Burghley

[h0rsel0ver]

@arnikalm

Thank you. I’m sitting here thinking the exact same thing. And thanking god Americans were smart enough to throw a fit and get him out of here. So glad we don’t have freaking royalty.🙄

Sorry, I am just catching up on the thread. How did the Americans play a part; what did they do?

[findeight]

@CatchMeIfUCan

The grooms will all deserve many libations come the closing of the stables.

Tomorrow night after SJ. Tonite maybe a shot of Bushmills in a cup of strong coffee as they sit up icing, poulticing, monitering etc etc. Once the adrenaline wears off, some of those horses will really be hurting. Even if they are not going to be presenting for the jig and are eliminated, it’s going to be a long night for too many of those horses.

CMP is not “royal”, he married into it and depended on waving it’s flag and fortune to advance his career. Has continued to benefit from the association, in the eyes of some, even tho only his children have any real connection via their mother. Good riddance. Too bad it will be another year…

[goodmorning]

I watched a bit of today. As usual many of the RFs were pairs that umm were having difficulty and on approach no distance. You can’t Barrel down to nothing or ride backwards to nothing at this level. Tina Cook made several comments about the no distance thing. And rightfully so the horses loose confidence.

LK did loose her upper body and should take a lesson from WFP on how to properly ride a smaller horse. Long stirrups just don’t work. She’s has all the owners and money and horses to be a top 5 and she doesn’t go fast enough and take the quickest routes - if she wasn’t pitched forward on landings then maybe she’d have to make less compromises with her routes. The critique is only because she is so good and so close with all the resources.

Harbor Pilot was game on perhaps a bit too keen - unfortunate as he’s a fantastic horse.

Zara’s horse was a bit naughty. A few of them were. Ugh Tim Price was a heartbreaking moment. As was the hoof in the breastplate! Lovely horses just how the cookie crumbles sometimes.

[enjoytheride]

@goodmorning

I watched a bit of today. As usual many of the RFs were pairs that umm were having difficulty and on approach no distance. You can’t Barrel down to nothing or ride backwards to nothing at this level. Tina Cook made several comments about the no distance thing. And rightfully so the horses loose confidence.

LK did loose her upper body and should take a lesson from WFP on how to properly ride a smaller horse. Long stirrups just don’t work. She’s has all the owners and money and horses to be a top 5 and she doesn’t go fast enough and take the quickest routes - if she wasn’t pitched forward on landings then maybe she’d have to make less compromises with her routes. The critique is only because she is so good and so close with all the resources.

Harbor Pilot was game on perhaps a bit too keen - unfortunate as he’s a fantastic horse.

Zara’s horse was a bit naughty. A few of them were. Ugh Tim Price was a heartbreaking moment. As was the hoof in the breastplate! Lovely horses just how the cookie crumbles sometimes.

LK’s sitting in 11th as the top placing American rider after a trying course on a 1/2 arabian 1/2 TB which is a wee bit unconventional so she must not ride small horses too badly.

[Horsegirl_s_Mom]

@Jealoushe

Watching this on and off this morning has really turned me off ever wanting to ride at that level. Disgusting course, no rider came off saying it was brilliant fun.

this is NOT what Eventing is about. Too many open corners, too many huge oxers on turns. Jumps just TOO big.

wont be surprised to see lame horses tomorrow.

well done to all the riders who made it home. Doubt they want to do that again.

Sad to read about this. Ever since I was a kid, I’ve been awed by the willingness, heart, and trust displayed by eventing horses. It seems like putting them to such a dangerous course is a breach of that trust.

I fully support your efforts to shine a light on the risks and to urge that everything be done to make it as safe and fair as possible for horses and riders.

[Blugal]

Mark Phillips needs to retire now. 14 frangible devices were triggered. That is due to course design, not, as he likes to lay blame, “rider responsibility.” Combined with 5 horse falls, these two measures ought to be sufficient for the organisers, FEI, and riders to say, “No more.”

[enjoytheride]

@Jealoushe

Watching this on and off this morning has really turned me off ever wanting to ride at that level. Disgusting course, no rider came off saying it was brilliant fun.

this is NOT what Eventing is about. Too many open corners, too many huge oxers on turns. Jumps just TOO big.

wont be surprised to see lame horses tomorrow.

well done to all the riders who made it home. Doubt they want to do that again.

What level do you ride at now?

[Jealoushe]

@enjoytheride

What level do you ride at now?

