Nice story on Beezie. I lucked out and saw her once “in the flesh”. Sorry to hear that she’s no longer going to do Olympic level stuff as much after Toyoko. Lucky riders that get to be her future students!
Link to story? Interesting. It will be a bummer for fans, but I can’t say I blame her at all. Sometimes you need to step back and concentrate on other things. Travels takes a lot out of one and she’s been doing it for many years. I wish her the best of luck!
https://www.chronofhorse.com/article/madden-to-step-back-from-sport-after-tokyo
She’s been on top for a long time and has had a great career. I admire her wisdom in deciding it’s time for a change of focus, but I hope we’ll still get to see her bringing along younger horses and riders. She’s one of my favorite professionals ever.
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I was very sad to see this article, just because I’ve enjoyed watching her so much over the years. She has been a role model and inspiration to countless riders, not just for her ability but for her horsemanship and sportsmanship as well. I wish her the very best in the future.
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I think it’s a great decision, and I’m sure a hard one for her, after years and years of success. Maybe one day I’ll get to train under her, it seems like a much more obtainable goal after this fall.
I wonder if she’ll focus solely on jumpers or if she’ll work with equitation students as well. Maybe a future Maclay champion? Not sure about her current training program.
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FYI from their Facebook page, posted 5 hours ago today:
[h=6]Beezie Madden / John Madden Sales, Inc[/h] 5 hrs ·
Beezie, John and all of Team JMS want to first take a moment to thank all our friends, fans, and supporters whom have reached out since last night’s The Chronicle Of The Horse article. We have received an overwhelming amount of positive support and it is so appreciated.
We also want to clarify from the article that this is NOT a retirement or a stepping away, just a change in focus. Moving forward beyond 2020, we will continue to do what we’ve always done with horses like Authentic over the years. We will focus on developing them to be their best. You will continue to see Beezie in the show ring at top competitions; the difference will be that at some point the horses, like Coach with Katherine Strauss, will progress toward the Championship level with other riders.
Some of our best moments and memories have been with our teammates representing the USA in big events over the years and we remain focused on doing all we can to help the US Team in 2020. If we can help the US by competing in one more Olympics, it will be our whole team’s honor and main mission to prepare to do our best.
We look forward to helping a few talented young riders grow in their horsemanship and Grand Prix careers. There are so many victories in this sport, not just the big moments with gold medals and top ribbons, but also the wins that occur when a young horse successfully takes the next step in their training or when a student accomplishes a long sought after goal. If we can serve the US Team by being a small part of preparing the next generation of horses and horsemen, we suspect those victories will feel just as sweet as the ones we stood in the ring for.
The future is exciting, and we are blessed to have our whole team, from Mrs. Wexner, to our staff, to our wonderful sponsors, to our vets, and farriers, behind us. Team JMS is filled with people whose love of this sport is really all about a love for the horse and that will always remain unchanged.
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Good for her. What a great opportunity for some young riders to learn from her. Would love to see them partner with a breeder here in the states (WB and sport TB).
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That’s where the big money is, selling top horses to other riders to compete.
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She’s such a wonderful trainer and horseman. We were watching Maclay finals (the year Hunter Holloway won) in Kentucky and she had a kid (or two?) there and I stood behind her with a friend in line to buy pizza and she was wearing jeans, chucks and a puffy coat. I think her student ribboned but she didn’t stand in the photos the way all the other trainers line up for the photo-op. Her humble horsemanship first approach has always been something I admired. I think she will be a legendary trainer in terms of the students she brings along and the things they go on to achieve internationally. If I was a kid with big international dreams I would be begging to train with her.
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I adore Beezie but yes.
it is just another nail in the coffin of American sport. They sell top horses to riders with $$$$$$$, not horsemen and women. When Jobs and Gates and Sternlict are the next gen, well. Not to mention the previous gen, which was Firestone and Johnson and Bloomberg.
i hope Beezie is able to change this as a coach but won’t hold my breath. In Europe it is the same, but more of the top brass is interested in horses.
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Aren’t some of those horses owned by the Wexners who are tied into the Epstein scandal. Interesting timing.
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I don’t think it’s fair to put Sternlicht (sp?) in this group because she has actually done a lot of winning in really good company. I also don’t think anyone looks at Jobs or Gates as the future of show jumping. If we’re gong to be harsh in this way, I would put Katie Dinan and Lillie Keenan in the flops of the next generation category, at least so far. They’re both out there dropping rails week after week on the best horses money can buy (and they go through a lot of them too). Maybe Jessica Springsteen can take over some of their rides. I still think Brianne Goutal is one to watch for the future of the sport.
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Why wouldn’t the way of the future (Still) be people who have the eye to develop the right talented horses? Big bucks do not always equal big talents. In horses or humans.
Em
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I don’t understand why you quoted my post - I didn’t address the part of the previous post that you are talking about.
I solely addressed the part of fordtraktor’s post that was lamenting the lack of talent in today’s pool of young show jumpers, with the inclusion of specific names. I did not give any opinion whatsoever regarding Beezie’s plans (because, uh, she knows what’s best for her duh).
I will say in response to your post that while big bucks do not always EQUAL big talent, big bucks are always REQUIRED to develop and sustain big talent in this sport. But that still has nothing to do with my previous post that you quoted with this response that is not at all related.
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I still don’t understand what you mean - can you clarify further? I was just pointing out that if fordtraktor was going to name names of young show jumper riders who were not living up to the hype, perhaps her list was a bit misguided.
Ii don’t think either young rider I mentioned is trying to develop young horses - it seems that they both have had their parents’ money backing them for years and years, buying the best horses in the world so that they can make names for themselves, and neither is coming close to doing that yet. They’re both young though; they could turn it all around for their parents any day now.
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She is the classiest of acts, and I hope some young horses will still benefit from that tremendous leg/position she has.
In other news…what would I actually pay to clinic with Beezy??
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To be very clear, I was NOT saying those young riders don’t have talent. I was NOT specifically naming bad riders, I was naming wealthy ones. Clearly they do have talent, far more than I do for sure. but they also have a LOT of money and that’s kind of money seems to be a requirement these days to ride at a top level, with a few exceptions. It is disheartening as there aren’t that many people in the world who both want to ride jumpers and have those kinds of financial options.
I think Alison Firestone was an excellent rider. Too bad she stepped back to raise her family,
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Well, you can’t win. On the one hand there’s bemoaning the pipeline to develop young horses in this country, and on the other, there’s bemoaning what it takes to buy a horse of international caliber brought along expertly by an international competitor.
Good for Beezie and good for us. We need someone of her character and her skillset involved in the continued development of the sport, both young horses and young riders.
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Is this really necessary? They are people too, you know. It’s not impossible to be sad about one of the greats stepping back without trashing other people.
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