Oli Townend....horse falls

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ruby111

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Does anyone think its strange that he seems to have so many horse falls.Many of the other Pro riders rde just as many horses but dont seem to have as many falls.Do you think he should be on a watch list?Do you think any of the powers that be are worried about these falls.I feel that if any ordinairy rider were having these incidents that questions would be asked and presumably answered.Just curious as to what you all think.
 
I think Ruth Edge would have more falls than Ollie Townend in a year. Also you are only commenting about public ones that have happened at Badminton and Burghley. Not sure that constitutes as a lot of HF over the year?
 
I'm with you Ruby111...
I've always thought he rides hard bordering reckless, and has been lucky a lot of the time. Some may say he's bold and fearless.
I admit I don't event, but don't find him comfortable viewing. However I respect he has ability - he wouldn't have achieved what he has, and I'm sure hes a lovely chap, and this is just my personal opinion.

Tin hat rammed on... And lying low in the very bottom of a trench :-)
 
I know what i think about him after personal experience of meeting him and seeing behind the scenes. But im not allowed to share dont feel right despite what i think!!!
 
Totally agree, his round at burghley was awful to watch, He does appear to have fallen/ been eliminated at a few major events recently
but I've never really liked him since express eventing when he was the only one to go for it on the xc after Mary kings horse had to be shot...
 
vinnigan said:
Totally agree, his round at burghley was awful to watch, He does appear to have fallen/ been eliminated at a few major events recently
but I've never really liked him since express eventing when he was the only one to go for it on the xc after Mary kings horse had to be shot...
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Sorry to nit pick..but he rode before Mary fell and rode a fantastic round.

Can't comment on why he is falling but agree that the the figures are slightly alarming. Maybe he is just too ambitious and pushing a little too much? However I doubt that he is a happy la today after his second horse refused to go down the leaf pit, very frustrating.
 
I was really just wondering what if anything the procedure is for dealing with something like this Surley the officials are noticing and watching this rider.Or are they...And if they are what is the official way of dealing with it.
 
He also retired a horse today, because it was napping. I suspect that there are those horses which he can cope with, and those that he can't. If a basic problem, such as napping, reveals itself at a premier event, then there is something very wrong.

I know one thing; he wouldn't be riding a horse of mine.

Alec.
 
He comes across as a win at any cost type of rider and has not made a good impression in all corners of the sport.

Maybe this is down to his age and being open about his desire to win...
 
Alec Swan said:
He also retired a horse today, because it was napping. I suspect that there are those horses which he can cope with, and those that he can't. If a basic problem, such as napping, reveals itself at a premier event, then there is something very wrong.

I know one thing; he wouldn't be riding a horse of mine.

Alec.
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I believe (although stand to be corrected) that the horse came to him with this problem.

I have met him and yes he is ambitious but he is not as bad as people think, I think alot of people are unfair on him and as others have said he has had HF's at high profile events so people notice it more.
 
Imperial Master has a pretty solid record XC under OT, it was the horses first 4* and he has had the ride since 2008 after he took over from Kitty King.

The horse has two stops recently at Chatsworth and other than that there are rare occasions where he hasn't completed double clears.
 
Ollies fall today and Mary's fall at the euros were pretty much caused by the same thing, no stride, and horses that were a bit too keen to take a long one when they shouldn't have. Ollie's horse should have put another one in, he maybe should have sat on it a tiny bit longer, but it was not by any means a massively obvious error.
 
Alec Swan said:
He also retired a horse today, because it was napping. I suspect that there are those horses which he can cope with, and those that he can't. If a basic problem, such as napping, reveals itself at a premier event, then there is something very wrong.

I know one thing; he wouldn't be riding a horse of mine.

Alec.
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The horse went to him because it would nap with his previous rider even at novice/intermediate level. He has days where he is a machine and days where he doesn't want to play. That's not Oli's fault - IM now has more good days than bad.
Yes, he rides competitively but it is a sport and the point is to do as well as you can. He was riding positively today but he needed to as the horse was being a little green. He picked up a stride too early where he fell - it happens.
 
Vinnigan - to be fair to oli at express eventing, he'd already done his round before Mary went and he helped push the horse ambulance out of the arena when it got stuck!
 
Alec Swan said:
He also retired a horse today, because it was napping. I suspect that there are those horses which he can cope with, and those that he can't. If a basic problem, such as napping, reveals itself at a premier event, then there is something very wrong.
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The horse in question is notoriously an arse though, I should think he is the only one that will take it on. It removed most of his fathers teeth and broke his grooms leg to comment on recent actions. He even re-employed his prior groom just to try and keep it calm at burghley.

