Olympia 1999

by Helen Revington
(Photographs by Stephen Sparkes)

John Whitaker and Keeley Durham's 19 year old Welham - winners of the World Cup Qualifier

Trying to get near to their time forced the following riders into making mistakes and Geoff Billington, who was one of the last to go and who looked determined to have a crack at John's time, tried to save valuable inches by bringing Otto at a very acute angle into the third fence. Otto rather ungenerously slammed on the brakes, leaving the pair in eventual fifth place behind Belgium's Ludo Phiippaerts. Robert Smith had two fences down and finished ninth.

Switzerland's Beat Mandli and the Netherlands Cary Huis InT'Veld dead-heated for second place, finishing 0.23 seconds adrift. For Cary's groom, Monrna Wendelin, the Show was to be memorable for another reason. Monrna, who was enjoying her first trip to Olympia, won the Grooms' Show Jumping Competition the following day.

One of the crowd's favourite classes is the Fancy Dress Relay. The competition is split into two halves: fancy dress and show jumping. For many years the partnership of Geoff Billington and John Whitaker have had the crowd in stitches and this year was no exception. A rather portly David Beckham (Billington) and a rather ghastly looking Posh Spice (Whitaker) had everybody rolling in the aisles whilst they proclaimed their love for each other loudly and rather tonelessly. The pair took the prize for the most humourous sketch and also won the show jumping phase.

"David Beckham" serenades "Posh Spice" in the Fancy Dress Relay

The Whitaker Family also featured heavily earlier in the week when John's children Robert and Louise and their cousin Ellen all competed against each other in the Young Showjumper Of The Year, a national competition for riders of twenty one years and under.

This class has not always produced the most nail-biting of jump-offs in previous years as usually only one or two horses go clear in the first round. This year's competition, however, proved very exciting as five riders jumped immaculate clear rounds including last year's winner, Jackson Reed-Stephenson. Roger McCrea, the first ever Irish rider to qualify, jumped clear on both of his rides and went first in the jump off on his less experienced horse, First Clover. Unfortunately the six year old had four faults, but Jackson's horse Pion jumped clear although he didn't seem to go very fast.

Helen Treadwell, the only girl to make the jump-off took the lead briefly only to be caught by Welsh rider Lee Williams. By the time Roger came back into the arena on Tannaghill, the crowd were on the edges of their seats and this combination's performance was brilliant, yet as Tannaghill rounded the penultimate bend he paused fractionally to give a little buck - that buck was to cost Roger the title!

Last to go, Robert knew exactly what he had to do and he cut every conceivable corner to come home just 0.67 seconds faster than Roger. The win was the first for the Whitaker Family in The Young Show Jumper of the Year competition - it is sure not to be the last!

Austria's Anton Martine Baller and Laurino - winners of the Puissance - the only combination to clear the wall in the fourth round

The power classes, the Puissance and the Six Bar are always popular and this year both classes were strongly contested and produced electric atmosphere as they reached their climaxes. The big wall rose to an impressive 2.16m (7'1") and was only cleared by Anton Martin Bauer of Austria and Laurino. Ireland's Peter Charles and Great Britains's Rob Hoekstra tied for second place.

The Six Bar is a test of power, accuracy and rhythym as the horses jump through a row of uprights, each higher than the last. All the jumps are raised each round and at the end of five rounds and a final jump approaching 2.10m nothing could separate Ulrich Kirchoff (Dahmus Los Del Rio) and Franke Sloothaak (Gio Granno). At one point it looked as if Ulrich would be the overall winner as Franke hit the last fence quite hard. For a split second it appeared that the whole fence would come down as the wing swayed perilously, yet the crowd gasped in amazement as the wing righted it self and a lower pole was dislodged, not counting as a fault. Ultimately Ulrich and Franke shared first place as all five rounds had been completed.

Sunday always enjoys a fairly quiet start to the day and there is only one jumping class in the morning session, but the riders and the show officials have little time to take a breather as they take each other on in a friendly game of soccer. As usual this was a light-hearted but hotly contested affair and, as usual, the riders produced a convincing win.

Regular visitors to Olympia include the Household Cavalry Musical Ride and the Shetland Pony Grand National. Each year these ponies tour the country raising money for charity. This year's cause was 'Tommy's Campaign', a charity giving help and information to mothers-to-be. The young jockeys and ponies come from all over the British Isles but a rumour circulating that the races were rigged so that no single combination gleaned all the glory did take a little of the excitement away.

The Drum Horse and Trumpeters lead in the Household Cavalry Musical Ride

There was much talk about the Household Cavalry's 'new look' Musical Ride, although perhaps 'new sound' would be more appropriate! Gone are the traditional musical accompaniments such as 'Blaze Away' and in their place the display is now performed to up-to-date pop tunes such as Mambo No. 5, which, at this show at least, were played at almost deafening volumes. It was probably this factor more than the actual change of style and music that caused the controversy and one wonders whether it will be acceptable at outdoor shows.

Nevertheless, the ride made a most dramatic entrance in what was in every sense a well staged performance. The silhouette of the armoured riders, with lances and pennants aloft, appearing through a purple mist certainly created instant theatre with an eerie mixture of ancient and modern, since the scene took on an almost medieval appearance but was accompanied by disco music. The whole display was punchy and dramatic to match the music and the movements well timed and choreographed. It is the armour, the speed and precision of the black troop horses, combined with the pomp and dignity of the Drum Horse and Trumpeters, which never fails to enthrall the audience.

On balance, the Household Cavalry must be congratulated for taking an innovative approach to their display, based on centuries of tradition and making it more in keeping with the 21st century.