David McPherson's Pilgrim sold

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Don't know if it has been posted elsewhere, but just opened today's H&H to see this news. Very bad blow for the sj team, thought he was an outstanding prospect for the Olympics next year.
 
Haven't seen H&H yet but it was mentioned in the Olympia coverage that I saw. I think that the ride has gone to Norway and they are building up their horsepower after qualifying for the Olympics.
 
A real shame for David and for Team GBR....and a little ironic too perhaps
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Pilgrim was actually owned by a German I believe...who placed the ride with David as he wanted his horse to be the number 1 horse on the yard rather than just part of a big string...hence he wasn't given to a German rider. We were lucky to have his services while we did...
 
This is always going to be a problem when the rider doesn't own the horse (& sometimes even if the rider does own the horse). As Rambo said we were lucky that David was given the ride at all.
One idea that I have been mulling over is the use of lottery funding. At the moment the funding goes to riders, what would happen if some of the money were diverted to horses who would in effect be owned by team GBR. If young horses are bought and at a later date sold on the money would have to be used to buy another horse(s). It would take more administration than funding riders but ultimately we might have a secure pool of horses.
 
I must say that I agree with that idea. They could be owned by say a syndicate and then sent out to the appropriate riders. One of the downside though could be that if a rider makes a bond with a horse but doesnt make the team what then? Or would they only be given the horse if they did make the team?

But no, I like the idea of there being a British team of horses. Might mean that more concentration and care is given when it comes to breeding to.
 
How are we suppose to win medals when we cant keep our good horses in this country - shurely there is someway of sorting out the system to give our riders the better rides!!
 
[ QUOTE ]
How are we suppose to win medals when we cant keep our good horses in this country - shurely there is someway of sorting out the system to give our riders the better rides!!

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, the point here is that he wasn't one of 'our' horses in the first place. He was a german horse...
 
As an afterthought it really makes you wonder whether the owner actually wanted Pilgrim to be someones No 1 horse. Not just in a string of top horses. That way they get him seen at championship level then get the big bucks for a sale. Nice one, feel sorry for David Mc though.
On the other hand I know of a couple of riders that took lottery funding to produce a potential Olympic horse that they owned, then sold it a couple of weeks after payment. Think there is something wrong with the system in GB.
 
Sadly guys, it just doesn't work like that, thus a huge number of genuine Olympics horses never grace the ring at the Games. At the very top level, unless you're a Georgina Bloomberg (privately worth 11 billion $), a Michel Hécart (wife's father owns France's largest super market chain) etc etc etc, you'll be a jockey that is constantly in need of money just to get to the next show.

Thus, you rely on producing horses and selling them for a lot of money, with there being a premium because of who your are. In the Uk everything costs so much money that I can't blame anyone who sells their horse for a lot of money. Let's face it, unless you're very wealthy, if someone offers you £1M you're going to take it in a heartbeat, because it's a life changing amount of money and you can go out and buy the yard you've always dreamed of. Of course, you'll never breed/own another horse like the one you sold, but who gives a damn? You've got the money and that's that.

With regard to Pilgrim, I am suprised because my understanding is that he went to PS on the previso that PS gave him two champioship horses to ride. Outside of Pilgrim I haven't seen a true champs horse with DM on it (although A Pikachu will be a great horse one day). So where does that leave the agreement with PS? Again, this is a classic example of an owner being offered an amount he/she can't refuse. I'd do the same.
 
Correct, PS = Paul Schokemöhle

Dieseldog, please take down that horrible photo of those horrible men in their horrible green jerseys. I was there, and that photo is making me well up!!! Did you know that Percy is a gay icon?
 
not really understanding what Paul S had to do with this? i am very dense where showjumping is concerned. Does he do enormous amounts of dealing and have about a thousand horses on his place? Did he own pilgrim in the first place?
 
My understanding (and I could be corrected on this) was that DM was the contract rider for PS, thus he got A Pikachu and a number of other horses to ride. As you probably know, PS has a yard full of retreads for the Koreans and Chinese to take to the Games. But I understood that the deal for DM was that he was given Championship horses to ride by PS. No PS did not own Pilgrim, I thought that was the original breeder Peter Tornau-Nagel.
 
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