King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia sat in the stands in Versailles and followed the jump-off final when Swedish medal hope Henrik von Eckermann fell off.
Well, what can you say. Even a master can have problems with the horse and themselves, says the King to Aftonbladet afterwards.
The King did not quite understand what happened. It could have been a refusal, someone wanting to go one way, someone wanting to go another, he says.
It's two parties that need to function simultaneously in equestrian sports and that's what's so exciting, the cooperation that must work in all situations. Even the horses feel the tension of this.
It's like when my father was in the Olympic Games in show jumping in 1936 (in Berlin) and his horse refused.
Corrected: In an earlier version, there were inaccuracies regarding the King's quote about the Olympic Games 1936. Correct is that his father competed.
