In Defence of Ollie Townend

[dingle12]

nice to see a good thread about him

 

[MillionDollar]

Totally agree TD.

But we all have our own opinions, I for one really like OT, think he is very good for the sport and he has worked very hard to get where he is.

I don't like Louise Skelton, think she is a shocking rider, but that is MY opinion

 

[sonjafoers]

I just posted the following on the post about ACM but with hindsight maybe it's better placed on here ......


What I can comment on though is how lovely Oli was to my husband & I a few years ago at Badminton. We were walking the xc course the evening before the xc & Oli overheard my husband talking to me in his very broad Yorkshire accent, so he came up to us & asked Andy where he was from. They had a good old chat about Yorkshire and Oli then asked me if I was competing )I'm the wrong side of 40 & the wrong side of 10 stone!!) so as a joke my husband said it was him competing and asked him for the line he would take at the jump we were at! Oli knew it was a p**s take (good old Yorkshire humour) but explained the line to us and said it was a jump he was nervous of. We then walked 3 or 4 fences with him before we let him go so he could concentrate on the job in hand.

To me that wasn't a PR exercise, there was noone else there to see what he was doing & if it was to gain PR brownie points he needn't have spent so much time with us. If we hadn't have let him go I'm sure we could have walked the whole course with him.He really changed my opinion of him and I thought how genuine & down to earth he was.

Maybe he has been groomed a bit since the situation where he took his horse without saying thank you as posted earlier, or maybe he has just had to grow up being in the public eye but whatever it is he certainly didn't seem arrogant.

 

[Cyrus]

Great thread TD as I have said on other threads the guy is lovely, down to earth and has plenty of time for people, whenever we've seen him at events hes always stopped to say hello and find out how we are doing and that included this weekend at Badminton, hes great at remembering faces and details.

 

[SusieT]

If you don't pay the money for the horse in the first place + associted costs, I don't care how much 'work' you've put in, you've been lucky to have an owner support you and you will always be aware that the ride can be taken away. It's by making some money you can afford to keep your rides/ by winning that you get rides-hence the way big names get/keep rides. In racing if you are not performing you won't ride!
Hear Hear tro original post btw.

 

[Gamebird]

I can be of no possible use to Ollie, yet he is always friendly and polite whenever I see him. He does his best to be accessible to his many fans, while still working hard to establish a successful yard.
I'd like to wish Ollie the very best of luck for Lexington and the remainder of 2011

Ditto - always says hello and asks how the horses are - why on earth should he bother?

Someone I know whose opinion I respect a lot (probably more than anyone else in this game) has known him well for a lot of years and thinks a lot of him. That's enough recommendation for me.

 

[MegaBeast]

hear hear TD. Lovely that someone has come out of the woodwork and backed him. I put my oar in on the other thread in support for his actions following the fall but it has rather sunk so would like to say I whole heartedly agree with what you said.

He's not the only rider who has done things they regret to get where they are now. And unfortunately he's had to be somewhat more commercial than many in order to survive which seems to have upset some.

fwiw, I can't remember who now, but it's one of the top riders who's written an autobiography commented in it that they'd ruined a few horses on their way to the top. I don't think it's uncommon at all and is part of the learning process (doesn't make it right, but it happens). Not that I'm saying OT has ruined ACM by any stretch but everyone makes mistakes and hindsight is a wonderful thing.

 

[sakura]

I met Ollie a few months ago, he was very friendly and had the time to talk about badminton and kentucky, I'm gutted it didn't go right for him this year, but I wish him all the best for the rest of the season

I think he's fab!

 

[Weezy]

Great thread I was so very disappointed for Oli when they fell, it was the last thing anyone wanted to see happen again

 

[jenki13]

Although the one event where I met Oli, he made far from a good impression, this was a few years ago & if I met him again I would reassess my view.

