Concern Regarding Olympic Showjumping Qualification

Olympian, 2006 WEG representative, Assistant National Coach and member of the Showjumping High Performance Panel, Rod Brown (pictured), is concerned about the Olympic preparation for some domestic horses due to the outbreak of EI. “The optimists believe that we will start jumping in NSW at Tempo in early December, but I feel it will be rescheduled for the New Year along with the Australian Championships, which were to be in Canberra in October. It is of some concern as the Championships were to incorporate and eight penalty or better MES (Minimum Eligibility Standard) Grand Prix. Officially only one such class is permitted a year. We are hoping, due to the unforeseen circumstances, that the FEI will give Australia permission to conduct two such classes in 2008, in order to get our horses qualified for Hong Kong. Australia qualified a team for the Olympics at the WEG last year, but there are still some horses in Australia that do not have their MES and it is always better to have this qualification sooner rather than later”.