US Olympic Team

No, kerilli, the word on the street why time and again Becky is not chosen is because she doesn't kiss ass. You must drink the USEF and FEI kool aid in order to get chosen and we have several examples of this. But Becky far and away stands out as someone who purposely doesn't get chosen. I'm so happy though that she's going. I was finally able to watch them at the AEC's last year and he is a perfect example of a perfect sport TB. Stunning to watch.
We will still have a hell of a time with you, the UK and Aus. teams! You guys are impressive in your resume.
I too miss Teddy. I think back that if I bought him, he would be popping me around prelim now but then again, there wouldn't be a Breyer model made of him and all those fans who are inspired as they hop on their ponies or honies.
 
Ah, interesting, i didn't know that, thankyou. very very pleased that Becky is going, although i stand by my comments... far less so about AT. Still absolutely gutted about what happened to Teddy, and the fact that Karen isn't going on her other one seems to make it even worse.
it will be a fascinating competition, can't wait!
 
lisakb has also omittd to mention the french, germans and some tiny island place down under, which has been known to throw out a decent rider or two......
 
haha, oh, they've all got no chance at all... i mean, no decent riders at all in France or Germany or NZ!
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(tongue very firmly in cheek, in case anyone was wondering.)
are any of us going to stick our necks out and try to predict the medal winners?
for Individual, i can't see much further than the Freddos and NT, although i would love to see MK and Mark Todd on the podium.
Team medals: Germany, G.B., U.S.A. not necessarily in that order...
i might have to eat my words in a very major way here!
 
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An interesting thought is why she (AT) is allowed and is obviously highly regarded by the US squad, yet the latest potential inclusiion of the athlete from teh UK that has served a 2 year ban for drugs may make it, but evidently he won't be welcomed, and has been very publically cold shouldered...

So - doing drugs - BAN
Killing a Horse - Fine?

Not sure about that personally...

Bx

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Completely agree Bandit
 
agree with the individuals kerrilli but think team medals will be between Aus, NZ, GB and France because i think the horses they aare sending will be best suited to the conditions. i might think differently if william had chosen Tam. anyway realistically all the medals are only going to come from the six nations already mentioned so one of us will be right!!
 
hmm, must admit, i'm relieved they didn't choose Tam, he's a class horse, don't get me wrong, but he's proven quite a few times that he's still very independent minded and will take a partially-open door on the xc rather than put himself right and jump the skinny, as P Ed does. Plus, reliability in the dressage is essential and i don't think the selectors' nerves would stand his possible freestyle moments!
 
well put however i would have to fancy the Arab Prince's chances of shining in the conditions and on the course than Ed and i tnink a moment of briliance is what wins an individual medal which is why i believe that thought the british team may win, William consigned his chances of a gold medal to the merely hopeful when he decided against Tam. and dont be running any statements like 'the selectors told him to' either. that is the official line but they are choosing the best for the TEAM and regardless of that williams own preferences have a fair influence on the choice.
 
hmm, that and the fact that P Ed did the best test of his 3 on the day at Barbury. he rides them all, he must realise which one he can depend on for a pretty rock-solid test even if there's a carnival going on around him (as might be the case with the atmosphere in HK!), and the one that might go "tee hee, great excuse for fireworks dad!"
re: the moment of brilliance... Tam had his moment of non-brilliance with the very naughty run out at the skinny brush off the bank at the... oh, was it the Worlds, or the Euros? a few years ago. Also at the house at Badders this Spring. if he sees a gap an inch wide, he's proven he might take it, for a laugh. At Burghley last year, WFP left the door a mile wide going to the skinny at the Leaf Pit, and P Ed ignored the door and jumped the fence off a not-great stride... which, especially considering his history, that it was early on in the course, that WFP hadn't had the ride back for long... is beyond admirable. a Great horse does that, and there are quite a few Great horses around... and that's what you need to get a medal imho.
 
yes but there was less than a mark between them and tams test on saturday when they practised the olympic test was brilliant. and i have pm'ed you the other reason!!
 
Question for Lucretia (as you are the fountain of knowledge for UK eventing):- How have they overcome the owner nationality ruling for Ed? As he was still down as being owned by Philip Adkins (US Citizen) at Badminton. I thought any temporary changes in ownership for the Olympic year had to be done by Dec 2007. Philip Adkins is still being called the "American Owner" in the press in the UK and the US.

Sorry to post this still under the US Eventing thread but it saves starting another topic as it had already diversed to WFP's mounts anyway.
 
in the small print i expect it has said phillip adkins AND RIDER since his participation became a live possibility last year. though you are completely right in what you say. Thats why Alec had to buy all his horses by then so new chinese owner could e properly registered.
anyway there is still nearly two weeks til they get on the plane so by then it might be balincoola who is going.
 
