HOYS Supreme Horse ???!!!!

i'm not offendd at all either - i have my opinion, you have yours and everyone else also has theirs i find it very interesting!!!

to the original poster - i'm really sorry i have forgotten your name
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what is getting a tad annoying now is that you keep saying the reason you don't like the judges decision is that a "coloured cob won - end of" now this statement obviously to you justifies your distaste at the decision and explains your feelings but for most of us you need to ellaborate what you mean.

Is it coloured cobs or all cobs you don't like?

Is it all coloureds, all cobs or only the combination you don't like?

If that horse was the closest to the breed standard but the judge pulled in someone who they felt better represented british breeding would you think that was fair / right?

If the judge felt that that was the winner but their personal preferance was for say, light hacks, would you feel it was right / fair for them to pull in the light hack?

i'm not picking on you or anything i'm just really intrieged to understand your opinion!!!
 
i do like cobs as i said in my first post. They are great fun to ride and stunning to look at.

I am not a fan of coloureds but have owned one.

i just think out of all those stunning horses there would have been something much nicer. Obv the judges did think thsi was the best and fair enough. It is just not really a common type to have winnign such a prestigiuous competition- a cob for one and a coloured one at that.

In some peoples eyes as mentionned above this is a good thing - i am jsut of the opinion that i dont think it is a good thing and yes i may be prejudice but hey ho thats life-- eveyrone has an opinion and my opinion is there was nicer horses to pick form for supreme.
 
did you see the other horses?? which ones did you think were nicer??

your comment about common - do you think the same type of horse should win every year and no other should get a look in and their owners/riders will know before they even go that there horse will never be supreme even if it's the best?

should this "common" type have won even if not the best??

again i am not getting at you - just trying to understand!!

i can sort of see what you are saying *i think* because if i were to have looked at all the horses contesting for supreme and i picked out which one i LIKED best, it would NOT have been the cob because as i said, they are not my thing BUT where i fail to understand you is that i appreciate the fact that what they are judging is which horse best represents it's type (which i wouldn't know) and if that one was the best representation i'm glad it won - i want to understand why you aren't?
 
Unless of course horse showing is a bit like dog showing, sometimes it's who is at the other end of the lead that matters not the animal!
 
I can just about understand why you thought a cob shouldn't be supreme - I can see that some people (not me!) would think they are not 'quality' enough. But as for it being coloured I can't understand at all - it is either a good horse or its not - whether it is coloured doesn't made one iota of difference to its conformation, ride, movement, manners etc ...
 
I missed the Supreme but I was around to see many of the other championships. Also would like to add a few points that people may not realise.

The Supreme Horse is actually judged in the little Caldene arena. Some horses (for example Robo last year) would not settle in this arena and did not perform his best. Therefore, you may well have found that the other horses in the championship (particularly Imperator who was not settled in the main ring during his class, let alone the spooky Caldene arena), may not have shown themselves off to the best of their ability. The final presentation is done in the main ring, and providing nothing untoward happens, the decision has already been made about the winner. We were lucky enough to win the Supreme 2 years ago with Soldier Brave, and it is a nerve wracking time for all the riders.

Hunters NEVER do individual shows in normal circumstances. David Tatlow and the winner of the ladies, workers and the smalls are probably not experienced in doing individual shows, and Rob Walker undoubtedly is. At Hickstead it is easy for the hunters to get away with just doing a big gallop. In the Caldene arena they are lucky to get two strides of gallop along the long side, and are therefore unlikely to show themselves at their best.

Alistair Hood with the riding horse would have put every effort into beating Rob, as he is also a super showman on a horse - Captain Hastings has been pretty spooky at shows recently, so again he may not have performed at his best.

I don't believe that So Smart got top conformation marks in the cob class - he is a nice cob, but there are others that strip much better. However, he undoubtedly gave the judge one of the best rides of the day and deserved the win. Casanova who was 1st in the LWs and reserve champion was tired in the cob championship (I spoke to his rider after the class) She was very pleased with him, but he is a laid back little horse and had been napping after the class and just was not on top form which he would have needed to be to win against Rob's cob.

