Oli Townend....horse falls

At the end of the day, none of you who are saying bad about Oliver are riding at the level he is. None of you have the experience that he does and none of you know the exact reasons/circumstances for each HF.

I admire Oliver, after each HF he has got back up again, brushed himself off and carried on with another day. He hasn't once blamed the horse for any of the falls and he has a very good team behind him helping. Granted, he does think quite highly of himself, he does like to win etc but who doesn't?! He's had success and has owners of his horses who want in on that success meaning he has quite a lot of pressure put upon him to carry on performing well.

Don't judge until you've walked a mile in the others shoes and all that.....
 
Noodlejaffa said:
Sorry, but it really is tiresome that people insist on going Oli-bashing.......
Click to expand...

I'm sure that it is, and whilst you may choose to disbelieve me, bashing wasn't my intention. :o

I will none-the-less, stand by my argument that a known napping horse has no business at such an event. I accept that he qualified, but that alters nothing. If I owned that horse, and despite his current riders abilities, I would probably look elsewhere, for a new rider.

Alec.
 
Loopypony said:
At the end of the day, none of you who are saying bad about Oliver are riding at the level he is. None of you have the experience that he does and none of you know the exact reasons/circumstances for each HF.

I admire Oliver, after each HF he has got back up again, brushed himself off and carried on with another day. He hasn't once blamed the horse for any of the falls and he has a very good team behind him helping. Granted, he does think quite highly of himself, he does like to win etc but who doesn't?! He's had success and has owners of his horses who want in on that success meaning he has quite a lot of pressure put upon him to carry on performing well.

Don't judge until you've walked a mile in the others shoes and all that.....
Click to expand...

exactly this.
 
Alec Swan said:
I'm sure that it is, and whilst you may choose to disbelieve me, bashing wasn't my intention. :o

I will none-the-less, stand by my argument that a known napping horse has no business at such an event. I accept that he qualified, but that alters nothing. If I owned that horse, and despite his current riders abilities, I would probably look elsewhere, for a new rider.

Alec.
Click to expand...

I don't understand why you are blaming Oli for IM napping when he was sent to him BECAUSE he naps very badly. He is a horse with a huge amount of talent on his going days which is why anyone has bothered with him.
 
Loopypony said:
At the end of the day, none of you who are saying bad about Oliver are riding at the level he is. None of you have the experience that he does and none of you know the exact reasons/circumstances for each HF.......

.......Don't judge until you've walked a mile in the others shoes and all that.....
Click to expand...

I'm sorry, but I can't agree with that. Are those who judge dressage riders any less of a judge because they don't ride to the standard of those who they judge? Are those who employ, and therefore judge the F1 drivers any less, because they can't drive at such a pace? Of course they aren't.

I may well be wrong, but I suspect that OT could take a leaf out of the books of others, Mark Todd, William Fox-Pitt and Mary King being amongst them. They make their mistakes, but not quite so many.

Alec.
 
Just watched his round and i thought he rode him positive the horse looked to be backing off at the start so Oli road him positive. Yet again its pick on Oli day and as someone above said has anyone riden at the level he does or seen how much work goes into having horses at that level?

Must say the round i didnt like watching and held my breath was Mary Kings however i think she is a fab rider but not today.
 
I love Oliver Townend but I do admit to closing one eye sometimes when he's going round as he certainly can be a bit reckless lol. I think the sheer amount of times he has broken his collar bone proves this and he's probably first to admit that he's a bit on the wild side.

I remember going to the champions tour when he was telling us all he had just bought Neo almost blind from France with no points or anything. I tell you what though its and incredibly small but impressive BE record that horse has... He was showjumping with Geoff Billington and Oliver has some serious talent!

Maybe he will calm down as he gets a bit older/wiser... Or more arthritic haha!!
 
Last year it was blast Georgie Strang for having a fall this year it's Oli!! Horse falls happen all the time from your your local BE event to 4*, it is supposed to be the ultimate test for both horse and rider, if it was straight forward we would all be doing it. The crowd bashing always come out in force at major events where if you go to most BE events you get to see such riders as Oli perform amazing feet's of riding, getting both young and quirky horses around tracks that would struggle for others! Being involved in racing as well as eventing if your trying to win as surely that's the point in any sport!! You will have mishaps both Human and Equine! Tony McCoy would average 80-100 a season you could hardly say he is a bad rider!

I was taught a great bit of advice as a youngster if you have nothing constructive or nice to say, be quiet!
 