Ollie seems to have a particular type of horse, as do many of us, it just seems to be the type that seems rather likely to leave a leg (not perhaps the best type for xc). He has been successful can't take that away from him, but he doesn't seem popular amoungst fellow riders or spectators anymore.

I was at the fence earlier today when he fell, and he did not ride brilliantly between the fence, however the horse was tired after the triple bounce up the steps and over the fence before and simply couldn't athletically make it. The horse also had a very hairy cat leap off the leaf pit, which perhaps didn't help his round when he came to get more steps?

I'm not making excuses, I don't really like the man much myself, but I think its a little harsh when we perhaps don't know that much about the situation or the full story.
 
I thought I might get a torrent of abuse from my first post. Glad it's not just me...
I respect he may have a problematic horse, however there are other riders who go for it who manage to keep the rhythm and assist a more novicy horse - and pull up if it's starts falling apart.
I hope this thread is not seen as Ollie bashing, for me and my family we genuinely hold our breath when hes steaming round, and I'm reassured it's not just us.
 
I have had a horse with Oli in the past and could not fault his care and honesty about the horse.He also goes out of his way to talk when I see him eventing which a lot of other riders dont. Lots of people dont like his style because he tells it as it is and its not what they want to hear.Oli is perfectly aware of what people think of him but he is ambitious and an achiever but us Brits dont seem to like those qualities.Also he has some very ambitious and demanding owners who want to win at any cost!
I feel at the moment he is loosing it a bit as he is spreading himself a bit thin with everything else he is trying to do, that maybe why he is losing the plot a bit.
 
Noodlejaffa said:
Sorry, but it really is tiresome that people insist on going Oli-bashing. He's one of the nicest people to work with and I would have no hesitation at sending any of my horses to him.
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popsdosh said:
I have had a horse with Oli in the past and could not fault his care and honesty about the horse.He also goes out of his way to talk when I see him eventing which a lot of other riders dont. Lots of people dont like his style because he tells it as it is and its not what they want to hear.Oli is perfectly aware of what people think of him but he is ambitious and an achiever but us Brits dont seem to like those qualities.Also he has some very ambitious and demanding owners who want to win at any cost!
I feel at the moment he is loosing it a bit as he is spreading himself a bit thin with everything else he is trying to do, that maybe why he is losing the plot a bit.
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all of the above. I havent had a horse with Oli but I would be more than happy to send a horse to him and more than likely be first choice if it was problimatic. Watched his burghley round a couple of mins ago and I couldn't see anything wrong with it. HF's happen what ever level your at and no matter how good you are. I didn't see anyone critising Mary when she had her fall at the Euros. i'm deffinatly with noodlejaffa about it being really tiresome how many people insist on Oli bashing. And if you dont like watching him ride, its quite simple you dont bl()()dy watch it and if you do its your own personal issue and don't have to go moaning over forums.
If Oli tells it straight no faffing even more reason for me , if had, to send a horse to him.

Sorry if i've come across 'gobby' and 'uptight' but im bored of this Oli bashing after every 4****. Give the guy some credit!
 
And here we go again....OLI BASHING!!!
Have you not seen videos of Pippa Funnell back in the day?? She even adnits herself that its cringeworthy!!
And for the record I would love to be as BAD a rider as oliver Townend!!!!
:D:D
 
I also just watched his round, and could not see much wrond with it the horse/rider made a little mistake and those fences are too big to do that with. He has a very definative style which is his own and I wouldnt mind being able to ride anywhere near as well as him!!!
 
Would you sit on a horse thet reared and boxed like Olis did, my youngster has been known to go up but not as bad as his did, I got off oli didn't!
 
Oli does ride hard, and he does ride fast, but he is not the only rider to ride like this and I can think of riders that make me more nervous to watch than he does. He rides to be very competitive and he rides quite a few horses that have had problems with other jockeys.

His fall today was IMO unfortunate - however, I think there are a lot of people that don't always see the same stride as their horse, I know for a fact it happens to me and it looked like a genuine mistake from horse and rider. His round up to that point looked fine to me.

Badminton, yes the horse was tired, but I don't see that fall as having been his fault either, the horse he was on then just didn't pick up enough.

Another thing to bear in mind when you look at his 4 HF's is that people do tend to have runs of bad luck with this sort of thing (whether that is because of their riding, confidence, or bad luck I don't know!), and also that he seems to compete more than many other professionals do, thus increasing his likelihood of falls anyway...
 
The horse looked as if it was being pushed out of it's comfort zone in my opinion. I think it was lacking experience and probably not used to jumping at that speed either. He was a long way off of the fence he fell at too.
 
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