kauto star at olympia. Oh my

Surely it'd have been better if she just finished at that rather than ride him horribly! It'd have done him more good to walk around on a long rein and take it all in to get used to the big crowds, rather than be jabbed and kicked! Plus, Olympia is a big family show, this isn't exactly the best example for children who will now think this is acceptable. And since it's also shown on TV, it's not the greatest advert for our sport.
 
MiJodsR2BlinkinTite said:
PPS: if she needs any reminding and/or a salutary lesson as to how some horses will react with having their mouths sawn off like that, she'd better come and try my trad-lad......... coz by god if she rode my traddie like that she'd soon find herself biting the dust PDQ, I've seen him do it with other people who've been heavy handed. On second thoughts, not, though, coz I value him far too much to do that to him and if I saw anyone doing that to him I'd be the first to kick their pants out the saddle.
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I am willing to bet that LC would probably get a far better tune out of your traddie cob than you would out of any of the event horses at her yard, or even KS himself............ you could always post video clips of both so we could really carry on with the trial by internet theme?
 
My my, so many perfect riders out there, capable of making calm and rational decisions under the glare of the Olympia spotlight whilst riding a superstar celebrity horse........ Actually, if you watch the entire 'film' of her performance, there are parts that really are quite nice and harmonious - and then for goodness knows what reason, KS seems to switch off. It looks to me like LC was panicking a bit and desperate to turn things around, which only served to make thing worse. Yes, we all know what she should have done, but she didn't...........this doesn't make her a shockingly bad rider - I think her reaction was all to human.
 
LCH611 said:
I am willing to bet that LC would probably get a far better tune out of your traddie cob than you would out of any of the event horses at her yard, or even KS himself............ you could always post video clips of both so we could really carry on with the trial by internet theme?
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Very well said. I'm still shocked at how judgemental the horse world is and I've been around the block a few times.
 
littleshetland said:
My my, so many perfect riders out there, capable of making calm and rational decisions under the glare of the Olympia spotlight whilst riding a superstar celebrity horse........ Actually, if you watch the entire 'film' of her performance, there are parts that really are quite nice and harmonious - and then for goodness knows what reason, KS seems to switch off. It looks to me like LC was panicking a bit and desperate to turn things around, which only served to make thing worse. Yes, we all know what she should have done, but she didn't...........this doesn't make her a shockingly bad rider - I think her reaction was all to human.
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Sorry I can't agree. No amount of pressure would make me abuse an animal. I'm afraid it does IMO make her a bad rider as she never listened to the horse one bit, just rode it like it was a machine.

A good horsewoman would have showed off the good bits & demonstrated Proffesionalism when it began to go wrong. You don't have to be a great rider yourself to recognise cruelty when you see it!
 
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If she was being 'cruel' I'm sure it was unintentional. I'm sure LC wanted to show the world how nicely KS has taken to his new role - it has been mentioned on one of these threads how nice he was working at Burghley whilst doing a demo. Olympia was a disaster (although, like I said, one or two nice bits if you look at the whole thing) - but poor old LC - it's the law of 'sod' - if somethings going to go wrong, it's going to go spectacularly wrong at a spectacular event........who hasn't made a complete pigs ear of a situation from time to time ? I know I have....
 
el_Snowflakes said:
Sorry I can't agree. No amount of pressure would make me abuse an animal. I'm afraid it does IMO make her a bad rider as she never listened to the horse one bit, just rode it like it was a machine.

A good horsewoman would have showed off the good bits & demonstrated Proffesionalism when it began to go wrong. You don't have to be a great rider yourself to recognise cruelty when you see it!
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But have you ever been in her position - sitting on a world famous horse dearly loved by the public, expected to perform in an intense atmosphere with thousands of people crowding you into a box with an owner who you don't dare say no to because they are your best chance of survival in the eventing world?

Until you have done all of that then you won't understand exactly what pressure LC was under.
 
EKW said:
But have you ever been in her position - sitting on a world famous horse dearly loved by the public, expected to perform in an intense atmosphere with thousands of people crowding you into a box with an owner who you don't dare say no to because they are your best chance of survival in the eventing world?

Until you have done all of that then you won't understand exactly what pressure LC was under.
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Exactly !!
 
