Channeling Bradbury
If it can happen to him, it can happen to me 🤷♀️
Australia has a national treasure called Steven Bradbury. He shot to fame (and stayed there) when he won our first gold in the Winter Olympics.
His moment came when everyone else fell over. Twice.
In the semi-finals, two rivals hit the ice while another was disqualified. Then in the finals, the entire field stacked and he sailed through to gold medal victory 🤣👌
Now a cynical person might believe that’s not really a reason to become an icon.
However, Australia embraced him (and his frosted tips) so he began an illustrious career as a motivational speaker.
🤔 So what’s the sport of equestrian got to do with speed skating?
Well, tight pants for one…
For the second aspect I need to explain the scoring…
And it’s safe to say the person that invented equestrian point scoring was NOT a ‘glass half full’ kinda person.
In the sport of Eventing (or Horse Trials), you get all your points during the dressage phase. For showjumping & cross country you can only go backwards.
Furthermore, in dressage the focus is not so much on scoring points for doing things well, it’s measured on the shit you got wrong.
In layman’s terms, the person who did the LEAST shitful performance sits atop the leaderboard.
It’s a bit like congratulating Usain Bolt on being the least slow person in the world. Its correct but kinda depressing.
Eventing is one of those sports where you do three sports in one… first you do dressage, then jump colourful sticks (showjumping) and then rip around a paddock jumping large, immovable objects (cross country).
In the stick jumping and paddock bashing you can’t increase your points, the best you can hope for is to not get worse.
There are many, many reasons you can lose points too… You can knock down sticks, be too slow, fall off (never a good option) or even get penalised for wearing the wrong pants.
It’s a tough gig.
And every time I compete at one of these things, my old mate Bradbury comes to mind.
See, imagine if you were coming third after Dressage 💭
The only way you can possibly claim victory is if contestants number one and two fall over (or wear the wrong pants 🤷♀️)
Which, let’s be fair - doesn’t exactly generate the most selfless thoughts of sportsmanship.
So picture me, if you will, staring at the scoreboard doing a quick calculation.
“The one at the top really needs to fall over in order for me to get my mits on that shiny ribbon”
Meanwhile my mouth will be saying ‘Great job! You’re doing really well!’ but secretly we all know what’s going on upstairs.
Now, now.. Don’t judge.
I didn’t make the rules.
Earlier when I said ‘imagine if you were coming third’ well that’s a rarity. Usually after dressage I’m hanging out in the bottom rows of the score sheet.
However before I give up entirely on the shiny ribbons, my mind wanders to Bradders.
“Chin up. If it can happen at the Olympics surely it can happen at Level 5 Pony Club” I’ll remind myself….
“I’m sure Bradders thought there was no possible way he could come from last to claim a God Damn GOLD MEDAL… and look what happened there” 🤷♀️
Being new to the eventing scene - this is the best summary of the gig I’ve seen. And as a bonus I’ve suddenly realised …… investing in dressage lessons for my daughter would seem to be an excellent strategy!