As race car driver Rick Mears once said, "To finish first, you must first finish."

In an effort to make the times in cross country that are necessary to win an event, a fair number of eventers are crashing and burning before they ever make the finish line. But is speed the only factor involved in the numerous serious accidents, including horse and rider fatalities the event world has recently witnessed?

Unless you have been stranded on a desert island without your Blackberry, you have more than likely heard that eventing is struggling with how to make the cross country phase of the sport safer.

The United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) and the United States Eventing Association (USEA) have scheduled a Safety Summit to be held in Lexington, Ky., on June 7-8. The summit is an opportunity for all those concerned about the sport of eventing -- riders, coaches, veterinarians, course designers and fans -- to identify and agree on steps that can be taken to protect horses and riders better on the cross country phase.

How do you make an inherently dangerous sport safer? Ask three different highly experienced eventers and they will give you three different answers. One thing everyone seems to agree on is that the answer is complicated, especially when it comes to the cross country phase of eventing.

Hall of Famer

J. Michael Plumb, eight-time Olympian and the first equestrian ever to be inducted into the Olympic Hall of Fame, feels the problem stems from the lack of horsemanship of the riders involved in the sport.

"There are not enough horsemen in the sport," Plumb says.

Plumb's definition of horsemanship is not just being a good rider but also taking an interest in the general care of the horse. That includes being directly involved with the veterinarian, the horse dentist and the farrier instead of relinquishing that responsibility to grooms.

"Horses will keep falling unless horsemanship is addressed," he says. "Rule changes won't make a difference."

Plumb is also concerned about the effect on the sport of going from a long format to a short format.

"Riders are asked to go into the more difficult phase of cross country without the warmup of Phases A, B and C," he says.

The three major phases of an event consist of dressage, cross country or endurance and show jumping.

Before 2004, endurance day consisted of four phases, A, B, C and D. Phase A and C were roads and tracks, with A being a medium paced warmup to prepare the horse and rider for Phase B, a steeplechase format at an extremely fast pace over steeplechase-style fences.

Phase C was a slow-paced cooldown coming off of Phase B, in preparation for the toughest and most demanding phase D, or cross-country.

Before embarking on Phase D, in the "ten-minute box," horses had to be approved by a veterinarian to continue.

The veterinarian monitored the horse's temperature and heart rate to ensure that the horse was sound and fit before allowing it to continue.

The short format was adopted in 2004 at the Olympic Summer Games in Athens, Greece.

Today most events are run short format, except for a few one-star competitions.

"It might be a good idea to have an approved appointed steward in the warmup area of the cross country phase to say 'You're not going out there,' if the rider or horse looks ill-prepared," Plumb says.

Challenges

Charles Plumb agrees with his father, J. Michael, that the change in format creates some challenges.

Plumb has been eventing since 1988. He was short listed for the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games.

He currently has an advanced horse named Westerly.

"To start with, the format has changed to the short format," he says.

"The courses are more technical with more combinations and skinnies (very narrow fences) so you are asking riders to slow down more. On the flip side, you have to go like hell when you have the opportunity in order to make the time, which is 570 meters per minute at the advanced level.

"When you see someone like Phillip Dutton incurring time penalties (as he did at Red Hills), you know we mere mortals are going to have more time penalties."

Both Plumbs agree the times are too fast and that rule changes are not necessarily the answer to making the sport safer.

The governing body of equestrian sports instigated some rule changes May 19 because of the major injuries sustained at Red Hills and Rolex. Effective immediately, if you fall off anywhere during the cross country phase you are eliminated.

"I have trouble with the new rule that if you fall off you are eliminated," Charles Plumb says.

"It seems like a political way to say we're doing something to make cross country safer but it goes much deeper than that. I had a crash in the spring of the year. The horse landed and fell. Sometimes you just have bad luck.

"My brothers are race car drivers and I have raced some. Racing cars is a dangerous sport that is very similar to eventing. You can go as fast as you want on a horse or in a car but at a certain point there is a consequence to speed. The faster you go, the better rider or driver you better be."

Rider's Responsibility

Bobby Costello's viewpoint is that the rider is responsible for his or her own safety.

Costello rode in the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000, finishing eighth individually. He was also on the gold medal team at the 2003 Pan American Championships. Costello is on the board of directors of the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF), and serves as the USEF Eventing Technical Committee where rule change proposals originate.

He is also chairman of the USEF Active Athletes Committee, and he will be attending the Safety Summit in Lexington, Va.

"The current catch phrase is 'rider responsibility,'" says Costello.

"Riders need to be aware of their own ability and their horse's ability so they can compete safely. I believe the one thing that is going to have the largest impact on the sport is people becoming more aware of what they are asking themselves and their horse to do.

"Having said that, I also believe it is incumbent on us to look at the sport from every angle -- like course design, speeds and terrain factors. I don't believe the long to short format is a problem. Many people believe that the courses are becoming more technical, especially at the preliminary level and up. Horses are asked to process too much in a short period of time.

"There was a round-table discussion on thoroughbred racing, and the direction it needs to go in, on television recently. One speaker said the answer to what is happening lies somewhere between the traditionalists burying their heads in the sand and the uneducated extremists like PETA -- the future of the sport rests with the people that are involved in the sport and care about the sport. The same can be said for eventing."

Voice Your Opinion

To weigh in on how the cross-country phase of eventing could be made safer, e-mail the United States Eventing Association (USEA) at safety@useventing.com