MARCH 1996 BACK ISSUE

Part of Horse Previews Magazine website. Posted on 3/1/96; 10:00:00 AM.

The XXVI Olympiad

The magnificent, ancient stadium in Athens, Greece was restored in 1896 for the revived Olympic Games. This year, marking the Olympics' centennial, the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) purchased television rights to the games in Atlanta, Georgia. This summer the world is in for the sporting treat of a lifetime.

The Summer Games were held in St. Louis, Missouri in 1904, in Los Angeles, California in 1932, and in Los Angeles again in 1984. NBC figures more than 3.5 billion people, about 2/3 of the world's population, are expected to watch TV coverage from Atlanta starting July 21. If you laid 20 dollar gold pieces edge to edge from Los Angeles to Greece you would approximate the money NBC paid for TV rights to the games. The unofficial motto of the games is "Verso Pecunia," Latin for "Turn over the money."

The official motto of the 1996 Olympics is "Citius, Altius, Fortius," meaning "Faster, Higher, Stronger." Officials from the Atlanta Organizing Committee (AOC), the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games (ACOG) are working with the International Equestrian Federation (FEI-Federation Equestre International) to present the greatest equestrian events in the history of the games.

The ACOG contributed $20 million to build the Georgia International Horse Park in Conyers, Georgia about 33 miles from downtown Atlanta. They broke ground June 15, 1994 and completed the 1139 acre site in mid-1995. The horse park is entirely fenced in vinyl, with islands constructed centrally to facilitate the broadcast media. Spectators will have 8,000 permanent and 29,700 total seating capacity. How plush is it? For comfort, a new system was installed to lower ambient field temperatures by 15deg.F, which will circulate moisture into the air for absorption of heat through vaporization, which in turn is blown out of the environment with fans to create a cooler atmosphere for the athletes--horses and riders. Is the grass greener? If the field is a giant vaporizer, its grass is definitely the color of money. It has three varieties: fescue for shade, bermuda for direct sunlight, and zoysia for crossings.

All the best horses in the world will be able to enter the competition, if they are healthy enough. The ACOG and AOC have mandated strict quarantine regulations for the benefit of the participants and the FEI has accepted them. For example, horses infected with Piroplasmosis will be isolated in stables near Atlanta airport and then shuttled (33 miles one way) to the horse park for training and competitions. Equine Piroplasmosis has a worldwide distribution including Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas. It is rarely reported in the US except in Florida and Texas. All the expertise in the horse industry will be on guard against infection.

Blood parasites of Piroplasmosis are transmitted by the one-host tropical horse tick. It can be transmitted by other blood suckers (eg. mosquitoes) or mechanically by unsanitary veterinary practices. The incubation period spans 5 to 30 days. Clinical signs of the disease include depression, fever, anorexia, icteric mucous membranes, ecchymotic hemorrhages, and edema of the extremities and ventral abdomen. This disease is extremely dangerous and lethal. Death can occur within 24 to 48 hours. Tick is host, horse is carrier. Eradication of the carrier state should be aimed at elimination of the host and identification and isolation of carrier horses. A negative complement fixation titer (negative blood antibody count) is required of all horses entering the US from endemic countries. Following treatment, horses may remain blood positive for 6 weeks to 8 months.

Horses infected with Piroplasmosis must be kept away from facilities and vegetation at all times and their stay will be restricted to the shortest time possible. Horses quarantined must be healthy enough to perform at their peak, despite their exposure to, treatment for, or stage of recovery from the disease. This policy would allow horses to compete who had tested positive for the dreaded disease. Olympic officials have prevented the unlucky contraction of this disease from denying participation of world champion horses in this chance of a lifetime competition.

Elite equestrian athletes, competing in teams or as individuals, will vie for 6 medal events in Dressage, Jumping, and Three Day. Teams are 4 riders each. Dressage Teams use the FEI Grand Prix test comprised of 38 movements; individuals use the FEI Grand Prix Special test with 32 movements. Three team medals and three individual medals will be awarded: gold, silver, and bronze. A recent event held at the Horse Park was the Three Day Event-Atlanta Cup starting November 3, 1995. Perhaps some favorites for the Olympic Medals emerged:

1. Maria Mehrdorf on Local Yokal (Germany) 57.2

2. Antoine Schonauer on Rondeau (France) 65.9

3. Marie Duroy on Voyou IV (France) 71.2

For NBC, this unprecedented worldwide sporting event may well be "Pecunius and the Gladiators," but for horse sport enthusiasts, it will be a chance to see the world's best in action. Unless you are lucky enough to afford one of those seats at The Georgia International Horse Park, you will be watching it on TV as I will. In later issues of Horse Previews, we will publish the daily schedules of events.

~ Bob Howdy, PhD