I follow Lainey Ashker on Facebook and she posted some vague things about a “low point” in her career and apologized to her horse Al for her poor riding.
I’m curious as to what happened and if anyone knows more information.
Please note, I’m not knocking Lainey for anything, just curious as to what made her outwardly admit a mistake in her riding.
[QUOTE=shadedingray;8566998]
I follow Lainey Ashker on Facebook and she posted some vague things about a “low point” in her career and apologized to her horse Al for her poor riding.
I’m curious as to what happened and if anyone knows more information.
Please note, I’m not knocking Lainey for anything, just curious as to what made her outwardly admit a mistake in her riding.[/QUOTE]
She and Al participated in the Eventing Prix yesterday, and Al had a very uncharacteristic three rails. Lainey is notoriously competitive and takes a round like that very hard; she had a similar reaction when they had three down at Carolina CIC3* last spring.
[QUOTE=Divine Comedy;8567066]
She and Al participated in the Eventing Prix yesterday, and Al had a very uncharacteristic three rails. Lainey is notoriously competitive and takes a round like that very hard; she had a similar reaction when they had three down at Carolina CIC3* last spring.[/QUOTE]
Thank you Divine Comedy! Is there a video of her round? I watch her videos on Facebook a lot and am curious from a riding perspective what went wrong.
It looks like you can get playback of the whole thing here, but I don’t see individual riders posted. You can find it if you are willing to scroll through.
[QUOTE=Divine Comedy;8567081]
It looks like you can get playback of the whole thing here, but I don’t see individual riders posted. You can find it if you are willing to scroll through.[/QUOTE]
I found it at 1:07
Wow… she’s had two horses die on or immediately after XC at big events and nearly killed herself, and she calls three rails at a “showcase” a low point in her career? I’m sure she’d disappointed, but get some perspective. You and your horse are fine and happy and ready to try again another day. She of all people should know that is NOT a low point.
[QUOTE=NeverTime;8567215]
Wow… she’s had two horses die on or immediately after XC at big events and nearly killed herself, and she calls three rails at a “showcase” a low point in her career? I’m sure she’d disappointed, but get some perspective. You and your horse are fine and happy and ready to try again another day. She of all people should know that is NOT a low point.[/QUOTE]
I tend to think Laine was young and dumb back then and has matured as a result of those experiences. I think she thinks of herself in a similar fashion. I would suspect that she has higher expectations for herself subsequent to that and in particular with Al’s career. It wasn’t a great round and it actually looked like a big ask. He’s getting older so maybe her self-recriminations aren’t about riding poorly but about asking it of him at all.
NeverTime and NCRider, both good points.
I did not know about Lainey’s past riding history or that of her prior mounts. I found some of the articles about her horses that died and was reading up on that. It seems that she has a more mature attitude now than she had a reputation for in the past, but I do admire her for acknowledging her mistake (whether it’s her riding or her asking too much of her aging partner).
Thanks for posting the video and the time stamp. I’m going to go watch this now.
[QUOTE=NeverTime;8567215]
Wow… she’s had two horses die on or immediately after XC at big events and nearly killed herself, and she calls three rails at a “showcase” a low point in her career? I’m sure she’d disappointed, but get some perspective. You and your horse are fine and happy and ready to try again another day. She of all people should know that is NOT a low point.[/QUOTE]
That. is a cheap shot. Taken out of context. What if she considers herself as having hundreds of “low points?” I am not fan or friend of Lainey but…
Oh for heaven’s sake - she’s probably got more than that going on in her life for all we know.
I think it’s really hard to let your partner down, especially when your partner is your smart keen horse. I know we’ve all been there !
I get that its great that she is acknowledging her mistakes but frig, she sounds like a whiny baby. You’re a professional, act it! Every photo she posts is about how she let Al down, and she’s at her lowest point. Welcome to horses, this is nothing new.
We ALL make these mistakes, its how you go about it. The fact that she continues days after whining about it, is just distasteful. I was really liking her last year, but since the clinic post and now this, she just seems super whiny lately.
That’s my rant.
Quietly raises hand Can someone share a link or more info to the horse that she lost prior to Frodo? Unless I’m just blanking, I don’t think that I knew about that. Googling is only revealing Frodo at Rolex. I also had no idea that she had survived a second (or first?) rotational other than their fall at Rolex in '08.
[QUOTE=talkofthetown;8568118]
Quietly raises hand Can someone share a link or more info to the horse that she lost prior to Frodo? Unless I’m just blanking, I don’t think that I knew about that. Googling is only revealing Frodo at Rolex. I also had no idea that she had survived a second (or first?) rotational other than their fall at Rolex in '08.[/QUOTE]
Her horse collapsed and died at the finish of Jersey Fresh in 2007 or thereabouts. I’m no Lainey fan but that was one that’s certainly not on her.
So for those who have not seen her post, it was “Currently at a low point in my career. Goes to show that confidence is never a given. I’m so sorry Al for that shoddy piece of riding”
I don’t see it as whining about that class specifically. She had a bad class, perhaps has had a few bad rides, maybe she has other things affecting her. I have said “I’ve hit a low point” in regards to my life (though never on FB), that doesn’t mean that current moment is worse than losing my dad, miscarriage, a near fatal car accident. It mean at that specific moment, I am down and out and it feels like life sucks. (and I am not a fan)
I’m not an expert but Frodo was the only rotational that I recall. St. James Place was a collapse and die towards the end of the Jersey Fresh Course. I think he died when they were already done, but I confuse his death and Tigger Too’s on that course.
She has had 2 other horses in her program die at home as well. “The Big Island” (died of colic complications, so not her fault) and “The Pilot” (or something similar) from being kicked in a pasture accident.
Given how many horses she has been through who have died, I agree with NeverTime and wouldn’t exactly think Al pulling 3 rails was as “low” of a moment as she has ever experienced.
But hey… she rides at Rolex and Burghley and we don’t, so clearly I don’t know as much as her.
Emily
deleted as information may not be accurate
I can’t remember the details JenJ mentioned, and I wasn’t really trying to go there. I was just pointing out that, when you’ve lost two horses at competitions, and very nearly your own life as well, taking three rails in show jumping (even at the biggest event in the world, but in this case a minor competition where money and bragging rights were the only things on the line) and calling it a low point in your career doesn’t seem to show a sense of perspective.
I understand her thoughts but this here shows what happens with too much social media sharing.
[QUOTE=JenJ;8568173]
IIRC, and please someone correct me if I am wrong and I will delete this reply, I think there were some concerns that that particular horse was NQR the night before and was given fluids and other treatment and that there was some criticism of her decision not to withdraw before XC.[/QUOTE]
I don’t recall ever hearing that, but I’m not an insider by any means. I was the jump judge at the last fence at Jersey before her horse collapsed and he looked no better or worse than any of the others as he came though. But that’s just my purely amateur opinion.
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