Olympic Eventing: Vets, Volunteers and a Loose Horse

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToHjBE6-lKc&feature=related Gin and Juice kept going after her rider, Team Canada’s Hawley Bennett-Awad met the historic grassy ground of London’s Greenwich Park. Few things are as scary and upsetting as a loose horse galloping on, whether it is a racehorse or an eventer. We’ve all helped catch loose horses, but this video makes you wonder if these volunteers and vets had a plan rehearsed or if they just instinctively spread out across the course to slow Gin and Juice down and bring her to safety. Chances are that they hadn’t seen the mishap and didn’t know if the mare was injured, or where the rider was. They probably just heard cries of “Loose horse!”, figured the horse had stayed on the course and went into action before they saw the horse themselves. It was a tough day for Hawley Bennett-Awad; she spent a while in the hospital in London. Hawley and Gin and Juice had their Olympic dream cut short but just to show you what they can do, here’s a great video of them on course at last year’s Burghley Horse Trials. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rh6LhyYLlj8

Click to go to the main blog page.
Hawley Bennett-Award and Gin & Juice at Badminton Horse Trials in 2011 (Mark Bennett image)

What did you think of this article?

Thank you for your feedback!