The postponed 2020 Olympics seems to have lasted an eternity but ironically, equally seemed to have come and gone in a flash now that it's over.

I am already feeling withdrawal symptoms having enjoyed wall-to-wall TV coverage of the highest order, in my view, although the current trend of prolonged, in-depth analysis of each competition became a bit tedious.

Equally so were the predictable and scripted interviews with family and friends celebrating in the UK, and then there were the interviews with the competitors themselves who were obviously fed by PR people to thank their family, friends, trainers and anyone else who supported them especially the Lottery Fund.

As many of them gasped for breath, fought back tears of joy or frustration and often struggling with a slipping face mask, I felt their agony when posed with that old chestnut blurted out by all interviewers nowadays: 'What does this mean to you?' I am sure it was difficult for them to hold back the expletives.

Generally considered a triumph for the Olympic and Tokyo organisers and a brilliant overall result for Team GB, what a games it was for British equestrianism, with medals in all three disciplines and teams and individuals coming to the very top.

Scottish hopes were dashed when Scott Brash incurred that single time fault in the individual show jumping eluding him the place in the final and further medal hopes dashed when his horse was pulled out a few days before the team event.

Knowing Scott's ability and consistent record in these high stakes competitions, not detracting at all from Ben Maher's individual gold medal, how the results may have altered had the dice fallen Scott's way.

The dice certainly didn't fall the way of German modern pentathlon athlete, Annika Schleu, when she pulled the short straw in the horse draw for the show jumping phase of the event. Saint Boy, one of several locally sourced horses in the pool for competitors, definitely didn't live up to his name having first seen off the Russian competitor following elimination over the jumps and then the German, who was leading the competition up until then.

During the Russian's round there was an early sign of difficulties when the cameras showed the horse nap when passing the collecting ring and things only got worse from then on.

The Olympic Games is hardly the place for remedial work to progress any issues with a horse with problems, which were obvious for all to see in this case, with the result that the image of his German rider trying to coax then bully Saint Boy into a performance made difficult watching.

Needless to say,e social media critics had a field day, however I would challenge any one of them to have made better the situation. There was no way that a quiet word and a pat on the neck was going to alter the attitude of a horse which, through no fault of his own, had been placed in an unsuitable environment with riders he didn't know other than through a 20 minute warm-up.

I felt very sorry for the competitor who had to have put countless years into training for the Olympics and in less than a minute saw her chances of a medal fade away and incapable of doing anything about it. At the same time, I felt sorry for the horse which shouldn't have been there – there has to be a question mark over the person who sourced him for the games.

Apparently, the horse draw is a regular issue within this competition, so it begs the question why its apparent unfairness is allowed to stand in its current format. Surely a more acceptable result would be achieved if horse and rider were allowed sufficient time prior to the competition to allow them to get used to one another?

Bearing in mind how much mileage is gained through the media showing disasters, this particular fiasco certainly hasn't done equestrianism any favour especially as we await the replays of this drama for months to come.

This seemingly ad-hoc aspect of competition stands out as being at odds with the very advanced models of training which are led by a plethora of scientific approaches.

When races are being won both on land and in the water by one hundredths of a second, it is no wonder that science plays such an important role in the modern competitive world of sport.

Its advances also have a role to play in the every day world of equestrianism which will be demonstrated next month when Russell and Erik Machechnie-Guire head up an important equine biomechanics event at the Scottish National Equestrian Centre (SNEC) on Sunday, September 26.

Hailing from the Oban, Erik is a well-known competitor and trainer, who has recently been granted the Fellowship of the British Horse Society. He is a BHS Level 5 dressage performance coach and has 20 years experience of working with high performance athletes including the Great British Para-Equestrian Dressage Team for which he was appointed Pathway manager by the British Equestrian Federation in 2019. Erik is also a panel judge of native ponies and had previously co-judged the ridden classes at HOYS.

In 2006, Russell founded Centaur Biomechanics, a company which uses the latest bio-mechanical analysis and interpretation to horses and riders of all levels. Its aims include optimising equine health and performance as well as improving the ridden interaction between the horse and rider.

He was awarded a PhD from the Royal Veterinary College in 2012 based on his research work on the subject which has been widely published throughout the world. He continued to study the interaction between the horse, saddle and rider using the most up-to-date scientific methods which will be fully explained and demonstrated throughout the day at SNEC.

The day, which is the first Biomechanics event in Scotland, is being organised by the National Pony Society (NPS) Scotland to celebrate the 60 years since a group of pony enthusiasts set up a steering committee of the NPS in Scotland.

Some 20 years ago this was superseded by the current organisation whose aims remain the same ' to promote the interests in the breeding, improvement, showing and welfare of the native breeds and the British riding pony in Scotland.'

As well as providing an interesting and educational day for all horse and pony enthusiasts – the first since the easing of Covid-19 restrictions – it will also provide NPS judges with the opportunity to fulfil their CPD requirement.