Who's going to save us at Dublin NC?

I've seen no evidence of Charlotte going anything on the national or international circuit since La Baule, and she hasn't continued her blog for HHO. Perhaps you might ask Corinne or Charlotte herself what's been happening.
 
My feelings about the sport in the UK are widely known and it is pointless going down that route again. I have horses in a field because I am fed up with the whole thing and two are mares which I could breed from but cannot see the point.

When I first heard about Emma and Mike, they had another rider at their yard who I have known for years and he suggested speaking to Ben as he was riding some of their younger horses. Ben had to win them over to get the rides and they are now a great team.

As for him competiting abroad, that is another story and another reason why I respect what he has achieved.


Bens dad is a businessman and I have conversations about horses which he has very little interest in and thinks people are mad. Yes the yard is fantastic, but Ben had to pay for it and rent it from him. He said that if he wants to go down that route he has got to work for it. Perhaps that is another reason Ben has succeeded.

Good luck to them all
 
I got the impression from Peter Charles comments in H & H yesterday that people weren't fighting to get in a team so why would that be ?
 
Various reasons I think. People are saving their horses for big money GP's rather than Nations Cup. Some horses may be good GP horses but not good Nation Cup horses. There is also a case of good Nation Cup horses (may put in good scores of 4 faults each round) which are not always the best GP horses.
It is also a bit like football, people are putting the club before their country.

I personally would like to see one manager and a coach who makes the selections and they are judged on the results. If they fail they are accountable and sacked, if they succeed the should be rewarded. If a horse is selected then unless there is a good reason, then it should compete.

Again is it down the quality of the shows in this country to establish rising stars and should more be done in team selection in the promotional leagues?
 
when this team is relegated next week derick r must go. No excuses or blameing the selectors or riders he has selected.Everything is on the line in dublin but without john w, nick s, robert s, mike w , all with the grit and determination to maybe get the result we need, we are in trouble.
 
It's not Derek's fault that Michael is out of action, that John does not have a horse right to compete at present nor that neither Robert nor Nick have horses consistently good at top level. Who do you think should be Team Manager?
 
sorry have to agree with gollum 43, surely when a manager does not come up with the results its time for change, see in this weeks horse and hound that Peter Charles is selected on Pom d'ami cant understand this move when he was our discard score at hickstead.
 
If you had read other posts or looked at the BSJA website you would see that all 3 of Peter's GP horses are named. Pom d'Ami did not like the ground and I guess if Dublin is the same, it will be Pall Mall H who represents us. Pom d'Ami's earlier form is excellent and I believe he's been rested in readiness for Windsor which of course has an all-weather surface.
 
Derek sent a horse with a known soundness problem to the olympics last year.He also sent a reserve who, even with nick at his brilliant best was more likely to have a cricket score than not.Relegation from the NC looks certain. If we regain our place next year that leaves two years back on the world stage befor London.Trust Derek with this? I DONT THINK SO !. Every major sport has learnt that to compete at world level you look at the world stage for the best manager available.Football club in trouble, cant win a game,change the manager same players start winning. We need to look at the world stage now for a manager and coach who has the strength and independence to accept no interference from within the bsja or other circles. Perhaps we should be looking at a foreigner to bring respect and inspiration back to our sport. Maybe a job for you SJFAN !!!!!!
 
Portofino has not been prone to soundness problems and I have no idea what the truth of the situation last year was - I am all too aware that the rumour mill often works overtime and is not based on fact! Though I was never very happy about Russel because he was unlikely to go consistently well, there was no other obvious candidate at the time though Pom d'Ami had been quarantined in readiness and I imagine it was a close call between them. Thank you for the vote of confidence in me! However, quite apart from having no record in team management, I am not up to doing the necessary travelling. And as stated before, our current lack of top class horse power is too much of a problem to be easily overcome.
Incidentally, Gemma Paternoster was the only Brit to go well in the Gijon Nations Cup yesterday.
 
peter said at the hickstead press conference he hadnt quite decided but would probably stick with Pom at Dublin.
well done Gemma yesterday, I also noticed that. And i hope you also noticed that Judy Ann Mechior (on the belgium team for next week) did a double clear in the Rio GP and was also placed in the speed class.....
 
Well I dont know about you Lucretia but for me that is exactly where the problems start in this Country. It should not be the riders decision as to which horse he will probably stick with! It is the managers job. Far too many times over the last few years I have been present when riders have actually told the manager which class & on what horse. I believe the rider should have some imput regarding what suits his horses etc but other than that it should be the first rule with teams. Can you imagine a Man Utd player telling Sir Alex what he was going to do or where exactly he would be playing in the formation of the team.
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Not Good
 
Not having been at the press conference, it's hard to comment, because Peter may have been asked which horse HE would choose, rather than which horse Derek would choose.
 
Well said Freshman.
I don't pretend to know anything about show jumping, but even I can see the same old names seem to be in the teams time and time again.
What happens when they all get too old and we have only inexperienced riders to replace them? Surely we should be trying out other riders on a regular basis, say three experienced riders, one newcomer as don't they usually discard one score anyway?
When I read the riders have so much control over the team selection I couldn't believe it, what other sport in the world has it's teams chosen by the competitors?
I can't really suggest a solution but perhaps anyone involved in Team selection should be banned from competing themselves.
I do think british breeders are starting to produce better horses so perhaps the chances of top class horses always going to certain riders might even out a bit, with a better pool to pick from the current stranglehold may loosen over the next few years with less famous riders getting better horses.
 
Not been here for a while but for what it's worth - I think British breeders are still along way off competing with our European counterparts!
I completely agree with Henryhorn - anyone involved in team selection should be completely independent and if they are involved in anyway with any rider they should be banned. But even if we did have an independent selector the BSJA would make sure everything went their way and we would be back to square one - the old boys club.
Regarding Derek as Team Manager - not my choice at all - we need someone with backbone and Derek (as nice a person as he may be) never seems to have the drive that for instance good old George Morrison (USA) has. The shots of him watching at Hickstead were likened to a football team manager - he was there for his riders! He rode every fence with each competitor. We need someone and don't ask me who, who can put the GREAT back into to Britain as far as showjumping is concerned.
No one is denying that there are many talented riders out there who deserve a chance but in most cases don't have the horse power and as an owner I do have to agree with previous posts that 'yes' I would be very choosy who I sent my horses to but I also say that I would not be choosing any Whittaker, Skelton or Smith for many reasons.
I am not too sure what the outcome of all of this will be. One sure thing is that we need nothing short of a miracle to hold our standing at Dublin and personally I think we have about as much hope as the Titanic! Perhaps the answer is to do as the utilities companies did - whilst BT thought they had the monopoly on the phone system along came a businessman with a real brain! The rest they say is history ......
 
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