It interesting that a great deal has been made about horses that MIGHT adapt to the heat - I suspect any horse competing in Europe has never come close to running in what HK is likely to bring - today is a mild day and it's 28C but even worse, 85% humidity! Yech. You can't prepare for that in England - but less about ones that go in the wet. It's raining there everyday this week and the Olympics are slap bang in storm season!

I love this quote from the weather site:

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Hong Kong weather in summer (June - August) can seem like swimming through soup. The sun beats down, the air is laced with humidity and shirts become tissues to stop sweat. Locals, walking around in the heat during lunchtimes look like they have just completed a marathon. Added to this misery is the constant threat of summer showers, thunderstorms and Hong Kong typhoons. Summer weather in Hong Kong is best avoided, unless absolutely necessary.

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I think this will level the playing field considerably, especially the unpredictability of it. The medal may very well go to the people and horses still standing at the end of the day.
 
and as has been pointed out to me by a friend on the stable managent team if there is a big typhooh then there will be no competing til its blown out so the thre day event could take a week!
However anyone who competed in atlanta will have a pretty good idea what is coming with heat and humidity anyway but obviously the smaller lighter weight horses and riders will have an advantage in terms of coping. it will be most interesting.
 
Yeah, honestly, I don't think we have a shot in hell of medalling. I think AUS, UK, FR in that order. We are stupid enough to put AT in there so there will be lots of boos from the stands and then, while I adore Gina and want McKinlaugh BADLY, he's a big muscled boy who I would think would have a hard time in HK. Especially, since she brought him to the UK to compete rather than going to NC to train. NC is oppressively hot so the acclimation will be less traumatic.
But, whoever drinks the kool aid, gets in and stays in!
 
You don't need a great horse to win an Olympic medal anymore - flashes of brilliance are no longer required since the dumbing down of the XC to keep eventing in as an Olympic event.

Shear H20 proved that last time around, if it had been a proper XC course he would have had a stop at the water, as it was he scrabbled over it after his serious thoughts of stopping.

You just need a reliable horse with very good dressage to win a medal now.
 
True, but i think a lot of us have faith that the course in HK will test the best without annihilating the rest...
you need a very good dressage and a very careful showjumper, with, i'd agree, 3-star reliability. but i can see there being quite a few skinnies again to test the not-so-genuine and not-quite-so-brilliant. hope so, anyway, it'll be a travesty if it's a dressage comp.
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I've been at Beas River (XC site) a couple of times in August, and the humidity and heat is heinous, never mind the bloody biting insects.........
They were hugely lucky with the weather last year at the trials, I really hope that hasn't led the less informed nations into a false sense of security.
 
you are quite right i think because as well as that the test event is only a two star.
and people need to stop bleating on about how the xc was 'dumbed down' at athens not that dumb when the likes of Andrew Hoy failed to get round clear and several people failed to estimate the influence two rounds of showjumping in the heat would have. Blyth Tait said to me last week that the Olympic champion is rarely a surprise and it should be remenmbered that Lesley didnt win because he was the best throughout (that was Bettina) he won because of someone elses momentary stupidity and the fact that his own showjumping brilliance (I think he did two clear rounds) elevated him several places that wouldnt have occured with the normal one showjump round format.
I think the course will be a decent test because it the course designer is rather efficient, the heat will be a big factor as will the fact that i believe the horses have to be lorried to the course and stay in temporary stables there without the time they usually have to settle when at a three day which might have an influence on the performance of the more highly strung. As i say above the ground could range from firmish to a complete bog so its not going to be straightforward and it will take an allround brilliant performance from both horse and rider to win. the dressage leader might well end up with the gold medal but i bet they will have bloody well earned it.
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Yes, agreed... Athens was a perfect example of someone winning because everyone else didn't though... Bettina's error, Primmore's Pride having the planks down (i always feel that really should have been his and Pippa's gold tbh). but holding his nerve to do 2 clears, very impressive.
HK will be a fascinating competition, I am just praying that the conditions do not contribute to some terrible spectacles xc... or worse.
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Exactly the XC at the last Olympics was dumbed down and a good 3 star horse won it because he could do good dressage and jumping. If Bettina had won - once again her horse wasn't a XC horse - but brilliant dressage.

It will be a dressage/show jumping competion, with a lot of horses going clear XC. I think that countries have a hard job picking teams as the best horses in the country are not neccessarily the best 'Olympic' horse, the horse with the best chance of winning a medal that the country might have. But how do you pick someone that is viewed as 2nd class?

