They say never meet your childhood hero....

wills_91

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I wouldn’t. I appreciate the sentiment, but it also drags you into it all should the post goes viral.

And that's why these kind of people/attitudes still exist, they are never called out or asked to take responsibility for what they say.

As I said if it was me and I was 100% sure that's what was said its how I'd deal with it and if it went viral it wouldn't bother me
 

teapot

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And that's why these kind of people/attitudes still exist, they are never called out or asked to take responsibility for what they say.

As I said if it was me and I was 100% sure that's what was said its how I'd deal with it and if it went viral it wouldn't bother me

It can also land you in court if you have no actual proof (witnesses, captured on video). Libel laws do include social media these days.
 

Aussieventer

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Personally I’ve always been very disappointed when meeting/riding with my childhood heroes. No one can ever really live up to a fantasy. I spent a week on a working student trial with my ultimate childhood hero and it was dire. I was offered the job but turned it down as I simply could not take my horses there and keep them under the same ridiculous and quite frankly disgusting conditions (the deep litter was not permitted to be topped up or removed until the whole bed was squelching wet, woollen and waterproof rugs to stay on until 24 degrees C etc.). I had read this riders autobiography over and over as a teen and heard the same stories word for word that were in the book quoted at me for a week, and there were rats and holes in the walls of the grooms quarters.
I’ve had lessons and clinics with multiple gold medal winning riders before and none have ever lived up to expectations.
Personally in my experience LG has been one of the best clinics I have ridden at and she didn’t say anything of the sort during my personal experience.

I would have to agree that Chris Burton is wonderful. I had lessons with him for a while before he moved to the UK. Even though I hadn’t had a lesson with him for years he came and helped me in the warmup at an event when he saw from his truck that my horse started stopping in the Sj warm up. I had never had a lesson on that horse with him before and was riding with a different coach but he still took the time out to help. I’ll never forget that generosity.
 

daffy44

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I'm so sorry to read this, and I agree that the OP should write to the organiser, because behaviour and language like that is absolutely appalling.

In the interest of balance I have been on two clinics with LG, admittedly a number of years ago, and she was excellent both times, positive, encouraging, brilliant and certainly not offensive, which makes it even sadder for me, that she is so different in the OP's experience. I also teach a few eventers who have had impromptu help from LG at a couple of events and found her to be great, I really thought she was one of the good guys.
 

RachelFerd

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Do drop an email to the organiser and PA. I suspect she'll be mortified and suitably apologetic about the use of an offensive word. I don't want to make excuses for anyone, but would also prefer to think it comes from a place of ignorance (which should be corrected) rather than desire to offend. I have found her to be supportive and kind to people at clinics - albeit straight talking when participant safety was in question.
 

thefarsideofthefield

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I'm so sorry to read this, and I agree that the OP should write to the organiser, because behaviour and language like that is absolutely appalling.

In the interest of balance I have been on two clinics with LG, admittedly a number of years ago, and she was excellent both times, positive, encouraging, brilliant and certainly not offensive, which makes it even sadder for me, that she is so different in the OP's experience. I also teach a few eventers who have had impromptu help from LG at a couple of events and found her to be great, I really thought she was one of the good guys.

This .
I attended a clinic at Somerford Park with LG in the 90's and thoroughly enjoyed it . I was on a former showjumper who I had recently bought to event and she was really helpful , giving me some brilliant advice ( he found the idea of jumping in the open at speed extremely exciting ! ) . She was certainly quite blunt but not at all rude or disparaging - and we had some pretty quirky horses in my group for her to deal with !,
I know that going to these clinics is such a big deal for us ordinary folk and expectations are high so it's extra disappointing when the people we look up to !et us down like this . I really enjoy thinking back about that lesson so it's sad to hear something that casts a shadow over it .
So sorry for your experience .
 

southerncomfort

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I loathe witch hunts and the so called cancel culture.

What she said was horrible and inexcusable. But she is clearly not a horrible person and just needs to be made aware that what she said is considered extremely offensive and give her the chance to apologise/make it right.

Abuse on social media not required. ?
 

littleshetland

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I drove to a local event yard some time ago now, very popular with a fantastic XC course that included a few advanced jumps. As I drove along past the XC course `i noticed someone riding over the huge jumps, making it look so easy.....it was Mary King. She was so lovely, chatting to me and my daughter about her horse, and let us make a fuss of hers (wish I could remember which horse she had with her - it was one of her advanced ones!). Lovely lady, so friendly...and a fantastic rider.


just checked with daughter...we think it was Imperial cavalier.
 
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Smitty

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Errr, the ageing process doesn't help.

