How is ML so good at dressage ?

[TMares]

@enjoytheride

I for one appreciate how hard it is realizing you made a mistake and apologizing. No need to continue attacking someone who’s apologized.

sometimes your eyeballs pop out in horror and it comes out as words.

[skydy]

@Edre

I also think that there is a point where you have to stop talking about what you identify as a problem and start doing. If someone puts down a ride they know was poor (and will be poorly received) having a humble interview in the aftermath is the sensible (and honest!) thing to do. I commend people who do it!

But if the poor ride is just one more on a history of them, then a humble interview comes off less as humility and acknowledging personal shortcomings and more as a way to cover your own a**. People aren’t stupid. You can only make the same mistake so many times before they stop ascribing good intention to what you say in the aftermath.

For better or worse, I think she has hit this point. She has had some really public rides that are memorable for all the wrong reasons, and those reasons seem to be fairly consistent. It is hard to believe her when she acknowledges holes and a need to step back when it is a type of ride that has been seen from her before, and yet she continues to go out and deliver the same ride again.

I think that ML might have realized that she rides cross country in a very rough manner, and perhaps would have addressed the issue by now, if the yellow cards that she earned during those rides had actually been given to her.

So far, she has the officials’ blessing to ride like she does. There is no incentive to change. I would think her own safety would be incentive enough, but apparently she is fearless.

[enjoytheride]

I do not think that she’s getting a special pass from getting yellow cards. Just like I don’t think that the dressage judges are giving her points. I think the officials are applying their same standards to her as they are to other riders, if that needs to change for everyone I don’t know.

[omare]

As noted Raylyn Farm, has purchased horses that had spotty x country record and turned them around to compete at the top in the usa- i do not think that has been to ML’s benefit. I am not sure as someone else suggested the horses are naturals cross country but may excel in the dressage ring. They may " go" now but I suspect most people would prefer the opposite type of horse. Maybe they should have been buying horses whose holes were in dressage but did not have a history of xc penalties.

[skydy]

@enjoytheride

I do not think that she’s getting a special pass from getting yellow cards. Just like I don’t think that the dressage judges are giving her points. I think the officials are applying their same standards to her as they are to other riders, if that needs to change for everyone I don’t know.

If you re-read you’ll see that I did not opine that she was getting a “special pass”, just that she was not getting yellow cards for rides that earned them.

I’m not qualified to have an opinion about her dressage scores.

[asterix]

For those who know her, and have said nice things about their impressions of her as a person, please understand that for most of us, that is irrelevant. I’m not friends with her, or any other rider who represents the US internationally and the sport very publicly. Most of us aren’t. This isn’t about personal qualities. It’s about repeatedly representing the sport with horses that aren’t fit, horses that aren’t rideable, and horses that come off course, over and over again, with bloody mouths. However and whyever that happens, I really don’t care. I can see for myself the results.

[JER]

@enjoytheride

I for one appreciate how hard it is realizing you made a mistake and apologizing.

I couldn’t disagree with you more. Whenever I feel the need to apologize to someone, I can’t do it fast enough. It’s not ‘hard’ to want to remedy your own sh*tty actions and poor judgment.

When you say something absolutely sh*tty and uncalled-for to someone in your community, it’s not a difficult decision to apologize ASAP if you want to remain a member of that community.

Apologizing - and promptly - is what any decent person does.

If excessive consumption of alcohol is your excuse for saying sh*tty and hurtful things to people, then you probably find yourself well-practiced in the apology medium and it follows that you might want to reconsider your relationship to the bottle.

[Texarkana]

Is any of this constructive? Apologies were said, time to move on.

[enjoytheride]

The same could be said of those on this BB who make nasty comments about certain eventing pros. They have feelings to.

[Texarkana]

@enjoytheride

The same could be said of those on this BB who make nasty comments about certain eventing pros. They have feelings to.

I agree, but publicly discussing a rider who has represented our country in a mostly civil manner (with a few exceptions) is a far cry from posters arguing among each other in a very personal manner.

[ACMEeventing]

Was I the only one that immediately smelled the troll known as puffergrl? I mean, seriously, with a username like that :lol:

This thread has departed the rails. I’m just still trying to unsee the travesty that was her xc round at Wellington. Add it to the long list of rounds that have left us scratching our heads wondering how she gets away with it.

I still can’t believe Mary King got a card and a suspension after voluntarily pulling up a young horse because the ground jury said she should have done it a fence sooner, but ML has some sort of “no-card” shield. There is no justice.

[skydy]

@ACMEeventing

I still can’t believe Mary King got a card and a suspension after voluntarily pulling up a young horse because the ground jury said she should have done it a fence sooner, but ML has some sort of “no-card” shield. There is no justice.

