New horse for Mary King?

LEC

LEC

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According to Eventing Nation there has been an offer by Mary Kings owners for Sam at about 2 million.

Very interesting story.
 
Gold medal winner at WEG but then also a rumour going round that he's going to Nicola Wilson
 
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I'm with Lucinda on this one, I hope Michael and Sam are not split up as a partnership however unpatriotic some may find this view. They're a brilliant combination and it would be heartbreaking to see it split - at any price!

Eventing Nation's wrong about Totilas so hopefully it's wrong about this too!
 
I do hope not. I hate seeing these successful long standing partnerships split up simply for money. It makes the horse a commodity rather than a partner and it rarely works anyway.
 
If I'm right and its Michael Jung's horse? Then I suspect one would find they are not an ideal partnership as Michael is a very precise rider, and trains his horses a very specific way imo, but then again I suppose it would help with Mary's apparant weak phase of dressage?
 
I think its good for the sport. If good horses are worth more then it means people can make a good living out of producing good horses. There will always be the super rich who buy up good horses and frankly Sam has done a lot for Jung's reputation as a rider. Riders always know its a risk that the horse will be sold. Eventing perhaps has not seen to be so commercial but there are lots of riders who make a good living out of dealing top notch eventers.
 
Be that as it may (and I'm not disputing your point) I think that's an interesting choice. As someone mentioned, that particular horse has been in a very specific system, one quite different from most professionals at least in the UK, and ridden most of his career by one person with a particular style. (Although I have no idea what Michael's rep is for making horses other people can ride successfully - that's a different skill than winning.) Not always the kind of horse that does well with a rider/program change. (The Irishman, Internet, Murphy Himself in the other direction . . .) It's a bit different from getting an up and coming horse from someone known as a producer and in a similar system.

I think in eventing in particular, it is the whole package. Which is not to say that rider changes can't be successful, just that horses sold on top form don't often seem to reproduce that form with someone else.

Sj seems to be an easier sport to trade horses around, although very top horses rarely continue at their best without a "learning curve" for the new partnership. Even then, the really big money is not paid for the winningest horses, it's for the horses that win that will also go for someone else. In my experience, top sj pros (at least ones that sell and/or routinely source horses for clients) are very good at picking out which horses will fulfil this criteria.
 
i have heard the horse was definately under offer, with a substantial deposit paid before WEG with the rest of the money due if the horse passed the vet after competing. I have also heard Michael raised a sydicate to keep the horse. It was supposed to be vetted last week so I expect we will all find out shortly but one million euro in total was what I heard and and not for any of the riders mentioned on here so far.
 
Yeah I heard this rumour too he was vetted after WEG and according to a non british team member living in Uk ,the rumour is Zara . . Guess we will find out soon!
 
I also heard Zara (and Nicola)!!! Guess we will just have to wait and see!!! He looks a very rideable horse but looks can be deceptive.
 
Gosh that will be interesting!! Sam is used to being ridden in a very precise and soft way will be fascinating to see if he does adapt to a completly different style
 
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