She said this, do you deny that?
I donât think that was giving the kids an instruction to beat their horses.
It was a comment, not a directive.
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Well I donât know about you but someone who says that horses need a good licking is not someone that I want teaching any riders, especially young ones, and trying to pretend that it was just a comment and not something that she has actually done or she has actually told people to do in the past is naive. We need fewer horse abusers and fewer people that care about making it to the top at the horseâs expense, not more of them.
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Us old timers know if you say that and wink is a joke, means we need to get more serious, not that you need to beat anyone.
I would not say it today, people get offended to any you say too easily.
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It was the same with her " Iâd flip him over backwards etcâŠ" She was watching a rider that could not slow her horse down or stop it in a simple exercise. She wasnât actually suggesting that the rider flip the horse over, but as you said, hyperbole is not something many people understand these days, so itâs best not used.
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I read this thread (er, an earlier iteration of it) before I read the article. And when I read the editorial, I went âoomphâ and had a hard time getting past the inches devoted to Matzâs and Kusnerâs humble beginnings. I see the framing problem. The transition from that discussion to the discussion of this program, the literal wording was "to bridge this gap of opportunity."
ETA - and yes, I am aware that Sissy Wickes did say that the Matzs and Kusners of the world would in all likelihood find it difficult to impossible to navigate todayâs system. However, I say again, her transition to discussing the RTTT program was about bridges and gaps of opportunity.
My inner editor wouldâve suggested dialing that back or making more obvious how times and the sport have changed in terms of the economics.
A starker line could be drawn that, even a rider whose family is in the business and has already had access to some of the best professionals in the industry (and their horses), is still at a disadvantage. And needs a different, more specific kind of coaching and resources to be competitive at the international level. *To that end and a point I think others are getting at, specialized skills in communications, messaging, sponsor wrangling, etc are invaluable, too.
In the case of Carlee McCutcheon, I donât think anyone would begrudge any efforts to develop her talent but it is fair to point out, as a junior jumper rider she enjoyed good success on a horse owned by Olympian McLain Ward and received some coaching from him, too..
That bespeaks connections and access, prior to entering the RTTT program, that not everyone has. A little more self-awareness wouldâve been helpful. As long as some more âregular folksâ are still reading the Chronicle, anyway. â Though, to be fair, Sissy Wickes was writing of her musings on her morning commute to WEF, and thatâs not a venue for a lot of us anyway.
And I am reminded of every discussion Iâve ever heard or read about accessibility in the h/j world and the hard truths about the fancier levels and even the âslightly belowâ fancier levels.
But in the back of my mind, Iâm still wondering how many kids with a modern day equivalent to MMâs background will be in this weekendâs Maclay field, let alone cracking the top 25, let alone 12. I think this is a fair point, given the role big eq plays in developing riders (at least one or two of these kids has already notched some jumper classes against pros). I say this even through the new common, commentary refrain is how the finals arenât an end-all, be-all.
The world may have moved past many of us, generations where the son of a plumber from Reading was a plausible origin story, but weâre still reading COTH. And like, MHM (I think it was) said, you put it out there and the peanut gallery is going to express itself, sometimes fairly, sometimes with an equal amount of self-awareness, sometimes not. Thatâs how op-eds work.
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Funnily enough, in the podcast Katie and Laura were saying that the equitation background is almost something the young riders need to get past in order to have success in the jumpers at the higher levels.
The gist of it was that the equitation puts such an emphasis on keeping everything smooth and aesthetically pleasing to the eye that the kids need to then figure out how to react faster and stronger with their hand or their leg or whatever it takes in order to get very far in the jumper ring.
As I said in an earlier post, the podcast was pretty interesting.
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Leading with the (should be obvious) caveat that I am NOT AT THE TOP LEVELS of the sport, never have been or will be, etc.
Having said that, I will also say that my childhood hunter and eq. training was a huge hindrance to me when I was learning to ride in the jumper ring as an adult. It took years for me to really understand how to use my seat and leg, how to ride up into my hand, and I still, to this day, find myself reacting too slowly so I wonât mess up the pretty picture.
I need to listen to that.
The thing that always awes me about the big eq riders is their ability to think their way through those courses. Not just the whole âmake a plan and ride the planâ thing, but adjusting on the fly as needed (and smoothly, to what youâre saying). And I know those are the absolutely transferrable skills that are good to learn without a ticking clock overhead.
For the millionth time - this. Bad hyperbole, but she was telling the rider to give the horse NO OTHER OPTION than to stop, rather than behaving as a human-doormat for what the horse preferred to do at the end of the line.
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I was raised to know this. You were raised to know this. But were the students in the clinic raised to know this? Do they actually know how to teach a horse - give when it gives, and be strong when you need to without muscling it into submission? I donât know, but Iâm going to bet theyâve been raised to jump around and do well at any cost, based on what I see over and over again at big h/j shows. We have a clear problem in the industry of using horses as tools and this âhyperboleâ is just digging us in a deeper hole. Maybe, instead of saying âflip the horse overâ we should be addressing why the horse isnât responding to the seat, leg, and hand aids appropriately. I donât care what clinic youâre in or who is watching but if your horse canât halt in a straight line then itâs up to Katie to bring you back to basics and teach THAT, not teach you to jump around so you can get to the Olympics.
ETA anyway, apologies for getting off track but I just donât think this program is moving us in the right direction
Bolding mine.
No one is âtrying to pretend that it was just a commentâ (what does that even mean?) It was just a comment.
You are making an awful lot assumptions by accusing someone of abusing horses, with absolutely no evidence, based solely on some hyperbole they used at a clinic.
People are free to chose their trainers and when they donât like someoneâs teaching style they donât train with them.
I think accusing people of abuse when you have no evidence of it, is counterproductive.
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You are talking about a rider in a clinic from January of this year.
The riders in that clinic arenât the riders in Katie and Lauraâs program. That clinic had nothing to do with the program we are discussing.
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That was a very interesting podcast and a great explanation of their program. Thanks for posting it.
Itâll give me food for thought when watching the Junior/Am jumpers this evening and the Maclay on Sunday.
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Wasnât Carlee McCutcheon one of the riders in that clinic? IIRC, she was one of the ones who struggled some in the clinic too.
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She may have been. It was a long time ago.
She was not the person that couldnât slow down or stop her horse though, the rider to whom the controversial comments by Katie were directed. I donât remember the rider being as tall as Carlee.
Iâll do some digging later to check the accuracy of my memory when I have more time. 
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Youâre welcome.
I havenât cross checked the start lists, but Iâm guessing there are probably at least a few people who will be in both the junior jumpers and the Maclay class.
I will say I find it a little funny to see how some people will win an equitation final and then completely jettison their equitation form as they move on into the jumper divisions. And then others keep their positions pretty consistent for the most part.
Plus itâs always entertaining to look at the pictures from the big classes and see who looks like they should win the 1.60 equitation class. McLain and Beezie have been very strong contenders for many years. 
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Iâve noticed that as well. Some really do change their positions depending on the ring.
Iâll really miss seeing Beezie ride. Her position is beautiful, as is McLainâs.
Iâve noticed that kids who train with McLain for awhile have pretty solid lower legs.
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I believe sheâs still riding and showing these days. They post videos occasionally on their Facebook page.
I wish I knew where and when she was showing and if there livestreams of her classes. Sheâs bringing up youngsters now and not riding in the 4or 5 classes anymore? Unfortunately I havenât found many livestreams of the lower levels but perhaps I just donât know where to look.
Iâd love to watch her jumping at any level.
