Mary King's daughter losing her ride on Brookleigh.....?

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Clare85

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Apologies if this has been posted elsewhere, but I have just seen a post by Mary King's fb page stating that the owner of Brookleigh is selling him and that Emily King is trying to set up a syndicate to buy him. It just looks a bit funny - why would Mary take to fb as soon as this news hit? One of the comments under the post is supposedly from Emily, giving an email address and asking people to get in touch if they are interested in buying in. Has anyone else seen this?
 
I think that the FB sharing is a good idea to try and gain attention from potential syndicates however, full details *need* to be given as well as consolidation that it isn't a hoax of some sort (I know it isn't, but there are far more sceptical people out there than me). Maybe an official statement of some sort? Is this Mr Hiho or a different horse? He seems like Emily's main comp horse.
 
I have seen this as well, on Emily's twitter page a few hours ago she advertised for a new owner or to form a syndicate, it gives you both Mary and Emily's mobile numbers and the same email as on Facebook!
 
Just seen on twitter that there's an advert. Perhaps in hindsight Mary should have put that on FB to prevent the scepticism. Bad luck for Emily, hope she finds a buyer for him.
 
There's some pretty heavy comments under Mary's post already. Shame if it's true - I'm just a bit wary of people asking for money on social network sites.
 
Clare85 said:
There's some pretty heavy comments under Mary's post already. Shame if it's true - I'm just a bit wary of people asking for money on social network sites.
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What shocked me is that someone offered to set up a Just Giving page so that anyone could 'donate' money... :eek:
 
FlaxenPony05 said:
What shocked me is that someone offered to set up a Just Giving page so that anyone could 'donate' money... :eek:
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I know, people really will offer money before thinking it seems. Just look at the thread about Gamble the fictitious abandoned foal on here recently.

I think this Brookleigh thing may be for real, just because it seems Emily is posting about it on her fb and twitter - would be coincidental for both her and her mum to have been hacked. Hope she manages to keep the ride.
 
I thought she said at the beginning of the season that she was given the ride for a few events until he was sold so she has done quite well to keep him all season.
 
I find it odd too- they're in an ideal position to network with established eventing owners. If they want to reach more people then perhaps a more professional approach would be appropriate- eg posting a proper advert with full contact details from the off
 
If the ride were for Mary then maybe she'd be in a better position to ask/negotiate, but buying a 17yr old rider a potential Rio prospect is a tad risky with an unknown rider at that level.
 
On one hand, in a way it's good to see so many internet/money sceptics in this day and age, especially among younger people, even if it is predominantly headdesk-inducing and a little frustrating.

On the other hand, I was absolutely flabbergasted at the level of ignorance (and in some cases nastiness) of some people commenting on that post.

For those who say it's fishy, unprofessional or the like - who's to say they're *not* also hitting up contacts outside of social media and the social media posts aren't being made to cover all possible bases?
 
pootler said:
I haven't seen the posts on Facebook etc but from reading these posts I can understand why they would try this approach. It worked for Sara Algotsson!

http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/news...enter-sara-algotsson-ostholts-next-top-horse/
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Would Brookleigh be considerably more expensive though (£75k is a lot, but he's now an established 3* horse and a really good YR horse...), than that particular horse, and also for a rider who isn't someone like Sara Algotsson- she's won their country medals, whereas Emily is 17 with 4 others at Brookleigh's level and more coming up to meet him.

It's sad she's losing the ride, and must be gutting for her after this season's success. But in the end she has a lot of other rides at a similar level. It's not like she's losing her only good horse.
 
oldvic said:
I thought she said at the beginning of the season that she was given the ride for a few events until he was sold so she has done quite well to keep him all season.
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Ditto, I had heard that. No surprise to anybody IMO.
 
MissChaos said:
On one hand, in a way it's good to see so many internet/money sceptics in this day and age, especially among younger people, even if it is predominantly headdesk-inducing and a little frustrating.

On the other hand, I was absolutely flabbergasted at the level of ignorance (and in some cases nastiness) of some people commenting on that post.

For those who say it's fishy, unprofessional or the like - who's to say they're *not* also hitting up contacts outside of social media and the social media posts aren't being made to cover all possible bases?
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I agree. I can't believe how nasty some of the posts on there are.

It does seem a rather odd thing to do, and a bit un-professional too. But social media is becoming more and more important and it probably won't be long before a lot of riders are forming syndicates this way. I think some of them have already used it to find sponsors. Mind you I don't know whether it's so haphazard becasue it's a rush decision rather than something like WFP's syndicates which seem to have been planned over a long period.
 
Wow - just stumbled across this thread, don't come on here much any more... But I'm a bit taken aback at how, well, taken aback people are! It's all pretty simple really:

1) When Clayton disappeared to the States, ride on Brook was given to Em - it may well have been with a view to selling on but that wasn't a high priority at that stage, and how many riders do you know who get given a horse "to compete and sell on" who manage to keep it running for a good long period?! I know I know plenty...

2) She has had a great year on him, better than any of her other rides: Zippy spent most of the season off with a leg scare and had a disaster at the Europeans, the others are all currently 1* or below; Zipp and Brook are her only current upper level rides, and Zipp she is producing herself whereas Brook is a 3* schoolmaster.

3) really, if you learn that your top horse is now for sale (no blame to anyone for this) what is wrong with using all means at your disposal to try to keep him, through syndication, new owner, whatever. Of course the Kings are already trying all their existing owners/contacts but nothing wrong with casting the net a little wider, especially with Em being newly crowned National u21 Champion. She has loads of twitter followers and FB friends any one of whom could provide the key, so why not publicise?

I personally think good on her for getting off her butt and trying her best to keep the ride: what will be will be, but at least she will know she did her best :)
 
I do agree, TD, with pretty much all you said. It really sucks for her, she's done astonishingly well with him and he's not exactly one you'd want to lose. And I think she's using pretty much one of the best tools she has beyond the already existing contacts in trying to secure extra funding. If Reg was going to be sold Al would be moving heaven and earth to try and make sure it was to her/ people who'd let her keep him and he's not exactly a 3* schoolmaster with a long, illustrious career ahead of him!

I just don't get the hysteria I've seen from people (not them) regarding it, hence the second part of my post. Which, in hindsight, doesn't quite sound how it's meant to- more bitter than resigned.
 
I agree with TD too. She has always been a proactive, get up and go kind of young lady, securing sponsorship herself as a youngster and getting Zippy when Mary thought he wouldn't make it... Good on her. I hope it comes off.
 
I agree, good on her for making every effort to keep her ride on her top horse. The reason for my post really was just because the post on fb surprised me a bit and I was just putting the feelers out to see if anyone knew if it was genuine. Wasn't at all taken aback that Emily wants to get the syndicate together, just a little wary of them using fb as a seemingly first point of call. At the time I posted I wasn't aware of the twitter posts (not a frequent twitter user I'm afraid). But as others have said, it's a good avenue to reach a huge amount of people very quickly. I wish her luck, she's a very talented young lady and I hope she manages to keep hold of him.

ETA - I do think it's a real shame about the nasty comments have appeared under Mary's post and I hope the Kings don't take them to heart as they seem a nice family :)
 
I wouldn't think that they would take the nasty comments seriously, they were quite clearly idiots that were making them!

There is another post today saying they would prefer a small number of people involved as its easier to manage, so we can safely say they aren't going down the Just Giving, everyone in route. Its just a good way of trying to find a new owner or small syndicate.
 
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