I feel like people conveniently forget McLain was caught putting glass shards in boots.
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I can see much validity in both points–Ward and Cook.
As a feral child with a lot of access to horses I spent a gazillion hours riding bareback on all kinds of terrain and at all gaits at a very young age. I developed a natural balance and feel, and a sticky effective seat. I did not start jumping however until I was about 12. I had a naturally pretty correct position. I ended up eventing and in Pony Club through my youth. Again, I did not have to work too hard on my position as it was naturally pretty correct.
Fast forward to an older adult me who made a switch to show hunters. Bringing along several very green babies I was effective but my position got lost somewhat along the way. Not terribly, but a stiff and troublesome back, tight hips, weaker core and trying to find the balance in a new, light seat to a good distance all contributed to some positional flaws. I am actively working to improve my position all the time with a great coach but I am so grateful for the effective base and sticky seat that my youth gave me.
Today’s hunter/jumper kids often don’t have the opportunities to ride many ponies and horses bareback all over the place. They often don’t ride more than once or twice a week in short lessons. They learn to pose in the “head up heels down” position until they start showing on gentle (or drugged) school horses and then they move up to made schoolmasters so they can get ribbons and satisfy the parents who are spending big bucks on the sport. A few kids–trainers children and the occasional true barn rat–might find some opportunities to ride the greenies or the quirky ones and get the knowledge and the effectiveness but we are in the age of the trainer showing the horse first, loads of prep, and the weekend warrior rider who learns to show, not necessarily to ride.
So what is worse? The feral kid who bombs around bareback with little instruction but can ride anything or the eq winner who can’t get a green one around a course? There is room for improvement on both fronts–this is where Ward and Cook are both correct, I think. We should always be striving for a classical position but in that endeavor we should also consider that the feel and balance of understanding what the horse is doing and using that feedback appropriately to make split second decisions in our position and ride to accomplish our goals should not be sacrificed.
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They made it looke easy–no small feat!
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It seems that marketing horse shows to the general public - getting the correct message out - can be difficult when the media aren’t that interested.
San Diego horse shows sometimes have a morning spot on local TV news. Unfortunately one report showed stock video of race horses at Del Mar, instead of a live shot of hunters/jumpers warming up behind the reporter at a different venue.
I emailed the TV show’s producer, thanking him for the coverage, and explained that the racing video was like using NBA basketball video for coverage of a MLB baseball game. He replied with a short and snarky comment. I guess he just wasn’t into accurate coverage. 
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McLain’s Facebook edit to original post:
EDIT:
I have been asked by several people who did not disagree with my sentiments on this topic to consider the aggressiveness of my wording in the opening sentence. To be honest at first I was unwilling but as I have always said I am far from perfect but strive each day to do better and “This theory is absolute nonsense!” is not the best way to convey one’s opinion and be heard. I have great passion for what I do, I have strived to live up to the principles of our profession and have great respect for those who have come before me and have shared their education and experience with us. I think it very important we don’t loose respect for any of those ideals.
Correct position creates good balance over the horses center of gravity and a solid base allows freedom for the rider to help his horse and not interfere. It is true there are some very competitive riders who are successful despite flaws in their position, but their success is not because of those flaws it is because their natural talent and instinct is so strong they succeed in despite of those flaws. Often though these departures from classical riding become evident in ones results and consistency over time or when riding different types of horses. Classical position and balance on the horse should always be taught and is something every rider should strive for to reach their potential and to allow their horse to be their best.
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I think that chatting over a beer this would’ve been a spirited and lively conversation between peers. Remove the human element and it’s just 0s and 1s banging into each other inelegantly with the emotional intelligence of a self driving car.
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He’s really not gonna mention how he didn’t intend for such a nasty personal attack to commence in the comments just gonna die on that hill he “passionate about position” and not acknowledge the nastiness 
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Well this turned in to a nice marketing opportunity for NF, eh?!
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I really don’t think this is a U.S. East Coast vs West Coast issue. There are plenty of FEI riders in all disciplines from both coasts and the enormous area in between.
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I agree. It’s sad to see our national and international riders being so petty in public.
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Yes, and an embarrassment for everyone else.
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Well, if you read through even some of the comments on Missy’s, Mclain’s, and John’s pages, you see a lot of people share personal experiences that explain why they probably wouldn’t support Karl even if he said a horse was a four-legged mammal, so the pile-on was unsurprising.
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Plastic shards, yes indeed. Also the endless "“my father made mistakes.” No. Your father deliberately had horses killed for the insurance money. He didn’t mistakenly have them killed.
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I lost some respect for him as a person when he brought up his father during an acceptance speech for a national award (USEF horseman of the year??), noting that doing so would be controversial. He just didn’t need to do that.
Great rider, yes. Good person, not so sure.
But, as Lord Acton said, though it’s often not quoted past the first sentence,“Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority; still more when you superadd the tendency of the certainty of corruption by authority.”
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Of course no child can help what criminal acts their parents commit, however, I think McLain could have shown a little more concern for the people whose horses were killed and the insurance companies that were defrauded, and kept his admiration of his Dad to himself.
He loved his Dad and that’s fine, and to be expected, but he seemed quite tone deaf as far as how his public adoration of Barney would sit with many people under the circumstances.
This seems like another tone deaf utterance on Ward’s part.
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I think I just came up with an example from my own riding that kind of fits this whole thing with Cook and Ward. Ironically, it even involves how far my heels are down.
I was riding with two instructors at the time, both focusing on equitation. One instructor would constantly tell me that my heels were not down far enough, the other would tell me that I was often jamming my heels down, which locked my ankles and made it impossible for me to absorb the motion of the horse through my joints, so I would bounce or brace against the horse. So she would often tell me to relax my heels or let them come up a little bit (they’d still be down, just not as far down) - they’d still be down and my weight would be in them, but they’d be flexible, fluid and moving with the horse appropriately.
Basically one instructor was all about the form, but an exaggerated form that inhibited the functionality of the form. While the other instructor was more concerned with making sure the form was correct but also still functional - she still yells about my heels if they creep up or if my weight isn’t in them, but she also really emphasizes the fluidity of a riding position.
I would guess that both Ward and Cook would agree with the second of my instructors and not the one who wanted me to jam my heels down, they’re just coming at it from slightly different perspectives from each other.
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This thread is not about the horse killings but you are posting bad information.
Tommy Burns killed horses. The owners had their horses killed by Tommy to collect the insurance money. Barney was accused of being the middleman and did not collect insurance money. Barney went to jail for conspiracy.
McLain was a child during this period.
Read Ezekiel 18:20
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Honestly when I read that post and then subsequent posts and comments from other professionals in the industry, it seemed like a cap blowing off of a steaming teapot.
Karl has done interviews where he came off as an arrogant spoiled rich kid. He’s humbled a bit but people in this industry have long memories.
I would not be surprised if there was friction on the team during the observation events and then the Olympics and this article popping back up was the final straw. Remember Laura’s comments earlier this year after the US had a very poor showing at one of the observation events? I think Karl was actually riding there and his riding was down right scary and a lot of people thought her comments were aimed at him although she was very careful with how she worded things.
I’m not defending Mclain, I think the original post was in poor taste, but a lot of people seem to think Karl should be above any criticism. If so many top professionals in our sport are criticizing him like this, then there is clearly some information that we, the public, are not privy to.
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Yes… if you have really solid style and are a top-rated rider, what do you get for bashing on someone not as stylish as you?
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