He does seem to be a good rider, even when I watched him at said event I could see that he was riding well. There were a couple of horses that left a leg at a fence the difference being that they didn't end up falling, it was a combination of bad luck & possibly a slight lack of experience (in knowing that the horse is tiring too much) that caused the fall. Its not something you'd wish on anyone, the horse especially!

 

[diggerbez]

totally agree TD. i really like Ollie- i think he comes across really well and at least he's been honest about how he's acquired rides- i bet a lot of that goes on behind the scenes that nobody ever hears about! also- who on here has a business? i bet you ring up people and try to sell them things when they might already have a supplier or whatever- this is really no different! yes, very sad for the original rider i am sure, but unless you own the horse yourself then that is always a possibility and something that comes with the territory of riding professionally.... if i was spending a lot of money on a horse then i would want to see it on the biggest stage with a big name rider... i know his style of riding doesn't suit every horse- but that is the same with lots of other riders and across the disciplines, surely??

the only criticism i have of OT....is that blimmin champions tour thing he did with Geoff B! 2 hours of my life i'll never get back

 

[popsdosh]

Although the one event where I met Oli, he made far from a good impression, this was a few years ago & if I met him again I would reassess my view.

He does seem to be a good rider, even when I watched him at said event I could see that he was riding well. There were a couple of horses that left a leg at a fence the difference being that they didn't end up falling, it was a combination of bad luck & possibly a slight lack of experience (in knowing that the horse is tiring too much) that caused the fall. Its not something you'd wish on anyone, the horse especially!

I have in the past had a horse with Ollie and cannot think of anybody within the sport that I respect or trust more.He always goes out of his way to talk and ask how things are.I am afraid a lot of people dont appreciate his tell it as it is attitude,but I am afraid I have been involved in eventing and racing for many years it is so refreshing to meet somebody who is prepared to tell you the truth.
His riding style gets a lot of criticism I think mostly from people who will be no more than average.It does not always look BHS but it is effective and has come from having to ride some very indifferent horses on the way up which is the same for any up and coming riders.
As for the pinching rides you show me a rider at his level who does not do it.I could tell stories about a lot of the top riders who use worse tactics than OT.Perhaps some riders need to do more to keep their owners happy ,we put a lot of money in for very little back.
I would never remove a horse from a yard just because a name wants the ride,however some owners will but you have to ask are they the owners you need anyhow.In the owners defence when you have a horse you think will go further you really have to make a difficult decision as to whether your horse will achieve it with the rider its with.
Sorry I have got a bit off topic but be assured you will not find a better or more approachable ambassador for the sport so stop knocking him unless you can do better.

 

[henryhorn]

I've only met him once when he joined our table and was polite, friendly and very unnasuming.
My daughter however when working as an eventing groom was regularly parked next to him for up to a week at events, and says he is ok. Take it from me, any gossip and the eventing grooms know the lot...!
His reputation for pinching rides may well be justified, but it goes on all the time, usually in secret. How many people sidle up to owners and suggest what a shame their horse didn't do better due to their rider? You can't tell me in say the motor racing world all the owners don't want the best drivers in their cars.
It's a fact the top riders get offered better horses than those lower down and if you had a very talented horse you're likely to choose a name rather than Joe Bloggs..not just for the prestige but for the monetary value they will add to your horse by riding it.
He is a very talented rider who has made his own way, and does I think get too much stick, I am sure looking back all of us can say we wished we hadn't done certain things that way or the other, but that's life isn't it.
There are a few professionals in the sport who if half was known about their methods the public would be horrified (no-one daughter has ever worked for I must add) and everyone needs to remember what you see on the competition day isn't always what goes on at home, just because you see someone pat their horse and lead it back to their box themselves doesn't mean they haven't beaten the hell out of it previously ..
The crit OT received for not leading his horse back was ludicrous, that isn't indicative of how he cares for his horses I'm sure, and to judge someone for something as insignificate as that when feeling pants in front of several million people watching
isn't fair.

 

[ihatework]

I've stayed out of all these threads as I only got to watch the BBC highlights last night, and even then obviously only saw the edits.

