Olympic Footing

THE ‘RED CARPET’ FOR THE STARS

Horses’ legs and hooves have to withstand great forces when the hoof makes contact with the ground. This is in part because of their weight but also because of the speed at which horses can move. If a horse is moving at speed or turning, the forces that would be at play at rest increase, whether the horse is competing on grass or a specialised arena surface.

THE PERFECT SURFACE

Producing the perfect footing for arena-based equestrian sports has become an exact science, particularly when it comes to surfaces for big competitions like the Olympics. Surfaces now have complex layering systems, whether for dressage or jumping, to create the optimal surface on which to perform.

OLYMPIC FOOTING

The Olympic footing at the Baji Koen Equestrian Park in Tokyo was set up with the same composition for the main competition arena and all training arenas. The footing consisted of top-quality sand mixed with roughly 1.5% of textile fibres. The sand provides impact firmness and grip, and the fibres provide cushioning, elasticity and responsiveness.

Oliver Hoberg from Germany, who was in charge of the arena surfaces during the Games, said the following, “Sand is the most important ingredient in footing, and then the textiles and fibres are like the spices in your soup”. Keeping the arena mix right and maintaining the footing was part of his daily routine throughout the competition, and his expert monitoring was required to ensure that surface allowed for optimal performance and horse safety.

Hoberg works closely with the FEI footing expert Lars Roepstorff, DVM, PhD, of the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. Roepstorff is the scientist who designed the footing used in the Olympics. In partnership with Hoberg, he conducted daily checks on all the Olympic equestrian park arenas with a ‘mechanical hoof’ originally made for testing racetrack surfaces. The mechanical hoof, which has now been adapted for the different equestrian disciplines, mimics the load placed on the horse’s leg and hoof when performing a dressage test or landing over a fence.

Roepstorff describes, “Special sensors [in the mechanical hoof] measure both horizontal and vertical forces as the mechanical hoof hits the ground, and those sensors measure the response from the ground so we can actually measure what the horse feels when it jumps on the surface.” He continues, “The footing is absolutely crucial, both to performance and to the health of the horse, and the different functional properties of the footing will affect how the horse performs.” Those functional properties allow for the surface to be adapted depending on the discipline.

MAINTENANCE

Significantly, however, the footing alone is not enough to ensure the optimal stage for performance. Once the footing is in situ, it requires maintenance to keep it at the standard required. “The footing is only as good as the level of maintenance,” Hoberg stated. “In fact, maintenance is just as important as the type of surface used in the arena.”

With the correct level of maintenance, modern all-weather footing lasts for up to 20 years, so there’s a post-Games legacy plan. This plan sees all the arenas remain in-situ when the venue is handed back post-Paralympics to its owners, the Japan Racing Association. This will allow the arenas to continue to be used for future equestrian sport in the country.

DID YOU KNOW?

HORSES HAVE 10 DIFFERENT MUSCLES IN THEIR EARS TO ALLOW THEM TO MOVE THEIR EARS THROUGH 180 DEGREES. THIS ALLOWS THE HORSE TO EASILY ORIENT TO SOUNDS.

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