Lucinda’s book The biography of Be Fair

[Ambers Echo]

Anyone read this?

I’m finding the changes from 1970 to now really hard to get my head round!

She fell off repeatedly when she first started eventing him: several times a season in competition. She’d get back on and carry on. These days it’s immediate elimination and 2 falls in a row I think means needing to go down a level.

Also he seemed lame half the time but they ‘kept their fingers firmly crossed and presented him for inspection’ a lot of times. On one occasion a vet concluded ‘pottery’ some colonel shouted ‘for god sake let her ride’ or something like that.

This was very early on in her career as a junior so not as if gold medals depended on patching a horse up to run it anyway if at all possible.

Not sure if we are all too soft and too soft on our horses. Or if they were a bit too reckless - and too hard on their horses!

Very interesting though.

 

[Ambers Echo]

I should add that she’d go double clear and place, whenever she wasn’t falling off!

 

[Smitty]

And she borrowed a saddle from Mike Tucker for Badminton, if I remember correctly ☺

 

[Tiddlypom]

It's a fascinating book. She's a bit older than me. She won her first event saddle for getting the most sponsorship for a sponsored ride!

When the vets pronounced Be Fair to be a bit pottery before an event, the whichever team GB retired army bigwig declared 'Let him potter on'. Presumably vets routinely deferred to retired army bigwigs in those days.

 

[VRIN]

I have subscribed to Badminton Tv and watching some of the older highlights. Comments abound like...'After that early fall and stop they have a clear round'..

 

[Lucky Snowball]

I have a really old copy of this book. It's a great read.

 

[ponynutz]

I always think these things when I read any horsey book, fiction or non-fiction, set or from then. For the most part it seemed a simpler time... although I wouldn't go as far as to include lameness in that!

 

[SEL]

Nick Skelton talks about some of his earlier horses having odd action but still jumping big courses - I'm not convinced you'd see the obvious "odd actions" competing these days.

 

[Tiddlypom]

They could only keep Red Rum sound with regular paddles in the sea at Southport, where he was trained on the sands.

 

[SilverLinings]

I'm not sure we've become too soft in regards to working lame horses, as the majority of the time lameness means pain. More rarely lameness can be mechanical and not pain related, but working with those problems (i.e. a limb length discrepancy) is likely to result in other physical (and painful) problems in the future.

I do agree that we're probably too soft on the humans though, as it's our choice to continue if we are in pain

 

[cindars]

Got this and her other one Four Square.

 

[Alwaysmoretoknow]

I thìnk everything has to be considered by the standards of the time. I well remember those days when you went straight in at Novice with less well designed courses, no BP, no proper helmets, no real saddle-fitting understanding, no 'proper' diagnostics for determing lameness, less understanding of denistry, worming, nutriction, etc. etc) , how to get a horse fit without hammering the life out of it, (horses were considered old at 14 and she promoted the idea of interval training) and a casual approach to dressage (cantered on the right leg- stayed in the arena- jobs a goodun!) and weight cloths (11st 11lb? my memory may be failing at this point). Not to mention the standard practice of buting horses after the XC to ensure they were 'fit' to SJ on the final day.
I think that things from the perspective of horse welfare/rider and horse safety has improved a lot since than but there is still an awful lot that we can take from LP-P autobiographies in terms of persisting when you are facing a challenge in any areas of your 'horsey journey/challenge'.
I've always found her bios very inspirational with suitable consideration for their time and place.

 

[alibali]

Not sure how I came by them but I have the above two and also one she wrote about Regal Realm, yes a different era and much has changed for the better welfare wise but nonetheless all are an enjoyable read. My jaw dropped when reading she viewed Be Fair for want of anything else to jump trialled him by popping him over some 3'6 park railings!

 

[ycbm]

Or if they were a bit too reckless - and too hard on their horses!

I have a friend who rode 4* events as an amateur in the 80s and they told me how, after being spun at one vetting, the international riders told them to ignore the instructions to trot up at a normal speed and to run the horse as fast as possible to disguise any unlevel steps. I would be quite surprised if that advice has changed these days.

But things were certainly more reckless back then. I think that's pretty clear from the naming of a 1m10 competition that anyone could enter and was the entry level for BE as "Novice".
.

 

[Patterdale]

things were certainly more reckless back then. I think that's pretty clear from the naming of a 1m10 competition that anyone could enter and was the entry level for BE as "Novice".
.

See, I see that as a sign that people were far more competent then, not reckless.

 

[ycbm]

See, I see that as a sign that people were far more competent then, not reckless.

I can assure you I was completely reckless, not competent ?

I think it's also relevant that there were few, (actually I think none at all ?) opportunities to train consistently over the kind of obstacles that were met at intermediate/advanced eventing. People went hunting, then flung the horses over huge fixed timber courses with their hearts in their mouths. I only did it at Novice by heavens it was fun and you knew you were alive!
.

 

[Ambers Echo]

See, I see that as a sign that people were far more competent then, not reckless.

Apart from all the falling off she did at novice events when she first started out….

 

[Spotherisk]

I love her books, and the Village Gossip one by the groom too. I still think she has a fabulous seat when jumping xc, the balance is perfect.

 

[Ambers Echo]

She worked Be Fair in for 3 1/2 hours before dressage! That’s dedication. Bit tricky with an 8am start time though.