Olympics | Equestrian safety is key for Amy Tryon

Olympic horses aren't allowed to march in the opening ceremony. But that's not the reason equestrian Amy Tryon won't be in Beijing on Aug. 8.

Three years ago, officials decided to conduct all equestrian events for the Beijing Games in Hong Kong because of quarantine restrictions and potential for picking up diseases. That means no opening ceremony for Duvall's Tryon. No experiencing the Olympic Village or other sports or the Beijing atmosphere. Which could be a good thing.

"We don't have to deal with the smog and things like that," said Tryon, 38, who with horse Poggio II won Olympic bronze in team eventing in 2004. "The equestrian events are very small and insular. For us, it's going to be very similar to our world championships. It's sad, but in the best interest of the horses."

Eventing, where horse and rider compete in the three disciplines of dressage, cross country and stadium jumping, has come under scrutiny recently because of a spate of deaths and serious injuries to competitors. Last week, HBO's "Real Sports" reported that the cross-country portion of the sport, in which horses and riders jump fences, has resulted in the deaths of 15 riders and a dozen horses in the past two years.

Tryon, an equestrian safety committee member for the past seven years, said .05 percent of people who participate in the sport are injured, compared to a much higher number of deaths in, for example, downhill skiing.

"There are lots of things that go into it," she said by phone from England, where she has been training for a month. "When you take speed and the speed that the horses go, jumping obstacles and whether they fall down or don't fall down, it's like driving a car. You can't make it 100 percent safe. You do everything you can to minimize risk."

Tryon acknowledged the sport has implemented many safety regulations in response to casualties over the past decade and has given riders more say in voicing concerns about the course or conditions.

"I trust Amy," said her mother, Jemi Cain, in a telephone interview from Duvall. "I trust her judgment. Of course, there's still always the possibility [of injury], but you don't focus on that."

Since 2004, Tryon has resigned her position as a firefighter at Eastside Fire and Rescue to compete full-time in equestrian. Money had been tight before the 2004 Games, so Tryon and her firefighter husband, Greg, made the difficult decision to sell their house to reduce expenses. But they got lucky — a wealthy property owner hired Amy to manage Upson Downs Farm, and live and train her horses there. Community groups, like the 4-H and Pony clubs, have pitched in to help Tryon, who teaches lessons and barters with services to help make ends meet. For much of this year, Tryon has been training in Florida.

"What price do you put on a dream?" said Greg Tryon.

But the years since winning Olympic bronze haven't all been happy. Tryon underwent several minor surgeries on her shoulder and back last year. But the worst was serving a two-month suspension in a wrenching ordeal in which Tryon's horse was euthanized following an injury during a 2007 competition in Kentucky.

Tryon, leading after the first day, was riding Le Samurai when the horse faltered on the last jump of the cross-country phase. Tryon continued to ride the horse through the final jump to the finish, and Le Samurai was later found to have suffered ligament damage in his front left leg and was euthanized.

An international tribunal, in setting the suspension and $1,000 fine plus $1,500 in hearing costs, found that while Tryon was negligent in not stopping the horse, she did not know the horse was injured until she pulled him up.

Their judgment: "The Tribunal believes that the competitors clearly realized that that horse took quite a number of uneven strides, but could not determine their cause or likely severity. The tribunal believes that the competitor should have nevertheless stopped earlier to understand the severity of the lameness."

Tryon was shattered by the incident and issued an "unequivocal apology" to all involved.

"I misperceived the situation and acted incorrectly," she stated. "Had I known that Le Samurai was injured in any way, I would have pulled up immediately. In the sport of eventing, the welfare of the horse must be paramount at all times. I firmly believe in this principle, and to the extent that my actions on April 28, 2007 appeared inconsistent with it, I again want to express how truly sorry I am. Most importantly, I want to again express my devastation at having lost Sparky as a friend and a partner, and how much I miss him."

Even though she apologized and waived her right to appeal the suspension, the fallout continues.

"People are still calling her bad names in the British press," said her mother, who said Tryon has gotten hate e-mails and has been savaged in equestrian Internet chat rooms.

The pursuit of another Olympic berth has helped Tryon put the incident behind her.

Poggio II, who won world championship bronze two years ago, is "going the best he's ever gone," Tryon said. And "team-wise, we have a really good mixture of veterans."

Tryon feels good about her horse and team's chances in Hong Kong.

"At any given time, there are six nations that could walk away with gold in our sport," she said. "The United States is one of those nations."

No skating trials

for Seattle

Looks like Apolo Ohno, the short-track speedskating star, won't be skating in front of hometown fans in Seattle any time soon.

Seattle has abandoned plans to bid for the 2009 U.S. Olympic short-track trials, short-circuiting hopes that Ohno would compete here for the first time and before his possible retirement following the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

Ralph Morton, Seattle Sports Commission executive director, said the group had trouble finding a venue for the weeklong trials, used to select the U.S. team for the 2010 Games. Short-track speedskating requires Olympic-sized ice, a bigger sheet than a typical hockey rink, which ruled out KeyArena and the arena under construction in Kent.

That, combined with the decision by U.S. Speedskating to move the trials from December to September to allow teams more time to train, made finding a venue even harder, Morton said. Comcast Arena in Everett could not commit 10 days to the event, Morton said, and Safeco Field would be booked by the Mariners.

"We have not submitted a bid and it looks like we will not be able to," Morton said.

Two Michigan cities, Marquette and Midland, are among those to bid to host the trials. Speedskating officials are expected to decide on a host city Monday.

A speedskating federation representative had approached the city early this year about bidding. Estimated cost for installing ice is about $150,000, said Bob Crowley, speedskating's executive director.

"We'll certainly look to Seattle in the future for other events," Crowley said.

Meri-Jo Borzilleri can be reached at merijoborz@hotmail.com