Sitting down with Olympian Rebel Morrow was nothing less than inspirational. We talked all things thoroughbreds, eventing and her success at the Athens Olympics.
The sport of eventing has changed so much since it was established as an Olympic sport at the 1912 Stockholm Games as it was only open to amateur riders who were in the military.
It was Badminton in the 1940s who hosted the first 'Horse Trials' as we know them today and this was to give British riders somewhere to train for future international competitions. It was Badminton that led the way with the first Badminton Horse Trials national level competition in 1949.
The sport was run in what was known as long format. This consisted of 4 phases.
Phase A - Roads & Tracks
Phase B - Steeplechase
Phase C - Roads & Tracks
10-minute holding box. The horse’s heart rate had to get below 80 within 10 minutes of being in the holding box.
Phase D - Cross Country
This true test of endurance demonstrated the suitability the horse had for the battlefield. Due to this the thoroughbred was usually best suited to the job.
The long format didn't quite make the distance and the next major change in the sport came in 2004 when the short format was introduced at the Athens Olympics. This meant phase A, B,& C were excluded which just left phase D - Cross Country.
Champion horses are hard to come by but lucky for Rebel her champion came in the form of an off the track thoroughbred who didn't have much desire for racing. Oakley Groover was purchased for $300 and inevitably became her horse of a lifetime. The pair became quite the team in the eventing circuit and were the highest placed equestrian team member's at the Athens Olympics.
Rebel provides us with an insight into Groover's eventing career. We spoke about the importance of the thoroughbred blood in the sport and retraining thoroughbreds to different disciplines.
You can find Rebel's Podcast on iTunes, Spotify & Google Play or you can watch it on youtube via the link below.