Jennifer Saunders, anyone been watching??

MandyMoo

MandyMoo

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Just wondered if any of you guys had been watching the programme on itv the past 2 weeks? :) I have, and it raised some questions and musings......do you reckon it has helped our sport or hindered it/put a rather upper class 'stamp' on all things horsey?? (Considering she ended up at all the big estates/horse shows and interviewed all s country/horsey folk....and we heard a lot of 'one would say this...' and 'one would say that...' :p

I did enjoy the programme, but also I did however, with all respect to Jennifer, think it painted a false image to the general 'non horsey' public that just anyone can ride.....and seeing as she has very little training and was a bit of a passenger on her trusty steed Jack...she still got round the course of fences just fine...if a little messy, and clear - does anyone feel this will fuel the annoying non horsey people that badger on about ''horse riding isn't hard..you just sit there..anyone can do it..!'' or do you think it did quite the contrary and showed she had to have training for it??

Having said that I did thoroughly enjoy the programme, and Jennifer's hosting and humour (I do love her, from the good old Ab Fab days :p) - it really put a lovely image onto the horsey world...and all the little things that make it what it is, for example; the smell of a brand new body brush :D


thoughts?

apologies if i'm talking absolute drivel...I am rather sleepy !!!
 
i watched it and thourgly enjoyed it - its been a long day so cant say i watched it thinking it was detromental but i can - now you've mentioned it - there was a lot of 'one believes. . ' but i thought it was funny when old peter charles said 'us showjumpers are nothing loke the poncy dressage and eventers' or something to that effect!!
 
I really enjoyed it too. I do see what you mean about it painting a picture about making horse riding look 'easy' to non-horsey people but I think they thought that anyway. I always get comments about 'you just sit there don't you. The horse does the real work' and the like :rolleyes: but having seen it all now all I think is fair play to her for giving it a go! And whilst yes, jack looked like a saint who would jump anything you put in from of him she still had real guts to give it a go after such a long break. And she did pretty well too :-) its certainly given me a bit of a kick up the bum to do more with my girl, kind of an 'if she can do it after that long why cant I?' Lol I agree the humour part of your post too Mandymoo, another big fan of Ab
 
I enjoyed it but was slightly disappointed with last nights episode. There was too much talking to high end people and less of her riding and having lessons etc. She was gutsy though jumping at such a high profile event.

I was also curious how it would have worked if the Grassroots had been held, as surely she hadn't qualified to enter that. The Eventers Challenge event she did in the end looked fun though.
 
Overall I really enjoyed the 2 programmes, although I was very slightly disappointed with last night's episode compared to the first. The hat she wore for the dressage test was definitely not up to BE standards..... and can you have your test called for Eventers Challenges? (not sure, I only know eventing rules). I'm being picky here though and I did enjoy the programmes and her enthusiasm for it all. Well done to her (and Jack)!
 
LeannePip said:
i watched it and thourgly enjoyed it - its been a long day so cant say i watched it thinking it was detromental but i can - now you've mentioned it - there was a lot of 'one believes. . ' but i thought it was funny when old peter charles said 'us showjumpers are nothing loke the poncy dressage and eventers' or something to that effect!!
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LOL they are all up in arms about that comment in New Lounge!

I loved the programme, what horsey person wouldn't? :D I did cringe slightly when she was with the owners downing wine on the lawn, thought it made the lifestyle 'rich' when over half of all riders are actually very skint slaves to their horses! I thought they could have made more emphasis on that side of the sport.

However I *love* JS and thought she came across really well, and really portrayed the passion us horsey people have! (Horsey people are so weird, getting all excited over bits, body brushes and straps of leather!) :D
 
I thought it was a good programme although not enough of JS riding in yesterdays episode.

What was with the Beagler??? I am surprised she was allowed to wear it.

And what was with the calling of the test? didn't think that was allowed either.

Maybe they were two different shows mashed together?

Are you allowed to ride a horse that has qualified for grassroots? is this why she coudl ride Jack had badminton run? thought it was rider/horse combo. if so, BE must have given special permission.

Was nice to watch though. Any horse programme on tv is promoting the sports so can't be a bad thing!
 
Think people have to remember that this is a TV show and producers arrange things that wouldn't normally happen, like taking part in a Grassroots event when you haven't qualified for example, for the sake of being able to make the show The organisers will just have slotted her in without it having any effect on all those riders who have qualified. As for shouting the test, Im sure they knew she was not in serious contention with the other competitors and again the show organisers will have allowed this for the purposes of filming.

I thought it was a very enjoyable show, and it showed her being very nervous but loving it which was an honest reflection of how many of us feel competing. And as someone said previously, people who think horse riding is easy and the horse does all the work are always going to think like that....until they try it. Which hopefully some of them will after watching it.
 
I must admit I was a bit dissapointed with it really. I know is wasn't aimed at people with horsey knowledge as such but it really didn't give a true reflection of what training and competing is like and I think it has done no favours in changing joe publics view that horse riding is for rich toffs and that it is an easy sport to master - although granted I don't think peoples perceptions will ever change in that sense :(

I was also disspointed with the way the sj'ers came across. Not much of it came across as tongue in cheek to me!

But what a lovely horse Jack is :) he really looked after jennifer and I applaud her for having a go!
 
I really enjoyed it. I think it is good for equestrianism as people will see it and think 'if she can do it, so can I!' and they will give it a go :).
 
