Chilli morning

I heard this a couple of days ago. I think the good job Nick Gauntlett did of producing him has perhaps been underestimated by certain parties.
 
I see he was eliminated with Mary at belting park at the weekend with accumulated refusals expect that has a lot to do with it.
He should go back to nick!
 
And I think it might have been on the Joules blog (of all places) that MK's quoted as saying she'd love to take CM to Badminton but needs to do some more homework, or words to that effect...
 
She put on her facebook about her Aldon run ::"Aldon was my first event with my new ride Chilli Morning the stallion. He’s the most fantastic horse! He lead the dressage, had 1 show jump down and clear cross country.
I am aiming to ride him at Badminton but feel I still need to get to know him a bit better!"

Hmm... maybe they just didn't click? He went so well for Nick. Hope he's gone back to him.
 
lannerch said:
I see he was eliminated with Mary at belting park at the weekend with accumulated refusals expect that has a lot to do with it.
He should go back to nick!
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Maybe, but sometimes you don't get back what you had in the first place. Feel sorry for MK, but hope no lasting issues are left with CM's confidence whoever he goes to.
 
Blimey! I didn't see that coming...

Does anyone know why she didn't run XC on a couple of her horses at Belton? I was disappointed not to see her.
 
lannerch said:
She's not really ridden him long enough to give him a chance to click particularly as he is a stallion!
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Stallions can be VERY tricky like that, not just for riding but for their whole management. Maybe they underestimated this? Perhaps he just didn't settle in her program? If their goal is to go to Badminton they wouldn't have had much time to click anyway, so if it wasn't working 100% it would have been a big gamble.

But if he showed her something at Belton (or around Belton) that made her go "hmmm" then she shows sense by ending things sooner rather than later. She has nothing to prove and the owners want results so it's in everyone's best interests, if she feels it's not going to work, to let them make a change as quickly as possible. I wouldn't want to set out at 4* on a horse I didn't have the utmost confidence in, especially if I knew the owners were expecting a competitive result. (Leaving aside that I, personally, wouldn't be setting off on ANY 4*! :D ) And I wouldn't want to see a horse stay with a rider out of pride when he could be better served somewhere else.

My experience of top riders is the good ones who win lots and have long careers get very smart about what sorts of horses suit them and where their own strengths lie. When you're young and unknown you have to make anything you're offered work (or not, at least as often - that's how you learn) but when your job is to win and you have more offers than you can really entertain there is no value in pursuing a situation that's going to take an unequal amount of effort and time to pursue. There is also no shame in sending a horse on to a situation that might suit it better.

The fact is we don't know and we won't ever know the whole truth. (Nor is it our business!) It's unfortunate it's played out so publicly but lots of horses change hands - especially in an Olympic year - for all sorts of reasons. I feel for Nick as he doesn't have a whole string and it sucks to loose a horse you love but unfortunately it's part of the game.
 
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Knew from the very beginning that the partnership would not work as Nick and Mary both have completely different styles of riding. Nick jumps CM in a very secure & supported way & would make CM feel safe& confident whereas Mary has a very long& loose way of jumping. This is to say nothing against Marys riding- she has nothing to proove- it's just two very different styles & they would never have clicked.
Hope that CM goes back to Nick- they had such a good partnership and were just poetry to watch.
 
Just seen on Twitter that Chilli Morning is going to William Fox Pitt to try. I'd like to see him back with Nick as they obviously had a very good relationship, and it was a shame to break it up in the first place.
 
arrghh!! reading throught his was a rollercoaster of emotions!!!!:o
gutted it hasnt worked out for Mary, more gutted Nick had to give the ride away in the first place and even MORE gutted he hasnt gone back to him!!!
when he has ridden him for SUCH a long time i imagined the horse would struggle with a different rider. I hope he works out for WFP and if he doesnt I REALLY hope he goes back to Nick!!!!!!!!!!!:p
 
Well that rather defeats the point of him being moved! Now the horse will be one of 6 4*horses and is hardly going to leap into contention. Personally I am surprised OT did not get the ride.
 
H&H's article explains how Mary and Chilli just didn't get on, it seems she's been very honest about it and quite frankly it's quite nice to hear that even top riders just don't click with certain horses.

Wish WFP luck with him (but I'm another that can't see how he'll have room for another 4* horse, surely he'll be outshadowed somewhat by all of WFP's proven top horses?). It would be nice to see him back with Nick as they did have a great partnership and would have put in a good round at Badminton this year, but I can imagine he'll do brilliantly with William anyway.
 
LEC said:
I heard this a couple of days ago. I think the good job Nick Gauntlett did of producing him has perhaps been underestimated by certain parties.
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Indeed.

Let's hope the horse goes back there. Although I fear he may well be another 'what could have been.....'

Ah, just caught up with him going to WFP.

Hey ho, and all that.
 
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