Gordon Russell Army Remount

[dimarcol]

Very interesting article on the premier army remount stallion in the 1920s/30s, Gordon Russell, located at the below website.

http://www.sport-horse-breeder.com/gordon-russell.html

[selewis]

Thanks Lou. It 's great to have those old campaigners put into further context. As I recall Steinkraus said that Democrat was such an amazing horse particularly so as his best jumping years were interrupted by the war. I'll see if I can locate that account.

Sandy

[Philip S]

Thanks for posting this enlightening article. However the comment about "hidden traps" in the 1936 Olympic cross country course is a bit controversial. Some argue this was due more to bad design then evil intent.

This is more than extraordinary, for the 1936 Olympics is infamous for the less than sportsman-like behavior demonstrated by the hosting country:Germany. Many horses were injured and several met their death, including one of Jenny's teammates, from hidden traps constructed on the cross country course.

[selewis]

I'm with you Philip. I don't think that the evidence for treachery is conclusive.

[Philip S]

For those not familiar with the controversial cross country course at the 1936 Berlin Olympics this excerpt from Lou DiMarco’s excellent history of the Army Olympic Equestrian Team explains what happened:

As the defending team gold medal winners, and because of the US’s historical strength in the event, the Americans were slight favorites to win as a team. They were definitely the only team who anyone considered capable of challenging the Germans on their home ground. After the dressage phase of the competition the US team was slightly behind the leading Germans but sitting well for the most important and their strongest phase -- the cross country obstacle course. The 1936 Olympic cross country course would go down in history as one of the most difficult and notorious because of one jump: the number four jump into the pond. The obstacle’s design required the to horse jump a three foot post fence and then land in about three feet of water. The horse then had to cross the pond and jump out on the far side. In concept it was not any more challenging or difficult than all the competitors had faced dozens of times before.

The first indication of trouble for the Americans came when Captain Raguse arrived at the jump riding Trailolka, the smallest horse in the contest. In keeping with planned strategy he jumped what appeared to be the most inviting and shortest way: just to the right of center. Upon landing the horse and rider were in trouble. The water was deeper than the reported three feet. More serious, the bottom was not hard but soft and muddy. The conditions surprised both horse and rider, causing them to tumble head over heels. Trailolka injured her shoulder in the fall but was on her feet quickly. Captain Raguse quickly remounted and, despite his mount’s shoulder injury, continued the course without further mishap.

With no way to communicate back to the starting point the true nature of the jump, each succeeding rider became a victim. Riding second for the US team, artilleryman Captain John Willems on Slippery Slim arrived at the jump with no faults and with a perfect time. His flawless ride ended at jump four. Captain Willems, like Captain Raguse, jumped to the right side as had previously been determined. He and Slim sailed over the jump with full confidence that they were on their way to one of the best rides of their lives. It ended abruptly as Slim landed hard in the soft mud and deep water. Again, both horse and rider tumbled forward. This time however, the horse’s front legs were trapped in the deep mud and the fall broke Slim’s right foreleg. Willems and Slim struggled to the bank where Willems immediately recognized the catastrophe. The disaster eliminated Captain Willems and the US team from the competition and Slippery Slim had to be destroyed.

Captain Thomson and Jenny Camp were toward the rear of the starting order and by the time of their start the pond had unhorsed dozens of riders. The word was filtering back not to jump to the right. With this insight Thomson and Jenny jumped to the left, stumbled slightly, but made it through with no faults. They completed the course without serious problems. All totaled, only fifteen of forty-eight horses negotiated the number four obstacle with no difficulty. Twenty-eight horses fell, and three refused to jump at all. The obstacle injured three horses so badly they had to be destroyed while dozens of others lost confidence or at a minimum lost time on the course due to the experience. One rider had to chase his horse for several miles before mounting and continuing on.

In the politically charged environment of the games, rumors abounded that the German team was well aware of the actual conditions of the pond and intentionally withheld the information from the other teams. Interestingly, not a single German rider fell at jump four, and all the Germans jumped the left side, which had the appearance of being the most difficult and the longest way. The political atmosphere, the controversy over jump number four, and other questionable judgments by the German officials caused a storm of protest from all eighteen teams. Reinforcing the chilled atmosphere among the equestrian community was that for the first and only time in Olympic history one country, the host country Germany, captured all six equestrian gold medals. Captain Thomson and Jenny went on to win their second individual silver in the three day event, but the fate of Captain Willems and Slippery Slim eliminated the US from the team competition. The 1936 three day event was the most challenging to that point in Olympic history. So challenging that of eighteen teams, only three could finish the minimum requirement of three riders for a team score. Two teams, France and Italy, did not have a single rider complete the competition. No fourth place team position could be awarded.

louisdimarco.com/armyeques.doc

[selewis]

Ample room for suspicion but not conviction I believe. We discussed this briefly in the past year and memory has it that someone pointed out that d'Endrody expressed himself on the subject in 'Give Your Horse A Chance.' I don't recall the substance of his comments though. Was it you that cited d'Endrody, Philip? I also have it in mind that course conditions changed between the course walk and the time that the endurance phase was actually run, but haven't run down the source of that impression, which could be a mistaken one.

