[QUOTE=vxf111;3942973]
If I was expecting a child/adult jumper and got a grand prix jumper. Yeah, I think I would be scratching my head and wondering “what happened”?[/QUOTE]
On a quick turnaround, you might not notice…there would be no reason to max out a horse that has been represented to be only of a certain level. And it wouldn’t necessarily stand out–there are a LOT of very capable Junior/AO jumpers who have recently dropped back from GPrix.
Wow- have to agree. Those horses really do not look similar at all. The stars are not similar and neither are the profiles of their heads. GG has a more refined type of head than the other one. Maybe we all know our horses better than in this situation? Not sure about anyone else, but there’s no way I’d have thought that was the right horse just by appearances- let alone the horses way of going (or lack thereof). JMHO.
[QUOTE=RainyDayRide;3943676]
The head shots of GG and Con Air/Kanye in that article sure don’t look very much alike. A photo sent to the west coast on the east coast arrival of “GG” in Sept. would have immediately raised a flag.[/QUOTE]
The trainer clearly knew his horse- indeed he would have been able to identify the “wrong” horse immediately by photo.
But I understand just expecting this not to happen. It seems like it shouldn’t. But even babies have been switched at birth, so really we need to assume that such things DO happen and operate accordingly.
I know that based on this, if I ever shipped my horse to someone else, I’d be handling it differently. So, it’s been educational!
Good Guiness has been performing the impostor horse’s job (jr/AO I guess) in his place and doing very well, making the person who was leasing impostor horse think they got the deal of a lifetime.
Someone posts on COTH noting the similarity between GG and the horse being leased and assumed to be impostor horse.
GG is found and everyone is happy.
Nobody seems to care to get impostor horse back 
[QUOTE=Party Rose;3943677]
I see a TV movie in the works. Ends with the juniors parents buying her GG, presenting the horse to her on Patrick’s birthday, GG’s reaching his head out of the stall and the three of them blowing out the candles of the cake in the barn isle.
Happy Birthday Patrick. I couldn’t be happier for you, GG and his owners.[/QUOTE]
LoL definitely!! Patrick Dempsey can play Patrick Seaton, Rachel Bilson can play the junior rider… now who will play Barney Ward? And of course, the obligatory appearance with GG as himself in that last scene!!
uh yeah!
GG is found and everyone is happy.
Nobody seems to care to get impostor horse back :([/QUOTE]
Who owns the imposter horse, and are his owners concerned, MIA or what? We’ve come this far people…c’mon!!!
We don’t know that for sure. Just because it’s not on the internet doesn’t mean it’s not true. 
It sounds like the real Kanye was traded to the Wards back when this all went down. I would think McLain will be getting him back. Or maybe let Kanye’s rider keep leasing him.
if the imposter was the original horse to be leased, wouldn’t the girl/Barney know who they were leasing from?
imposter is cute, if not a worldbeater!
The thing that I can’t get over is how Frank Madden never communicated that the horse he had wasn’t living up to expectations. I mean, didn’t GG win 3 Grand Prix’s in California? How could he go from winning 3 Grand Prix’s to being a 3’6" jumper after just switching coasts without someone wondering why? I know people can tend to think they have a better horse than they do, but this horse had a show record. And didn’t Patrick call at some point and say “hey how’s my horse doing?” Wouldn’t he think it quite odd that he was only jumping 3’6"? (Enough to investigate sooner?)
I’m glad GG was found, and in good condition. Now what happens to the other horse?
[QUOTE=Ambrey;3943761]
GG is found and everyone is happy.
Nobody seems to care to get impostor horse back :([/QUOTE]
Everybody is happy?
GG’s owners sent the horse to be SOLD over the winter. Now they have the back - UNSOLD. Now it is a different market.
The Junior who was leasing the horse finds the horse she thought she had for the next six months is GONE!
The only people happy are the one’s who were repsonsible for not taking enough care in the first place.
[QUOTE=Dun Ciarain;3943814]
Everybody is happy?
GG’s owners sent the horse to be SOLD over the winter. Now they have the back - UNSOLD. Now it is a different market.
The Junior who was leasing the horse finds the horse she thought she had for the next six months is GONE!
The only people happy are the one’s who were repsonsible for not taking enough care in the first place.[/QUOTE]
They are happy they found their horse, aren’t they?
I disagree that the people responsible are happy- either it was an accident, and they feel awful, or it was on purpose and they got caught- neither are good scenarios.
[QUOTE=Ambrey;3943818]
They are happy they found their horse, aren’t they?
