News and views about the proposed Lakewood Olympic Equestrian Center.

What's Happening:

The District and Chicago 2016 are working together right now on a detailed planning review of Lakewood, including additional environmental assessment. They are also investigating other Forest Preserve locations to determine the best possible equestrian venue design and location. Chicago 2016 also recently submitted their official initial application materials to the IOC.

What role do horses play in the Olympics? Horses played a role in the ancient Olympic games including the Jumping portion of the Pentathlon and various versions of Chariot Racing until the ancient games ended. The modern games were revived in 1894, in Greece. There were a few one-time equestrian events held in the early years of the modern games including Polo in the 1900 Paris games and the 1908 London games and Vaulting in the 1920 Antwerp Olympics. The 1900 Paris games also included equestrian high jump and long jump events.

In the 1912 Stockholm Games the three modern equestrian disciplines made their debut: Jumping, Three-day eventing and Dressage. The three-day event was for military personnel, an individual dressage test was offered, and an individual and team (Prix des Nations) show-jumping competition took place. These three events remain the basis for Olympic competition today.

Critics have questioned the inclusion of horse sports in the Games citing the fact that it appears that the horses are the athletes, not the riders. Anyone who rides, though, or has a first-hand knowledge of these equine events knows that riders are serious athletes and there’s no question that they have to train extensively, both physically and mentally, to effectively compete.

There have also been some questions about new equestrian Olympic events being added. Experts suggest a couple of different contenders. Endurance Riding has great diversity of participation, an important objective for the International Olympic Committee. The Western Discipline of Reining, which is now USET-affiliated, has also been talked about. Reining has seen international growth, especially in Germany and Italy, but to date it lacks the level of international participation that the IOC requires.

One fact the experts seem to agree on is that the IOC is not going to allow the FEI to add sports to the existing three. In other words, “If horse riding wants to introduce a new discipline, it will have to withdraw another,” said the IOC’s sports director, Gilbert Felli (Olympic Equestrian, Jennifer Bryant).

With the Olympics taking place only every four years, changes will take a long period of time to come into effect. We can expect to enjoy the current three equestrian events as part of the Olympics for many years to come.

Check out this website for more information: www.lcfpd.org/lakewood2016