noone watching the SJ?

Yes was watching.. some amazingly skilled horses and riders.. shame had to witness a horse being beaten when it made a mistake,, it was probably rider error too!Rather spoiled it for me.
 
NeverSayNever said:
am surprised by the lack of thread or am i being stupid and cant see it:confused:
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Thanks for starting this thread. I know that there is another one, but prefer the London 2012 forum.

I watched most of the SJ today. Thrilled to see Nick ride a fab round. Ben also did well. The other two....mmm.....could have been better.

Not impressed with the horsemanship of a US rider called Beezie Madden (spelling?). After a refusal, she re-presented her horse at the fence in the same inept manner: Lo and behold, the horse said "No" again and she whacked it with her whip. It was she who deserved the whack :(

I have all the time in the world for riders who have a round that goes pear-shaped with a refusal, but stay calm and deal sympathetically with their mount. One of the female riders from the competition today was from Japan (name escapes me). Things went awry for her (refusal), but she was very calm and presented her horse much better the next time. A difference in rider personality and/or national/cultural outlook perhaps?

As mentioned above, saw at least two horses with bitless bridles. Good to see.

Who is 'on fire' at the moment? The Dutch
 
KingfisherBlue said:
Not impressed with the horsemanship of a US rider called Beezie Madden (spelling?). After a refusal, she re-presented her horse at the fence in the same inept manner: Lo and behold, the horse said "No" again and she whacked it with her whip. It was she who deserved the whack :(

I have all the time in the world for riders who have a round that goes pear-shaped with a refusal, but stay calm and deal sympathetically with their mount. One of the female riders from the competition today was from Japan (name escapes me). Things went awry for her (refusal), but she was very calm and presented her horse much better the next time. A difference in rider personality and/or national/cultural outlook perhaps?
The Dutch
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Thought the same! Beezie Madden hardly positioned her horse well enough to jump those two jumps the second time round... and I don't even showjump, you could just tell (physics) that there was not enough power in that horse to make it through both. The horse was already 'lenient' with her by jumping the first one.
 
Completely agree regarding the whip abuse. If I had my way, Christian Ahlmann and Beezie Madden would have been disqualified. They used their whips out of temper and both left the arena with faces like fizz. Very disheartening to see this and rollkur at the Olympics. What on earth is wrong with the FEI and their complete refusal to reprimand riders for cruelty?

Mike Tucker mangled lots of names - with about the worst being Mexico's Jaime Azcarraga. During yesterday's dressage, not once did he get Helen Langehanenberg's name correct. I don't like Andy Austin either. At Hickstead last year, he said that Abdullah Al Sharbatly could eat his horse because the horse had a rail down. He is also another commentator prone to saying England instead of Britain. That and he has zero charisma. Please get him off the television!

Putting the above aside, it was nice to see plenty of really good rides. It's a shame Britain didn't do too well, but it's not over yet.
 
Didn't see the lady rider who whacked her horse but it was the big german Christian Ahlmann who presented the horse too close at the double.. the poor thing tried to jump through it but then stopped at the second element as it couldn't take off. The brute of a rider then socked it in the teeth and whacked it , then socked it again. It I had been there i would have got out of the stands and run behind the scenes to beat the rider. I am still fuming!!

I worry for the poor horse behind the scenes.

Not a good display of horsemanship in my eyes.
 
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Can't believe I watched it all on red button and then they cut it off before the end and said to watch on Internet which I don't have facility to do thanks BBC!
 
Catch up just came available online a few mins ago and am watching it now! I missed a lot as been busy with my baby girl neddy this morning since was such a lovely day.
 
Super upsetting to see the poor sportsmanship and animal cruelty exhibited by GERMAN rider Christian Ahlmann and USA rider Beezie Madden. Ahlmann was pulled from competition a few years back for doping charges (using capsaicin, a rub known to cause hypersensitivity in a horses legs which would cause the horse to avoid making contact with rails). When I watched Ahlmann lose his temper and start banging on the horses mouth for refusing, I wanted to reach thru the television and grab the reins from him take the whip out of his hands then start whipping him on the butt. How is that cruelty just ignored? He should have been dropped from competition for that and quite clearly that horse has been doped before...did you see how frightened it was to make contact with the fence? What a jerk. No wonder the horse refused. Now lets talk about Beezie. Spoiled little US girl gives all of us Yanks a bad name. I agree with previous post that she came at the jump too sharp the first time, and set her horse up a second time for failure. I am sick and tired of seeing cry baby temper tantrum type behavior from Olympians when things don't go the way they want them too--we need to make sure we teach the next generation that we cannot control everything in the universe, and things will happen that take us away from our hearts desire but those moments teach us to persevere thru tough times. Why aren't these riders being removed from competition for cruelty to animals?
 
I was there and C.A also jabbed the horse several times with his spurs.

Also think B.M's refusal was rider error not enough impulsion imo.
 
i Have read an interview by Christian Ahlmann today saying he shouldnt of slapped codex one and he completley regrets doing it. Its nice to see he aknowledges his bad temper but it was still inexcusable to hit him in the first place. Beezie madden however doesnt seem to think she has done anything wrong as she has not mentioned it
 
From his interview :



Ahlmann apologizes for his shock: "I know that it was crap. The blow was inappropriate. My horse does not take more pressure to the legs, because I have given him a slap. "

Translated from german so might not be gramtically correct :) sorry
 
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