topical
New User
I have been reading the threads on OFOH and would love to let you know real facts.
1. The Horses lived like royalty under the supervision of possibly the best head girl worldwide, the grooms all worked very hard but must have come away with more knowledge in the short time they had than many will learn in years, every professional needed was there on site not at the end of a phone. The sort of care we would all love to provide for our own horses.
2. The horses did not get over ridden and over jumped. The courses got tested for lighting, sound and camera's with stand in horses and riders, I can think of many riding schools which are run very professionally whose horses work much harder. The horses did work hard but not to the extreme of being over worked and over jumped. Tim or Fred would never have allowed this to happen they are true professionals dedicated to making the horses there priority with the celebs a very very close second.
3. The fences eventually became = advanced joker 1.25mtrs, intermediate 1.10mtrs novice 1.mtr. comments about measureing with a stick pushed into the surface are to be treated with the contempt they deserve.
4. As in the real world some horse / rider partnerships developed well others fell apart, some riders became to be able to read and feel their horses needs and actions and many horses became to love and respect their jockeys helping them out where they had been able to but again in 6 weeks they all worked wonders. To suggest the voting / results was fixed is also utter rubbish, voting was all about choice, the general public voted for their favorite celeb on the night while horsey viewers voted on the partnership, we are fortunate to see the bigger picture which included the horse not just the rider.
My personal view is that the winner and runner up deserved to win but all contestants showed dedication and bravery to the cause. how many of us could have kept going and achieved that standard in just 6 weeks?
The presenters chosen for both programmes made the shows appealing to a wide spectrum of viewers, Angus Deacon gave us humour, Kirsty Gallagher Glamour, June Sarpong & Dave Berry a young fun alternative, non horsey viewers never felt like they had been left out expected to know horsey facts, Mike Tucker also explained in detail the jumps and Tim Stockdale and Claire Balding gave viewers the run down on what went right or wrong and why.
The judges also had a huge input to the success of the show
As for the reaction to the judges this was encouraged and was for fun, this is entertainment us horsey folk need to lighten up and not be so serious it's was show business after all.
As for the venue if they had not have said it was Unex Towerlands would you have guessed ? even though Towerlands has always been the best indoor UK centre it has had a recently undergone a substantial facelift under the Gredly family who have added many features to the centre which can only benefit anyone who loves competition be it show jumping, showing, dressage or western infact all equestrian disciplins but the arena dressing, how glam was that.
I must make it clear I love show jumping in it's present format however whilst the programme did not particually follow BSJA rules it has made the general public want more showjumping and that has to be good and can only be for the development of the sport. Life is all about change and I believe the format of just a few riders rather than 25+ as in BSJA & FEI show jumping (HOYS, Hickstead & Olympia) makes good general viewing which appeals to the masses, lets face it television is about appealing to the masses and fingers crossed someone comes up with a similar formula to this show to encourage the programme makers/ investors to put show jumping back on main stream TV , it would be fantastic to promote equestrianism in all directions. We will then all benefit from this as it should bring back the sponsors to enable the sport to move on.
Thank You . BBC 1, BBC 3 Sports Relief & Endemol UK.
I enjoyed every moment both on site and on TV.
1. The Horses lived like royalty under the supervision of possibly the best head girl worldwide, the grooms all worked very hard but must have come away with more knowledge in the short time they had than many will learn in years, every professional needed was there on site not at the end of a phone. The sort of care we would all love to provide for our own horses.
2. The horses did not get over ridden and over jumped. The courses got tested for lighting, sound and camera's with stand in horses and riders, I can think of many riding schools which are run very professionally whose horses work much harder. The horses did work hard but not to the extreme of being over worked and over jumped. Tim or Fred would never have allowed this to happen they are true professionals dedicated to making the horses there priority with the celebs a very very close second.
3. The fences eventually became = advanced joker 1.25mtrs, intermediate 1.10mtrs novice 1.mtr. comments about measureing with a stick pushed into the surface are to be treated with the contempt they deserve.
4. As in the real world some horse / rider partnerships developed well others fell apart, some riders became to be able to read and feel their horses needs and actions and many horses became to love and respect their jockeys helping them out where they had been able to but again in 6 weeks they all worked wonders. To suggest the voting / results was fixed is also utter rubbish, voting was all about choice, the general public voted for their favorite celeb on the night while horsey viewers voted on the partnership, we are fortunate to see the bigger picture which included the horse not just the rider.
My personal view is that the winner and runner up deserved to win but all contestants showed dedication and bravery to the cause. how many of us could have kept going and achieved that standard in just 6 weeks?
The presenters chosen for both programmes made the shows appealing to a wide spectrum of viewers, Angus Deacon gave us humour, Kirsty Gallagher Glamour, June Sarpong & Dave Berry a young fun alternative, non horsey viewers never felt like they had been left out expected to know horsey facts, Mike Tucker also explained in detail the jumps and Tim Stockdale and Claire Balding gave viewers the run down on what went right or wrong and why.
The judges also had a huge input to the success of the show
As for the reaction to the judges this was encouraged and was for fun, this is entertainment us horsey folk need to lighten up and not be so serious it's was show business after all.
As for the venue if they had not have said it was Unex Towerlands would you have guessed ? even though Towerlands has always been the best indoor UK centre it has had a recently undergone a substantial facelift under the Gredly family who have added many features to the centre which can only benefit anyone who loves competition be it show jumping, showing, dressage or western infact all equestrian disciplins but the arena dressing, how glam was that.
I must make it clear I love show jumping in it's present format however whilst the programme did not particually follow BSJA rules it has made the general public want more showjumping and that has to be good and can only be for the development of the sport. Life is all about change and I believe the format of just a few riders rather than 25+ as in BSJA & FEI show jumping (HOYS, Hickstead & Olympia) makes good general viewing which appeals to the masses, lets face it television is about appealing to the masses and fingers crossed someone comes up with a similar formula to this show to encourage the programme makers/ investors to put show jumping back on main stream TV , it would be fantastic to promote equestrianism in all directions. We will then all benefit from this as it should bring back the sponsors to enable the sport to move on.
Thank You . BBC 1, BBC 3 Sports Relief & Endemol UK.
I enjoyed every moment both on site and on TV.
