Ellen Whitaker

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Have I responded to everyone??? I'm not sure that I have.

But regardless, aren't we having a discussion - am I not entitled to respond to anyone I want to??? Isn't that what having a 'conversation' is about?

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This conversation went on 'til quite late last night and early this morning and obviously Amy had to go to bed at some point, or she might have answered everyones comments
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I watched all of hickstead on bbc 2 before this post was written, I watched ellen ride and was sickened to see her ride after she was eliminated!

I was not biased by this thread this thread did not even exhist however I was distribed to see a rider I had had such respect for loose her temper in that way, I was willing her to pat the horse after, she did not.

For those who still cannot see what she did wrong, thankgoodness you are never going to be riding my horses!
 
obviously I dont- and who is that according too?
Unless things have change dramatically in the last 2 years since iv been out of YR, Stephen did very much his own thing with his horses and his kids. Can u not see the difference in the way his horses go and kids ride compared to the others?? For a long time I was told that Stephan did not speak to the other brothers and has only recently started talking to them again, I also thought there was friction over the Quinton horse, but please correct me if you are a better source??
 
I still can't see why people are making into something more than it is. It's not like she got off the horse smacked it around the face, kicked it in the side whilest on the ground and then yanked the bit out of its mouth as she walked out.
Yes, ok digging in with spurs isn't ideal but I don't think it will have recieved any lasting damage. In fact the horse and everyone else involved has probably forgotton about it and it's just on here it's being continually over.
 
ahh bugger got the wrong link!

damn it! ok il go sit in a corner and blush! hehe

..... goes on the search for correct clip if its available yet.......
 
I've seen alot worse at local shows and to be honest i don't think many of her young followers would have noticed the dig with the spurs.

Ellen has still done well to get where she has today and even with the whitaker name she still has to be a capable, confident rider or she wouldn't be out at that level of competing.

I'm not condoning what she did but i've seen worse and at the end of the day her horse is ok
 
At last i was beginning to think i was the only one who was not disturbed/shocked/sickened. What a fuss over 2 kicks from an 8 stoneish girl/lady with blunt spurs, anyone would think she'd put razor blades on her feet. I would rather ride Ellens horses than ones that get patted for stopping ffs while we're at it why not give them a carrot for biting and a kiss for kicking.
 
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It is a bit like the general public expecting all police officers to be saints - they are just human like you and I, they sometimes screw up, but woe betide if they do so on live national TV
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That is exactly what it's like, I haven't seen the clip but I don't believe for amoment every single person condeming Ellen has not got a bit frustrated towards a horse and done something that they may have later (once the rage has subsided) realised was a tad harsh.

I would say a few digs in the ribs with spurs is alot less offensive than taking the hand of the rein and succesively smacking the horse which is allowed under BSJA rules (to an extent)

Mountain mole-hill springs to mind.
 
Sure you may be right but then how many of us condoning not condeming ellen for her actions are professionals in the public eye at all times.

And what really upset me is she did not jab her spurs and then immeditaly feel guilty for over reactiing she continued to overreact, under the watchful eye of the television cameras.

In this instance not a great role model for all those aspiring show jumper juniors watching!

The horse was scared, it was in unknown territory it should have been patted!
 
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It is a bit like the general public expecting all police officers to be saints - they are just human like you and I, they sometimes screw up, but woe betide if they do so on live national TV
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That is exactly what it's like, I haven't seen the clip but I don't believe for amoment every single person condeming Ellen has not got a bit frustrated towards a horse and done something that they may have later (once the rage has subsided) realised was a tad harsh.

I would say a few digs in the ribs with spurs is alot less offensive than taking the hand of the rein and succesively smacking the horse which is allowed under BSJA rules (to an extent)

Mountain mole-hill springs to mind.

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she did also smack the horse 8 times...
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I think its all going a bit over the top.

If she used her whip 8 times, she wasn't beating the horse with it.

As i said earlier, i don't think her young show jumping followers would have noticed and i know my daughter has seen worse from adults at shows.

And again her horse is fine.
 
but not adults she aspires to!

That is the point a proffesional in a sport any sport particularly one that is followed by younger fans should realise that part of their job for which they are paid is a role model and represenatative of this country.

It is the same with jockeys, footballers, tennis players if they are in the public eye and they do wrong they must expect to at the very least be harshly critizied for it.

I too see far crueler people than I am sure ellen will ever be, however they are not paid for what they do and are certainly never nor likely to be under the public eye.

two wrongs do not make a right!
 
I'm not saying she was beating the horse with it - but 8 times?! when does it become excessive then - 9,10,11? I could almost understand 8 times over the course - a smack before each fence maybe but come on, if the horse isn't going off legs, spurs and a few smacks of the whip, why keep doing it?
 
I thought Ellen acted like a spoilt brat and showed what a bad sport and poor horse women she is.

I don't think she should be writing articles for Pony magazine etc as she has been seen delivering un-necessary punishment to the horse on TV and isn't a suitable role model.
 
