Yep, I know this will probably get some people worked up, but I’m just wondering…isn’t he the guy a while back who was abusing his horses and was not allowed to compete for a long time? I seem to recall it being him. If I’m wrong, please correct me. If I’m right…he’s seriously a contender for the Olympic team???
He’s been on every Olympic team since Athens, so yes, he’s a serious contender for Rio.
Slow morning?
You may be thinking of his father, Barney Ward.
You might be thinking of his father, which McLain gets asked about and the past gets brought up every Olympic year.
I believe McLain was suspended once back in the 90s for chips in his boots. He is often the subject of “random testing” and passes.
[QUOTE=Velvet;8626769]
Yep, I know this will probably get some people worked up, but I’m just wondering…isn’t he the guy a while back who was abusing his horses and was not allowed to compete for a long time? I seem to recall it being him. If I’m wrong, please correct me. If I’m right…he’s seriously a contender for the Olympic team???[/QUOTE]
just so I understand, you’re…hoping that you’re right (even though you’re actually not at all sure) so that people get worked up? Why even bother? You don’t even know who you’re talking about.
he had an 8-month suspension in 1999. Yes, that’s right - 17 years ago. Hardly a “long time” in a 40-year riding career.
Someone must be bored this morning, because this is some SERIOUS out-of-the-blue pot stirring.
No, it’s not. I haven’t really been following the jumpers in the Olympics for a while, but I saw that he was all over the front of this site for a couple weeks now and kept thinking I needed to ask. I just decided to ask. I knew some people would get hot and bothered for my asking, so I put it off. Thanks to those who answered sanely. Was the abuse ever tied more to Barney than to him? Wasn’t it something with plastic chips in the horse’s boots? I remember the bit with Barney being banned somewhere along the line. I also remember that it was a HUGE issue at the time. Thus the reason I asked. It had stuck with me–at least tied to the Ward name.
[QUOTE=Velvet;8626828]
No, it’s not. I haven’t really been following the jumpers in the Olympics for a while, but I saw that he was all over the front of this site for a couple weeks now and kept thinking I needed to ask. I just decided to ask. I knew some people would get hot and bothered for my asking, so I put it off. Thanks to those who answered sanely. Was the abuse ever tied more to Barney than to him? Wasn’t it something with plastic chips in the horse’s boots? I remember the bit with Barney being banned somewhere along the line. I also remember that it was a HUGE issue at the time. Thus the reason I asked. It had stuck with me–at least tied to the Ward name.[/QUOTE]
Really readily available via a 10-second Google search: http://www.thehorse.com/articles/11512/mclain-ward-suspended-and-fined-by-ahsa
He was suspended after aachen 1999 when plastic chips were found in the horse’s boots. He has consistently denied placing anything in the horse’s boots and has been pretty intensely tested in the years following (all 17 of them…) and passed.
Barney Ward’s conviction had nothing to do with his son.
“Was the abuse ever tied more to Barney than to him” what does that even mean? There’s no accusations, from anyone, that Mclain is a known horse abuser. Well, nobody but you, who admittedly hasn’t been paying attention and is just stirring the pot.
headdesk
This is like if I were to go over to the dressage forum (a discipline I don’t really follow) and ask if Steffen Peters is really being considered for a spot on the Olympic team, because wasn’t he disqualified from the World Cup Finals in 2015 for blood on his horse?! OMGWTFBBQ!!!11!!!1
One google search would have answered ALL your questions.
And shown you that it was so long ago he was actually suspended by the AHSA. Remember when it was called the AHSA? Because that was a LONG time ago…
all you had to do was check the USEF suspension site to see if there had been anything current, say in the last 15 years and that would have needed no further “investigation” on your part through these boards. Then to top it off in this last post you continue to stir a pot that long ago boiled dry … must be a really slow day.
A Google search would have shown the results, not provided the details that went on behind the scenes and what other people out here seemed to know at the time–but was no longer searchable out here.
Not unless giving a naughty Pony a spank counts as abuse, MW was born in 75, most of the most serious infractions attributed to his dad were in the 80s and he unfortunately did have a reputation that dated back much earlier.
I personally think he is a great rider and am proud to have McLain on every Olympic team since 2004.
I’m glad that COTH covered his clinic. I liked some of his grids that he explained in the clinic article. I would like to ride with him someday. If a clinic pops up near me I would buy a spot.
[QUOTE=FLeventer;8627237]
I personally think he is a great rider and am proud to have McLain on every Olympic team since 2004.
I’m glad that COTH covered his clinic. I liked some of his grids that he explained in the clinic article. I would like to ride with him someday. If a clinic pops up near me I would buy a spot.[/QUOTE]
I agree! I’m really hoping he and HH Azur win a medal. The COTH write-ups of his clinic were great.
Velvet, you might be thinking about McLain being disqualified from the World Cup in 2010 for hypersensitivity, which possible could have been from something being put in the horse’s boots. It was a ridiculous disqualification based on no evidence which FEI later acknowledged.
You can read about it, and FEI’s acknowledgement that McLain was incorrectly eliminated, here (which could have been pulled up in a hot second on google): http://www.horsechannel.com/horse-news/2010/07/07/mclain-ward-sapphire.aspx
[QUOTE=Rel6;8627558]
Velvet, you might be thinking about McLain being disqualified from the World Cup in 2010 for hypersensitivity, which possible could have been from something being put in the horse’s boots. It was a ridiculous disqualification based on no evidence which FEI later acknowledged.You can read about it, and FEI’s acknowledgement that McLain was incorrectly eliminated, here (which could have been pulled up in a hot second on google): http://www.horsechannel.com/horse-news/2010/07/07/mclain-ward-sapphire.aspx[/QUOTE]Wow, that was six years ago? Time flies. I’m still mad at the FEI over that one. Personally, I’ll be pretty darn surprised if he doesn’t make the team this year, barring something unexpected. He’s done the last three Olympics, bringing home a gold medal from two of them, he has not one but two top horses, and both horses have been on major hot streaks this year.
it is also possible you are confusing McLain with Eric Lamaze, who was removed from Olympic contention early in his career due to his (not his horses) failure to pass drug tests. But Eric has certainly shown that people can turn their life around if given a second chance, and he, like McLain, is extremely deserving of a position on an Olympic team.
MHM, add me to that group - that just seemed like such a vendetta move from where I sit (admittedly nowhere near a place of any knowledge).
I think it’s interesting to note that the horse in question was Sapphire. I have no idea what happened at Aachen, but the long and successful career that mare had was the best recommendation a horseman can ever get.
