They say there are two kinds of eventers...

Those who have already fallen in the water jump. And those who will.

But soon there may be another distinction. Those eventers who had the chance to ride in a three-day event with the full Speed & Endurance portion, and those who never will.

The 2004 Olympics were run as a "short format" CCI (meaning no Roads & Tracks and no Steeplechase--an untested and unproven format in terms of safety and the conditioning required), and upper-level riders are now being discouraged from running the traditional format if they want to be considered for the 2008 Olympics.  In fact, riders will be hard pressed, after Rolex 2005, to FIND a long format CCI at the upper levels...all of Europe and the UK have declared the long format "dead" and no further long format events are planned overseas in the foreseeable future.  The source of this unprecedented, unresearched and shocking change lies with the FEI, which dictates the future of all equestrian sports.  Without a united national effort, our sport runs the risk of being changed and watered down forever.

This isn’t an issue that affects just upper-level riders. Not every eventer has a realistic chance of competing in a three- or four-star CCI, but many of us spectate and volunteer at them. And if the "long format" disappears at the upper levels, there will be little reason for it to continue at the one- and two-star levels — competitions that are an achievable goal for many young riders and adult amateurs.

In the aftermath of the Olympics, Rolex 2005 and the autumn three-days, many eventers were beginning to think they didn’t like the direction in which their sport was headed, and began wondering what, if anything, THEY could do.

Through discussions on The Chronicle of the Horse Bulletin Board, spurred in part by a "Between Rounds" column by Denny Emerson that appeared in The Chronicle, a grassroots "Save The Three-Day" movement has arisen with the objective to do just that — save the traditional format CCI event.  The USEA has thrown its support behind this movement, and in early 2005 the USEA's Classic Three Day Task Force was formed, its mandate to preserve the "long format" (or Classic) Three Day Event and to educate eventers, volunteers, officials, and supporters of the sport on the threat posed by the FEI's decision to change forever the identity and character of eventing's ultimate test forever.

We feel the short format event was a knee-jerk creation to pacify the International Olympic Committee’s threats to remove Eventing from the Olympics. If the FEI wishes for Eventing to remain in the Olympics in a shortened format, there is already one established that works — the Horse Trial (CIC). However, these changes should NOT affect the sport itself, as has been done in a "fait accompli" maneuver WITHOUT THE CONSENT OF THE EVENTING POPULACE. Such a mandate changes the entire heart of the sport.