The OT/ACM coverage I saw I thought the horse looked very fit at the beginning and that OT gave him a really good ride. IMO OT really has improved loads over the last few years and is now looking to be one of the best Brits on the circuit.

Up until the point that ACM fell it wasn't as obvious to me that the horse was as exhausted as he actually was. TBH Mark Todds horse looked on it's knees, yet was nursed home and came out well the next day. Perhaps the difference between the two is purely that when ACM is tired he gets sloppy/looses confidence?

The driving force behind many horses at this level is the owners, and that includes who rides the horse and how hard they want it pushed in the persuit of glory. At the end of the day they are paying the bills and the rider is providing them with a service. I know that sounds a bit harsh but is what things boil down to.

I do hope that the owners & OT manage to really evaluate what went wrong, then do whatever is the right thing to bring back out a fit and confident ACM because this horse is obviously a talented one.

 

[HHusername]

in my humble opinion, having watched ollie's ride at badminton, the horse just gets a bit sloppy and got away with a couple of mistakes before letting fatigue get the better of him, nothing wrong with how ollie rode, i know a bit more about the racing industry and have seen jockeys push for the last couple of fences time and time again only to fall because the horse is too tired, and i don't believe acm was too tired, possibly ollie's mistake was to sit too quiet going into that log. another well known rider lifted their stick at that point and gave the horse a slap each stride for 3 or 4 strides to that log, and cleared it and got home...
nor do i think it is a problem to go looking for rides, all jockeys do it, most of them will have agents to do the asking but they are not beyond asking for themselves. it only becomes unsporting if they are telling untruths to get the ride.
i do agree that a lot of the time the person who rides the horse all the time and has built a relationship with them, knows them the best, not the armchair experts who make decisions based on 5 minutes watching a pressured event. as people who love horses, we are all very opinionated, but we also need to remember that we don't always know everything there is to know about what's happening in front of us.

 

[Gingerwitch]

I just wish I could ride as well as him on his worst ever day and i will never have the talent or guts to go over the fences that he does. Most of the crisism is coming from the female on here, now in my experiance men deal with things differently - how come we accept that with mares, geldings and stallions - why on earth not the human race. If it had been my OH after crashing a bike or car in front of 100's of folks he would have walked away and let the marshalls take it away, and probably kicked the tires too ! - not because he is up his own backend, he wont care that he has just crashed a piece of kit that is going to cost a fortune to repair - but he is so bloody angry with himself for making a stupid mistake, and male pride comes in - now put a male in this postion that has potentially injured an animal - imagine how he feels then - I would much rather have seen him walk away - nursing his pride, his anger, and probably a bit winded and dazed pumping full of adrenaline and dissapointment and tears than to grab the reins and drag the poor thing behind him - wouldn't you?

And as a final point - would you like to be on the receving end of this thread ?

 

[_jetset_]

I have not read all the replies on here, nor do I know much about what has happened to cause this thread to appear as I have not been on here that much recently.

However, I just wanted to add that to Ollie, eventing is a business. It has to bring in an income and each year have a profit margin, just like any other company. Believe me, my heart goes out to the people who lose their rides to other competitors because the owners have been approached, but again, like any other business I think this is acceptable.

How many of us, in business, have stole a competitor's customer by offering a lower price, better options or improved statistics. Also, how many of those 'offers' were a little bit exaggerated to get the business in the first place? In business, sales is cut throat and that is why it is not for everyone. I for one would not like to be based in a sales job where your commission is your bread and butter. But for these riders, the commission is the ride itself and the notority they can get from winning a big competition on such a horse.

So, although I do think there needs to be a bit more tact etc. used in the horse world as these are not just companies, they are living breathing animals who we all get attached to no matter how hard we try not to, but at the end of the day we also need to understand that for people like Ollie, this is a business and needs to be treated as such.

