Controversy surrounds Canada’s equestrian team as horse is disqualified

LONDON – Canada’s equestrian team came home with a pair of medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Matching that result in London is going to be a difficult task.

Canadian rider Tiffany Foster’s horse was disqualified Sunday with what team officials say is a scratch on the animal’s leg.

Foster’s horse Victor was found to have inflammation stemming from the scratch shortly before the individual and team jumping events began.

The ruling dropped Foster out of the individual event, although a spokeswoman for the team said event officials are considering an appeal by Canada that could return Foster to the team competition.

“We are very unhappy about this. It is a decision that lacks any common sense,” said team chef d’equipe Terrance (Torchy) Millar.

“It is just blind application of a rule. It lacks judgement and horsemanship. The horse has one small nick on one coronet band. He could have got it anywhere. The horse is sound.”

It was another incident in a controversial day for Canada at Day 9 of the London Olympics. Earlier, triathlete Simon Whitfield spoke out about how teammate Paula Findlay’s hip injury was handled heading into the women’s triathlon race Saturday.

Findlay crossed the line in 52nd, in tears and apologizing to Canadians for her performance.

Whitfield says the staff around Findlay should be held accountable for mishandling that injury and Findlay’s preparation in the months leading up to the Games.

“It was completely mismanaged,” Whitfield said. “I’m not saying people should be fired.

“I’m just saying they should stand up and say ‘that’s on me.’ Because it was all on Paula yesterday. We all saw it.”

Meanwhile, Foster’s absence puts Canada, which won silver in the team equestrian event in Beijing, at a disadvantage. The team is allowed to drop one bad score with four riders, but need to keep every score with three riders.

Canada still finished the day sixth in team qualifying to move onto the next round.

Meanwhile, defending gold medallist Eric Lamaze qualified for the next round in individual competition, but it is clear he does not yet have the same rapport with his new horse that he had with the late Hickstead.

Lamaze, also from Schomberg, was tied for 13th with one penalty point for a time violation. He was left shaking his head after an error atop Derly Chin de Muze dropped him from the leaders.

“She is a great young horse but she has a big stride. And the time fault was my fault,” he said.

Ian Millar, from Perth, Ont., followed in 17th with four penalty points, while Jill Henselwood of Oxford Mills, Ont., just missed out on qualifying in 47th with nine points.

Millar, riding in his 10th Olympics,had a clean run and credited his horse Star Power will calming down after the rough start to competition Saturday.

“He was tense yesterday,” said Millar. “I love the fans and the crowd and I don’t wish to criticize, but they elevated the level of anxiety of my horse.

“Today was perfect. My horse was sharp, up in the air and listening to me, I was very pleased with the step up from yesterday.”

In other Canadian results:

— Canada finished preliminary play in women’s basketball with a 72-63 loss to Australia. Kim Smith of Mission, B.C., had 17 points for Canada, which already qualified for the quarter-finals.

— Calgary’s Monique Sullivan qualified for the quarter-finals in the track cycling women’s sprint by winning her repechage.

— Zach Bell of North Vancouver, B.C., was eighth after four events in the men’s track cycling ominum.

— Brittany Rogers of Coquitlam, B.C., and Ellie Black of Halifax were seventh and eighth respectively in the women’s vault final. Rogers settled for an average score of 14.483 points. Black failed to record a score after injuring her ankle on the landing of her first vault.