Controversy has surrounded the equestrian events in the run up to Paris with real concerns over animal welfare, but back in 1972, the British team enjoyed real success. There was a gold medal for the team in the horse trials while Richard Meade rode Laurieston to collect the first ever individual gold medal for a British rider.
More important in the light of recent events perhaps, Horse & Hound recorded that, ‘The horses had a good flight out and were soon luxuriating in the best living conditions there have ever been at an Olympic Games; spacious boxes in air-conditioned stables…grooms’ quarters above these which would not have disgraced a Hilton hotel, ideal exercising grounds, including a circular sand gallop, and, not least, good hay.’
There’s a comprehensive record of the Olympic events in the September 15, 1972 issue, and you can find it here.
