The First Horse Inspection at the Rio Test Event (c) FEI/Raphael Macek
The Aquece Rio equestrian Test Event kicked off in the Olympic Equestrian Centre in Deodoro today, with 18 national horses from Brazil passing the first horse inspection and being declared fit to compete.
Quaint Normand, the horse that Ruy Fonseca had been due to ride, was held over for re-inspection, but was not accepted. Fonseca, team silver and individual bronze medallist at the Pan-American Games, had already made the decision that he wouldn’t ride the horse, but will still travel over from his English base after getting married in Brazil earlier this week and is expected on-venue tomorrow.
Marcio Jorge, who owns Quaint Normand, had offered the ride to Fonseca only a couple of days ago. When Fonseca opted not to ride, Jorge had hoped to partner the horse himself and was understandably disappointed when the 13-year-old Thoroughbred was not accepted.
The Ground Jury of Marilyn Payne (USA), Sandy Phillips (GBR) and Andrew Bennie (NZL) start their judging roles tomorrow morning, with Andre Paro first into the arena at 9.30 Brazilian time with the first of his two rides, Belladonna.
Paro is one of five riders with two horses, the others being Serguei Fofanoff, Luciano Drubi, Marcio Appel and Marcio Jorge.
Running alongside the Aquece Rio International Horse Trials, which is a CIC2*, is the Observers Programme. More than 70 participants from 16 nations are on-site for the three-day programme, which winds up with a full debriefing session on Saturday.
Today’s sessions included a venue information and site tour, equine logistics and transport, and equine feed and bedding. Tomorrow’s sessions feature National Olympic Committee accommodation, accreditation and transport, and biosecurity and veterinary services at the Olympic venue.
