Robert Jolicoeur (born June 15, 1948) is a Canadian landscape architect and designer of FEI international equestrian show jumping courses. He is noted for designing the show jumping courses for a number of major equestrian competitions. He was the jumping course designer for the 1976 Olympic games in Montreal, [1] and designed the entire equestrian venue for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, [2] as well as parts of the Kentucky Horse Park. [1] He is an official international course designer for the FEI, and has also served as a technical delegate for several World Cup Events. [1] He is viewed as having played a key role in the development of Equestrian sport in North America. [3]
Jolicoeur grew up on a farm with horses but realized that, unlike his brother Pierre, he was not an Olympic rider. [4] After his experience designing show jumping courses for the Montreal Olympics as well as many other competitions, Jolicoeur went to college in 1978 to study landscape architecture with the goal of continuing to work in the horse show world. [4] He is a graduate of the McGill School of Architecture in Montreal. [2] In 1981, he started the company International Equestrian Design (IED), which specializes in the design and planning of "avant garde" equestrian sites and theme parks. [1]
Jolicoeur's goal is to design farms and other facilities to be safe, functional, safe for driving, and attractive. In facility design, he has stated that his goals include grener designs that minimize environmental impact, making better use of fertilizers and taking water quality and evaporation loss into consideration. [4] He also has a particular interest in protecting the health of sport horses and improving their performance through the development of new types of footing materials. [5] His company has a research program to study and evaluate different types of materials for both horse footing and building design. [1] [4]
His brother, the show jumping trainer, Pierre Jolicouer, is also a course designer. [6] From 1971 to 1981 the two brothers owned Robespierre Stables, and Pierre, as a trainer, was affiliated with Canadian Olympic medalist Michel Vaillancourt. [7]
Robert has been part of evaluation committees for Toronto 2008, NYC 2012 and Chicago 2016, in their bids to bring the Olympics to their respective cities. In 2004 an Independent Review Body, consisting of Edouard de Rothschild, Chairman (FRA), Jack Snyder (USA), Robert Jolicoeur (CAN) and Thomas Velin was established by the FEI following the Olympic Games to determine why a number of horses received tendon injuries during the Jumping Competitions in Athens and to make recommendations for the future.[ citation needed ]
In a 2007 interview, Jolicoeur stated, "[I have a] passion to take a piece of property and to make it look nice. It makes for a nice legacy, to have land preserved and to have horses on it and to have people see this as they drive down the road and see pretty land and pretty horses...I like what I’m doing. I don’t intend to stop." [4]
Eventing is an equestrian event where a single horse and rider combine and compete against other competitors across the three disciplines of dressage, cross-country, and show jumping. This event has its roots in a comprehensive cavalry test that required mastery of several types of riding. The competition may be run as a one-day event (ODE), where all three events are completed in one day or a three-day event (3DE), which is more commonly now run over four days, with dressage on the first two days, followed by cross-country the next day and then show jumping in reverse order on the final day. Eventing was previously known as Combined Training, and the name persists in many smaller organizations. The term "Combined Training" is sometimes confused with the term "Combined Test", which refers to a combination of just two of the phases, most commonly dressage and show jumping.
Cross country equestrian jumping forms one of the three phases of the sport of eventing; it may also be a competition in its own right, known as hunter trials or simply "cross-country", although these tend to be lower-level, local competitions.
Equestrian at the 1980 Summer Olympics was represented by six events. All of them, with the exception of the Individual Jumping Grand Prix, were held in the Trade Unions' Equestrian Complex, which is situated in the Bitsa Forest Park. Individual Jumping Grand Prix was held in the Grand Arena of the Central Lenin Stadium at Luzhniki.
The International Federation for Equestrian Sports is the international governing body of equestrian sports. FEI was established in 1921 and its headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland.
The FEI World Equestrian Games are the major international championships for equestrianism, and are administered by the Fédération Équestre Internationale (FEI). The games have been held every four years, halfway between sets of consecutive Summer Olympic Games, since 1990. Prior to that year, all ten of the FEI's individual disciplines held separate championships, usually in separate countries. The modern WEG runs over two weeks and, like the Olympics, the location rotates to different parts of the world. Riders and horses competing at WEG go through a rigorous selection process, and each participating country sends teams that have distinguished themselves through competition as the nation's best in each respective discipline. At the 2010 Games, 57 countries were represented by 800 people and their horses.
Equestrian competitions at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, Mexico featured team and individual competitions in show jumping, eventing, and dressage. Mexico City proved a challenging site since it was 2,300 meters above sea level, resulting in 30% less oxygen in the air. The horses at the 1955 Pan American Games, which was also held in Mexico City, arrived a few weeks before the Games to adjust, but had difficulty in the competition. However, racehorses that competed at the same location and who were shipped in the day before, and left the day after the race, performed fine. It was discovered that although horses would adjust immediately to the high altitude during the first few days after arrival, they showed weakness and decreased performance around Day 10, which continued to Day 20. Therefore, nations were advised to ship in horses 3–4 weeks before the competition, which would allow them time to recover from the long travel, as well as adjust to the difference in altitude. Argentina, Ireland, and the USSR were the first to ship horses over, who arrived mid-September. France and Germany were the last countries to send their horses, who arrived 28 September 20 days before the competition was to start.