I thoroughly enjoyed it and I did think it was good, but it certainly didn't break the horsey stereotype. Talking to all the upper class officials with the typical accents, champagne receptions at Houghton, designer gear, typical Pony Club families etc it just re-confirmed to the non-horsey public that the sport is elitist and only for the rich. There was rarely any talk about how hard this sport is financially and about how most of us riders do struggle with money and do make a lot of sacrifices. It also almost re-confirmed the idea that you need to have been doing it from a young age (Jennifer herself rode as a youngster, lots of emphasis on families with children riding from a young age etc etc) and it didn't make the sport look particularly accessible.

Saying that I absolutely love Jennifer Saunders, she's a fabulous character and I did find it so funny - the amount of things said and done that I could relate to was hilarious (but many non-horsey folk certainly wouldn't have connected with it so much I don't think). Jack is a super horse and it was nice to see her achieve what she wanted to do... but it did seem that almost anyone can get out there, sit on a horse and do a competition like that when in actual fact it takes years to get to that standard and be able to do that. Obviously she had it all handed to her on a plate which is understandable given who she is and for the programme, but I think a little more emphasis on how this isn't the case for everyone and where you can start (maybe a visit to a riding school would have helped) and the financial commitment, responsibility and hard work that goes into owning a horse! But I understand that the programme was focussed around Jennifer getting back in the saddle and not really anyone else, however it would have been nice to have had that link.

With regards to her Grassroots entry she was going to enter HC, thus she didn't need to qualify.

Overall a good programme though and I did thoroughly enjoy it, but I can't say the same for non-horsey folk I don't think!
 
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georgiegirl said:
I must admit I was a bit dissapointed with it really. I know is wasn't aimed at people with horsey knowledge as such but it really didn't give a true reflection of what training and competing is like and I think it has done no favours in changing joe publics view that horse riding is for rich toffs and that it is an easy sport to master - although granted I don't think peoples perceptions will ever change in that sense :(
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I have to say I disagree - I think a lot of people think that the riders are all toffs who have been born with a silver spoon in their mouths but the programme went to great lengths to point out that its actually the owners who have all the money, not the riders but there is still money to be made by the riders as in a wage - as Tim Stockdale pointed out he has to win 4k a week before he can even take a salary - so I think it actually goes a way to dispelling the myth of "only rich people can ride to that level"

I also think that if you specifically pointed out exactly how much training went into these horses that most people who are non horsey would say bugger that and not bother - and this show was aimed at non horsey people I imagine to encourage more people into riding, not scare them away. It wasn't a show that set out the show just how much hard work goes into training a horse and it wasn't setting out to reassure Joe Public that we all have easy times of it in the show ring - it was trying to say to people "look, this horse riding is fun, come try it you might even like it"
 
Well I enjoyed it... apart from the SJ'er who said eventers and dressagers are rubbish.

JS is not a toff, so I think that this helped in that sense. I me personally, I like the owners tents etc, it makes it part of the occasions and spirits.

I have been in the owners enclosure at a racecourse before, and very much enjoyed myself; it was far better than the normal enclosure!
 
Personally I thought that whilst there were some very wealthy settings the riders involved came across as very down to earth and normal (I don't think the Peter Charles comment was very helpful though). I was surprised not to see more of Angus as during her round the commentators said he had been helping her and Jack is, apparently, his horse.

Overall I thought it was very good considering that it was only about an hour and a half of screen-time total and most of it was about Jennifer. Given more time they would probably have produced a more balanced programme reflecting the difficulties of getting to the top level and staying there.
 
I really enjoyed it but my inner pedant is still irritated by the crap spelling in the final credits - surely it only takes 2 minutes to proof read text before tagging it onto a programme to air on national tv?!
 
Mildred said:
I really enjoyed it but my inner pedant is still irritated by the crap spelling in the final credits - surely it only takes 2 minutes to proof read text before tagging it onto a programme to air on national tv?!
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Glad it wasnt just me!

My OH laughed and said 'seriously?' when they flashed to a dressage sheet when she was doing her test, he doesnt have much of a clue about dressage but I thought that was quite funny.
 
Loved the programme. Agree with comments about the beagler and calling the test, also chattering away whilst doing her test was a bit daft. But I do understand that they have to make an entertaining programme!

Cringed a bit when Laura B said "it was so embarrassing at pony club when the trailer was out of order and I had to turn up in the massive lorry" but I think that's just because I wish we had a massive lorry when I was little, and a big school...and lovely stables. Instead I was plodding up and down the lane on my bin end pony! And I still considered myself lucky!

Love JS though...and she was very brave to do the whole thing at all.
 
PiggyB said:
Cringed a bit when Laura B said "it was so embarrassing at pony club when the trailer was out of order and I had to turn up in the massive lorry"
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LOL yes I cringed at that too! :D Almost sounds like those celeb kids that get embarrassed turning up to school in a Bentley. Just drop me at the end of the road Dad!

No that was not me :D
 
only an observation for those who say it takes years to get to that level of horse riding ! do you remember the "faking it" episode where the nightclub dancer (was it cage/pole dancing -cant remember) had something like a month or couple of weeks to jump a sj round having never sat on a horse before ! Good horse definately helped and her natural balance/fitness but she did it really really well.

In other words - many can do it if they have the time and money to throw at it - they would need to be handed a very very good horse and have good tuition but it is possible.

Personally I hated that faking it ! she did more in that short time than I have or will every manage - show off !! haha

ps. good for JS in the program ! well done !!
 
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