in eventing.
A sport that already seriously struggles with both top level organisers and smaller events disappearing from the calendar. But let's talk more about that another time.
Cause truth of the matter is even the senior championship in jumping as well as other high profile events in all disciplines are struggling. Finding sponsors is hard. Finding sponsors willing to throw in serious cash even harder.
Without serious prize money the riders, mostly show jumpers, won't show.
Anyhow, I do wonder if the people at the top, riders, coaches etc. who discards these big events that come with smaller [actually totally reasonable] pots of prize money really understand what it takes to turn one of these āstepping stoneā event around in terms of organisation, marketing, logistics, volunteers, spectators and trade stands!
I bet they never even thought about it.
But when the prize money [from the Middle East] continues to hit new record levels, no one cares about the "little league" events anymore.
These are events that's been around for something close to an eternity, but now instead of thriving, face lower spectator counts, less trade stands buying in. They see fewer high profile riders and horses on the entry lists.
Some riders even choose Monte Carlo ahead of Aachen for the overall prize money. Let that one sink in for a while.
All of the above will merge in to a negative spiral.
For many rider's and coaches out there, these events now fit the mould of "little league" events and are just considered yet another stepping stone, or warm-up, or what ever you'd like to call it for bigger things.
To the rest of us, the horse owners, riders, breeders, the organisers and staff who show up, invest, and hope, itās not a warm-up.
It's not a stepping stone.
Itās the moment. And it deserves to be treated that way.
Maybe the next time we talk about strategy, and development we should just start by looking and respecting the stones under our boots...
š¬ What do you think? Please don't shy away to leave a comment in the comment section down below.