I once met Richard Mead and he being the lovely man that he was, asked the name of my pony,. Now, in my memory I told him Astronaut, when chronologically it would have been Remus.

I'm 64, LG is older, just saying...
 

cauda equina

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Many bangs on the head probably don't help either
When cognitive problems in older sportsmen is talked about it's always in relation to boxers or football or rugby players
I can't believe that people who ride for a living (especially eventers and jockeys) aren't affected too
 

Jellymoon

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Sadly, when I first started reading this post, before you said who it was, I had guessed.
I did a clinic of hers many years ago and found her quite unpleasant. I’m not sure she really is a nice person tbh. The way she spoke to us was really rude, she singled out people she liked and ones she really didn’t, and dismissed the rest of us.
I reported back my experiences to my regular trainer, who was eventing internationally at the time at (old) 4* level, and she told me the general consensus among the professionals is that her views and style of coaching are very old fashioned, and while everyone knows she’s a legend, things have moved on and really she’s had her day.
And that was about 15 years ago!
Heaven knows what she’s like now.
Anyway, for the record, I think you should do something. Definitely write to her, and also the venue, and are these clinics sponsored by anyone? If so, write to them.
 

Jellymoon

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Tim Stockdale was absolutely lovely and gave me an hour of his time and a complete tour of his yard for free when I took a horse to him to assess for top level competition. Geoff Billington was really funny and fun and useful to train with, but he was also the one who was rude about one of the riders that I mentioned above. The worst lessons I ever had from a top rider were with xxxxxx edited as I see he is still teaching - an old time Olympic rider who I had really respected.
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But this sums it up to me. A professional was very friendly to you because you had a top level horse there for him to assess. He saw a potential business opportunity. The proof of how nice and helpful these people are, is when they go out of their way to help the people who don’t offer them anything in return.
And the really bright ones will try to be nice to everyone, including the poor horses, as you never know when that ordinary person might win the lottery and buy you and Olympic prospect to ride! ??
 

windand rain

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Your experience sounds like the kind of lesson dished out in the 60's so although not acceptable, age, head injuries and filter failure are possibly to blame. However that said I do understand why it would be offensive and also knew before you said who it was.
 

OldNag

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But this sums it up to me. A professional was very friendly to you because you had a top level horse there for him to assess. He saw a potential business opportunity. The proof of how nice and helpful these people are, is when they go out of their way to help the people who don’t offer them anything in return.
And the really bright ones will try to be nice to everyone, including the poor horses, as you never know when that ordinary person might win the lottery and buy you and Olympic prospect to ride! ??

I guess they all have their good and bad days. TS was incredibly kind to my daughter.
 

ycbm

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But this sums it up to me. A professional was very friendly to you because you had a top level horse there for him to assess. He saw a potential business opportunity. The proof of how nice and helpful these people are, is when they go out of their way to help the people who don’t offer them anything in return.

He did go out of his way when i had nothing to offer in return.

As a complete stranger I wrote asking him what i should do with a horse who was a more talented show jumper than i had ever ridden. He invited me to his place and he assessed the horse for free. He told me would would be success nationally but that he didnt care enough about touching poles to be top flight. After that, and knowing I was a low level eventer and had no contacts which could possibly benefit him him, he took me round his entire yard and told me about every horse. (The narcolepsy one was interesting! )

I was with him over an hour, Tim Stockdale was a genuinely nice man and his surviving identical twin Ivan seems the same in more than just his appearance.
.
 

MiJodsR2BlinkinTite

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What a huge shame, and immensely disappointing, not just because of the apparent lack-lustre of the actual instruction but also the attitude - and language - shown by Ms Green. I too can remember her eventing days and whilst it is accepted she has had to be a hard nut to not just survive in what was then a hard place for a woman to succeed in but to consistently win, this is totally unnecessary!

You would complain if it was anybody else and possibly (if you're cheeky like me, LOL) you'd demand your money back, so why shouldn't you complain simply because it emanated from a "famous" person. It is blatently non-acceptable language and attitude. End of. Complain!

Contrast this with well-renowned Olympians such as Mary King (from my area!) who've spent a lot of time doing clinics especially for younger riders and always seeks to be encouraging and upbuilding.
 

J&S

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I drove to a local event yard some time ago now, very popular with a fantastic XC course that included a few advanced jumps. As I drove along past the XC course `i noticed someone riding over the huge jumps, making it look so easy.....it was Mary King. She was so lovely, chatting to me and my daughter about her horse, and let us make a fuss of hers (wish I could remember which horse she had with her - it was one of her advanced ones!). Lovely lady, so friendly...and a fantastic rider.


just checked with daughter...we think it was Imperial cavalier.

