Should the USEF Mandatory Outing for Olympic Eventing be open to the public?

While events across the country are beginning to draw larger and larger crowds, many in the eventing community were disappointed to learn that this year’s Mandatory Outing at The Fork Stables was closed to the public.

Short Listed rider Karen O’Connor noted that she chose to travel to England to participate in the Mandatory Outing there, held in conjunction with the Barbury Castle CIC***.

“The Fork is a fantastic facility, and Jim Cogdell is really generous to offer his property, but this is just right for me,” she explained in an earlier interview. “Although it will be a fantastic competition for those that compete in it, there will be little to no atmosphere.”

Unlike the Mandatory Outing at Barbury Castle, this weekend’s event has been handled more as a training session than a competition. There will be no placings, and scores have not been made public. A far cry from the Olympic Games, it’s also significantly lacking in foam fingers, cowbells and air horns.

“Sometimes it’s a little bit easier to put your game face on when you have a crowd to play to,” admitted rider Becky Holder. “But it was a unique experience to really hone our skills and our training and really prepare for the Olympic Games, which is, I think, what they really meant to do.”

Holder, whose mount Courageous Comet already has plenty of experience in high-stress situations, said she never considered going to England for Barbury.

“I really thought that being out in the heat would be a good test on where he was,” she said. “I really wanted to kind of get a read on how he reacted. Plus, being close to home and close to people who support me and love me is where I draw my strength from, so that was the right decision for me, but everyone has to make the right decision for themselves and their horse.”

Buck Davidson, who is the only rider on the Short List to have competed in Hong Kong, said he knew participating in the Mandatory Outing at The Fork was the best choice for he and his horse, Ballynoecastle RM. But for the grassroots element of the sport, he still wished there had been changes.

“I’m not even saying you can recreate [the atmosphere of the Games] – I just think it would be good for the sport,” said Buck Davidson. “It’s a beautiful farm, and they’ve done a fantastic job of getting everybody to get this place ready and we’ve all worked hard, so it would maybe be nice to have a crowd of people here to see it.”

Phillip Dutton, who has two horses on the Short List, also expressed regret that the public couldn’t be on hand to watch the future team one last time. “I thought it was disappointing for the fans who wanted to give us a boost and farewell,” he said.

“It’s too bad,” added Davidson. “Look at all the other sports – this is something they can hang their hat on. I live just outside Philadelphia, and I know nothing about gymnastics, but I could tell you everything about where and when the gymnastics championships are, because it’s all over the place. You might not know anything about eventing, but you put up the rings, and people will show up. It’s a great way to showcase our sport, and it’s too bad they didn’t.”

The “they” in that equation is the USEF, which organizes all team selection processes. Mandatory Outings in past years have been open to the public, but typically grew small crowds, according to USEF Director of Sport Programs Jim Wolf. He noted that the decision to close this year’s outing was based on infrastructure and finances, and not landowner issues.

“We had no intention of excluding anyone,” Wolf said. “But we’re using it as a mandatory outing. It’s not a competition. And honestly it’s not much to sell to a sponsor.”

Jennifer Wooten, who traveled from the West Coast for Short List training, said she knew of several people in California who would have come to support the team if the Mandatory Outing had been open. She suggested eventers try harder to market their sport and use the outing as a fundraiser, as the U.S. Olympic Dressage Team does.

Wolf said the USEF is always open to future changes, but because the outing doesn’t coincide with a pre-existing competition like it does for dressage, it would also be difficult to make it into a fundraising event or sell tickets.

“When you open it up to the public, you have to have a second ambulance, rope the galloping lanes, take out a different kind of insurance, provide the Port-A-Johns,” he said. “You have to give them something to drink, you have to park the cars. It’s not as easy as I think a lot of people are making it out to be.  For 11 horses it’s just not a viable proposition.

“At the end of the day, the point of this weekend is to select the best possible team to represent us at the Olympic Games,” he continued. “All that other stuff would have been a big distraction both personnel-wise and financially, and it would have been counterproductive for us while we’re trying to field the best possible team. We wanted to use our resources in the most responsible way.”

The Short List riders see both sides of the coin. While opening the event to the public fosters good will and team spirit, they also have a serious task at hand. Diverting time and money from the selection process could also hinder their goals.

“Yes, having it open to the public would be fantastic, but you have to understand the legalities of it and the infrastructure that’s needed,” acknowledged rider Bonnie Mosser. “I just saw somebody drive right out on the cross-country course today. That’s somebody that’s probably never been here. It’s stuff like that. I definitely made sure that I had people around me that I wanted to have here. I feel it’s the best way to give our own selves support. I hope that in the future they’ll plan it that way [open to the public], because I think a lot of the riders like it, but then it has to be funded also.”

Changes may happen for future Olympic Games, but for now the USEF is concentrating firmly on the more imminent August.

“The bottom line is, we need every cent we can get to send these athletes to China,” said Wolf. “It’s going to be very expensive. At the end of the day we made what I still think was a very sound decision, though I know some people were disappointed.”