Also, I think our Grand Prix riders should be allowed more artistic freedom in the Freestyle. This is an area where we could really appeal to the romantic, dramatic, colorful elements in our society. Not everyone appreciates half passes to Stravinsky - but who will ever forget Debbie and Brentina passaging to Brick House and RESPECT?!! Maybe the time has come for a little lycra and rhinestones…

Our sport is growing by leaps and bounds in this country, but I fear we will never get the sponsors we need, and get more TV coverage, if we are not willing to evolve. I think we could look at the dog shows and figure skating to see what has broadened their appeal for clues to what will work for us. We don’t need to “cheapen” our sport, just make it more easy for non-horsey people to appreciate:-)

Cheers!

RD

Start with a 20 year (it has to be long term) education program, through the media, in the U.S. educating americans on the Olympic disciplines and horse racing. This subject alone can be another conversation. The interest is there, look at the movie Seabiscuit! Americans love horses and put them in the same category as dogs and cats.

If all the organizations which promote jumping, dressage, eventing and horse racing would come together to develop a 20 year education fund, horse sports have a good chance of being televised. If these organizations continue on the same path,then horse sports will always operate as they have in the past . . . fighting for television coverage. This is where we need sponsorship dollars, money for education.

RD

Anecdote: I was covering (as a journalist) the World Equestrian Games in Aachen for several magazines; On the night of the jumper (I think) final, I became horribly ill and had to leave. How could I possibly miss it? Horrors!!! I was talking to a German friend in the press room and she said, Oh, you’ll have a better view from your hotel room any way. The whole thing is broadcast live on German network TV.

Indeed, I went “home” (which after 15 days a tiny European hotel room is definitely NOT) and cuddled up in bed and watched the whole thing. Start to finish. And yes, I had a better view than many of the other journalists.

The fundamental problem with equestrian sports and television in the U.S. is many people just don’t understand what’s happening-including the network execs who make the decisions about programming. I think it’s really important to mobilize the equestrian community to pressure and educate the sports networks about our sport BEFORE WEG in 2010. And to convince them that they need to hire equestrian journalists (or journalists alongside experts like RD) who understand the disciplines to do the commentary. I’ve been somewhat horrified by NBC’s choices when they do try to cover our sports. The woman who covered WEG was an ex-jockey. I watched her interview Heidi White after her stunning CC round and I thought, Jeez, I could do better than that!) WEG is a huge opportunity to gain visibility for our sport going forward. And we should work to make sure we’ll get coverage, and lots of it. Just my $0.02

While the Animal Planet reality show (with the H/J riders) certainly had some appeal, it really didn’t do enough to explain the rigors or the sport of riding…and the American public has some idea that it’s elite–yes, at the top levels, of course. The Animal Planet show did nothing to bring the sport to the “proletariat”–it was just a bunch of rich teenagers that had to get up early to ride in circles. I don’t think that show spoke to either horse lovers, horse interested people or enthusiasts like us–so they missed it on three fronts.

I think there’s an opportunity there, but it’s up to us to convince the networks that we’re worth taking a risk on–after all that terrible show Wildfire ran for 4 seasons on ABC Family (I was an extra–the actors couldn’t handle the horses). If they’re willing to spend money on something that horrible, maybe there’s hope yet. (PS: It was canceled, finally, after the writers strike).