It is a shame that eventing has got itself into this situation, when you compare it to Show jumping and dressage it is now the 3rd rate competion in horse power. Olympic Show jumping and dressage at least are still the toughest and the one to win competion.
 
neither of the above posts said the course was 'dumbed down' that was your statement. it was decide after the carnage in sydney 9or have people forgotten how ugly some of that was) to make the competition a more realistic objective for more people, essntially so the sport would keep its olympic status. Also the IOC had demanded that the team and individual medals must have two separate rounds to decide the medals so rather than have horses go xc twice (as if) it was decided to try use two sj rounds. Therefore the course designer was instructed to not be too demanding with the xc as no one had any idea how the horses would cope with this after a gruellling xc in the heat and dust.
Leslie won, as much as anything, not because the xc was 'easier' (the people you would expect to be featuring in a final on the whole were there) but because most of them did not consider the effect two showjumping rounds would have on the result. No-one will make that mistake this time. The xc did not have as much influence as we in GB especially would like but considering how few people worldwide event in comparison to dressage or showjumping, it is extremely important to keep the interest of the lesser nations. i would like to hope that the better eventing sides would be able to do good enough dressage and showjumping to do themselves justice and if the xc is 'easier' then they should be capitalising on that.
there are only six real possibilities for the team medals and the individual medals will almost certainly come from those nations also. All of them will be much more educated as to what is required at the Olympics than they were in athens because then they didnt really know how the new format would influence the outcome. They do now and so will the course designer.
as for nations not selecting their best combinations in favour of a so call 'olympic' horse, well who do you think missed out here? The USA, France, NZ and Germany are certainly sending their A team on form, so are Australia with the possible exception of MAtt Ryan. William has always said Ed was his prefered ride, Mary was always going to take Cavvy so who exactly are we talking about. The course may well be 'easier' than we might like but the conditions will be alot harder and consequently there will be no easy victory.
as for eventing being the poor relation in equstrian sports, it always has been if you go to any other nation except here. Do you know, for example, that in the whole Eastern European block of countries there are less tha 500 people registerd to event internationally IN TOTAL. feel free to visit the FEI web page and count.
personally i am looking forward to these games as much as any and hope that the champions, who will be worthy whatever, are British.
 
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it was decide after the carnage in sydney 9or have people forgotten how ugly some of that was) to make the competition a more realistic objective for more people, essntially so the sport would keep its olympic status.

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So it was dumbed down
 
DieselDog, my understanding of it was that Eventing was fighting to keep its place in the Olympics (other horse sports are, understandably, banging on the door to be let in instead), and that the powers that be were told in no uncertain terms that more countries need to be able to compete (i'm sure i read 9 nations minimum) and it has to look nicer, so annihilating the competitors who aren't so experienced really isn't on. yes, it isn't a 4-star, which is a vast pity, but i can totally see why. the only horse i can think of who is going who might be viewed as slightly "b" list is Miner's Frolic, as he has no 4-star experience, but obviously Tina's vast experience, plus his excellent showings at 3*, were enough to put him ahead of other combinations with 4* experience but possibly-dodgier dr and sj.
 
Exactly eventing had to dumb down the XC to keep it in the Olympics - if it hadn't Endurance or Vaulting would probably have been there. More than likely endurance because of all the money it has behind it - although logistically it would be harder to set up than vaulting.

I don't think it is a 4 star, I don't think it is a bad thing it isn't a 4 star. It now means that it can stay in the Olympics and less good horses and riders will get around the XC - which is all good.
 
Not nearly as dumb as the people who cant see that the olympics are supposed to be about amateur sport, that eventing is one of the few olympic sports that includes them and watching horses break legs etc on international TV during sydney was not the way to go in the best interests of the sport.
Eventing had to realise, and luckily someone was bright enough to do so, that winning Badminton was always going to mean as much in terms of prestige and career developement to eventers as Badminton like Wimbledon does to tennis players. the olympic title was in danger of becoming so elitish and unattainable that it would have been shoved out of the Games entirely. now under the circumstances you can call that dumming it down if you like but i think that a rethink was being damn clever. unless you of course, think that there wont be enough to jump in Hong Kong. or the conditions wont be tough or that since 2000 the fourstar dressage test and showjumping has got easier? possibly you didnt notice that at last years Europeans (only a 3***) that quite a few people didnt jump round that clear some of whom had good placed 4* form. With your great experience of international competition, i was wondering if you noticed that generally in showjumping people dont die if they arent really good enough to jump 1.60 and that at the Olympics, both that sport and dressage have preliminary rounds that get rid of those not really up to the job so the final can be as tough as you like. Eventing doesnt have that luxury, and i dont think its dumbing things down to try and ensure that people who have worked hard to qualify to get their should pay with either their horses lives or their own for the sake of what amounts to a little prestige. People with attitudes like yours make me sick.
 
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