Hope the stewards were on hand to take care of that.
The stories I’ve heard about pretty much every big name rider usually come from ejected former students. My guess is that these top riders train hard, push hard, demand a lot-- that’s how they got to the top. If you can’t stand the heat, don’t… sit in the fire? Something like that.
[QUOTE=vineyridge;3476924]
Perhaps this is stirring the pot, and perhaps this post doesn’t belong here, and it really doesn’t have to do with Ian Millar directly, but…
Several years ago on one of the Spruce Meadows telecasts, Johnathan (Jonathan?) Millar had a horse stop on him twice in a round. I have never ever seen any jumping rider beat his horse so unmercifully in the ring as JM did after the second stop.
I was appalled that anyone with the Millar name would lose his temper so completely with his ride. I was reminded of the use of the whip in slavery days in the South. :mad:
Just saying…
And this was not Ian, but his son.
Congratulations to IM for his medal, and for a lovely performance in Hong Kong. But you Canadians need to be very wary of putting JM on a Team unless he’s learned to keep his temper under tight control. A bad round is no excuse for beating a horse.[/QUOTE]
Once again…I rode out of their barn. We rode in the same arena. I have never seen IM, JM or AM do anything like that. I’m not saying the story is untrue but I am saying it is out of character from what I saw. Can we all honestly say we haven’t had our moments of frustration while on a horse? I remember being a lot less patient and understanding when I was younger and admitedly, not always nice. My current horse and I would have killed each other had I had him as a teen. This is the problem, you don’t really know the horse or rider and you see him deliver a beating once on a horse that is stopping years ago and now he is a convicted horse abuser and should not be considered for the team. C’mon. I also can’t get too excited about a beating with a jumping bat…I’ve seen far more damage done by daily draw rein crankings at any given dressage barn. Not making excuses for beating a horse if it is just loss of temper or poor ride.
I saw that telecast, too, actually, and I believe it was sometime around 2001-2003 (give or take). I’m surprised someone else remembers that, because that image has stuck in my mind. Horse refused twice, and then Jonathan was holding him in place and slapping his rump repeatedly with the crop, and I could be wrong, but I remember the horse’s mouth open in distress and he might have been crying out (being a telecast, and being young, my brain might have embellished things). I’ve been, lets just say, distrustful of Jonathan Millar since (Mario Deslauriers did it once, too, and I’m sure I remember his horse crying out too, being held back while being whipped. I like him even less than Jonathan, as a result. It might have been when his horse refused at Spruce Meadows’ table top, and Mario fell off, or almost fell off). I’ve been wary of hating these riders right out, because lets be honest, they’re the ones riding and they know these horses better than I do. Who’s to say these horses haven’t been schooled extensively over similar jumps at home, showing not fear over the jumps but distain or just a lack of wanting to work over them, and the whipping was over that and not out of frustration. But then again, the whipping was pretty brutal-looking. But like I say, the riders know best. You can tell I’m confused on the matter, lol
For what it’s worth, I, too, agree that it’s out of character for both riders, and I haven’t seen a similar “tantrum” before or since.
Please stay on topic–the OP of the thread concerns IM and his accomplishment in this Olympic Games.
Thanks!
Mod 1
Congratulations Ian!I AM happy that he reached his goal of an Olympic medal.
He has the BEST PR on the planet.
I will leave it at that.:winkgrin:
And , yes, I do know from personal experience, and yes, I do admire the man.:eek:
Do I like everything he does? Nope.:no::eek:
Is he a true horseman? Absolutely, in the highest sense of the word.
As he is a fierce competitor.He is always thinking & working.
I was there during the Ben Era. My husband drove ben to Guelph for his second surgery after which Ben recovered & had his most winning year EVER.
We rode and planned worked, and good grief, did we drink coffee.
Lynn taught me her fabulous lungeing program, which I use to this day. Who needs a whip? You get fit, sound horses. Ian made me learn it.
Ian made me learn. Ian also made me cry, pretty much every day. I was not one of his customers. I was his Assistant trainer’s fiancee.I was disposable.
I walked out of a year and a half of “torture”:winkgrin: having trained my first jumper, showing in the High AO and ending up 6th in the CET that year. A customer of Jill Henselwood’s bought that “woman-broke” horse.
THen there are the other horses I got to ride, including Ben.I HATED riding Ben & Baarlo!I knew I was going to die they were so spooky. How Ian got accomplished what he did, in a medium loose-ring SNAFFLE, still amazes me.
If he had to use “gear” on a horse, I really didn’t want to get near it.
I cannot put a value on what I learned off & on the horses in that time.
