I remember admiring Ian Millar on Big Ben from magazines and TV when I was a kid in the Northwest. People like Ian just didn’t exist at the shows I went to! I seem to remember he came to Thunderbird a couple times when I was in high school, but I wasn’t there when he was. When I was a teenager my parents moved back to Ontario. Imagine how big-eyed I was when, at my first show in Ontario, he walked up to my trainer at the time and said hello while I was standing beside her. They knew each other, and to her it was just Ian, but to me… Wow. I watched out for him at every show thereafter, and how excited was I if he happened to nonchalently say hello in passing or to my trainer when I was with her. He made a big impact on me… I learned a lot from watching him. But not just how he rode. I learned by watching his humble and kind demeanor. He seemed to treat every person on the showgrounds and all his horses with respect. He was so genuine and unassuming, congratulatory of anyone that did well. He truly deserves our respect and appreciation.
[QUOTE=jvanrens;3454837]
I like the one on the CBC site even better. :sadsmile:
Go Captian Canada! :D[/QUOTE]
That brought tears to my eyes, thanks for finding that.
[QUOTE=jvanrens;3454837]
I like the one on the CBC site even better. :sadsmile: [/QUOTE]
Kudos on finding that - I think the smile while riding “In Style” says so much about how he approaches the task at hand. Game face? Overrated nonsense. Horses feed off the rider and clearly he was game if Ian was too.
Not a problem, I’ve been monitoring the CBC site since the equestrian events started. 
On the CBC vote for the Moment of the Day, one of the choices was to vote for the Canadian team silver, http://www.cbc.ca/olympics/olympicmoments/ , but unfortunately voting has ended for the day. 
My power was out for most of the evening and I just found out about it. Hopefully other showjumping fans got a vote in
Ian used to winter at Grand Cypress in Orlando about 10 years ago. I would go down and watch him ride…wow, he was amazing. I learned so much just watching him! He is an incredible rider. Have the show jumping dvr’ed. Can’t wait to watch it.
[QUOTE=jvanrens;3454888]
Not a problem, I’ve been monitoring the CBC site since the equestrian events started. On the CBC vote for the Moment of the Day, one of the choices was to vote for the Canadian team silver, http://www.cbc.ca/olympics/olympicmoments/ , but unfortunately voting has ended for the day. My power was out for most of the evening and I just found out about it. Hopefully other showjumping fans got a vote in[/QUOTE]
Well I voted by phone and by internet, so one of my votes was for you!!
I am so, so, SO happy for Ian! This is such a well deserved thing, and it took way too long for him to get it. I’m just so happy for him!
Congrats to a man with some serious staying power!
I have to say, that when I hear the NBC commentators just about peeing themselves over that swimming guy who has done nothing more than win a fistful of medals, I think, “Eh, I doubt he’ll still be around in another 28 years…” :yes:
extraordinary - the man is extraordinary. Watching his round this morning had me breathless. And tearful. Wonderful piece on him - that CBC site - thanks whoever posted.
Agree RR - Michael Phelps will be long gone…
but Dara Torres 
YEAH for Captain Canada!
Class act. Wonderful horseman!
NO ONE can match his record!
When I was about 7 or 8 years old, I remember turning on the tv just in time to watch Ian and Big Ben jump a clear round to help Canada win the Nations Cup at the Royal Winter Fair. From then on, he was my childhood hero. I clipped articles from any newspapers I found which mentioned him, and taped show jumping on CBC, watching the footage over and over. When Big Ben retired I clipped the tiny Reuters clip from the newspaper and made a silly little velvet and foam frame for it to keep on my desk.
As I got older and started riding in competitions myself, I got to see him in person at several shows. I have always been impressed by the way he makes a point of talking to young kids and aspiring riders, because he knows what it means to them. I think he knows that he has a responsibility to represent and to be a good ambassador for a sport which has been good to him, as he has been good to it. He is still an incredibly gifted rider and a consummate horseman.
Today I am a proud Canadian. Thanks to Ian and the whole team for giving us something to cheer for. And I am especially happy for Ian, for whom I was cheering most of all. This medal is well deserved, and a long time coming.
While I am thrilled for the team silver and proud of all the riders, Eric, Jill and Mac, it must be particularly bitter-sweet for Ian, Amy and Jonathan having lost his wife (and their mother), Lynn, earlier this year to cancer. After all these years, she is not there to enjoy the moment with them.
Ian is a class act. Yes, he is humble and always puts team Canada ahead of his own achievements. Certainly a mentor for all of us in the sport as to how to act.
Glad the US won the gold, but equally glad Canada was next door with the silver. At long last, Ian got his medal.
I don’t remember for sure, but I think it was in the early 1970s when I first saw Ian Millar ride at the old National Horse Show at Madison Square Garden. My mother had gotten tix to the event, an unusual acknowledgment that her lumpy, unathletic girl from central NJ - where the closest thing to a horse was the pony fur that covered someone’s bad 70s sofa - loved the beasts. I remember Ian Millar was there, I guess on Big Ben, but what I rememberd most was that he was a big guy and really seemed to LIKE what he was doing.
Since then, Mr. Millar has remained my very favorite equestrian. He was riding at Harrisburg a few years ago when I got to present the trophies in the Thursday night class (my husband works for M&T Bank, and the guys in Harrisburg remembered his wife was horse crazy and asked if I might want to do the presentation as they were sponsoring – I got to sit with the course designer, Richard Jeffries, all night and learned SO much!). I mustered up the courage after his ride to approach him “backstage” and tell him that I had long admired him and appreciated the distinction and sportsmanship he brought to our sport and he was SO gracious…HE is the kind of ambassador out sports need!
My husband even knows Ian Millar by name and sight. He’s a huge favorite, and unpatriotic though it might be, I really wish he could have taken home team gold!
I was stunned and ecstatic to see Ian Miller riding in the preliminary rounds. I saw him and Big Ben win gold at the 1987 Pan Am games…when I was 14, and he was as far as I was concerned, “old.” I got his autograph, though, and Rodney Jenkins’s too while I was at it.
I really, REALLY wanted to see him medal. My 28-month-old son cheered “Go Ian! Go Ian!” with me as he rode (later it was, “Go Beezie!”). It was a fantastic ride and an incredible performance by BOTH teams. Would have been cool if they’d been allowed to stay tied and all get gold.
Go Ian!
Ian Miller has long been my favorite hunter/jumper rider. When I started riding in the
late 1980’s, I watched him at MSG on Big Ben just wipe up the competition. What a
pair they were! Other riders were yanking and kicking and jerking–his ride was so smooth
and quiet in comparison.
Still have some of his and Big Ben’s performances on tape–Beta tapes, but have hung on to the Beta player. Need to get this out and take a look–tis been many years since I watched them.
While I am very pleased the USA took the gold, I would have been just as pleased if
Canada (and Ian) had won it. Didn’t get to see his round as the live stream decided
to “buffer” during his round…but his smile during the awards ceremony was just as
gratifying.
Ian is fabulous. LOVE watching him ride – and always will.
Seb
p.s. But, really was there a need to dis Michael Phelps in the process of showering Ian with his very deserved praise? Phelps’ accomplishments are real too… :yes:
I am so happy for Ian and Canada. His Olympics have always been unlucky… 9th time is the charm!
Many years ago, I lucked into his book, Riding High, at a used bookstore - I treasured it then and now. I highly recommend it. It was published 18 years ago, in 1990, when his kids were still small.
Congrats to Ian and team Canada!
