Yes, but, before being judgemental and “pitying” one of our good international riders for “not doing more”, a cursory check would be in order, just to be sure that you know what you’re talking about, and are not “borderline bullying” them.
12 Likes
Marcus Ehning also tried to do the leave out to the same exact fence, with the horse landing in the oxer and both almost falling. In fact I saw at least two, if not three do the exact same thing to that fence. Max Kuhner tried to do 5 in a 6 into a one stride and swam through it. I only saw clips, but it looked like for whatever reason that course was a massacre across the board.
Funny how you don’t mention them?
18 Likes
World of Showjumping article with photos
9 Likes
Stunning photography in that story. McLain watching $200,000 fall to the sand. Ermitage Kalone with the crown. So good!
9 Likes
I watched the class. The course was hard, hard, hard. The jumpoff standard was set by Harrie Smolders and Monaco. After his quick 8 stride turn from 1 to 2, others tried and failed until McLain Ward did it successfully. McLain was faster than Harrie but the last pole fell. IMO it was a hard course and a hard jump off and the riders were giving their all which meant that risks were taken and sometimes didn’t work out. Karl’s horse looked like she just didn’t know where to jump on the big oxer next to the eventing piece. Several horses had problems there. From the view I had, I could only guess that the oxer looked funny or the horses saw something in the eventing piece. I don’t think any of them did a bad job, just a hard course at speed.
7 Likes
I was screaming at my TV in the living room. He was last to go and rode brilliantly. Such a heartbreaker!
2 Likes
A friend of mine refers to that as the $200,000 rail. Or whatever the difference was in prize money between winning and being the fastest four faulter. Lol.
2 Likes
I wonder if McLain’s recent FB post had anything to do with Karl’s ride in the class. Not saying either is right or wrong just a thought I had when I saw it this AM.
2 Likes
I was surprised by his post. It seemed very reactionary and harsh from a teammate and someone who generally comes off as very level headed in the sport (not that I know him personally of course!)
I thought Karl’s point was valid (that form is supposed to serve function - we shouldn’t put being pretty above being functional on a horse). It seemed like there was some nuance missing from both sides.
10 Likes
I had the same thought.
Also the excerpt I read made it seem more like a lot of people TRY to put themselves in a box of “perfect position” and it’s stiff/doesn’t work. Not that having good position is a bad thing. I feel like they both were saying the same thing in different ways, almost.
5 Likes
That post of McClain’s is at 290 comments full of Karl bashing lol
Where are you guys seeing this?
McClain’s FB page
Thanks.
Edited to add: Wow. Super entertaining. Including some of the comments.
1 Like
I agree.
It almost felt like McLain was being purposefully obtuse about what Karl actually meant, no where did he say that position doesn’t matter, and to me his overall point was pretty clear, that forcing it and posing in pursuit of the “perfect” position often backfires and makes you a less effective rider. And since McLain is such a big name and has such a huge fan base/following of course 98% of comments are singing his praises and agreeing with him, with many also including negative comments about Karl which I’m sure McLain knew would happen.
I don’t really have a stake in it, honestly I feel pretty neutral about Karl, but Mclain’s post didn’t really sit right with me.
21 Likes
I just poked around on that thread. I think the commentators who called out BOTH are right are, in fact, right.
The pendulum swings both ways here (“sitting pretty” all the way to “hail mary”).
There was a video of I saw of Boyd Martin training a green bean through its first ever gymnastics, and it gawked pretty hard the first time. So the next time, Boyd said “I’m going to use my pony club skills”–in other words, he sat back, kicked where he needed to, and got the horse through the exercise. It was not pretty but it was effective and what was needed.
That was what I thought Karl was getting at–yeah you need to have the foundation but if you don’t know how to get the job done then you’re just posing and not riding. 
25 Likes
I remember in the late 1960s/early 1970s there was an article in the NY Times sports section about Danny Lopez selling his wonderful Australis for the astronomical price of $35,000! Can you even buy a good pony for that amount now?
That totally depends on your definition of the word “good.”
1 Like
I just attended a Boyd Martin clinic recently, and that was a phrase he used in the course of the clinic when riders needed to get the thing done one way or another.
But he also stressed the importance of the correct position, and being in the right place most of the time.
Plus I think if you look at pictures or video of him riding, he is usually in a very correct position for the most part, even galloping across country over those huge jumps.
Some people seem to either not know or have forgotten that the correct form was not just arbitrarily decided by some random person based on aesthetics. It was developed to be the most effective position, which is why people strive to develop it in the first place.
9 Likes
I think this is entirely Karl’s point. That people have lost sight of the fact that form was created to serve function. I did a clinic with a BNT this summer and one girl in it had just come out of the equitation ranks. Lovely, lovely rider. The BNT made a few comments about trying to break her “equitation ring habits” - mainly stiffer arms and back, and more restrictive release.
That is what I think Karl was getting at. You need the form because it allows you to function. But if you’re trying to get the form/perfect equitation at the cost of function, you’ve lost the plot.
20 Likes