We have had similar experience with Mary King, we met her at Bicton and she was amused that my step daughter was examaning horse poo and asked if she was going to be a vet (which she was/is). Still have the schedule with her autograph on. When step daughter rode our pony at Bicton I remember her saying " I am going to ride on the same ground as Mary King" when we went through the gates!
 

scats

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I was with him over an hour, Tim Stockdale was a genuinely nice man and his surviving identical twin Ivan seems the same in more than just his appearance.
.

Ivan is a top bloke, he’s been our dentist now for nearly 30 years (since I was 10) and I love my catch ups with him. He was so supportive of my career change from teaching to dog grooming and has given me loads of business and financial advice. I always set aside a good chunk of time when he comes to do my girls coz we spend a lot of it chatting and drinking coffee!
I did meet Tim a few times and he was always lovely too.
 

BBP

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We have had similar experience with Mary King, we met her at Bicton and she was amused that my step daughter was examaning horse poo and asked if she was going to be a vet (which she was/is). Still have the schedule with her autograph on. When step daughter rode our pony at Bicton I remember her saying " I am going to ride on the same ground as Mary King" when we went through the gates!

I remember going to Belton as a super shy little kid, and my mum taking me round the lorry park autograph hunting (my mum wasn’t shy at all!). Mary signed a postcard picture for me and was so lovely, I was so happy excited. Then later in the day she spotted me walking past her lorry again and came over and handed me a signed copy of her book. Such a lovely kind lady, that one thing left an impression on me for my whole life.
 

EchoInterrupted

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Always such a shame when things like this happen... I find as the public generally starts to have better standards for teaching, it becomes more and more obvious how many people out there cannot teach at all, regardless of how well they may be able to do the task they're trying to teach. Though this seems less a question of teaching quality and more an issue with respect, kindness, and attitude... I hate it when people use the excuse of being "from a different generation" for just being disrespectful, rude, and offensive. Sorry, don't care how long you've been doing this, you should still be able to treat others with kindness.
 
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MiJodsR2BlinkinTite

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We have had similar experience with Mary King, we met her at Bicton and she was amused that my step daughter was examaning horse poo and asked if she was going to be a vet (which she was/is). Still have the schedule with her autograph on. When step daughter rode our pony at Bicton I remember her saying " I am going to ride on the same ground as Mary King" when we went through the gates!

I've actually ridden alongside Mary King out hacking! A friend lives nearby and we just happened to "bump into" her when we'd boxed over to friend's place (I live in East Devon). There I was on a hairy muddy cob and there she was on this gorgeous sleek (well groomed!!) horse, riding alongside with us. Lovely lady! We didn't feel at all put-down or inferior. When she came back from the Olympics with her Silver Medal she rode down the main street of the local town to thank everyone for their support!
 

Orangehorse

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I have heard mixed reports of LG clinics, in one a friend took his horse and it suffered a career ending injury - just one more ditch at the end of the day and the horse was tired and caught her hoof on the edge of the ditch and the remark was "well she won't do that again." Unfortunately she didn't do much at all ever again. Which wasn't actually anyone's fault, but it left a bad taste.

However, when it comes to having lessons from famous riders, some are very good riders but terrible instructors and some are lovely and wonderful instructors too. Not everyone can be a super rider and a coach as they simply do it and don't know how.

Andrew Nicholson is a case in point, I think he virtually stopped teaching as he simply couldn't do it although now he is coaching a team which he said he enjoys, but they are at the top levels.
 

maggiestar

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And that's why these kind of people/attitudes still exist, they are never called out or asked to take responsibility for what they say.

As I said if it was me and I was 100% sure that's what was said its how I'd deal with it and if it went viral it wouldn't bother me

Calling people out on social media is a brutal way to change behaviour. In this case the kindest and most effective thing would have been to nip it in the bud immediately. You could say, 'Don't use that word Lucinda.' *stern look*. She would have understood. Or if that failed you could could remind her who was paying and that nobody had come to be insulted. We are supposed to be adults. What would Bet Lynch do? Or Joan Collins? Would they creep away and start some anonymous twitter pile on? No they would not. They would tell the miscreant what they thought and it would all be forgotten in seconds.
There is a horrible trend these days of setting the social media dogs on people and watching while the victim is ripped apart. It makes people feel good to be the denouncers and not the heretics. Careers (and lives) can be ended so easily.
Honestly, if someone offends you tell them to their face so they can check their own behaviour. Don't creep away and start a pile on.
 
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