EKW said:
But have you ever been in her position - sitting on a world famous horse dearly loved by the public, expected to perform in an intense atmosphere with thousands of people crowding you into a box with an owner who you don't dare say no to because they are your best chance of survival in the eventing world?

Until you have done all of that then you won't understand exactly what pressure LC was under.
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I wouldn't put myself in a position if I was unable to cope. It's about being proffesional. As I said, no amount of pressure would make me act in an unethical way. This is not a young lass riding under the lights for the first time, this is a proffesional who is meant to be demonstrating excellence.

Tbh I don't really care what pressure she was under. No excuse for cruelty!
 
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Wow. I feel this thread is going to gradually get out of control. Some very judgemental people out there- along with some very very forgiving!!

Going to agree on the a pill too many maybe stance.
 
el_Snowflakes said:
I wouldn't put myself in a position if I was unable to cope. It's about being proffesional. As I said, no amount of pressure would make me act in an unethical way. This is not a young lass riding under the lights for the first time, this is a proffesional who is meant to be demonstrating excellence.

Tbh I don't really care what pressure she was under. No excuse for cruelty!
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One f two ss 's, :),
Lets not get carried away with "cruelty"
If someone cant take the heat, they can get out of the kitchen
 
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She should have retired from the arena ... How many of us would watch someone riding our own horse like that and not ask them to get off??
 
Horse responding or not, stage fright or not, doped or not, the way she rode Kauto Star was appauling and unforgiving. What was she trying to prove by yanking his reins with every stride he took? This is not productive in getting any horse on side with you to perform, especially if he is not moving forwards or listening to the leg aids. It looked like all she was bothered about was his outline. Keep him 'pretty' for the crowd. Instead it just looked ugly.
And all the excuses I have read and heard are not sitting well with me. If she was any decent horsewoman, she would have heard KS tell her that enough was enough and she would have given up gracefully.
This is such a sad thing to see in our sport after such an amazing week of fantastic results from our real dressage riders and horses.
 
el_Snowflakes said:
I wouldn't put myself in a position if I was unable to cope. It's about being proffesional. As I said, no amount of pressure would make me act in an unethical way. This is not a young lass riding under the lights for the first time, this is a proffesional who is meant to be demonstrating excellence.

Tbh I don't really care what pressure she was under. No excuse for cruelty!
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I was shocked when I watched the video and think I've commented to that effect on the CR thread.

However, I don't know the horse and I don't know the rider. I will give KS's team the benefit of the doubt in that they didn't think he would react the way he did. Uncomfortable viewing but no cruelty - more a frustrated rider on a horse she knows can pull it out of the bag.

What I will say is that as a chaser no atmosphere he will have experienced will compare to Olympia, and only those who know the horse will know whether his reaction was off whack at all.

I wont deny the clip didn't make comfortable viewing, but Laura is a fairly accomplished rider and rides to a higher level than most on this forum. Does it occur to you that she recognised the horse had shut down in his surroundings and was just encouraging him to go forward, in a less than ideal way?
 
RunToEarth said:
I was shocked when I watched the video and think I've commented to that effect on the CR thread.

However, I don't know the horse and I don't know the rider. I will give KS's team the benefit of the doubt in that they didn't think he would react the way he did. Uncomfortable viewing but no cruelty - more a frustrated rider on a horse she knows can pull it out of the bag.

What I will say is that as a chaser no atmosphere he will have experienced will compare to Olympia, and only those who know the horse will know whether his reaction was off whack at all.

I wont deny the clip didn't make comfortable viewing, but Laura is a fairly accomplished rider and rides to a higher level than most on this forum. Does it occur to you that she recognised the horse had shut down in his surroundings and was just encouraging him to go forward, in a less than ideal way?
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I think the point is RTE, that given her level of ability, it was pretty shocking to see her flapping and kicking, and pulling and jabbing. I honestly have seen better in beginner's lessons at a riding school.

With regards to the 'cruelty' side of it - I really don't think KS will have been that fussed by it all. He certainly didn't look bothered.
 
The horse should be doing what he ENJOYS not what people think he SHOULD be doing.....how about something like team chasing? Hunter trials?
 
