I follow the international show jumping circuit and, occasionally, the biggest dressage competitions. I follow dressage a bit more selectively, but when it comes to show jumping, at least in my own little world, I’m pretty well up to speed. I love curling up on the sofa in front of the telly or my computer to watch a five-star Grand Prix – and the more Swedish riders there are, the better.
These days, there are five-star competitions almost every week, often running from Thursday to Sunday. That adds up to many hours in front of the screen. And that’s precisely what’s got me thinking: do we perhaps have too many major competitions?
Because in a striking number of them, the stands are quite empty right up until the top class. That’s when the crowd usually turns up – but sometimes it feels as though the equestrian world is organising ever-larger events for an ever-smaller audience. This becomes even clearer when the competitions move to countries where there isn’t really a tradition of show jumping.
When I was young, I was glued to the stands in Gothenburg. Once I was old enough, I was there as many days as I possibly could. I was staying in a flat that my brother’s mate had let me use, and I didn’t want to miss a thing. Eddie Macken was my big idol and his picture, along with Boomerang, was taped above my desk.
I wonder how many young people today follow our superstars with the same fervour that my mates and I did 40 years ago?
Ticket prices for the biggest tournaments are often discussed, and sure, they can be high. At the same time, tickets for the biggest tennis tournaments, for example, cost considerably more, and a Champions League match can hardly be described as cheap. So perhaps the price isn’t the whole explanation.
Has the screen, regardless of size and location, begun to replace the physical experience? Of course, we cannot attend every competition – distance and cost impose their limits. But what happens when we even choose the sofa over the stands when the competition is actually nearby?
Or is something else happening? Has the sport started to drift too far away from the average horse person? Has glitz and glamour taken up too much space at the expense of the horses themselves and the sport?
Sometimes I get the feeling that the biggest competitions are increasingly aimed at a rather small circle of sponsors, VIP guests and paying relatives. It can almost seem more important to show off who is sitting at the VIP tables than to fill the stands with people who are interested in horses. The spectator areas are shrinking, whilst the space for VIPs is growing.
This is not a criticism of large, well-organised events. Quite the opposite. But I think it’s time to pause and reflect on where we’re heading – and what consequences our choices today will have for the future.
/Agneta
