Reed Kessler: I wish I could hate her but she's so darn nice! :D

[BritishEquestrian]

I think that unless you know her personally you cannot make such a strong judgement. At the end of the day, yes its perhaps a little unfair money does buy you a fair way into our sport but even people born into it everyone works incredibly hard. If you were in her shoes having nice horses & barns bought for you I could make a bet the majority would love publicity on it, I won’t deny that I would to.

The media can make someone come across very differently than in person; I have met many who come across awful on social media yet are very down to earth in person & vies versa. These top riders have to have a degree of self esteem and belief in themselves to be where they are, you can’t expect someone to do well with little self belief in themselves just so they come across nice in interviews.

Everyone has is entitled to an opinion but don’t sit behind a keyboard judging someone over a few interviews if you don’t know them… same principle as looking at a horses advert and finding them a hell of a lot nicer in flesh :lol: personally I don’t follow many so have no opinion on her either way.

[Mardi]

@Tiger Paws;8207241

Seriously, you would be surprised at how clueless the wealthy are, they do not know how they are perceived, nor can they relate to others that do not have the resources they do.

They can’t be too clueless, otherwise they wouldn’t be financially successful.
Why disparage the affluent ?

Let’s do this. A few key words have been changed in the orginal post you wrote. How does it sound now ?

"To many poor people, being wealthy means having to buy a bus ticket instead of a bicycle.

Seriously, you would be surprised at how clueless the poor are, they do not know how they are perceived, nor can they relate to others [who] have the resources that they don’t.

Many of them tend to downplay the role their financial disadvantage played in getting them where they are, and under estimate their own efforts. Many are born on third base, but think they’re in the dugout."

If you had written that, you’d be chastised beyond belief. But for some reason, you thought it was ok to write similar words about financially successful people.

What’s up with you ?

[SnicklefritzG]

[QUOTE=ACMEeventing;8207571]
The smallest species of armadillo is the Pink Fairy armadillo, weighing in at only 4 oz (roughly the size of a chipmunk). They are a rare find and quite elusive in the field. A little known fact about the armadillo is that during heavy rainstorms they are forced out of their burrows due to the risk of drowning.

Just thought I’d throw that out there. Carry on.[/QUOTE]

And recently, a giant python ate a porcupine and died. Carry on ^2.

[Midge]

[QUOTE=SnicklefritzG;8207799]
And recently, a giant python ate a porcupine and died. Carry on ^2.[/QUOTE]

I think someone should invent a 3D printed porcupine that smells like a real porcupine and release a few thousand of them into the Everglades.

[supershorty628]

Just saying.

[MIKES_MCS]

OMG’d Supershorty where did you find that???

[Capall]

I love arguing koalas! They are so squee!

I also currently have an adorable baby crow in my backyard that can’t fly yet. I’d try to get a photo but his family start going all Alfred Hitchcock on me whenever I go and check on him :lol:

*Before anyone gets their knickers in a bunch- I just go and make sure he’s still in a safe place and he has water available since it’s hot. I can hear his little caws and it is the cutest thing ever!

[SnicklefritzG]

[QUOTE=Midge;8208698]
I think someone should invent a 3D printed porcupine that smells like a real porcupine and release a few thousand of them into the Everglades.[/QUOTE]

you can find a purple one here:

http://www.purpleporcupine.com/

[Bristol_Bay]

[QUOTE=Mardi;8207748]

If you had written that, you’d be chastised beyond belief. But for some reason, you thought it was ok to write similar words about financially successful people.

What’s up with you ?[/QUOTE]

But Tiger Paws’ post actually makes sense while yours doesn’t really add up.

You’re trying to say that RK is somehow responsible for her position in life and that the poor should acknowledge the same responsibility. She pulled herself up by her own bootstraps and should be admired for it. Really?

Honestly, I wouldn’t have an opinion one way or the other if her mother weren’t such a piece of work, not just generally, but to me personally, as well as to many others who dared be critical of her daughter.