I have no feeling either way on Oli, but I don't think you are being fair at all, yes he rides hard, but he does so in a controlled way,which in my opinion is far preferable to the German rider Frank Ostholt, who tends to ride bordering on the reckless. Oli tends to have to nurse and cajole tricky horses round. And I am another one who wants to ride half as badly as him!
BTW I haven't seen much today but I thought Jeanette Brakewell and Primitive Pistol were copybook, that horse is a true 4* horse IMO, gallop and jump, gallop and jump!
 
Off topic, sort of; I watched Lenamore finish. Now that's what I call a grand horse, and what would I give to breed a horse like that?

I enjoyed today, and am already looking forward to next year. Despite what others may believe, nobody will be happier than I, if OT wins in 2012.

Alec.
 
The only thing that keeps popping into my mind is that the horse seemed a bit lean, like ACM. I dont like nor dislike him as ovb I dont know him, he wasnt hanging around with the grey xc, rode forwards and postitive but I much prefered LF round whos was also fast and positive but the horse always looked full of running and ping.
 
I am in awe of oli the fact he had that fall with the first horse then managed to pick himself up and go our and ride the 2nd fully confident!
I had a fall 2 days ago and yes I did manage to compete ( and only be100) however I was terrified ! Maybe Mary too if she was not as polished as usual to watch was also suffering all Be it very slight a loss in confidence after that crashing fall last week! And full credibility to her too for completing so well on her two.
People certainly live to oli Bash !

He I'd driven focused in it to win it and very human in real life. I would love him to ride my horse!
 
NicoleS_007 said:
The only thing that keeps popping into my mind is that the horse seemed a bit lean, like ACM. I dont like nor dislike him as ovb I dont know him, he wasnt hanging around with the grey xc, rode forwards and postitive but I much prefered LF round whos was also fast and positive but the horse always looked full of running and ping.
Click to expand...

I do judge BE and think he was guity of wreckless riding Oh my!! to think that i can critcsise such as OT in public but in my opinion he rode too fast at th skinny coming out of the dairy mound and paid the price
 
I think he saw a ropey one, and it didn't come off. Yes he is riding hard but so is everyone at that level, you don't get to be competitive at 4* by playing safe. There were other rounds that looked rougher but came home safe. Equally there were others that put in beautiful polished makes it look easy performances. I think he's had a ****e run of luck recently, rewind a couple of seasons and he was winning everything, that's horses for you. Also I think it says a lot about him that he was on his feet and straight back to his horse, not every rider does that.
 
Last edited:
I just think he is having a not very good run of 4* horses. Yes the horses are capable but some true quailty horses, such as Lenemore etc make it look and feel easy. No disrespect to any riders, but you will know yourself, its a lot easier to sit pretty and look stylish on a horse that finds it easy!
 
I don't think we can critique Olly when you look at how the vast majority of Germans ride (except perhaps M.Young with Sam who rides in this mesmerising rhythm).Yes they won all 3 spots and team title but thats the problem, people like Ingrid Klimke ride "on the edge" and take ridiculous chances with their horses, it either comes off and they win or they crash and burn in no uncertain terms like at WEG...

Olly was riding very well (and I'm no massive Olly fan) - up until the aproach to the fence in question where I think there was too much elbow waving causing unbalence and confusion in the horse, thought waves were probably to make it clear what he wanted but infact did the opposite...
 
I seriously do not get what all the Oli bashing is for. The bloke is fantastic jockey who has proven himself time and time again. He also appears to be an astute business man who has created a successful brand.

I'm amazed that some of you are saying you had to watch with one eye open because you thought he was reckless...really?
Up until his fall his round just looked like he was riding very positively to me. It was hardly frightening stuff.

He saw an 'iffy' stride to that fence, that was all. At this height/level this late on the course that can be all it take to to cause a horse fall.

Even on the course walk Captain Mark Philips talks about being half a stride out makes already big fences 'enormous' poor Oli just paid the price for that.
 
Maesfen said:
Well that makes a change then he usually walks away.
Click to expand...

Bang out of order!!!!!!
When has he done that, oh in kentucky when he was carted off in an ambulance!!!!!
I hate this Jockey bashing last year it was Georgie Strang and Master Monarch, do you think these riders go out to put the horse on the floor?
No its called a mistake, and at 4star level the margin for errors is very slim!!!
WFP last week was bloodly lucky But had Cool Mountain of fallen would he be being slated for being reckless/careless?? No because its WFP!!!
Bit of respect for these riders wouldn't go amiss, I take my hat to ANYONE who can get to 4star level!!!
 
Maesfen said:
Well that makes a change then he usually walks away.
Click to expand...

Well I don't know about any other incidences but in this case as you can see on the burghley tv clip his concern is straight away for the horse. Incidentally does anyone have any news on the horse falls yesterday, are they all OK?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top