I believe studded boots refers to the plastic? chips found in the leg boots of Maclain’s horse at Aachen. I believe it is thought to be something like soring that the Tennessee Walking horses do. If pieces of something are in the boots, it causes pain if they bump a pole, so they are more careful, pick their legs up higher. I would think the rubbing it could do would also make the skin sore, so they wouldn’t want to touch a pole.
I was a working student in the '70s at a barn in North Salem. From what I heard, you made a very wise decision. Young, female grooms did not do well there :no:.
I think McLain Ward is a brilliant rider. I watched his Olympic rounds and I was in awe of his skill. I try not to think about the rest. And hope that acorn fell far from the tree in all respects other than his riding ability.
uh, fanniemae, you might want to familiarize yourself with FEI rules. the rules are abundantly clear: Aachen had NO authority whatsoever to issue a “lifetime ban” on any particular team rider, and that is why, once it became an issue, the USA NF and the FEI forced the Aachen OC to comply with the rules.
From the FEI General Regulations in effect both then and now:
Article 121 – Entries
- All competitors invited or nominated for an international event must be entered by their NFs. All foreign competitors selected by their NFs, up to the maximum specified in the schedule, must be accepted by the OC. OCs may not accept any other entries.
the only way they could “legally” have such a ban would be to simply never again invite a US team to the CSIO, since the host OC does have the full right to pick which countries they will invite to a nations cup.
they could also send invitations for specifically named individual US riders, no team, and not include McLain on that list.
but if they invite a TEAM, then they MUST, per the rules, accept the team that that country’s NF chooses to enter.
the ALRV has NO right to pick another country’s team; contrary to what they believe, they are not “above the law.”
again, this is a very basic principle in FEI rules. but I guess that doesn’t sell papers….:rolleyes:
Article 121 was probably written for discrimination. But IMO the boots incident doesn’t fall under the discrimination thing. I’d bet the writer of the regulation never thought about having to ban anyone at a SPORT event!
I remember that farm!
Yes! I remember showing at Sharonshire Farm when I was little! It was a nice place, right on the train tracks, right? There was a race track that we used to hack on. I have nothing to offer in regards to the other fun stuff. Just nostalgic about Sharonshire Farm. 
Thanks for the great link!!
And for the record, McL has matured tremendously since the Aachen incident. Having not been born with ice water in his veins - like some of the other riders - he has had to learn how to remain cool under pressure.
I think he’s mastered it.
Absolutely. So many of the people that post on this board about their own mental struggles with riding and competing could learn so, so much from Mclain, or at least could personally appreciate how hard he works to prove himself, but they want to sit back and knock him instead…even on the day of his highest achievement.
That’s pathetically sad.
I worked for a guy who’d worked for Barney way back when and the stories (and scars!!) he told were… well, something else! But Mclain is not his father. And to those who said they’d root for Germany over Mclain any day and the German who called him a creature, Germany’s riders are not without their past including formal cruelty charges that stuck. Aachen… the story is there were plastic chips inside the boots when they were taken off. Of course wild speculations went around about whether they were from the footing, etc etc. Who knows, what’s done is done and Mclain is a brilliant rider and a good enough horseman to have kept an amazing mare game and sharp over a long career. I can’t stand people tearing him apart because of who his father is. Mclain’s his own person and hardly a horse killer.
Oh people- lighten up and pop some popcorn. No one is disputing the fact that McLain is an awesome rider and competitor and that he did an amazing job for the US team. But his family does have a shady history and most people aren’t ever going to forget it.
I for one think reading these threads is great evening entertainment while I wait for gymnastics to start!
Indeed, Chanda! It still amazes me how catty people can get, especially on this board, when most will never have any inkling of the kind of pressure he was under at the Games, much less having to make a living all these years under the shadow of what his father has done.
BTW, what is this about the STUDDED BOOTS? last I heard, it was plastic chips found on the ground that they suspected had fallen out of Benetton’s boots, that is very different from studded boots. :rolleyes:
Um, IIRC, they couldn’t actually PROVE anything about the plastic chips incident. The USEF also “randomly” drug tested him an awful lot back after Pops got convicted. Hey, I thought that he should be ‘watched’ as it were, but they were less than subtle about it.
Unfortunatly, yes, people will be looking at him a bit cockeyed for a long time to come. He does seem to bear it well.
