Congrats WEG SJ Team

Find that a very strange team. I wonder why Nick was left out? Watching him jump in the Nations Cup at Dublin, he was fantastic and made it look so easy. I don't get David MacPhersons inclusion though. Watched him jump at Hickstead and was far from impressed and on an inexperienced horse as well. Surely the idea of World Games is to send the best riders, not a team that will gain experience, yes we want to do well next year but that is next year and horses will have come and gone by then!
 
I'm glad they're at least sending a team. I would have been writing to complain if they didn't. To even suggest being so flippant as to not go because it's not the big goal when the drivers can't even afford to go made me really angry.
 
kp31 said:
Find that a very strange team. I wonder why Nick was left out? Watching him jump in the Nations Cup at Dublin, he was fantastic and made it look so easy. I don't get David MacPhersons inclusion though. Watched him jump at Hickstead and was far from impressed and on an inexperienced horse as well. Surely the idea of World Games is to send the best riders, not a team that will gain experience, yes we want to do well next year but that is next year and horses will have come and gone by then!
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Is Carlo not a bit young for a WEG, maybe he's being asked to get some more experience under his belt. His day will come though he's a great find. NS seems to have a knack of finding good horses.

I think RH is putting more emphasis on the Olympics than WEG and prob wants to see how the team chosen get on, afterall a lot can change between now and the Olympics. I think he has to be sure that the owners of these horses are committed to keeping them cos there's no point training up and relying on horses who could be sold at any time.
 
Carlo may be a little young, but surely with Nick on him is a far better bet that DM who are a relatively new pairing and don't have particularly wonderful form. I appreciate that the Olympics is what team GB are aiming or, being home turf etc but to send a team like that seems strange. Being World Champions is something that top riders aspire to. I can't understand the logic. It all seems most peculiar to me!
 
kp31 said:
Carlo may be a little young, but surely with Nick on him is a far better bet that DM who are a relatively new pairing and don't have particularly wonderful form. I appreciate that the Olympics is what team GB are aiming or, being home turf etc but to send a team like that seems strange. Being World Champions is something that top riders aspire to. I can't understand the logic. It all seems most peculiar to me!
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It's not likely that GB would get a medal this year even with a "strong" team, makes more sense to look forward to 2012 and give championship experience to some other riders.
 
I think that the chances of our "best" team of making a medal are somewhere between slim and remote. Our current team is riskier for this event, but realistically there is little difference between 5th/6th ish (which is about where our Euros team ended up IIRC) and where a less experienced team might end up if the selection policy doesn't work. Individuals could shine anyway, and it makes sense to try a new team ready for the Olympics so we don't end up in the position we were in in Hong Kong!
 
I could be wrong, but I think Nick is going in for a hip operation in the next week or two. Both himself and Denis Lynch had to get a buggy walk around the courses in Dublin as niether were exactly sound!
 
Well done to Rob Hoekstra - I really like his approach so far. WEG is a great opportunity to get some milage on newer combinations - an over-reliance on the trusted few is dangerous, as we've seen in the past. Good luck to them!
 
Well, he did say the team would look a little different....

Strangely for me, on that basis, the one who looks out of place is actually Michael Whitaker :eek: Of all the 'experienced' horse and rider combinations you could choose, surely John W and Peppermill would be a better choice ? Amai has never really done it for me and hasn't been on great form recently....

Hallo Sailor is a good one for the future i'd have thought...bags of scope and only 11 i think. Intertoy is an interesting choice though. I know Rob has backed him through a lot of NC's this season..but he really didn't go well at Aachen from memory....another horse that i'm not convinced about although Scott is obviously a very talented young rider.

Also, what has happenned to Ben Maher this year ? Obviously he lost the ride on Wonderboy...but Robin Hood could have been a contender for a medal i'd have thought ? Is he injured ?

As for Carlo, well, yes, he is young....but he's old enough to have jumped 2 or 3 Superleague NC's already and he's been placed in GCT Grand Prix this year as well. I can only assume Nick is the problem with his dodgy hip lol!