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I've seen alot worse at local shows and to be honest i don't think many of her young followers would have noticed the dig with the spurs.

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Yes?
I cant stand the "I've seen worse" argument.
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Any person at the top of a sport sets the bar-everything they do will be seen and copied by those trying to get to the top,bad behaviour filters down as well as good.Most of those you see at local shows have got the idea bad behaviour is fine because the pros do it too...


I think children notice far more then we give them credit for-they WILL have spotted it.
 
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I think its all going a bit over the top.

If she used her whip 8 times, she wasn't beating the horse with it.

As i said earlier, i don't think her young show jumping followers would have noticed and i know my daughter has seen worse from adults at shows.

And again her horse is fine.

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I think 8 whacks IS a beating. Sorry. And just because you've seen worse (so have I, BTW) doesn't make EW's behaviour any more acceptable. I'm also sure her followers would have noticed (the same way they notice bits/nosebands/etc) and would consider it OK to behave in the same way.
 
Nope, I confess I've not seen the video (can't watch in Argentina). Now I'm very confused (more so than usual) If EW considered the horse had been unreasonably nappy (also open to debate and I can't comment as didn't witness the event) why did she not administer one or two proper smacks instead of 8 mild(ish) swats? Makes no sense
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Well, my judgement is that she gave it quite a few slaps (Say 8) then took her hand off the rein to give it a couple of harder smacks. But i suppose you'd be a bit nervous to give it a massive whallop in case the mare DID just jump off.. I imagine it's very tricky when your horse is refusing to go down that bank as you want to encourage them forward.. but not too forward!
 
Only got to atch the Derbuy last night. After some of the comments on here I was expecting to go
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Frankly it was more a case of
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Really cant see what all the fuss is about and IMHO the whole thing has been blown way out of proportion.
 
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slMhsHyts4w

here is a link to it on youtube....



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Thanks, for the link, I missed the round. The quality isn't that brilliant but I honestly could not see her deliver 2 hefty pony club style kicks as I have been led to believe happened after the reactions on this board. And I watched it a few times very closely.
 
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slMhsHyts4w

here is a link to it on youtube....



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Thanks, for the link, I missed the round. The quality isn't that brilliant but I honestly could not see her deliver 2 hefty pony club style kicks as I have been led to believe happened after the reactions on this board. And I watched it a few times very closely.

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That's because the video is from last year the comments below it are over 3 months old
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Nope, I confess I've not seen the video (can't watch in Argentina). Now I'm very confused (more so than usual) If EW considered the horse had been unreasonably nappy (also open to debate and I can't comment as didn't witness the event) why did she not administer one or two proper smacks instead of 8 mild(ish) swats? Makes no sense
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I would imagine because she didn't want the mare to leap off the top of the derby bank?
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My take on it is that her riding on top of the bank was fine - she smacked the mare a fair few times but it was not more than slaps with her hands still on the reins, and spread out over the whole time the mare was dithering, which was quite a while. IMO there was nothing excessive about it.

To be honest I agree that this whole thread is a total overreaction. I agree that Ellen should not have jabbed the mare and shown the temper that she did, but I really don't think her actions warrant being described as "evil."
 
I thought she was rather reserved, by the look on her face I thought the horse was in for a dam good hiding (who was the lad a few years ago who smacked his horse in the head with the whip?) I thought she controlled herself fairly well.
 
It was the spoilt brat face she pulled when the klaxion sounded for the elimination that spoilt it for me.
Never really been a fan, but up till then I was thinking what a good job she was making of riding what was obviously not an easy horse to ride. Even felt sorry for her at the top of the bank then the buzzer went and that face appeared. The one little girls pull when they don't get their own way, made me think of Violet Elisabeth Blott who would stamp her feet and "scream and scream until I'm sick" if she didn't get what she wanted.

She is a professional horsewoman (not a little girl) and really should be able to act in a professional way. Her reaction made me wonder what would happen to the horse once it was out of the public eye and and Iwonder how many others felt the same.
As for the way she rode it out of the ring, she was obviously annoyed and in hindsight she should have been able to control her emotions and ridden it more sympathetically
There were others who had disppointing rounds who have been mentioned on here, Trevor Breen comes to mind who only got as far as the Road Closed when his horse refused twice. He must have been bitterly disappointed but he managed to remain professional and dignified. Might be a bit biaised as am a Trevor fan (he rides my friends horse). The guy who fell off too was a good example of how a professional should behave.

I like to hope that when she had got over the disappointment EW may have felt bad about her reaction and regrets it, I am the eternal optimist and like to see the good in everyone. I suppose we are used to the Whittakers not showing any reaction, they are as a whole a very controlled bunch.
 
pinkwellies I totally agree.

You have summarised what happened very well, no she was not evil that is ott however I too was left with that fear of what she might do back in the collecting ring.

And I agree with you I too expect after the heat of the situation has blown over she will regret it and learn from it so there can be a postitive out of the whole incident.

lucky your friend to have trevor ride her horses your right he is a true profeesional as was guy (who fell off )
 
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