The equestrian events at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal included show jumping, dressage and eventing. All three disciplines, except for the Nations Cup, were held at the equestrian stadium in Bromont, which had a capacity of 15,000 spectators, and the cross-country and steeplechase were also nearby. Building this stadium provided some headache for the Organizing Committee after the original estimate of 1 million Canadian dollars increased to CAD 4,425.
The equestrian events at the 1948 London Summer Olympics included dressage, eventing, and show jumping. All three disciplines had both individual and team competitions. The competitions were held from 9 to 14 August 1948, with the first five days held in the military complex at Aldershot, the endurance day on the army grounds of Aldershot at Tweseldown, and the jumping at the Empire Stadium in Wembley. World War II resulted in a greatly reduced number of competitors, including the absence of Germany, although Brazil made its first appearance in the equestrian events. 103 entries from 17 nations competed. The youngest participant was Aëcio Coelho from Brazil at 23 years old, while the oldest rider was the Italian Alessandro, Count Bettoni Cazzago, at 55 years old.
The equestrian events at the 1956 Summer Olympics were held in Stockholm due to the Australian quarantine regulations and included dressage, eventing, and show jumping. All three disciplines had both individual and team competitions. The competitions were held from 11 to 17 June 1956 at Stockholm Olympic Stadium. There were 158 entries from 29 National Olympic Committees: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Soviet Union, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, USA and Venezuela. This would be the first appearance for Australia, Cambodia and Venezuela in equestrian events.
The equestrian events at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich included show jumping, dressage and eventing. All three disciplines had both individual and team competitions. The equestrian competitions were held at 3 sites: an existing equestrian facility at Riem for the individual show jumping and eventing competitions, the Olympic Stadium in Munich for the Nations Cup, and Nymphenburg, a Baroque palace garden, for the sold-out dressage. 179 entries, including 31 women, competed from 27 countries: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Denmark, the German Democratic Republic (GDR), France, the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), Great Britain, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, the Soviet Union, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States. The youngest participant was Kurt Maeder from Switzerland at 19 years old, while the oldest rider was Lorna Johnstone from Great Britain at 70 years old.
The equestrian events at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo included show jumping, dressage and eventing. All three disciplines had both individual and team competitions. The competitions were held from 16 to 24 October 1964. These events took place at Karuizawa, which would become the first city to host Summer and Winter Olympic event when it hosted the curling events for the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano.
Equestrian sports were first included in the Olympic Games in the Summer Olympics of 1900 in Paris. They were again included in 1912, and have been included in every subsequent edition of the Games. Currently, the Olympic equestrian disciplines are dressage, eventing, and show jumping. In each discipline, both individual and team medals are awarded. Since the XV Olympiad in Helsinki in 1952, women and men compete on equal terms.
Equestrian competitions in all three disciplines at the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics were held from 9 August to 21 August at the Hong Kong Sports Institute and Sheung Yue River in Hong Kong. It was the second time that the equestrian events were hosted by a member of the IOC other than the member hosting the main games. Unlike 1956, however, the equestrian events were part of the main games, and were held within the same period.
Eva Maria "Evi" Pracht was a Canadian equestrian who competed in dressage in the 1984 Summer Olympics and was part of the bronze-medallist team at the 1988 Summer Olympics.
Equestrian Canada, formerly known as Equine Canada and commonly known by its acronym, EC, is Canada’s comprehensive national governing body for equestrian sport. It is the executive branch of Canada's Olympic and Paralympic equestrian teams; the national association and registry of Canadian equestrian athletes; the national regulatory body for equestrian coaches, competition organizers, and judges; and the national federation of Canadian horse breeders and Canadian breed registries.
Hickstead was a stallion ridden by Canadian Eric Lamaze. With rider Lamaze, he was an Olympic gold and silver medallist in show jumping. Hickstead was owned by Torrey Pines and Ashland Stables Inc.
Jolicoeur is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
The Canadian Equestrian Team or CET collectively describes the athletes that represent Canada at the highest levels of international equestrian competition, specifically at the World Championship, Olympic, and Paralympic levels.
Daniel Bluman is an Olympic show jumping rider. Born in Colombia, he represents Israel internationally and competed for his country of birth in the past. Bluman qualified to represent Israel at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, but did not compete due to a clerical error in his horse's registration. Bluman represented Israel at the 2024 Paris Olympics at the Palace of Versailles in individual jumping and team jumping.
Hector Florentino Roca is an equestrian from Dominican Republic.