Potential

[bornfreenowexpensive]

@omare;7314886

I did find it odd to expect a horse to tough out a stone bruise. We are not talking about a human–that can ignore pain because he/she wants to compete-and can tak3 lots of advil.

What he is talking about are tough horses…ones that will be a bit sore but can still jog sound on Sunday.

In otherwords, the horse that you can run around in the CCI*** or **** and finish even if they are a bit sore after xc. The horses with a HIGH thresh hold.

A lot of your hard knocking TBs off the track are like this too. I have a few like this…if they limp…it is REALLY bad. As opposed to the Divas who a hang nail side lines.

[HorsePrerace]

Thx for posting.

[JER]

[QUOTE=Winding Down;7314539]
I doubt that WFP actually breaks his horses by running them often. I am giving him the benefit of the doubt. [/QUOTE]

@Willesdon;7314586

I think that WFP has developed enough horses to the very highest level that one can safely assume he is a top class horseman who understands his horses as individuals and treats them as such. His horses last for years.

A program designed and intended to ‘push’ horses will result in some of those horses becoming unsound as a result of the pushing. There is no way around this, even if you think the BNR walks on water.

kcmel and bfne brought up Lukas and Bruce Davidson, who were two of the people I had in mind when I was thinking about the WFP program. Both of them have reputations for being hard on their horses, and to many observers, that reputation is well-earned. But neither DWL nor BD has any delusions about what it takes to be successful in their chosen disciplines – they are finding the horses that will succeed for them. WFP might have a kinder, posher exterior, but there’s always a certain ruthlessness to a large-scale winning equestrian program. There has to be.

(For comparison, I suggest reading the current COTH John Madden piece on selecting/buying a young jumper. Same principles of zero tolerance.)

@bornfreenowexpensive;7314628

I think many of you are missing JER’s point. How I understood her point is that his system is NOT one that can be replicated by many.

Exactly.

[Willesdon]

WFP might have a kinder, posher exterior, but there’s always a certain ruthlessness to a large-scale winning equestrian program.

True enough, which is why Chillie Morning wins at the top level with WFP and did not do quite so well with Nick Gauntlet, his previous rider. However, it is possible to be ruthless without being abusive!

[Jealoushe]

As far as toughness…I understand what WFP is saying. My first event horse could have had his leg ripped off and he would still have walked sound. My vet looked at his hock xrays and couldn’t believe the horse was sound let alone evented high level.

One of my other horses can have a teeny little scrape and be the biggest baby ever about it. Some horses just have higher pain threshold. This is the type of horses they are looking for.