Tom Reed Courtesy of Tom Reed

Much excitement surrounds the performance of equestrian riders at the Beijing Olympics. And much attention centers on the horse athletes who are stars in their own right. It takes careful breeding and training to raise an Olympic-caliber horse that is key to bringing home the gold medal.

Thomas Reed is the owner of Morningside Stud, Ireland's leading studfarm for breeding top quality show jumpers, eventers, and dressage horses. He and his wife lived in Hong Kong for two years whilst working as visiting professors at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

Road to the Olympics

Reed pointed out that over the past 20 to 30 years, breeding horses for the Olympics has become a highly specialized business. Stallions and mares have become famous for producing offsprings that compete in major international competitions, he said.

With breeding comes training - the other "essential ingredient" as Reed pointed out. Horses are first taught the "flat work" - the foundation of riding, in which they are taught to respond to riders' instructions to speed up, slow down, turn and to carry its weight on its hind legs.

"And of course show jumpers are trained to jump and eventing horses receive similar training and also spend time galloping to increase their endurance and stamina for the cross-country part of their competition."

From the age of four, these horses begin competing and upon reaching a minimum age of eight to 10 years old, they are considered "experienced enough to compete in top international events like the Olympics," he said.

Reed's horse, Ekstein, the grandsire of Hickstead, which is Canadian rider Eric Lamaze's horse in the Beijing 2008 Olympic Equestrian Events Courtesy of Tom Reed

Breeding an Olympic horse

"Bloodlines are crucial for breeding Olympic-caliber horses," said Reed.

Breeds commonly seen at the Olympics so far are warmbloods, a group of middle-weight horse types and breeds that are known for their hot temperament.

Jill Henselwood of the Canadian team said European countries tend to house the top stables for breeding these types of horses, especially Germany, the Netherlands, France and Belgium which have long established equine traditions.

Other countries that have done well with breeding eventing horses are the UK, USA, France, Australia and New Zealand. It is a multimillion-dollar business, ultimately, since the value of a horse could shoot up exponentially after a winning.

Choosing a horse partner

Nevertheless, "a rider is nothing without a super horse. And a super horse is nothing without a talented rider," underscored Reed. "A real partnership is required between a horse and a rider."

"For example, Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum, who show jumps for Germany and is one of the very best riders in the world, likes to ride light, elegant horses that are very forward-going - you don't have to kick them to get them moving!"

"Other riders like more powerful horses. But in every case the horse and the rider must form a partnership that takes a least a year to develop. They have to trust each other, read each other's signals, and understand what is needed to succeed."

As much as breeding counts, such horse-rider chemistry is part of the winning formula.

"I think there is a partnership factor in the winning formula in any sport," emphasized Henselwood.

Ben Maher of the Great Britain's show jumping team also believes in strong communication between the horse and rider.

"When it comes to winning a competition as monumental as the Olympics, I think a rider and his/her horse need to have good communication. If they do, they can normally come ahead of the rest of the pack," he said.

Male or female horses

Traditionally, there has been a preference for male horses when it comes to training for the Olympics.

For the riders though, nothing matters more than the horses' performance potential.

"I suppose the power in stallions is an advantage. For me, I've never differentiated between geldings, stallions and mares. Their talents are the defining factors, not their gender," she said.

An expensive hobby

Equestrianism is widely considered an expensive hobby, a passion of the wealthy and privileged even though the sport has become popular among all levels of people in recent years.

According to Reed, eventing horses tend to be the least expensive while show jumping and dressage horses are probably of similar value. A top show jumper could sell for well over a million euros (more than HK$11 million) 18 months before the Olympics.

"Training is also costly. For instance, training an international-caliber horse in all three disciplines to compete in the European show jumping circuit could easily cost 50,000 euros per year," he said.

As a result, the million-dollar horses competing in the Beijing Olympics are being treated with the utmost care since their arrival in Hong Kong and strict quarantine measures are being enforced to prevent illness.

After a glorious career

After an illustrious career, horses usually retire to a simpler life.

"Those that are stallions and mares may be used for breeding while geldings would retire to a life of eating grass!" joked Reed.

Favorites to win

Reed's favorite picks to win are Eric Lamaze of Canada with his stallion Hickstead, "the second best horse in the world last year" and which, despite surgery a few months ago, seems to be back in his winning form.

In fact, Reed's own stallion, Ekstein, is Hickstead's grandsire.

"Eric and Hickstead could win gold!"

His other favorites are Denis Lynch of his native Ireland whose horse he believes is "currently the best show jumper in the world"

And of course, for show jumping, Germany is his pick for the team gold medal.

Chinese rider Zhao Zhiwen with his horse Tadonia competes in the 1st qualifier of jumping competition.Edmond Tang

(HK Edition 08/18/2008 page2)