So, Thank you, Ian, Lynn, Jonathon, & Amy. Yes, Lynn & Ben were watching.
ps, Ian,When we sold Ewald to Heather Fox,& Jill , Gilles(Jellybean) DID tell me that you said he was the best broke horse you had ever sat on!!!:eek: Woman broke- ha!:lol:
[QUOTE=ridenslide;3490420]
Congratulations Ian!I AM happy that he reached his goal of an Olympic medal.
He has the BEST PR on the planet.
I will leave it at that.:winkgrin:
And , yes, I do know from personal experience, and yes, I do admire the man.:eek:
Do I like everything he does? Nope.:no::eek:
Is he a true horseman? Absolutely, in the highest sense of the word.
As he is a fierce competitor.He is always thinking & working.
I was there during the Ben Era. My husband drove ben to Guelph for his second surgery after which Ben recovered & had his most winning year EVER.
We rode and planned worked, and good grief, did we drink coffee.
Lynn taught me her fabulous lungeing program, which I use to this day. Who needs a whip? You get fit, sound horses. Ian made me learn it.
Ian made me learn. Ian also made me cry, pretty much every day. I was not one of his customers. I was his Assistant trainer’s fiancee.I was disposable.
I walked out of a year and a half of “torture”:winkgrin: having trained my first jumper, showing in the High AO and ending up 6th in the CET that year. A customer of Jill Henselwood’s bought that “woman-broke” horse.
THen there are the other horses I got to ride, including Ben.I HATED riding Ben & Baarlo!I knew I was going to die they were so spooky. How Ian got accomplished what he did, in a medium loose-ring SNAFFLE, still amazes me.
If he had to use “gear” on a horse, I really didn’t want to get near it.
I cannot put a value on what I learned off & on the horses in that time.
So, Thank you, Ian, Lynn, Jonathon, & Amy. Yes, Lynn & Ben were watching.
ps, Ian,When we sold Ewald to Heather Fox,& Jill , Gilles(Jellybean) DID tell me that you said he was the best broke horse you had ever sat on!!!:eek: Woman broke- ha!:lol:[/QUOTE]
This is the most realistic post I’ve seen on this thread. And you got it RIGHT when you said he has the best PR on the Planet. I know his long-time PR person and I don’t believe the crap she’s had to take from him while she’s created that “Captain Canada” image. No professional should have to take it from a client.
Well you said it…
“and I don’t believe the crap she’s had to take to from him”…
You never will give it a rest, will you? Once again, any “well known figure” in any sport or any field will have an ego that does not please everyone… No matter what he did to you personally, we still admire the horseman/rider. Just accept that!
I still love & admire the man. He and Lynn taught me more than i could ever have hoped to learn anywhere else. THAT is invaluable. What goes on behind the scenes pales in comparison to other programs at that level. Please, Accept that the MAN has his faults.At least he isn’t out getting into bar fights or baring himself in public, doing drugs, etc.
I think Mario and Mac Cone are great,too BTW.The Cones are a GREAT family!!!But this thread is not about those people.
At the Atlanta Olympics, hubby was doing TV coverage for Canada, so we got to walk the the course. I was walking some humongous line, marveling at the fact that “I” was on the Olympic showjumping course, when I heard, "Hey, Honey, how ARE you?"from ACROSS the ring!!:eek: Oh, crap.I recognized that voice–from where, think quick? Turn around slowly, hubby of course has SNAPPED around.OOOHHHHH!!! IAN!!! OF course. He GAVE me that nickname.PHEW! {Hubby called me honey ALL the time before we were married( i think to claim his turf), so then Ian & his cronies started & then EVERYBODY did…wives included!}My chaps said Honey-what does that say?:winkgrin:!
Back to the coursewalk,Ian was walking with Lynn & the German team.
We got up to their group & greeted as old friends do, with hugs.Lynn & I struck up on family & the men on whatever the men were talking about.
The German team could not stop looking back and forth from Ian,Lynn & me & talking amongst themselves,appearing very confused.I assumed, they were concerned about a particularly combination.
Paul finally translated that they were confused about Ian calling out to his “honey” in front of her husband, his wife and the world.
We ALL got a good laugh from THAT one!:lol:
What would Ian think if he was to read this thread and find out that his PR person is talking about him this way to others - (I hope he’s too busy to read this malarky, or too sensible). Of the ten posts Mary has made, they are all negative.
[QUOTE=Foxtrot’s;3513400]
What would Ian think if he was to read this thread and find out that his PR person is talking about him this way to others - (I hope he’s too busy to read this malarky, or too sensible). Of the ten posts Mary has made, they are all negative.[/QUOTE]
Who said his PR person is on this thread? Is she? Which poster is she?
How do you know she’s talking about him?
