As part of NBC's drive to provide massive coverage of the Oympics this year, the majority of the equestrian events will be aired on NBC's recently acquired subsidiary, Oxygen.

Oxygen also will carry coverage of tennis, gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics and synchronized swimming, sports felt to have a largely female audience.

The schedule for equestrian events published by the USET is as follows:

Aug. 9: 3-Day: Dressage - 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. PST on USA
Aug. 11: 3-Day: Cross- Country - 9 p.m. - 11 p.m. PST on OXYGEN
Aug. 12: 3-Day: Stadium Team Gold Medal Final - 9 p.m. - 11 p.m. PST on OXYGEN
Aug. 13: Dressage--9 p.m. - 11 p.m. PST on OXYGEN
Aug. 14: Dressage Team Gold Medal Final - 9 p.m. - 11 p.m. PST on OXYGEN
Aug. 15: Show Jumping - 9:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m. PST on OXYGEN
Aug. 16: Dressage Individual – 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. PST MSNBC
Aug. 17: Show Jumping Team Gold Medal Final 1st Round -1 p.m. - 9 p.m. PST on NBC
Aug. 18: Show Jumping Team Gold Medal Final Round - 9 p.m. - 11 p.m. PST on OXYGEN
Aug. 19: Dressage Individual Gold Medal Final - 9 p.m. - 11 p.m. PST on OXYGEN
Aug. 21: Show Jumping Individual Gold Medal Final- <1 p.m. - 4 p.m. PST[no channel specified]

This is excellent news if, like me, you have an older Macintosh that doesn't have an intel chip.

Evidently the streaming technology that NBC will be using to webcast the Olympic events is only supported for Intel-based Macs. Well, I am not going to buy a new computer just yet, nor an HD TV set (the NBC coverage will all be high definition). NBC has already started some pre-Olympic coverage on the web. Since I couldn't see the video, I contented myself with checking out McClain Ward's "barn managers".

So far this includes profiles of the complete U.S. Olympic Equestrian Team, photo collections and video of visits with showjumpers Laura Kraut and McClain Ward, and a smattering of international figures as well.

Local NBC affiliate King 5 Television will be adding their own coverage of local athletes, which in the equestrian sports boils down to Amy Tryon and Poggio II.