Airs above the ground

With all the flurry and ado (or rather, the problematic lack of ado) in and about the air above us these days, it is a nice change to focus on events closer to the ground.  From Thursday to yesterday, Geneva hosted the 2010 World Cup of show jumping.  Top riders from around the globe and their magnificent steeds were featured in a grueling competition.  Fortunately, all had arrived before the flight ban throughout Europe was imposed.  At least some are still among the many hapless individuals who are stranded here now.

The winner of this year's competition was the German rider, Marcus Ehning.  Swiss rider Pius Schwizer came in second and another German rider, perennial top finisher Ludger Beerbaum, took third.  [Correction:  Schwizer and Beerbaum were co-second place finalists.]  Of course, none of them could have done as well as they did had it not been for their mounts - Plot Blue, Carlina and Gotha respectively.  Ehning was especially happy because he now joins the select group of riders who have  a World Cup final three times: Hugo Simon of Austria; Rodrigo Pessoa of Brazil; and Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum, Ludger's American-born sister-in-law who is now a German national.

I watched the events on television this year.  Because I love to watch this beautiful sport - especially to see the horses and to watch how well the horses and riders work together - I have attended the World Cup Final in person during other years.  The event is usually held in Geneva in December.  Receiving tickets for it has been one of my favorite birthday presents.   While I love the whole atmosphere of the Final, the exhibits on display, people-watching in general, and the ability to stroll around and see the horses warming up, it is also very satisfying to watch it on television because the coverage here is excellent.

There is controversy about this event this year because one of the favorites, American McLain Ward, an Olympic Gold Medal team winner, and Sapphire, his best horse, were disqualified before Sunday's final, allegedly because of hypersensitivity in one of Sapphire's forelegs.  Apparently a condition such as this can be and is sometimes caused deliberately so that a horse will pay special attention to ensuring that its forefeet will clear the jumps.  The results of various blood and urine tests should provide more definitive information.  While I hope that that this allegation is not true, it is a shame that there are people in horse-related sports who administer drugs or otherwise mistreat these beautiful and steadfast animals in any way so as to even raise a suspicion.  It's even worse for those who have done nothing but who are suspected of doing so.  I hope that Mr. Ward's name will be cleared and that the hypersensitivity, if it exists, was due to one of many other potential causes.  Even more, I hope that Sapphire is well.

My favorite of the World Cup final competitions that I personally attended was that in 2000, when Rodrigo Pessoa won his third victory on the legendary French stallion, Baloubet du Rouet.  It was poetry in motion.  All Pessoa had to do with the wondrous Baloubet was to hang on, or at least that was the way that it seemed.  I have never seen anything like it.  It was magic.  Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum's Shutterfly is another dream horse.  But Baloubet du Rouet, even at the ripe old age of 21, is literally fantastic.