 

[georgie0]

I think that it is an easy thing to judge people who are very visable in the public eye, but the sheer hard work and effort it takes to get a horse to that level is incredible. In the past, maybe he hasn't made the best decisions in the world, but who has?! Who can honestly say that they haven't suffered from a lack of judgement occasionally? The difference is, OT does it publicly and people seem to find him very easy to judge, perhaps because of his riding style or the fact his ambition is very obvious. TBH, i think he has got some serious b*lls! Good luck to him, and with regards to ringing owners about the ride on their horses, if they are happy with the rider they have, they don't need to worry. If you don't ask, you don't get and for someone who has had to work their way to the top it could mean the difference between a successful career or not.

 

[Solo1]

I did work experience at the yard where Splash was originally from, so I've heard that side of the story very thoroughly, including other reasons for him moving rather than just a more famous rider, including stories from an ex-head groom of his that quit. My opinion of him as a sportsman and person is very, very low.

Having said that, I do think his riding is excellent, and saw no real errors in the way he rode Splash. He just seemed to lack the usual thrill and positivity he usually has, which unfortunatly for him ended the wrong way.

 

[jenki13]

I have in the past had a horse with Ollie and cannot think of anybody within the sport that I respect or trust more.He always goes out of his way to talk and ask how things are.I am afraid a lot of people dont appreciate his tell it as it is attitude,but I am afraid I have been involved in eventing and racing for many years it is so refreshing to meet somebody who is prepared to tell you the truth.
His riding style gets a lot of criticism I think mostly from people who will be no more than average.It does not always look BHS but it is effective and has come from having to ride some very indifferent horses on the way up which is the same for any up and coming riders.
As for the pinching rides you show me a rider at his level who does not do it.I could tell stories about a lot of the top riders who use worse tactics than OT.Perhaps some riders need to do more to keep their owners happy ,we put a lot of money in for very little back.
I would never remove a horse from a yard just because a name wants the ride,however some owners will but you have to ask are they the owners you need anyhow.In the owners defence when you have a horse you think will go further you really have to make a difficult decision as to whether your horse will achieve it with the rider its with.
Sorry I have got a bit off topic but be assured you will not find a better or more approachable ambassador for the sport so stop knocking him unless you can do better.

In my case I can assure you it had nothing to do with his tell it as it is attitude. I was a marshall in the xc collecting ring for a local BE event & he was plain rude to myself & the other helpers. As I said if I met him again, I would be willing to change my view of him in that respect, if it turns out he is a darn sight more mature nowadays. I hope, & it seems that he is, however my view won't change until I experience it. I assure you I act with respect to helpers when competing in any sport as I know these events can't run without them.

I also said he was a good rider, I don't knock him on that front. A lot of the horses that went round it was said they had been produced originally by so-and-so up to a certain level, I doubt most of these gave up the rides willingly to the top names. But the owners want their horse to perform at the top & with a top name so they switch if one comes along & asks for the ride, I don't doubt that it happens all the time.

 

[stencilface]

I'm not sure of some of his riding, but I like him as he seems to be one of the only ones they regularly interview who sounds like me

I think that for joe public its important to have people that have different accents, to banish the 'posh people only' image of the sport

I'm not bashing people with plummy accents either, variety is the spice of life eh?

 

[Princess1]

I am just so glad that I did not ride around Badminton on Sunday!! If I had, who KNOWS what cruel words would have been written?!

It must be absolutely heartbreaking for the rider, the owner and all connections involved to stumble across such critical, assuming and unfriendly words. (very easy to find if you are searching on google.)

How does the blow to your self-confidence, and hurt that it may cause, bear any remote resemblance to "Constructive Criticism", and I mean this in reference not only to OT, but all riders who are attacked on HHO!!

I really find this form of anonymous criticism extremely odd. People just jump on a bandwagon without having any sort of personal connection or relevant experience. I find it bizarre that people are this frenzied about a situation. If I was this passionate about it, I would actually do something constructive about it, instead of talking about it on a forum.

I think it is downright odd that people feel that they can be so hugely judgemental. Why are people so obsessed about sounding knowledgable!!