Maybe I'm mad to think this, but wouldn't it be lovely to see him do some low key riding club stuff?? Bit of variety, no pressure, out of the public eye.
I'm not experienced enough to comment on video but all I can say is that I think there is too much pressure being put on the horse to turn him into something he isn't
 
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the horse does not need to be the centre of someones world because of who he was or how much he won, he is a horse nothing more, they all deserve a happy existence and he does not look happy. I cannot comment on how he normally looks cos I don't know. I do know in that clip the horse and rider look as far from a partnership as is possible. I don't care what the horse does from living out in a herd in a muddy filed to competing at the highest end he is capable of doing. I don't think he has to prove himself in any field but I feel the same about any horse regardless of their past.
 
The points about 'arena, type of horse and stage fright' are completely irrelevant. Bottom line is that I've never, ever seen a professional ride so badly.

When I first moved to my new yard, a young girl, who I was told could ride, was invited to sit on my mare because I was looking for a sharer. The girl performed similarly to this and I allowed her five minutes to settle in and then explained politely that she wasn't right for my horse.

I was completely shocked by this video.
 
I've just watched this, late to the thread as usual, but actually "eurg"ed out loud at what she was doing :/

That's the worst I've seen a professional ride too and agree that she should have just pulled out of the test rather continue to sock his gob and kick and whip him on at the same time. Incredibly unsympathetic riding and rather counterproductive from all aspects for the poor horse and for herself.

Really not one of her best moments I expect :/ Poor horse :(

I just don't get it, I was always taught (had drilled into me in fact) that you must have soft hands, be gentle with your horses mouth and do your very very utmost to not jab them in the teeth due to accidental yanking of the reins let alone on purpose!

Why has, in the 10 years I was away from horses, it now become the fashion to even go so far as to encourage people to do this? It really is a major annoyance of mine that children are being taught to pull and jab the mouth and to completely ignore the basics of riding including the fact they have legs. Now it seems that this horrible practice of purposefully jabbing your horses mouth is even routine for professional riders?

I have had my god awful riding moments, I'm sure we all do, where we have become so focused or been told to by someone you believe knows what they are saying (who as it turns out is actually teaching a really bad habit) and later think back and say to yourself "I should have done that completely differently, my approach/reaction/teacher was all wrong about this" but you expect so much more from a professional rider than to commit this very basic horsey "sin".

I hope that she does look back on this and realize her actions were wrong and hopefully she will learn from it and not do it again. Hopefully she will find a better, kinder approach in future.
 
Alyth said:
The horse should be doing what he ENJOYS not what people think he SHOULD be doing.....how about something like team chasing? Hunter trials?
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How do you know the horse would enjoy those things? Most horses would just prefer to be in a field eating.
 
Horses will be horses, they are living creatures who have 'off' days - it certainly looks as if Kauto Star was having an 'off' day. One would hope, however, that a professional rider would be able to recognise this and would have the sense to retire gracefully rather than sitting there flapping and kicking the poor animal. I know she was probably under pressure from a perhaps over ambitious owner, but frankly she has made a bit of an @rse of herself, and the owner, by carrying on with this test. Poor Kauto Star deserves better.
 
Only just seen the video for the first time since all this kicked off.....

Awful viewing. Fairly obvious he was doped from watching that video and hes gone sleepier than they imagined he would do. Horses who back off the leg and shut down because they find an arena/crowd scary will back off the leg but still tend to look alert at what is going on around them.

Like others have said - they should have just declared him as not being fit for appearance rather than the show that followed. I imagine the only reason they couldnt was due to pressures coming from elsewhere.

I very much respect Laura as a fantastic jockey with her long list of achievements but this display leaves me really really confused?!?!What the actual F?!?
 
I take it as a firm indication that a) she has not bothered with the horse/is afraid of it/resents it/all of the above, as whatever happened, we saw a poorly muscled horse that she clearly completely misjudged, and therefore has evidently not got to know.

And b), that she must have no clue as to just who he is, no appreciation of what he has achieved, and absolutely no comprehension that he's the closest thing we've got to a modern day Arkle - because clearly when she "rode" as she did, she had absolutely no idea what kind of a world and inter-disciplinary stage she was riding on.

Unfortunately the upshot of the entire debacle is, Kauto sticks where he is, because at the end of the day money is power.
 
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