What difference does it make? The way these courses are being designed at the 5* level is making me question my long term goals.

[CatchMeIfUCan]

@findeight

Tomorrow night after SJ. Tonite maybe a shot of Bushmills in a cup of strong coffee as they sit up icing, poulticing, monitering etc etc. Once the adrenaline wears off, some of those horses will really be hurting. Even if they are not going to be presenting for the jig and are eliminated, it’s going to be a long night for too many of those horses.

Haven’t groomed at Burghley but have done every big competition in the US and NZ and you get kicked out of the barns at some point on Saturday night to let the horses rest. I definitely prefer a drink after a stressful day and am grateful that almost everyone I work for recognizes this is a necessity!

[enjoytheride]

@Jealoushe

What difference does it make? The way these courses are being designed at the 5* level is making me question my long term goals.

Someone who’s ready to step into that level then changes their mind after today v someone doing X rails saying that after this course makes a big difference.

[goodmorning]

@enjoytheride

LK’s sitting in 11th as the top placing American rider after a trying course on a 1/2 arabian 1/2 TB which is a wee bit unconventional so she must not ride small horses too badly.

I said top 5. Which I want for our female riders. Everyone always has room for improvement; don’t take it personally. Perhaps that’s part of the American problem…

[findeight]

Didn’t some very qualified riders opt for the options and time faults after the early carnage?

Got no problem with a 5* course being tough and weeding out the under qualified, ill prepared or under mounted and not advocating dumbing down the courses when it’s well known a scheduling conflict will keep some top lair away.

But, really, do we need to try to trap lesser riders into bad decisions or fool good riders into mistakes, knowing the horse is the one paying the price for most of those mistakes? Is there some point somebody is trying to prove at the expense of trying to keep the possibility of serious injury or fatality at a minimum. Jumping is dangerous, we know that, why try to trap riders and horses into mistakes with serious consequences? And how are newer entrants supposed to get their experience and mileage without going through a string of broken horses?

[flyingchange]

I appreciated Ian Stark’s frank comments. And had to laugh when he was saying he was “going to be naughty” and comment about her stirrup length. Anyway - what he said made sense to me, and I really doubt Lauren would take offense to it. Maybe the suggestion might help her at some point? There is always room for improvement - for everyone.

I get really turned off when the commentators are sterile/refuse to say what they really think.

I turned it off when OT left the start box. I needed to clean my imaginary cat’s litter box, or something similar. Pippa was amazing. Hoping the rails stay up for her tomorrow.

[Rnichols]

Forgive my ignorance, but can someone please explain to me why the frangible pins only gave way ONCE at that one stride gate thing despite being hit HARD multiple times? I believe that question had at least 2, if not 3 falls and at least one was a rotational.

[jcraig10]

Physics

[JER]

@OverandOnward

Anyone who hopes to preserve eventing needs to think twice about that.

Someone tell Stupid (whoever Stupid is) to take it down !!! This was an ugly, ugly day. Don’t present the worst of it to the world.

If ‘preserving’ eventing means more of what we saw today, then I’ll take whatever’s behind Door #2.

As for presenting an ugly day to the rest of the world - well, this is what it was today. Lots of falling and crashing and moments that could have been a lot worse. If change isn’t going to come from within, maybe the ‘rest of the world’ can intervene and help us out.

Which begs the question: how is eventing different from Mexican horse tripping?

[pony4me]

That was very difficult, and sometimes disturbing to watch. I found myself wondering if maybe the riders could start giving yellow cards to the course designer.

[Blugal]

@pony4me

That was very difficult, and sometimes disturbing to watch. I found myself wondering if maybe the riders could start giving yellow cards to the course designer.

You’d think the riders would have done so after some deaths on his courses… but they didn’t.

[DLee]

Five American women in the Top 20. 💪🏼🇺🇸

A couple of weeks ago I sat at a fence at Great Meadow, a big log to a big drop, and photographed most of the Advanced Division. Lauren Kieffer rode two horses through there (one being Vermiculous). It was amazing to see her position through the combination and big drop on both horses, her leg never moved. In sport mode, every frame, the rides were identical and her position was rock solid. Many other riders had an awkward moment in that combo that showed up in a one or more of the shots.
I’ve always thought she was one of the quietest riders I’ve seen.

[Jealoushe]

@enjoytheride

Someone who’s ready to step into that level then changes their mind after today v someone doing X rails saying that after this course makes a big difference.

What’s you’re email? I’ll send you my resume