Good Luck Oli!!

 

[NR99]

And as a final point - would you like to be on the receving end of this thread ?

Just to be clear, OP did not want this as an Oli bashing thread. TD Knows him and felt this thread should balance out the other as she thought the other was harsh. Sadly tis the t'internet and people don't read that and think ok not a post for me, I'll move on.

 

[TableDancer]

Just to be clear, OP did not want this as an Oli bashing thread. TD Knows him and felt this thread should balance out the other as she thought the other was harsh. Sadly tis the t'internet and people don't read that and think ok not a post for me, I'll move on.

Thank you NR, you are so right

 

[moon_drop]

Good on you TD!!

Firstly I would like to clear up the story from the ACM tread about oliver at burgie a few years ago. That was the day i first met Oliver because I was the jump judge at the fence he fell at, Yes he was out of order the way he behaved but as soon as he had gotten the horse back to the D box he came straight back up the hill to say sorry for the way he behaved! That night he bought me a drink and was lovely all night we even had a dance and he was very upset with himself for being a tit!!! His words !

I have run in to oliver many times since then and every time he has gone out of his way to came over and say hello, ask how things are going. Oliver is a lovely person who I think a lot of as a person and as a rider. You see what you get with Oliver and he says what he thinks.

Oliver is or has been in the past a member of this forum!! I am 99% sure the person with ACM in the photo is Oliver dad Alan.

 

[NR99]

Good on you TD!!

Firstly I would like to clear up the story from the ACM tread about oliver at burgie a few years ago. That was the day i first met Oliver because I was the jump judge at the fence he fell at, Yes he was out of order the way he behaved but as soon as he had gotten the horse back to the D box he came straight back up the hill to say sorry for the way he behaved! That night he bought me a drink and was lovely all night we even had a dance and he was very upset with himself for being a tit!!! His words !

I have run in to oliver many times since then and every time he has gone out of his way to came over and say hello, ask how things are going. Oliver is a lovely person who I think a lot of as a person and as a rider. You see what you get with Oliver and he says what he thinks.

Oliver is or has been in the past a member of this forum!! I am 99% sure the person with ACM in the photo is Oliver dad Alan.

Exactly Moon-Drop haven't we all suffered in the past from a mistake in the heat of the moment, sensible people put it right as OT did.

This is why I find dragging up all sort of past events with riders is futile and unneccessary. What people don't seem to realise is it is their career you could be damaging, particularly when as has already been mentioned Ollie's marketing team are working very hard with merchandising etc so he makes monies in other ways to negate the need for the ways used in the past.

 

[moon_drop]

Your right bring up the past dose no one any good, there's always 2 sides to a story! As for burgie I know what It looked like that day so did Oliver and it wasn't good. He did his best to put it right. That was the last year I jump judge at burgie because of the way the top riders where towards us as jump judges, Oliver was the only one out of all the pros to put it right.
That's a story for another day!

I do think awful lot of Oliver and have alot of time for him. I know how much work and thought goes into everything he does.

Although he gets a hard time on here he's even harder on himself!

 

[YorkshireLady]

Have to say that I think he has grown up a lot after the Kentucky fall etc...

though he just has a natural strong competitive streak that will sometimes work in his favour and sometimes against him

he is prob a marmite rider

 

[CalllyH]

My opinion of him as a sportsman and person is very, very low ay.

yep I hear ya

 

[equischool]

Only a couple of weeks back at Burnham Market, I was walking the long walk back from filming the morning dressage to the SJ and had passed about 4-5 riders heading back up the hill to the afternoon dressage, when one passed and asked politely how I was and if I was having a good day, I replied great thank you, yes I am and continued for about 3 paces before realising it was Ollie, so I called back, how long before he was due to start and he told me about 20 minutes...so I turned around and went back and filmed him. Point being, no other rider had spoke to me (and why should they, they do not know me) but he did and it is small things like that which make a great deal of difference for the positive image of the sport.