A sceptic might suggest that the team that has been selected are those that would go....on the basis that the others can compete elsewhere and earn some money.
 
I think after all the years of grumbling that 'it's always the same people on the team' (which I didn't always agree with) it's refreshing to see newcomers getting the chance to prove their mettle. Certainly Peppermill hasn't been quite right and as Robin Hood hasn't been out competing both are probably on the 'save for later' list.
Not going to take the cynical view, just regard this as much needed 'depth-building' exercise.
 
Good luck to the team, I think it nice to see different riders in the team. I did think it was a bit of a strange choice choosing David macpherson, surely Robert smith and Talan would have been a better choice. I think the reason peppermill hasn't been selected is because he is injured, from last weeks horse and hound it said that peppermill could be out for the rest of the season as injury could be a tendon injury and as for robin hood is having 8 weeks off to overcome mental and physical wear and tear as he performance hasn't been as good recently.
 
Peppermill is confirmed injured by John Whitaker, Robin Hood had a slight injury/lack of performance and is having a rest but is not going to be rushed back. Nick said at Hamburg I think that he was not taking Carlo to WEG, he was concentrating on the Global Champions Tour this year as the horse was still a bit young for WEG and he was going to look toward 2012. All of this information is available on various websites. www.horsetalk.co.nz is one and so is www.studforlife.com if you can read French. I am wonder why Billy Congo did not make the list. I would also prefer Robert Smith to David Mcpherson. But perhaps Mr Hoekstra knows something we do not? ;)
Also I believe the British teams are funded by public lottery money so I am not sure if it is right not to send the best possible team. Some of the other disciplines who have an excellent medal chance must fund themselves, yes? Like driving and vaulting. On the other hand, perhaps not to send one at all would exhibit a waste of that same money via the World Class Performance programme. I think it would be very sad though if the British were not there, they have a great show jump history.
 
badattitude said:
Also I believe the British teams are funded by public lottery money so I am not sure if it is right not to send the best possible team.
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It's that modern problem though, isn't it? If the "best" team is sent every time then no one greener gets the mileage necessary to break through. So doing what's best for the public in the short term might not be what's best for the team - and the future public - in the long term.

In the good ol' days they just picked whomever they wanted and there was often some "kid" stuck in to get experience if the other three were strong. It must be much harder now, with so many people getting a "vote" and having their say. ;) Is it up to the coach and performance manager to do the best for today or the best for the future, which they might not even be part of? As said, too, it's tricky because we don't know all the ins and outs. There is always more to these decisions that strict results - the Americans tried that route and it was a disaster!

From what I've read the reasoning is that GB is not in a particularly competitive position anyway. They aren't setting Europe on fire and there are strong teams in the New World they haven't even come up against since Hong Kong. In some ways it's probably PR driven as well - if they don't do well with a green team then it can be justifiably put down to "getting mileage". To not do well with a top team at this point would be demoralising going in to 2012, of all Olympics.

Some of the older guard with younger horses do not need the top level mileage themselves, and they can produce their horses just as well - perhaps better - without having to factor in the WEGs. Whereas some of the people picked will benefit in the long run, hopefully in front of 2012.
 
TarrSteps said:
From what I've read the reasoning is that GB is not in a particularly competitive position anyway. They aren't setting Europe on fire and there are strong teams in the New World they haven't even come up against since Hong Kong. In some ways it's probably PR driven as well - if they don't do well with a green team then it can be justifiably put down to "getting mileage". To not do well with a top team at this point would be demoralising going in to 2012, of all Olympics.
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This is a very good point.
 
I am surprised nobody has mentioned that Peter Charles and Pom D'ami aren't on the team. They were easily the best performers on Nations Cup teams this season, four fences in 12 rounds I read in a few reports on Hickstead.
It would seem that maybe this really is a PR exercise or just to give horses/riders experience.
 
I think Pom D'Ami is probably rather tired after a long season...he didn't do so well at Dublin did he and he's jumped a LOT of NC's already this season :)
 
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