Wasn’t that at Badminton or Burghley? The officials at those events seem more willing to give yellow cards now don’t they? After Townend’s whipfest…

M.L.'s FEI record shows that she’s never been to Badminton 4* or 5* and the one Burghley appearance in 2014 had 49.4 cross country penalties, total score 96.9.
So, odds are we’ll not be watching her go round Badminton or Burghley anytime soon.

[Marigold]

@skydy

Wasn’t that at Badminton or Burghley?

It was Bramham, with MHS King Joules (who was a nine-year-old at the time). Mary retired voluntarily before receiving the card, but said the ground jury later told her that because she was a role model, she should have “been more sensible”. There was no public statement from the GJ.

https://www.horseandhound.co.uk/news…-months-433117

[JER]

@Marigold

It was Bramham, with MHS King Joules (who was a nine-year-old at the time). Mary retired voluntarily before receiving the card, but said the ground jury later told her that because she was a role model, she should have “been more sensible”. There was no public statement from the GJ.

Well, there’s the answer: ML is not a role model.

[Puffergrrl]

Peck peck peck peck peck my little hens.
Aren’t we the crowd to sit in judgement of someone else’s riding? Raise your hand if you could ride ML’s horse? Raise your hand if you could do it better than her?

Now raise your hand if you can really even ride your own horse on cross country without getting run off with (…maybe just a little)? C’mon, you can tell us…this is a safe space…no one’s here to trash another person’s riding!

[endlessclimb]

@Puffergrrl

Peck peck peck peck peck my little hens.
Aren’t we the crowd to sit in judgement of someone else’s riding? Raise your hand if you could ride ML’s horse? Raise your hand if you could do it better than her?

Now raise your hand if you can really even ride your own horse on cross country without getting run off with (…maybe just a little)? C’mon, you can tell us…this is a safe space…no one’s here to trash another person’s riding!

Oh man, I get run off with all the time. My horse is craaazieeeee.

I’ll tell you what I’ve never done though.

Made a horse bleed from the mouth multiple times.

[MNEventer]

I school my gelding x-c in a hackamore, and he has fire in his feet. But if the choices were make him bleed repeatedly or don’t ride x-c, I’d choose the latter.

But seriously, the “you’re just jealous” canard? I don’t have to have a shelf full of ribbons from Tennessee Walking Horse shows to know that soring is cruel and wrong.

[skydy]

@Puffergrrl

Peck peck peck peck peck my little hens.
Aren’t we the crowd to sit in judgement of someone else’s riding? Raise your hand if you could ride ML’s horse? Raise your hand if you could do it better than her?

Now raise your hand if you can really even ride your own horse on cross country without getting run off with (…maybe just a little)? C’mon, you can tell us…this is a safe space…no one’s here to trash another person’s riding!

I can say, as can most people who ride, that I have never made a horse bleed from the mouth (or anywhere else), never pushed an exhausted horse, and never over faced a horse.

Could I ride Marilyn’s horse without making it crash or bleed? Who knows? I don’t ride at that level and never have. I’ll bet MJ and many other big time eventers could ride her horses without making them bleed and fall. If her horses require bleeding and almost falling to get around then that shines a bad light on her expertise in horse selection and training doesn’t it?.

Could she have ridden any of mine without making them bleed? Who knows? I wouldn’t have given her the chance.
Rather an pointless line of questioning there, isn’t it Puffergirl?

[TMares]

Hens peck at bloody spots on other hens. They can do serious damage. If ML’s horses weren’t bleeding, we’d leave her alone.

Peck peck peck

[Jealoushe]

@Puffergrrl

Peck peck peck peck peck my little hens.
Aren’t we the crowd to sit in judgement of someone else’s riding? Raise your hand if you could ride ML’s horse? Raise your hand if you could do it better than her?

Now raise your hand if you can really even ride your own horse on cross country without getting run off with (…maybe just a little)? C’mon, you can tell us…this is a safe space…no one’s here to trash another person’s riding!

Im sure if most of us here couldn’t ride her horses, would realize this and either work on what needs to be worked on, or pass the horse onto someone who can ride the horse without making it bleed.

For those saying the ground jury treat ML the same, they watched her groom run up with black towels and wipe away loads of bloody froth and did absolutely nothing during or after this. This is NOT OK.

The image of eventing is in a very fragile place. Eventers do not welcome those who want to climb the levels “fast and furious” simply because you want to make the team, because you think it easier to get on than the SJ team. Blood, death, injuries, are not good for our sport. It is no wonder eventers take repeat blood seriously.