Sandy

[kerry savee]

Hi Sandy,

That was me who cited the D'endrody comment from his book. I have a thread on the 1936 Olympics where you can actually view a video clip of Leni Riefenshtal's documentary and includes the infamous water hazard. You can see that the pond is so deep that it immediately stops the forward momentum of the horse thus pitching the riders forward and unhorsing many of them. One of the German riders did fall and broke his collar bone because he didn't get far enough over to the left and his horse slid into the hole. On close examination, it appeared to me that the aggravated horse was tossing his head and struck the German officer on the top of his shoulder which may have caused his injury.

D'endrody's comment on the water hazard cautioned that such obstacles should be taken at the trot and not the gallop. D'endrody competed in the 1936 Olympics and you can hear the commentator in the video announce his name as he rides past.

Here is the link to the video site:

http://tesla.liketelevision.com/liketel ... heme=guide

[Philip S]

Fascinating video! I did not realize that the water jump was so big. It is more like a small lake. I imagine that the center of the pond became deeper after each horse struggled across.
The other obsticles are very impressive too. It reminds me of a modern cross country motorcycle course.

[kerry savee]

The commentator describes the course on the second day of competition as 14 miles "at a good trot", 2.5 mile steeplechase, and 5 miles cross-country for a total of 21.5 miles. This accounts for the somewhat fatigued appearance of the riders. Does anyone know the time of the first rider across the finish line?

[warrenmatha1]

LOU: REALLY INTERESTING. NOW: HOW TO FIND A HORSE WITH THOSE BLOOD LINES!

WARREN

[Pat Holscher]

It is very interesting to see how the Army's remount program expressed itself in horses of this quality, and how that continues to impact nearly everything in the riding horse world in the US today.

On a related note, Douglas Wyoming actually has a memorial/statue of a remount horse. I'll have to look up its story, but it'd been bred locally as part of the remount program, and if I recall correctly it went on to have a notable career as a race horse.

Turning to another matter, the linked in time about genetics and horses with "large hearts" was very interesting. Was anyone aware of that angle before?

[Pat Holscher]

Included in this first group of stallions were such top individuals as Gordon Russell (TB), donated by the Kentucky Racing Commission who would distinguish himself as one of the greatest Remount sires, King Plaudit (TB), by the Kentucky Derby winner Plaudit, whose blood was to become the basis for the famous Shoemaker and Wiescamp Quarter Horses to generations later, Man of Honor (TB), sired by Dearing Doe and out of a Peter McCue daughter, Uncle Jimmie Grey (TB), by Bonnie Joe, who sired speed across the Southwest in the 1920s and 1930s, and sons of Star Shoot (B): Brookland, Defnse and Rifle Shooter.

War Horse, page 94

[warrenmatha1]

Pat: I think Citation or Secretariat has a heart twice the size of a normal T-bred.

Warren

[selewis]

Eureka:

" In this connection, it is appropriate to recall an incident that occurred at the Olympic Games in Berlin, in 1936, during the cross-country test of the Three Day Event. Among other obstacles to be cleared were a post and rails that stood near the edge of a small pond, so that the landing had to take place in the water. ...The fallen riders said that they landed after the jump in a hole on the bottom of the pool, and they claimed that its existence was probably known to the Germans, who could therefore avoid it. Because of this dispute, after the end of the equestrian Olympic Games the organizers of this test pumped the water out of the pool, and demonstrated, with the aid of published photographs, that its bottom was level and there were no holes. ....
"In this connection, Gustav Rau, Grand Master of the National Studs in Germany, who organized the test, wrote to me: "There was a torrential rain during the night, which caused the water in the pond to rise. Early in the morning, I gave orders that the depth of the water should be slightly decreased. On my arrival at the pond, the test was already in progress. Mu commissary had forgotten to carry out the instructions." "

Gregor de Romazkan "Riding Problems" pgs 45-46

[Pat Holscher]

Bump.