Quote from COTH article about the “arena thing:”
"Schramm stepped on the gas too, but was nearly unseated at fence 8, a skinny cabin. He regrouped to finish strong.
“My fella’s 20 years old,” said Schramm. “He’s just been going novice, so I felt kind of bad for him, as we were turning and burning. Halfway around I was thinking ‘Sorry mate, I wouldn’t normally ride you like this,’ but he was a champion. He was just unbelievable, just picked himself back up.”"
Hurl.
Hey pony racing is very real for the pony riders! At least in my neck of the woods those kids racing at Devon and WIHS may move on to do pony racing at the point to points, and one day become the steeplechase jocks of tomorrow! But I get your general sentiment 
Truth lol
I think the riders and the horses were amazing. I dont think it’s a good question to ask horses. Looks like it could go bad real quick. I feel the commentators were really pressuring the riders to step it up. That bothered me, because they were having A fine time going a nice pace. Why are they encouraging them to go faster and faster and take risks. They were literally yelling at them and mocking them. This is someone married to an Eventing safety rep.
The whole thing felt like a wannabe sports broadcast
I normally enjoy Karen and her commentating but she seemed to really not have much information in front of her, and really got stuck on a lot of words. Caught myself saying ‘spit it out’ a few times at her lol.
Not sure how the riders would’ve liked hearing then critique some of their rides, but I guess in the moment you probably tune them out.
REALLY happy Dom and Ryan won, very deserving! I was really hoping ML wouldn’t win, not like she needs it to be honest. WFP and Oliver were lovely to watch.
Ugh.
I can’t quite fathom what value there is in staging a class for mediocre showjumpers over portables in an arena. Maybe it’s supposed to be ‘exciting’ because it’s often reckless?
This doesn’t showcase much except the gullibility of BN eventers and, sadly, the lack of regard some have for the horse.
No kidding!
Hannah Burnett flew back from England mid-week, competed at Surefire, and then participated in the Central Park event as well.
Whew.
Hmmm… would we think differently of it if the jumps were smaller, the riders weren’t pros, and there was a qualification process?
Kind of like this: http://dublinhorseshow.com/equestrian-information/hunt-chase
Isn’t this event over a large area, and goes into a big field, if I am thinking of the right one?
Interesting. Must be the same horse, but with the FEI he’s only “Renan”, no “Prince”. He’s spectacular! Lucky you getting to watch him all the time
https://data.fei.org/Horse/Performance.aspx?p=196C3C49C56A7CA275522B62B669CD6E
Agreed. Well said.
Exactly what I was thinking of. I’ve also seen this in an indoor venue.
I’m guessing this is pretty popular and accepted in Europe where hunting is much more prevalent. Again these teams have to qualify, the horses have to qualify, the riders are not likely to be professional eventers, and there are fairly clear rules.
Do we hate this arena event too? Or is it okay because it’s not being positioned as “Eventing”? But what’s the difference between this and the Central Park event, really?
Are fox hunting purists clutching pearls over participation of their contingency in arena hunt chases?
I hardly think this is the beginning of the end of the sport as we know it, but perhaps just another “flavor” thrown in.
Please feel free to challenge me on my thinking. It’s Monday and I might seriously be missing The Point.
I just get VERY nervous watching arena eventing. Sometimes it is interesting and entertaining, but there were a lot of moments where I closed my eyes and gasped while watching this one. That bank and how the horses couldn’t read it and were just sliding the whole thing and not treating it as a bank… I’m surprised we didn’t see any injuries this time.
Maybe some are, but the competition linked in the youtube video seems like it’s all in good fun. Small jumps, relatively longer gallops, fewer hairpin turns, and I assume no 50k prize at the end. This isn’t a threat to fox hunting. Whereas the Central Park arena event and others like it take our top talent and turn them into a side show, and not an especially entertaining one, either, IMHO. It seems like dumbing down the sport, whereas the arena fox hunting thing just seems like a lark.
But that’s just IMHO. I can certainly see pro eventers looking at that and thinking, wow, I can ride for 90 seconds and win a big prize, why bother doing a full on event!
That’s what used to be called the ‘cheese chase’. I’ve seen it in person a number of times. A very different kettle of fish than this canned eventing.
The cheese chase was/is a raucous relay competition between fox hunts at the Dublin show. I don’t think it ever made any claims to be anything like eventing. The hunt/cheese chase was always a hugely popular class but I think that’s because the hunts were well-represented in the stands and there were lots of personal connections to the goings on.
But again, this was more like the hunting crowd crashing the main ring of the more staid RDS. More populist than the professional slant of the tinned eventing showcase.
You’ll find that they are riding actual hunting horses as opposed to competition horses.
AMEN!!!
I’m clearly in the minority here, but here goes … I think that as an exhibition event, this was just fine. Were there points where I got nervous? Yes. Were there points where I thought, “Goodness I love eventers!”? Yes.
The bank made me both nervous and impressed. Clearly the horses weren’t reading it well, and many skittered across the top of it. But how many horses can have that happen, land on the other side and go charging off to the next obstacle. Event horses are truly a special class of horse! And I noticed that every rider adjusted their ride to the bank dependent on what their horse did the first time. These riders were riding smart.
Did anyone watch the full press conference? (I believe EN had a link to it.) I admittedly didn’t watch the entire thing, but what I saw from it made me believe that in no way was this meant to replace eventing as we know it. But it was simply an exhibition to expose people to the sport, our riders, and our horses, that may not otherwise get a chance to see them. I think my only real complaint is that I wish the announcers were able to provide more commentary re the horses, owners, etc. If we want people to get involved as owners, we should show them that we recognize the ones we have.
Just my $0.02!
Not really.
If anything, it was an exhibition to expose sponsors and advertisers to an under-monetized equestrian discipline which has shown its willingness to diminish its standards (including horsemanship standards) to chase the almighty dollar.
This is my impression as well.
And I believe there is room for both “Arena Eventing/Cheese Chases/WhateverYouWantToCallIt”. And if the pros can make some additional money doing it, good for them. They’re really not exactly getting rich here.
If the event riders WILLINGLY participated, had fun, and were able to make some money doing it - why are we holding this against them? Isn’t that THEIR choice to make?
Funny how when foxhunters participate in a similar event no one is screaming about diminished horsemanship standards (because they’re foxhunters, right? They can’t possibly have high standards <sarcasm>.) But have a group of professional eventers give it a go and we’re up in arms? I found the XC at Badminton a much bigger sh!t show and threat to the safety and well-being of horses and riders than Central Park Arena Eventing.
@JER, I agree whole-heartedly that this was a massive sponsorship/advertising ploy. I think we must have heard the announcers says “The Fite Group” no less than 500 times. It was very promotional. But aren’t most of the big 4* events heavily sponsor titled as well? Haven’t we (the spectators, not the actual riders) all referred to the 4* event in Lexington as “Rolex” for years and years?
By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. You may also receive promotional emails from The Chronicle of the Horse. You can opt out at any time.
For Customers
Company
Terms of Use
