European show jumping team

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lolobundo

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the four riders representing team GBR are Geoff Billington and Rosinus, Ben Maher and Robin Hood, Peter Charles and Murka Pom D'Ami and Tim Stockdale and Fresh Direct Corlato
 
Not exactly an athlete is he? I bet his lung capacity is crap. IMO its about time british SJ had an overhaul. Too many fat, unfit men involved. Never mind whingeing we dont have the horses. How about making the riders taking their performance seriously? No fags, no booze, get them fit and supple and then the horses might go a bit better. There is a tiny differnce between gold and nowhere these days and rider performance could easily make up that difference.

If you had a topclass horse who would you choose to ride it? An overweight, unfit rider that wouldnt look out of place in a country pub or a lean, supple one that can ride several rounds without even so much as a hint of heavy breathing? you dont need to be einstein to work that one out.
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i bet geoff's alot fitter than you think and at least he adds a bit of fun to the sport and makes it seem a bit more accessible
 
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Not exactly an athlete is he? I bet his lung capacity is crap. IMO its about time british SJ had an overhaul. Too many fat, unfit men involved. Never mind whingeing we dont have the horses. How about making the riders taking their performance seriously? No fags, no booze, get them fit and supple and then the horses might go a bit better. There is a tiny differnce between gold and nowhere these days and rider performance could easily make up that difference.

If you had a topclass horse who would you choose to ride it? An overweight, unfit rider that wouldnt look out of place in a country pub or a lean, supple one that can ride several rounds without even so much as a hint of heavy breathing? you dont need to be einstein to work that one out.
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One with that experience and the ability to see a stride from 10 out would do me nicely!
 
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If you had a topclass horse who would you choose to ride it? An overweight, unfit rider that wouldnt look out of place in a country pub or a lean, supple one that can ride several rounds without even so much as a hint of heavy breathing? you dont need to be einstein to work that one out.
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I'd go for Geoff any day rather than an overweight, unfit rider.
 
teddyt, at a press conference before he went to the Olympics with Its Otto a journalist quipped along similar lines to you. Geoff got straight down on the floor and did 50 press ups, i was told, and challenged the guy to do the same thing. he says he's not fat, he's "just a funny shape"... his legs are slim (most fat guys have chunky legs imho) and i bet he weighs a lot less than you'd think, and is a lot fitter than you'd believe.
i am dead against fat riders, especially fat eventers, i can be a right cow about it with pleasure (fit tbs expected to lump someone huge at speed around 4 miles drives me to distraction) but i don't think Geoff's shape is remotely relevant when it comes to his riding ability, and sj is not the endurance test than eventing is.
he can see a stride from way out and has a LOT of experience, that'll do for me too.
 
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Not exactly an athlete is he? I bet his lung capacity is crap.

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What on earth gives you the right to say something like that? Are you his doctor? No? Well shut the hell up then
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Jaysus, this comment has riled me more than any other I have ever seen on here
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As for the "heavy breathing" - surely that is expected from a gentleman of that age when surrounded with the abundance of pretty young ladies in modern show jumping!

ETA: Apologies for lowering the tone of this post...
 
I love that he did that! (the 50 press-ups thing). Though I am sure GB is delighted to be known as "the cabaret of British show jumping", he is after all world-class sportsman and it must get pretty tiresome to have people critiquing his physique, age, shape etc. I personally love the fact that the equestrian sports allow for people to have a career after the age of 30 and for results not to be directly linked to a specific type of physique (humans, not equine - I guess there is a bit more norm there!)
 
hear hear little_flea.
as for implying that lots of British sjer are that big and unfit - WHO? seriously? not the Whitakers, not Tim Stockdale, not Geoff imho.
i seem to recall Hugo Simon being a less-than-svelte shape and still doing brilliantly...
 
It is very rare that I ever post but I found the comment so offensive that I have pinched my husband's log in to respond! I have been with Geoff at 2 Top Level Nations Cups this year and he was certainly more than fit enough to do the job brilliantly. He is a genuine crowd pleaser as well as a horseman and we need more of those for our sport.

Can we please just get behind the team and cheer them on rather than make bitchy comments.
 
and now penelope is out for the french that has opened the contest up a bit...... the Dutch are looking better and better to retain their title imo
 
Actually, my comments werent meant to be bitchy but maybe i made my point rather bluntly. No, i am not an international show jumper but i am someone that has researched rider performance at elite level (including fitness testing elite riders/trainers and producing research used to prepare olympic teams). Some heavier riders may be able to see a stride from 20 or more away and they may be experienced. But how much better could they be if they were more supple, more fit and in better shape? That is my point.

I am not arguing that he is a crowd pleaser. He is, but that doesnt win medals. I am not saying that he isnt an excellent rider with alot of experience. He is. But how much better could he (or a similar rider) be if he was of athletic build. He would be more flexible for a start.

Being good fun, experienced and able to see a stride are all excellent attributes for a show jumper, i agree. But personally that isnt 'enough' for me. Even if Britain were winning loads of medals in SJ (which they arent) they would constantly have to look for ways to stay at the top of the game, others are never far behind. You have to constantly look for ways to optimise performance, not just accept that youve got the best available, so thats ok. You need to look how you can make the best better.

I am not disputing that british show jumpers arent good but in recent years they are not good enough, as it has been along time since they were at the top internationally. Hence i think an overhaul is overdue. Equestrian sports are way behind other sports in their use of sports medicine and sports science. The british eventers are embracing it now, to their benefit. Maybe the show jumpers should do the same?
 
Has anyone noticed that since riders have cut down on the drink, we have not won medals or championships Perhaps a good p... up before a show should be included in the lottery funding
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Perhaps sports medicine is not so important for riders as you rely upon a partnership, the horse (perhaps science can be used to help them without contravening drug regulations). Instead of wasting money on sports medicine for riders (most of which are fit enough), it should be spent on better shows to develop horse and riders.

As pointed out there are some larger riders that win championships and adapt their style of riding to suit.
 
when it comes down to it, our sports are unique in that it is another creature that is doing all the really hard work. in no other sport could those in their 50s and 60s still be at the top of the game internationally. if any of these guys were FAT it would be a different matter of course, but if they can do a great job just as they are, i cannot see the reason to criticise.
teddyt, do you really think E.T. would have jumped better if Hugo Simon had been more flexible?!
 
I can understand both sides of the argument to be honest. There is no denying that our current team do not look like finely tuned athletes and I particularly thought that of Nick Skelton at the Olympics but I do not believe this hinders their ability.

I do agree though that modern sport has moved on from the fall out the pub onto the track mentality and to me irrespective of performance it smacks of old boy SJer's stuck in a time warp and showing an unwillingness to embrace modern thinking.
Even if they are fit does it not hurt to help the horse out a little more by being slim, trim and nimble.

We're allright as we are Jack is a very old fashioned view when you're winning, less so when you're not.
 
Last time we had a Championship team without a Whitaker was 2002 WEG.

As others have said, Geoff is much fitter than teddyt seems to think. His build is such that he would never have been sylph-like - he is broad-backed and has short legs. As such he never looks elegant as for example Ben Maher and Jos Lansink do.
 
This evening's show jumping - is it the usual championship procedure of the first leg against the clock? We are off to watch which itself will be against the clock by the time I finish work!
 
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