Tryon FEI World Equestrian Games enter Week Two

So far at the Games – which are being held at the Tryon International Equestrian Center in the southwest part of the state – there has been action in four disciplines: dressage, eventing, reining and endurance. In reining, a western-style competition where riders guide their horses through a pattern of circles, spins, and stops, the United States won the team title, while Belgium’s Bernard Fonck claimed Individual gold. 

There would be no medals awarded in endurance, however, after the competition was restarted and then cancelled to the intense frustration of athletes and team officials, as well as critics who called the situation a ‘fiasco.’ The Fédération Équestre Internationale, the world governing body for equestrian sports, which also oversees the Games, says it has asked for an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the controversial cancellation.  

The dressage Freestyle at Tryon was also called off this weekend due to the inclement weather conditions in the region. Nevertheless, medals were given out prior to that in the Team championship and Individual Grand Prix Special. Great Britain collected two bronzes, including for Charlotte Dujardin on Mount St John Freestyle – behind two of her traditional rivals, perennial podium finishers Isabell Werth of Germany on Bella Rose (gold), and the United States’ Laura Graves and Verdades (silver). That order of finish was the same for the Team event: Germany, the U.S. and Great Britain 1–2–3. 

In eventing – the triathlon of equestrian sports – Great Britain leads the standings followed by Ireland and France after the dressage and cross-country phases. Seventy horse-and-rider combinations from 15 nations have passed the vet check heading into today’s conclusive jumping showdown. Later this week, hundreds of other human and equine athletes are scheduled to swing into action at the Tryon Games, including in para-dressage, vaulting, driving and show jumping, with many of the big names in the sport ready to do battle. And of course, everyone will also have their eyes the skies as locals in the state continue to deal with the effects of Hurricane Florence, which has caused devastation in parts of North Carolina and the wider region.