My guess is that if they simply took the top 18 overall scores, only the uber-elites like Carl and Werth would make it through but horses scoring lower wouldn’t, essentially eliminating a lot of teams’ chances at individual medals.
That both makes a ton of sense as a guess, and yet no sense at all if it is actually the case and we are supposed to be rewarding the best of the best.
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They are playing “Jolene” for Jolene! Cheeky!
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8 seems crazy young for GP level work.
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It is. That’s the youngest a horse can be. Most hit the international level at 9 or 10.
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I don’t believe Adrienne and Helix are qualifying for the freestyle. It’s looking like somewhere in the 73s or maybe 74s will be the cutoff.
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The DJ needs a raise. 
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But isn’t that the point of the Olympics? To reward the best of the best?
The team competition is where you are supposed to get your shot if maybe you aren’t top 3 quality but are darn good. 
I think it’s done this way to try to account for human bias. Scores always tend to creep upward over the course of the competition. If you’re always taking the top two, in theory, you are always taking the best horses. It just stinks if you end up on the bubble because you’re in a competitive section.
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Agree; seems our only hope is Steffan having a great ride
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I just looked at that. I think the current score on the bubble is 73.4 from Poland, with one group to go.
It helps eliminate bias yes, but I mentioned earlier in the thread that it’s also somewhat of a diversity/money issue. The more countries competing in your finals, the more viewers from many countries = more advertising revenue…etc etc.
And owners would be more likely to join a syndicate for smaller countries’ riders if they have a track record at an international event like the Olympics, allowing them to get more experience & hopefully do better later. It’s a similar concept to how soccer is run at the Olympics - players have to be under 23 with only a couple “overage” players; it really helps young players gain connections & hopefully sign contracts to good teams after.
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A friend just sent me this pic of Lucinda and me last year at Landrover. I was so excited to meet her.
I worked at a tack shop in the 80’s/90’s when she had a clothing line and she was thrilled someone remembered that lol.
She’s awesome
image|666x500
Not sure I can post a pic actually now that I’m trying…
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is Toto jr a son of Totilas?
Yes, there’s been a few - Total Hope Old is another one that went earlier
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Keep trying! I got to meet her once, and she was so nice! I had her sign my autograph book from the Kentucky World Championships in 1978.
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Oh that’s awesome
I don’t think whatever my posting status is here that I can add a photo.
I can see it when I click on the link - it’s a cute photo!
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It’s a real shame about the third Polish rider. I quite liked the horse.
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huh, it won’t open for me. What I do is go into my file, right click on photo, and drop it here.
her extended trot was much better than Toto. He was very flashy with the front, but not so much behnd. The grey ws less showy, but moved better. Toto’s piaffe though… Wow!
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