“Great evening entertainment” reading threads that asassinate
someone’s character, real or imagined. I don’t think it is appropriate or mature.
Yes! I remember showing at Sharonshire Farm when I was little! It was a nice place, right on the train tracks, right? There was a race track that we used to hack on. I have nothing to offer in regards to the other fun stuff. Just nostalgic about Sharonshire Farm.
Yes, it was a lovely track. And ABSOLUTELY the RR tracks. When I was very little, I would ride my bike to the ‘circle’ of road across the tracks and just watch the horses, I was far, far too afraid to cross the tracks. Later I was brave and would cross, but was always scared–Amtraks are impressive up close and personal!
By the time I worked there, the big barn was converted upstairs to offices, and the stalls were on the bottom level. I LOVED riding on the track. I was young enough still to ‘role play’ more than once. 
It was also such great footing you could school on the track in all but the worst weather.
Becca. THAT’S who I knew! Way older than me. And away at school when I worked there. But her husband had the buisiness.
It’s a housing development now. 
Thanks to those who answered the question!
[QUOTE=YankeeLawyer;3452997]
And by the way, thank you for announcing the results of the competition that I have Tivo’d. I was trying to avoid the threads discussing the competition, but thanks to you I guess I don’t need to bother watching after all.[/QUOTE]
Why on earth would you be browsing threads on the “2008 Beijing Olympic Games” board if you were trying to AVOID finding out the results? Could you share that logic with us?
[QUOTE=mazu;3455262]
Why on earth would you be browsing threads on the “2008 Beijing Olympic Games” board if you were trying to AVOID finding out the results? Could you share that logic with us?[/QUOTE]
I was looking for the TV schedule, actually. I was not aware when I looked that the team competition was complete. In the past, people have had the good graces to put something like “spoiler” in the subject line when discussing results.
Anyway Mazu, I have no idea why you are picking on me. But I guess since some of you just can’t resist a pile on, even regarding one of our brightest riding stars, I should not be surprised.
Hmmm, I remember watching it on TV…story went that they had him in Goteborg but couldn’t prove it and had to let him go…maybe that’s why they had a keen eye on him in Aachen?
Let’s just say it was a huge disappointment, after all he IS a brilliant rider, a pleasure to watch!
Thankfully the connections of Mclain are able to enjoy the moment as it took a lot of work from an entire team and some luck to make it all happen.
The Journal News August 19, 2008 “Ward’s victory a hit in Brewster, too”
They had watched the show-jumping competition streaming live on NBC’s Olympic Web site and cheered as the Americans won a jumpoff against the Canadian team.
“McLain had the leadoff ride for the Americans,” Erica McKeever said. “It was fast and clean and put a lot of pressure on the Canadians.”
When Sapphire stood regally for the medal ceremony, everyone at Castle Hill was laughing and toasting.
“I cannot describe the feeling I have inside of me,” Barney Ward said. “You wish for these things, you dream for these things, you build … but how many of us realize it?”
Ward said that as much as his chemistry with Sapphire has led to their success, his teams in Hong Kong and in Brewster were keys as well.
“The four riders are great, but there are so many people to thank,” Ward said.
In that case, he might need to invest in another bottle of Dom Perignon.
I doubt we have such “frigid” pasts…
Still doesn’t excuse those “faulty” jumping boots mentioned earlier.
Spruce Meadows also banned him from their grounds but had to let him back also because he was part of the Canadian team
Just like Mclain, Eric ( Lamazing!) served his suspensions according to the national body and its rules and came back to prove he can do this sport clean of drugs, and good for him.
Do the crime, do the time, as they say, and both men have paid the price. And moved on to heights most of us can only watch from the sidelines.
That was one of the most exciting Olympic team jumping I’ve watched since 1968 and every horse and rider in that jump off is awesome. No matter what you think of the riders personally, you have to admire their great skill and heart when they’re up to their eyeballs in their sport.
That being said, I know ( and probably you do too) of riders and horses who are equally awesome but who will never have the money it takes to begin to qualify. I wish the Olympics was not so elitist. Both our countries would do better fully funding promising athletes than all the money they spend on frivolous things like “peacekeeping”, or as its more euphemistically called in the US, “National defence” ( when we both really mean war).