Anyway - what I am saying is the liklihood is that So Smart is NOT the best show horse in the UK, but he WAS the best show horse on Sunday evening when it counted!
 
OK, so here's a thought to chew over - are coloureds suddenly fashionable? We got a first coloured Cuddy winner (which resulted in a few dropped jaws as I remember) and now a first coloured HOYS Supreme. Actually - is the first? Showing boffins please correct me!

Anyway, I can't really get my round why "coloured cob" equals "ick" at ALL, but as someone said above at least it wasn't some godawful weasely show pony with a spoiled tot on top - now some of them really ARE the chequebook lot!

As I remember it, with all coloured horses, a judge will "colour them in" mentally so they are visualising a solid coloured horse. Hence a coloured woudl stand beside Robocob and a good judge would treat them the same.
 
Great inside info there from FMM - and you filled in my mental block - it was Captain Hastings I had tipped to win. Also very interesting to hear about the small arena and Robocob finding it hard work before - from what I know of him it makes sense. And for all the moaning I do about judges putting up horses who are badly behaved then I'd have a well-mannered ANYTHING above a rude and bolshy beauty any day!
 
Thanks FMM- you know inside out the goings on - i was making an opinion form afar!! But understand what you are saying re: on the day he was the best!

Was looking at the offical photos today and all your horses looked stunning- especially Luke Sharp- he looked amazing!
 
lets face it thought whatever opinions and i have nothing against coloureds, cobs or whatever. Showing is generally about who you are and who you are seen with. it gets like it in dressage as well. only really fair thing to do is showjumping or eventing if you knock a fence or have a stop you cant argue with that one
 
Thanks Sherwood! I am now really worried about the pics of Bob as I am positive he had his mouth open the whole time as he truly believed the whole point of going to HOYS was to p1ss off with me!
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i agree a bit - another reason my dressage mare is with a profesional dressage rider!!!
 
what is that supposed to mean??

i have a very talented horse and want to give her the best chance (and don't have time myself).

Do you own a horse? if so, someone without, who is desperate for one will say to you "it's ok for you because you can afford one" where do you stop????
a homeless person will say that it's ok for you because you can afford a house
 
To be fair there will always be those that send their horses away to professionals to achieve sucess and good luck to them if that is what they want to do. It keeps the professionals in work.

There is nothing that compares to the feeling you get when your entirely home produced horse acheives sucess though.
 
[ QUOTE ]
To be fair there will always be those that send their horses away to professionals to achieve sucess and good luck to them if that is what they want to do. It keeps the professionals in work.

There is nothing that compares to the feeling you get when your entirely home produced horse acheives sucess though.

[/ QUOTE ]

i know - i got my horse as a baby and produced her on my own up to Winter and National Championship level (dresage). So i have galloped those laps of honour with the rug and the sash on a horse that I have done EVERYTHING with (to the extent that i was the first person to put a headcollar on her).

But i now don't have enough time for her - she is way to talented to only be ridden twice a week - and so i chose this as an alternative to wasting her (selling is NOT an option). She is ten now and only went to a proffesionals two years ago so as you can see, i did alot with her and won alot so she is not there because i can't do it myself and so i 'buy' her prizes. As soon as i have the time for her, i will have her back.

I have galloped the laps of honour myself and i have sat on the front row watching as an owner - both are brilliant feelings - admittedly ridding is better but i'm sure you can appreciate either way i feel she is home produced by me.
 
woudlt you prefer a judge who is honest and not scared to place a coloured cob, i certainly would- who wanst a judge who plays it safe and who facey and places the owner and not the horse most deserving, at the end of the day, the judge thought thew horse was the best here and although breed standard must come into it, personel preference must come in too! i admire the judge for chossing a cob to win, showing that its not the usal warmbloods etc that win all the awards!
 
I'm not criticising Jem - its the way it is and like you say you dont have time to do it yourself and it does keep you in the game 'so to speak'.

I was heartened to hear you say riding is better though
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Arghhh! I just re read my earlier post about Casanova napping and I meant napping as in sleeping/dozing rather than being naughty. Hope no one has misunderstood me. Casanova is a lovely cob and I have never seen him do anything naughty!
 
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