I disagree that the people responsible are happy- either it was an accident, and they feel awful, or it was on purpose and they got caught- neither are good scenarios.[/QUOTE]
It sounds like the owners had notified their insurance company. Now they have to withdraw their claim and pay to have the horse transported back. Then board/training. Then hope they can sell the horse locally, I guess. Now that Thermal is wrapping up, that isn’t an option either.
The people involved in this affair had a fiduciary duty. A mistake that was rectified in a week or two would have been no big deal. The article that was posted mentioned $200k (apparently quoted from the person who sent GG to be sold). What if the horse could have been sold six months ago for $200k and now that the horse market is soft and, for example, only sold for $100k.
SOLD
GG will get sold. Are you kidding me? After all this press?
It would be cool if he could be sold to the girl who was leasing him, even though it wasn’t really him she was supposed to get!
It definitely is a strange story and it sounds like GG and his owners are in for a happy ending…but I do feel for the rider who was doing so well with him and seeing her hard work and goals pulled out from under her, sure the horse needs to in the right place, but she wasn’y doing anything wrong…I also feel for Kanye…even in this thread he was described in terms that looked down on him…I hope he finds a good home and the RIGHT program he should be in.
Just hope everyone ends up happy and safe!
The girl that was leasing him is a fantastic rider and really could go places with that horse. She’s been riding Amanda’s horses beautifully and having incredible amounts of success. Really a girl to watch out for.
[QUOTE=horsegurl;3943909]
GG will get sold. Are you kidding me? After all this press?
It would be cool if he could be sold to the girl who was leasing him, even though it wasn’t really him she was supposed to get![/QUOTE]
If GG is coming back to the Bay Area, all the jumper trainers already know him. Press isn’t going to make a difference. The press wasn’t that GG just won a bunch of GPs in Florida at the WEF. The press is about all the people involved in a big screw up. After all, at least two of the GP wins last year happened when the the top West Coast jumpers were up at Spruce Meadows. Yes, a win is still a win. I watched one of his wins. The few people in this area willing to spend a couple hundred thousand for a GP horse would probably want a horse that had a proven record at the big shows when the leading West Coast jumpers were in town, not when they are in Canada. I’m sure they marketed GG out here before sending him back east.
Realistically, a person leasing a $50k horse, for example, isn’t motivated to shell out $200k to buy a horse. After all, the rider could be in her last junior year and going off to college next year.
It does seem to be a big damn sorry/happy story. I do not endorse more regulation in fact I abhor needless legislation but this might illuminate the need for better documentation of horses being transported.
I just talked to my son about picking up our pony after a trial by a BNT. No one was around, no grooms or assistants, we walked the barn aisles filled with the best horses in the country. We hung around for some time until we found our not sold pony and put him on the trailer. I finally found the trainer to ask what the green/naughty pony needed to learn to get him saleable for a kid. There was opportunity to take advantage of an unsuspecting staff and a busy show barn.
I think that so much horse business is based on trust, the shipper that his employees do the correct and accurate paperwork, the trainers in placing the care of animals to their grooms, farriers staff, and ultimately to the owners that trust the professional to insure the welfare of their investment.
If I am not misspeaking this may have been a perfect storm of sorts in a series of oversights.
I think that there is a case to be made for animals being sold as “qualified for” that have been moved to different markets. They are renamed and registered with the new owner, no question about the animal’s history, it invites shady ethics and reinvention.
The circumstance may prove to be provident if it serves to better protect both horses and their owners.
Kristin, you laid it on a little thick when you said the Earl was “CRYING”. PLEASE!!!
I love the impostor horse. I want him. But somehow I think if he impersonated a GP horse for 6 months he is out of my price range even if he is not the real GG.
Maybe the girl who had GG could finish out her lease term on the horse she thought she was leasing?
[QUOTE=War Admiral;3942916]
I know how much pressure can be brought to bear on people on the circuit to keep their heads down and their mouths shut, so to me, “dontbotherme” is an anonymous hero/heroine who should remain anonymous if s/he so desires. Even if it’s somebody I “hate”, I still salute him/her for doing the right thing here! :lol:[/QUOTE]
Funny how someone comes out of the woodwork and does the right thing, when BNT’s seem to have trouble with doing the same (meaning sloppy barn/horse management).
There’s still one thing that has not been taken care of. I’m not yet convinced that
it was all just a mistake.
What would possess the poster known as “dontbotherme” to register and log on to the COTH board, and suggest, with alarming accuracy, that the horse showing in Gulfport was GG ?
“dontbotherme” must have had knowledge of a purposeful switch, otherwise what would cause him/her to post here and blow the whistle ?
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