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Nov. 17, 2008
Olympic Equestrian Games
A look back at the 2008 Equestrian Games.
Eventing: Throughout the three-day evening competition, American riders struggled. During the cross-country phase, Amy Tryon and her mount Poggio II took a spill on course, eliminating them from the rest of the competition. Several days later, Tryon was admitted to Hong Kong hospital for knee injury she sustained during the fall; she returned home to complete her recovery and is rider again. Poggio II was unharmed.
Olympic three-day veteran Karren O'Conner (USA) put in an uncharacteristically poor performance n Mandiba thought the competition, perhaps due to the untimely death of her Olympic-hopeful equine partner, Theodore O'Conner.
Gina Miles thought stayed focused. She helped land team USA in seventh place during the team competition and grabbed a silver for herself in individual competition.
Dressage: Hopes were high that American favorites Debbie McDonald and Brentina would medal in these Games, but the duo fell short and was eliminated from individual competition after scoring a 63 percent in the team round. Afterward, McDonald said of Brentina, "She's been schooling so well. I was totally caught by surprise when she started spooking in the ring." After the ride, Brentina was given a vet exam that showed she was in good health.
American Courtney King-Dye aboard Harmony's Mythilus put in a highly respectable performance during the team competition. The young and upstart outrode her veteran teammates with a score of 70.458 percent. Her performance helped the American team land fourth after the team round was finished.
Unfortunately, the Americans were stripped of their forth-place finish and King-Dye was disqualified from the Games after is was determined that Mrythilus tested positive for a banned substance.
Show Jumping: American rider were favored going into the Olympic show jumping competition. Beezie Madden and the Dutch Warmblood Authentic, as well as McLain Ward and Sapphire, a 13 year-old Belgian Warmblood mare, were all part of the 2004 Olympic gold medal-winning team. This time around, they stuck gold again with fellow teammates Will Simpson riding Carlsson Vom Dach, a 12 year-old Holsteiner gelding, and Laura Kraut riding Cedric, a 19 year-old Dutch-bred gelding.
During the individual competition, the Americans scored again, but it was a bitter race to the end. Under the unsettle skies of an impending typhoon, the individual medals required two jump-offs. Beezie Madden aboard Athentic outran six other combination to win her first individual medal, a bronze. Canada's Eric Lamaze aboard his mount, Hickstead, who had come back from colic surgery, claimed gold, while Sweden's Rolf-Goran Bengtosson riding Ninja captured silver.
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About Me
Hi my name is Sarah. I am 16 years old and love horses. I don't have any horses but like to study and ride them! All of the entries on my blog are things I have read in books or magazines. I hope you enjoy all the information!
I have also published a book during the 2009 school year, "Skylark." Here is the blog to see more about it!
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Skylark/
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Dec. 4, 2008 - Untitled Comment
--Mara