J Is for Jog

FEI officials including Anne Gribbons, head of the 2018 WEG dressage ground jury (center), look on as Belgian competitor Isabel Cool jogs Aranco V during the horse inspection. Photo by Jennifer Bryant. 

As disappointing as it must be not to make a World Equestrian Games team, or to make a team but have to withdraw in advance—just ask American eventer Marilyn Little, who was forced to withdraw RF Scandalous when “Kitty” sustained a minor injury in training just prior to shipping to Tryon—the ultimate heartbreak must be arriving at the venue unscathed only to see one’s mount fail to pass the horse inspection.

 

Team USA's Kasey Perry-Glass walks Goerklintgaards Dublet before the jog. Photo by Jennifer Bryant. 

Groom Holly Gorman gives Goerklintgaards Dublet a final polish with a fleece mitt before the jog. Photo by Jennifer Bryant. 

In “the jog,” FEI veterinary officials and members of the ground jury watch like the proverbial hawks as the horses are stood up, then trotted in hand—usually, but not always, by their riders—down and back so that their “fitness to compete” can be evaluated. This can be a challenge because some horses prefer to canter, rear, or otherwise emulate kites on strings rather than trot. 

 

Officials and VIPs including American dressage sponsor Betsy Juliano (right) watch the dressage jog at the WEG. Photo by Jennifer Bryant. 

A supporter films a competitor's jog for posterity, aided by what might be a good-luck charm. Photo by Jennifer Bryant. 

USDF secretary and US Equestrian "S" judge Margaret Freeman, who will be scribing for dressage at the WEG, watches the jog. Photo by Jennifer Bryant. 

Hijinks aside, the jog is a tense time, and tradition dictates that horses are impeccably braided and turned out as they will be for the actual tests, but in snaffle bridles. Most national federations kit out the handlers with matching outfits that range from suits to polo shirts and jeans. (Some getups seem more ridiculous than others.) Grooms fuss and polish, then cluster at the sidelines to look on anxiously with federation officials, owners, and sponsors until they hear the magic words from the announcer: “[Horse name] is accepted.”

 

Laura Graves gives Verdades a kiss before the jog. Photo by Jennifer Bryant. 

Suppenkasper ("Mopsie") is in good form for US competitor Steffen Peters. Photo by Jennifer Bryant. 

Olympic and WEG veteran Adrienne Lyle jogs her 2018 WEG partner, Salvino. Photo by Jennifer Bryant. 

At this morning’s dressage horse inspection, all four Team USA horses—Suppenkasper with Steffen Peters, Verdades with Laura Graves, Salvino with Adrienne Lyle, and Goerklintgaards Dublet with Kasey Perry-Glass—passed the jog. Of the total 77 horses from 31 countries, none was not accepted, although an Australian horse and a Portuguese horse was “held” for reinspection later this afternoon. On reinspection, officials will decide whether the two horses will start tomorrow, which is the first day of competition at the FEI World Equestrian Games Tryon 2018 and day 1 of the two-day dressage Grand Prix competition for the team medals. 

 

Because he's based in the USA, Spanish rider and WEG first-timer Juan Matute Guimon  (with Quantico Ymas) has many American well-wishers. Photo by Jennifer Bryant. 

The dressage competition is set to begin at 9:00 a.m. EDT. It, like all WEG competition, will be broadcast on FEI TV; you’ll have to pay to access the live stream. 

All Pass Jog; on with the Show!

The Netherlands' Edward Gal jogs Glock's Voice. Photo by Jennifer Bryant.

All 16 competitors at the 2017 FEI World Cup Dressage Final have cleared the final pre-competition hurdle: Their mounts have passed the horse inspection, aka "the jog" or, in Britain, "the trot-up."

In the horse inspection, the four-member FEI Veterinary Commission appointed for this competition watches as each horse is jogged in hand on a straight line, down and back in a prescribed pattern. The objective: to determine whether the horse is fit to compete.

Laura Graves and Verdades of the USA. Photo by Jennifer Bryant.

Occasionally the excitement, coupled with the crowd of onlookers and the wall of journalists' clicking cameras, gets the better of a horse, as it did for the first horse to jog, Argentina's Bandurria Kacero (they jog in alphabetical order by country name). If officials aren't able to see enough trot because of equine hijinks, they'll ask the competitor to jog again. But apparently Bandurria Kacero wasn't so crazy that they couldn't evaluate him.

At least one horse typically gets overexcited during the jog. Maria Florencia Manfredi of Argentina has her hands full with  Bandurria Kacero. Photo by Jennifer Bryant.

Inessa Merkulova of Russia had to jog Mister X twice before the horse was accepted for competition. Photo by Jennifer Bryant.

The only rider whose heart must have been in her mouth for a few tense moments was Inessa Merkulova of Russia, who was asked to jog Mister X a second time -- and not because he was being unruly. The veterinarians do that when they think they see something the first time around and want to have another look. Merkulova was undoubtedly relieved when Mister X was passed after repeating the jog.

So, now, on with the show! The World Cup Dressage Final competition gets under way tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. CDT with the Grand Prix. Per World Cup rules, the Grand Prix does not itself count toward the final placings; it serves only as a qualifier for the Grand Prix Freestyle, the results of which determine the winner.