These two short videos give you a glimpse into how some countries did their homework for the Big Trip to Hong Kong next month for the 2008 Olympic Equestrian Games. Produced by the host, the Hong Kong Jockey Club, the first video takes you back a year to the 2007 “test events”, where horses and riders and coaches and staff learned about the facilities and the weather. Would heavier warmblood horses be able to handle the heat? Would lighter Thoroughbred-type horses just sweat out their energy? A month from now, we will see the lineup of what horses were selected by which countries, and perhaps learn how the Hong Kong conditions affected decisions by team selectors to choose one horse over another.

This is definitely an interesting way to approach the world’s top eventing, dressage, and show jumping horses. If you were a handicapper, you could have some fun figuring out how level the playing field will be in Hong Kong. I think there is a chance that an Underdog country may slip into the medals. What’s your guess? Will the same old flags be flying?

The second video is a news report about the test events from the local news media in Hong Kong. You can see some faces of some of the “Hong Kong Heroes” who will be in the news a month from now!