Countryfile

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Booboos

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Did anyone watch Countryfile just now with one of the presenters riding a rehabilitated racehorse?

Am I being unfair, or did this look like a pretty poor match of rider with horse?
 
All I have to say is Hum...... tilly didn't look at all happy in the lunge pen, the school and her quiet displeasure was totally ignored until she ended up screaming.... at least neither seemed hurt, but the whole thing doesn't do either Heros or the ex-racer any good
 
Think a very poor match, experienced rider... are you sure??
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Did anyone watch Countryfile just now with one of the presenters riding a rehabilitated racehorse?

Am I being unfair, or did this look like a pretty poor match of rider with horse?

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Matt's not quite the jockey that he thinks. But equally, the mare may not have been that long out of training....
 
I'm an experienced rider but mess up my diagonals from time to time - oops shouldn't admit to that.
However I don't think the mare was to happy with his riding skills and I think she had probably done that before.
 
To be fair to him he did do very well on that Celebrity showjumping competition jumping some decent sized tracks. I think he is a better than average rider I just think it shows how tricky an ex racer can be. And she was a chestnut mare to boot
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I know I had a couple that nearly foxed me at first till we got in tune with each other - never had one that didn't click with eventually but it sometimes was not immediate. The one I had the most success with (sj up to 1.30m and he would have gone further) dumped me on the verge in a very similar way to that the first day I rode him!!

Not sure how good a PR piece it was though....
 
He did do well on the celebrity showjumping thing but he did look overhorsed.

When she reared I do think that he would have stayed on but it looked like she clearly slipped on the mud, fell back onto her hocks and that's when he came off the back door!
 
I thought the mare looked really tight in her back right from the start.

When she was messing about it all happened very quickly but I wonder if he was wrong to boot her, maybe he should have patted her and reassured her instead? It also looked like he really gobbed her when she reared (it looked like it was a relatively small rear, he gobbed her and she fell on her bum - luckily! If the rear had been higher she could have gone all the way over!).

I think people often forget how a good horse can make them look like a competent rider!
 
He lumped about in the saddle like an oaf, his arms were like ramrods and anyone with even a modicum of ability is able to change onto the correct diagonal after one incorrect trot stride. She looked unhappy and tense enough in the school. He should stick to presenting.
 
The whole program irritated me tonight!

I didn't think he was doing too badly, in the sense he was sat on a horse without interfering too much, but he obviously wasn't able to deal with her misbehaving and was lucky it didn't end worse.
 
It was a shame it ended like that as it wasn't a great PR exercise for ex racehorses. Nor was the earlier piece where a work rider fell off on the gallops and broke their ankle........
 
I have to say i agree!
When he said something about him being an experienced rider, i must admit, i did chuckle to myself!
I'm not saying he isn't a good rider or anything, just not quite as experienced as he thinks...
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BUT i have to say... i <3 Matt Baker!
 
I was very surprised they took him out of the arena, when they were talking about passanger vs rider I did think - hmmmm. It was a shame as it wasn't great PR for a good organisation and a type of horse that although doesn't suit everyone can make a great riding horse.

Although the thing that really peeved me as a feed geek was the comment that the racehorses are given a change of training etc to rehabilatate them to riding horses and given a lower protein diet - WTF "bangs head against wall" - starch, energy sources make a feed affect temperament, that protein makes horses fizzy is a myth!!!! *and breathe*

ETA: it actually worries me that he may have got the protein info from the people at HEROS as TBs can be difficult to feed and feed can make all the difference to temperament - i would hope they would understand about starch and energy sources and fibre and oil etc. Ah well.
 
i hope it showed the general public that ex race horses can be very hard to retrain. IMO too many are being sold off cheap, and therefore, shall we say, don't always end up in the right hands just because they are cheap. always beware if it is ex racer, they are beautiful animals but are not always the easiest to ride, because of the nature of the business they have come from.
 
It's one thing putting him on a horse in the school, maybe on the lunge, but to put him on a racehorse that's being retrained, and then to take him on what to that horse must have looked like gallops, was asking for trouble. I was annoyed with his comment "she really wanted to get me off". No she didn't. She bounced around, did a mini rear and then stood up because he was all over the shop. From what I could see, she slipped, he fell off and pulled her over.

I can't stand Countryfile anymore. It seems to me that it's put together to promote whatever DEFRA are currently trying to push... in this instance, microchipping sheep. Seemed to be incredibly one sided to me... all about what a good idea spending what would probably be a small fortune to most farmers, on microchipping sheep. Anyone else notice the comment about microchipping and passporting horses, yet no mention of what a farce both systems are?
 
quite agree, no mention of all the hassle when sheep lose their tags, notice they didn't reveal the cost, at least 1.50 a head, imagine mountain farmers with hundreds of sheep to do.
 
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I can't stand Countryfile anymore. It seems to me that it's put together to promote whatever DEFRA are currently trying to push... in this instance, microchipping sheep. Seemed to be incredibly one sided to me... all about what a good idea spending what would probably be a small fortune to most farmers, on microchipping sheep. Anyone else notice the comment about microchipping and passporting horses, yet no mention of what a farce both systems are?

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I said the exact same thing to OH!
 
i was really upset i missed countryfile cause thought it was on at 7 and ever more p**d off cause mother informed me they had ex racers on it, but going by your opinions i didnt miss out on too much.
 
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Although the thing that really peeved me as a feed geek was the comment that the racehorses are given a change of training etc to rehabilatate them to riding horses and given a lower protein diet - WTF "bangs head against wall" - starch, energy sources make a feed affect temperament, that protein makes horses fizzy is a myth!!!! *and breathe*

ETA: it actually worries me that he may have got the protein info from the people at HEROS as TBs can be difficult to feed and feed can make all the difference to temperament - i would hope they would understand about starch and energy sources and fibre and oil etc. Ah well.

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That really annoyed me too!
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I loved that he refered to himself as an experienced rider. Experienced novice maybe... he had no core stability whatsoever. I also laughed when he said "she was up here!" - no she wasn't, the poor thing sat down! He was lucky she didn't fall on him. And I agree, not good publicity for Heros... they looked incredibly unprofessional
 
haha he prob said that he was an experienced rider on his CV when applying to get the job on country-file so couldn't go back on his word!
 
I sincerely hope that the charity were 'cornered' into this programme.

If not then it is a damned shame as it looks as though they really are not taking much care to match horses to riders. I would not have allowed him out of trot in the indoor arena, let alone out!!

We had a livery briefly who had taken on a ex racer, far above her abilities, poor horse was not ready for a 'quiet' home at all. Luckily she decided to return him under the guise of having been misled as to his temprament.

Perhaps rehoming charities are under too much pressure to move horses on?
 
Thought it didn't look all that bad. I have seen worse riders and it showed these horses are not your safe plods - you need to know a bit before taking one on. What if they hadn't shown that bit. You wouldn't want a begginer to be getting an ex race horse thinking there all retrained as bombproof rides.

As for the sheep tagging, I thought he gave a reasonably balanced argument 12p to tag now or 85p with the chip . Says it all really, he also said he believed it would cause problems for hill farmers as an unwelcome expense and only helped him due to all the different breeds he has.
 
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haha he prob said that he was an experienced rider on his CV when applying to get the job on country-file so couldn't go back on his word!

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Isn't he the guy who, having never sat on a horse in his life, rode some sort of marathon trek across Exmoor (or somewhere) last year? Golden Horseshoe, or something like that?! Though I might have imagined that. So they know he can't ride because they had to send him for RS lessons. If I remember correctly, he had about 3 lessons then rode this 100 mile trek.
 
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