As the dust settles from the inaugural Express Eventing competition - which condensed the sport of three-day-eventing into half a day and one indoor venue - organisers are looking to the future of the event.
The event in Wales on Sunday was the first of its kind in the world of eventing. The highly condensed format aimed to broaden the appeal of the sport, while providing a showcase competition for top riders.
"I think we got it 80-85 per cent right - to run something of this nature as a world first at this level was an ambitious programme," said organiser Stuart Buntine.
"And if it had ended about 20 minutes earlier, it would have gone down as a fantastic day," he said, referring to the tragic accident suffered near the end of the programme by Mary King's Olympic horse Call Again Cavalier.
Buntine, a former international event rider, has organised numerous events in Australia and the UK. He moved from his native Australia to Britain in 1991. He competed at many events, including Badminton and Burghley, and then went on to develop a series of competitions, including the Belton Horse Trials. As well as being a technical adviser, he has also recently trained as an FEI Technical Delegate.
"There are lots of things we can learn from this for the future," he said. For one, getting Cardiff's Millennium Stadium ready in less than a day was a big ask. "I think the fact we put it together in 12 hours was an amazing feat. The team of guys that delivered it was amazing. But I would not go down that route again, as it put us under a lot of pressure."
Feedback on the dressage to music phase had been positive, but he expected it to improve next time as riders would rise to the occasion. Many had never before performed a dressage test to music.
He said there were a few lessons learned from the Pierre Michelet-designed jumping course, which saw more than half of the field eliminated. "It could have had a few more easy options to bring more horses home, but as a course designer myself, I know it is easy to over-tweak things. I've never designed at this level, but it is so easy to go one way or the other - if one way it may be too easy, the other way, too tough; it's a very delicate line. But I think Pierre did the most stunning job, to design a course like that," he said.
"The great thing was we proved you can have a lively, flowing course in a small area, and have the horses jumping freely without twisting and turning," he said.
"These horses don't work in a stadium environment so they're not used to it - that was a lesson for us, too," he said.
All horses competing were qualified at FEI CIC three-star level, he said, but "a lot (of the riders) thought it was a glorified event. I have always maintained that it is a serious event for the world's best. We're showcasing the elite of the sport.
"This is not a criticism of the riders but ... I think the standard of the competition required may have been underestimated.
"But nobody lost their head to any real extent and that was a positive for me.
"The results indicate it was tough enough. That said there was big prize money so we had the best riders in the world and they got around OK, though some of the greener horses had a bit of stage fright, I think.
"When you look at the leaderboard - they are all top horses: Flint Curtis, Shaarbrak, Ballincoola, Ben Along Time, Rock Model, Lenamore." In the next lot horses such as Hildago De L'Ile and Connaught, were eliminated through rider error, he said. "This level of horse is what this competition is all about. Some of the lesser-experienced horses were out of their depth." For example, at a traditional three-day-event, such as Badminton or Burghley, lesser-experienced horses might go out and jump the first five fences and then retire, he said.
Despite earlier comment by Andrew Nicholson about the turf surface being slippery, Buntine said no concerns had yet been raised with him by any of the riders. "I didn't see any horses slip to any consequence. Given that we drove all the machinery that we did on the pitch and not do any damage, no-one's said to me that there was a problem with the footing," Buntine said.
Buntine said he was "absolutely devastated" about Call Again Cavalier's injury. "I have an empty pit in my stomach ... I love the sport I did this because I love the sport. Whenever something like this happens it is devastating."
An internal enquiry is being launched into the circumstances of the accident, as well as an enquiry by British Eventing.
"We will draw together information on how and why it happened and learn from it. One should not comment too early on, and having looked at video of the accident there is nothing to lead me to think that there was anything related to the format of the event. He was not going too fast, he was an experienced horse. We will go through all the circumstances in detail.
"The idea was to showcase the sport. Accidents happen and we had the best guys on the field to deal with it and they dealt with the accident very quickly."
Of the future of the event, Buntine said there were many options and avenues to be explored. He is in discussion with several venues around the world and within Britain to take the sport to a new audience. "I'd love to take this to New Zealand or Australia, but the quarantine is a big issue, unfortunately. Millennium Stadium were thrilled with what we did and the fact it showcases the venue in a new environment. We set out to deliver something to showcase the sport and take it to a new audience and we are on the right track.
"I am excited because one of the interesting things in this is that I had 30 to 40 calls from people from around the world offering support and encouragement, and saying the concept was a bold move. Eighty percent of it was fantastic and with some tweaking this will encourage people into the sport and give spectators the ability to sit in one seat and watch the whole event.
"The noise from the crowd was truly fantastic."
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