LEC
Opinions are like bum holes, everyone has one.
I was chatting to an instructor about this very recently he was in charge of the army breakers at Melton Mowbray and he said that event horses were too well trained. The types of fence being built are technical where you have to be very controlled these are not the fences causing problems its the more straightforward ones where a leg left causes a fall. A technical fence never really causes any problems you just get a smattering of 20s from run outs.
WFP is an amazing rider where his horses just do not have to think - yet Toytown thinks for himself and digs his rider out of trouble an awful lot which is why for me ZP results are not as good on other horses. Riders have got better and better and as they have horses have had to think less for themselves. I watch intro and I can genuinely say that only 25% of the riders look like they are secure xc. Unless they go hunting or TC this will never improve as xc schooling is not the same and nor is SJ.
For me the problem is that there really is no way around this. You cannot force people to go hunting nor can you set up hundreds of xc schooling sessions because they are so far from the real thing and do not teach a partnership to find a 5th leg and survive. I do not believe that the breed of a horse makes any difference I just think the continental horses coming over here are pro produced from breaking so just have never had to dig themselves out of trouble. Its not that they cannot they just have never needed to.
WFP is an amazing rider where his horses just do not have to think - yet Toytown thinks for himself and digs his rider out of trouble an awful lot which is why for me ZP results are not as good on other horses. Riders have got better and better and as they have horses have had to think less for themselves. I watch intro and I can genuinely say that only 25% of the riders look like they are secure xc. Unless they go hunting or TC this will never improve as xc schooling is not the same and nor is SJ.
For me the problem is that there really is no way around this. You cannot force people to go hunting nor can you set up hundreds of xc schooling sessions because they are so far from the real thing and do not teach a partnership to find a 5th leg and survive. I do not believe that the breed of a horse makes any difference I just think the continental horses coming over here are pro produced from breaking so just have never had to dig themselves out of trouble. Its not that they cannot they just have never needed to.