The Games of the IX Olympiad were held in an atmosphere of peace and harmony that preceded twenty years of economic uncertainty and war. They were a success and contributed to the ever-increasing attraction of the Olympic Games.

AMATEURS vs PROFESSIONALS

By 1928 the IOC had clarified the definition of an amateur who

·                 must not be or knowingly have become a professional in the sport for which he is entered or in any other sport;

·                 must not have received re-imbursement or compensation for loss of salary;

·                 Each athlete must sign a declaration that, on his honour, he is an amateur according to the Olympic rules of amateurism.

For equestrian sport, an amateur was:

·                 Every professional officer actively serving;

·                 Anyone riding solely for the sport and recognized by a national body as a gentleman;

On the other hand, was considered a professional

·                 Anyone who deals, hires, rides, trains or works with horses for money or lets theses work for them for money;

·                 Owners, employees, riders, trainers, grooms of riding schools and circuses.

BETWEEN AMSTERDAM AND HILVERSUM

With the exception of the two Jumping competitions, which were held in the Amsterdam Olympic Stadium, all competitions took place in or around Hilversum, lying some 30 km south-east of Amsterdam. All the horses were stabled there and this meant elaborate transportation arrangements to Amsterdam.

In Hilversum during four competition days, there were a total of 4,763 individual paying spectators. In addition there were 666 with four-day tickets. Assuming they attended all four days, this brings the total attendance to 7,427.

In the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam there were 12,304 and 19,768 paying spectators on the two Jumping days (the later including the closing ceremony).

The income from the ticket sales in Hilversum was 11,140 florins and in Amsterdam 141,041 florins for an impressive total of over 150,000 florins, out of a total games ticket income of 1,435,000 florins.

THREE RIDER RULE

The major change was the FEI’s decision to reduce the numbers of starters in each discipline form four to three. The FEI argued that the reduction would reduce the burden of participation for the National Federations. This three-rider rule remained in effect until the sixties.

PRESIDENT AND TECHNICAL DELEGATE

In charge of the equestrian events was Col. Maris, the President of the Dutch Equestrian Federation and FEI President since 1927. Technical Delegate was Col. D.J. Couvée. Whether this means that he also designed the courses of 1928 is doubtful. Olympic Course Designers are only known since 1932.

Key Facts and Figures (general):

• ·                 46 nations
• ·                 2,883 athletes (277 women; 2,606 men)
• ·                 14 sports
• ·                 For the first time, the Olympic flame was lit at the top of a tower placed inside the stadium and t remained lit throughout the Games.
• ·                 At the Opening Ceremony, the team from Greece led the Parade of Nations and the host Dutch team marched in last. Greece first, hosts last would become a permanent part of the Olympic protocol.

Key figures (equestrian)

• ·                 20 nations (Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Netherland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, USA).
• ·                 New nations were Hungary, Japan and Argentina-the latter with three civilian riders.
• ·                 Absent were Great Britain and also the Chilean Jumping team which had competed in Europe the two previous years.
• ·                 The major return was Germany – not invited in 1920 and 1924 but now there in full force. In fact the Germans had begun their Olympic preparations in 1925 with a pre-Olympic Eventing test at Oncle Toms Hütte in Berlin Grunewald.
• ·                 121 entries (46 in Jumping; 29 in Dressage; 46 in Eventing)

Two of the previous Olympic champions were among the starters. For the champions of 1920, Tommaso Lequio di Assaba on Trebecco, it was the third Olympic start: gold in Antwerp, silver in Paris, now 24^th in Amsterdam. Alphonse Gemuseus on Lucette, the Olympic champions of 1924, finished 8^th this time. They were the fastest with two penalty points behind seven riders who went clear.

The 720m course, with 16 obstacles at a height of 1.25m to 1.40m, was judged too easy. Two jump-offs were necessary. In the first one three riders went clean again. In the second jump-off some obstacles were raised to 1.60m. Pepita ridden by the Swiss Major Kuhn had a knock-down with the front legs for 4 points; Papillon of Pierre Bertran de Balanda - grandfather to Gilles – had 2 points for a knock-down with the hind legs while Eliot with the Czechoslovakian Capt. Ventura was clear again to win gold. Equally surprising was the outcome for the team medals: Spain (with the Marqués de los Trujillos – the father of José Álvarez de Bohórquez) took gold ahead of Poland and Sweden, the champions of 1912, 1920 and 1924.

DRESSAGE (29 riders from 12 countries)

For the first time in Olympic history the top three dressage nations - France, Germany and Sweden – took part, as well as the middle group: the Netherlands, Czechoslovakia, Austria and Switzerland. Only Hungary was absent. The test the same as four years previously but the 10 minutes time limit, which had created so many problems in Paris, had been raised to 13 min.

The judging was as uneven as ever, both the result of a nationalistic view, but also of fundamentally different opinions about Dressage by the three major powers.

At the discussions following the Games several proposals were made: not to count the highest and lowest score of each judge; to deduct 20 points from each score given to a countryman; to have only one judge from a neutral country. None was considered a serious alternative and, until after the judging scandal of 1956, things went on unchanged.

EVENTING (46 riders from 17 nations)

The Eventing programme of 1928 differed only slightly from that of 1924.

·                 the speed in the steeplechase was raised from 550m/min to 600m/min

·                 the time limit for Dressage was raised from 10 to 11min.

·                 the importance of Dressage was raised from 200 points to 300.

·                 The Jumping was accordingly reduced from 400 to 300.

·                 (The endurance kept the points of 1924: A-C-E = 200, steeple = 500, cross = 700).

All in all, Dressage was the most deciding factor in the final placings. Endurance day, mainly because of generous time limits, did not separate the field. The Dutch, already the winners in 1924 took again the two gold medals, plus an individual silver medal. Only three teams finished, mostly the result of eight eliminations on endurance day for missing flags. The cross country course was so perfectly flagged out that, over flat land, it irritated the riders.