There’s not even a list out right now so how do we know Phillip is in front of her on the roster? She’s very different than the “new comers” that were passed over in the last few championship cycles. She actually has a foundation for long-term success with her program and pipeline.
I think the fact that they sent her to Aachen last year and that she’s publicly said that Erik has pushed her to go to lots of different types of tracks across Europe that wouldn’t necessarily suit the horse implies she’s far from an outside contender. She’s also trained with Bobby Costello for years which can’t hurt.
I’m a big of fan as anyone of some of the old school names. But listen. Ariel is across the street from us. I have seen her day in and day out, putting the work in. With a broken jaw, missing teeth and just generally the most painful face I have ever seen, she is there, running, riding, working for it. And it shows. Simon is not easy at all, but her results speak for themselves. Her coolness under pressure is enviable.
I truly appreciate getting to see top class competitors working. I watch them in the warm up, I watch them with their young horses. Ariel is top class. Will and Mason are there for the future. There are horses coming up that are so ready for a slot to open.
I have no inside information about where she is in the eyes of selectors - I was responding to posters here that were leaving her off their theoretical WEG teams but including Phillip. Frankly, I’d also take Ariel over Boyd and Thomas. She has demonstrated far more consistency in both jumping phases.
Agreed on all counts. I really hope you are right. I thought it was insane that she wasn’t long-listed last year.
It does show. I don’t have the insight that you do, but I have yet to see a single thing from her that I don’t like. She has made me a big, big fan, and my only regret is that I wasn’t following her much before 2019 (although she was on my radar with the lovely grey mare her mother owned after they won at Southern Pines). I’m glad to hear that she is as purposeful and committed behind doors as she seems in front of them. Combined with a supportive and seemingly thoughtful owner, what a bright spot for the future of US Eventing.
Agreed about Will and Mason too. Another pair I think a lot of. Taking these jumping pairs and working on the dressage seems like a much better recipe for success than trying to add heart, scope, and speed to dressage horses. Though full credit to Tamie - she managed to prove she’s sitting on both this weekend.
Yep, this. Selectors seem to forget that it’s worthless to score a sub-30 in dressage if you can’t go clean XC (coughcough ML) or pull a bunch of rails in SJ. It’s like they get amnesia or tunnel vision by only focusing on dressage.
Do you feel like they’re leaning too hard that way? Cause two of the three horses who ultimately ran in Tokyo for the US had 6RAs over 30, but all were on the more reliable end XC (and almost all of the top choices for the US had had some serious XC mishap on a high-profile scale in recent years, so none of the choices were perfect). You’d think if they were looking primarily for horses with epic dressage scores without regard to XC reliability, Tamie and Lexus would have been the first selected (given what we knew then — obviously their performance this weekend says a lot about where he currently is in terms of XC, whereas at the time, there were more concerns given the 11 at KY and the 40 at the Pan Ams, even though I know his overall XC record is quite good).
They were, for a bit. They kept naming ML to the teams even though she was only competing about three times a year, but hardly ever made it around XC without time or jump penalties because she could score in the low 20s.
Do we know anything about On Cue’s injury? I feel like we forgot about her as a possibility for Boyd. Although he seems to be cursed to have some talented horses that have a promising year or two (Trading Aces, Otis Barbotiere, Shamwari, Blackfoot Mystery) but inevitably can’t hold up soundness-wise. I hope that’s not the case for Cue, I have a soft spot for mares like her!
PLUS Ariel has shown she and her horse can travel AND deliver. The best riders in the world called Badminton a 6* and she just ate the course up. If she isn’t on the team the US has A LOT of explaining to do. Since WEG is 4* she can concentrate on her dressage and jumping and not worry too much about the XC. Honestly she is almost an anchor rider at this point with that horse.
Shes now 16, so depending on her injuries she may or not be back. I have to agree, when you look at the Prices and MJ with horses who do 5* after 5* for years and are still sound at 19 and ripping around 5* it makes you wonder what is happening with BMs horses who don’t stay sound or compete for all that long. Maybe its more the breeding though as Steady Eddie is still going strong, and it seems those TB types have longevity.
I’m wondering the same. I watched her fall on a replay and I’ve been checking multiple times a day for updates. Also, I haven’t seen a GoFundMe for her which I was wondering about for ongoing care and loss of income.
I wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t know yet. She has to have so much swelling in her whole body right now–that can cause temporary paralysis. It does sound like there’s no “severed spinal cord” kind of paralysis.
There’s an awful video on youtube with all the falls of the day. I wasn’t paying attention and clicked on the link thinking it was just coverage… wish I hadn’t. Her fall is horrific, she goes straight down headfirst and then the horse falls on top of and rolls over her. That’s she’s conscious, talking and breathing on her own is amazing given the way she hit the ground.
