SHANE ROSE Awarded Position on 9 Person Australian Equestrian Eventing Team

04 Jul 24

Shane Rose, 51, received confirmation that he has been locked into the nine-member Australian Equestrian squad which was announced overnight.

After a turbulent few months which included Shane being crushed by a horse-in-training, nothing will stand in the way of Australia’s equestrian legend Shane Rose representing Australia as he attempts to achieve a fourth Olympic medal at what will be his fourth Olympic Games competition in Paris.

Just four months after a riding accident which left Shane with 19 fractures which included multiple left-side rib fractures, right elbow fractures, a fracture of the femur (requiring a rod) and fractures of the front and back of the pelvis and sacrum, he paid tribute to the team of people who helped get him Olympic-ready.

Shane already has two silver medals and one bronze from Games appearances in Beijing 2008, Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, spent time in a wheelchair after the accident such was the extent of his injuries.

The accident happened just weeks after Shane made headlines in February when he took part in a fancy-dress ride at an event and just one member of the crowd made an anonymous complaint about him wearing a mankini while riding.

He was stood down, apologised, and was quickly cleared of any wrongdoing by Equestrian Australia and is now eyeing off another chance to achieve a Gold medal.

“It is always an honour to be selected to represent Australia but there is something very special about being chosen on the Australian Olympic team,” Rose said.

“For me, it has been a rough and rocky road to get to this point. It is a huge relief to gain selection.

“Our Eventing team is strong and together if we all perform at our best, we have a great chance of standing on that podium. I look forward to the challenge and hope to make everyone who has supported me on this journey proud.

“So many people have contributed to having me 100% fit and ready to perform,” he said.

Shane's Story:

Australian Olympic Team Bio about Shane Rose:

Four months before the start of the Paris Olympics, equestrian Shane Rose was lying in a hospital bed with 19 different bone fractures, his Games dream in tatters.

Just days before, Shane, a three-time Olympic medallist (2 Silver, 1 Bronze) in eventing, had confirmed his qualification for Paris, but a horrific training accident meant his chances of competing were severely compromised.

Shane was schooling a young horse over jumps when it clipped a hurdle. Shane hit the ground first and the 550kg horse fell on top of him.

He was rushed to hospital and, along with a severe concussion, doctors found 19 separate fractures, including three in his elbow, four in his pelvis, six broken ribs and four near his spine. He also had surgery to insert a rod into his femur.

Despite the seriousness of his injuries, Shane never gave up on competing in Paris and within days he was working on a 100-day rehabilitation plan.

SHANE ROSE & ADAM WATT have a chat in the paddock at Bimbadeen Park

After a month restricted to bed and a wheelchair, Shane moved to Canberra to begin treatment at the Australian Institute of Sport.

Physios and trainers helped him slowly regain the strength to walk and ride.

Shane told the Sydney Morning Herald “I have always been very positive – there were only two or three moments in my rehab when I thought, ‘What if I don’t get better?’”

“But they were pretty short-lived, and literally the next day I thought, ‘No, I have got this.’”

After a month at the AIS, Shane was itching to get back on the horse.

“The first time I sat in the saddle, I pretended it didn’t hurt,” Shane said.

“I remember walking him the first five metres thinking, ‘Wow, I don’t know if I can do this’. It was one of those moments when I thought, ‘Maybe this is just going be too hard’.

“But literally 10 minutes later, I felt 100 per cent. And we kept progressing, and pretty much, I haven’t looked back from then. I have a bit of a limp, but riding, you wouldn’t know I’d had an accident. I feel 100 per cent on the horse.”

In early June, 85 days after his accident, Shane returned to competition, taking part in dressage and showjumping at the Melbourne international three-day event in Werribee.

And a month later he has been named in the Australian Team for Paris.

Shane got his start in the sport at the age of five at the Forest Hills Pony Club in Sydney’s north.

At 21, he made his international debut when he competed with horse Mr Joe Cool for Australia at the Young Riders Trans-Tasman competition in 1994.

He was selected to represent Australia in eventing at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta at 23-years-old. However, his horse went lame upon arrival in the United States, preventing him from going on to compete with the team that would eventually win gold.

Australian Team in Beijing - Silver (Shane left)

While equestrian is technically an individual sport, Shane – like all riders – is heavily reliant on the health of his horse. His mount All Luck, with whom he won a silver medal in the team event and placed 27th in the individual category in Beijing, suffered bouts of lameness after the Olympics.

Shane made it to London for the 2012 Olympic Games, but his horse Taurus, sustained a shoulder injury shortly after arrival in England, meaning that the pair were unable to compete.

Australian Olympic Team in Rio - Bronze (Shane position 3)

Shane was a member of the Australian Olympic Team that competed at Rio 2016. He rode his horse, CP Qualified, and alongside Stuart Tinney, Sam Griffiths and Christopher Burton, took home a bronze medal in the team event.

Australian Olympic Team in Tokyo - Silver (Shane centre)

At the postponed Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Shane added to his Olympic medal haul, winning a silver medal as part of the team’s event alongside Andrew Hoy and Kevin McNab.

Partnering with the warmblood gelding Virgil, a horse with whom he shared a long and successful partnership, Shane finished the individual competition in 10th position.

Aside from his 2024 accident, Shane is no stranger to health battles and injuries:

In 2001, he battled thyroid cancer, resulting in him having his thyroid removed.

In 2003, he suffered a broken leg sustained during competition, forcing him to be hospitalised for three weeks. But he was back on horses less than a month after being discharged.

In 2006, he was out of competition for four months after he suffered a devastating kick to the face from a horse, which left him in a medically induced coma for a week while he underwent multiple surgeries.

So, it is no surprise that Shane has hauled himself back into Olympic contention so quickly.

“No one is guaranteed of anything in this sport,” he said.

“This might be my last chance of going to an Olympic Games, so I am doing everything in my powers to be there, and to do as well as I can at this one.”

Shane has three (3) horses qualified for Paris but is most likely to ride his Tokyo mount - Virgil.

Shane and Virgil have an incredible 15 FEI wins to their name, including the 2023 Adelaide Equestrian Festival. Fourth after the dressage at that event, their near-perfect cross country round saw them add just 0.4 of a time penalty to their score to end the second phase at the top of the leaderboard. At the showjumping on the final day, they had a rail in hand, but they didn’t need it. Jumping clear, they finished on an impressive 28.5 penalties.

In March 2024, Shane and Virgil won the Land Rover CCI4*-S individual crown and the Eventer of the Year title at the Oceania Eventing Challenge in Hamilton, New Zealand.

Hoofnote:

Our Team at Dynamic Syndications will be glued to the TV watching every moment of Shane riding in Paris, cheering him on to achieve his dream of obtaining that elusive Gold Medal making-up the full set of precious metals.

ADAM WATT & SHANE ROSE at Shane's property, Bimbadeen Park

Our owners and followers know, Shane is a vital member to the success of Dynamic Syndications because he breaks-in, educates, and pre-trains all our Dynamic Syndications stable of horses.

SHANE ROSE at Bimbadeen Park - Educating one of our yearlings - 28 June

Apart from his wonderful ability upon a horse, Shane is more importantly - our mate.

SHANE ROSE & ADAM WATT

Go get ’em Shane!

Olympic Team Selections:

Atlanta	1996	(horse went lame – late withdrawal)
Beijing	2008	Silver
London	2012	(horse went lame – late withdrawal)
Rio	2016	Bronze
Tokyo	2020	Silver
Paris	2024	??? (anticipation = Gold)