[Mardi]

The point I was trying to make was that Tiger Paws’ sweeping disparagement of affluent people would never have been tolerated on this thread if similar words were written about poor people.

[lauriep]

Neither has McLain. That was a bunch of BS by the European riders and FEI back then, but it was never PROVEN he did anything wrong. People that I know and trust who were there say it was a set up. And that seems to be backed up by the Sapphire incident at the World Cup. Again, trumped up charges over NOTHING.

[lauriep]

[QUOTE=mvp;8202515]
Of course, but the other topic was the double standard we hold for women. So she’s repeatedly called out for not being “nice.” Someone holds up McLain Ward as an example of someone who’s preferable or “at least doesn’t make a scene in public.” They ignore the bad behavior he does do. By comparing only “niceness when on display” and ignoring the rest, it seems to me that you maintain the double standards. Or…. we’d have to point out that Kessler is great because “at least she hasn’t been caught cheating and causing pain to a horse.” That would even things out.[/QUOTE]

Neither has McLain. That was a bunch of BS by the European riders and FEI back then, but it was never PROVEN he did anything wrong. People that I know and trust who were there say it was a set up. And that seems to be backed up by the Sapphire incident at the World Cup. Again, trumped up charges over NOTHING.

[lauriep]

[QUOTE=vxf111;8202700]
When those strangers put their personal lives out in public (for example, by doing a puff piece on their new barn and all it’s amenities, etc.) then yeah, it becomes fodder for people to talk about it. You don’t want people to talk about your money? Stop having people write “articles” about it. Go win some stuff and give people that to talk about instead.

Honestly, can you imagine Beezie calling up NF to come take some pictures of Beezie lounging on the couch while she talks about her “business plan” to go out her own and win everything using someone else’s money-- accompanied by photos of a super super fancy barn her parents bought her? I mean, can you IMAGINE any other supposed BNT top-level rider wanting that image out there in the universe? It’s a “business plan” to take a farm someone else bought, horses financed by someone else, and win al the everythings?!? Are we really pretending that’s a “business.” It’s an a-m-a-z-i-n-g thing to be able to do, but spending someone else’s money isn’t exactly a “business.” Maybe investing in horses that she can pay back the investment and have money left over to buy more prospects might be a business. But I don’t see any indicating here that her “financial supporters” are investors. The strategy seems to be to take that money and be a tip top rider… and that’s fine and dandy-- but you can’t blame people for laughing a little at the thought that it’s a “business.” That’s what trust fund babies do-- spend their parents money and good for them, but that doesn’t mean it’s laudible/a business.

The only reason that image of Reed is out there is because she put it out there. If she doesn’t care, good for her. I hope she has a thick skin. I hope she goes and wins all the everythings. She certainly has the talent and cares to do it. But you can be talented and self-indulgent at the same time And it’s not like these opinions come out of thin air. They come from the way she comports herself in public. This “article” being one public piece on her.[/QUOTE]

And how do you know Reed made the call, and not Noelle? And Beezie has had plenty of puff pieces written. It is part of the game. And it brings in FANS.

[lauriep]

[QUOTE=Darkwave;8202747]
I agree with your entire post, but wanted to highlight this section.

It’s hilarious to me the large (by which I mean non-zero and more than one or two) former junior riders who have ended up making a “career” out of running a “business” that is essentially figuring out how to spend their parents’ money on horses and trailers and fancy saddles.

They’re earning a small fortune in the horse business the old fashioned way, by starting with a large fortune

I do think RK has earned a bit of this criticism, simply by putting herself out there so publicly (exactly as vxf111 noted). When you have a puff piece that is basically LOOK AT MY NEW FARM THAT I BOUGHT FOR MY BUSINESS, people are of course going to respond that you didn’t really buy it with your own money, and that you’re not really running a business.

I do wonder if some of the young WEF trust fund crowd understand that most people DON’T have trust funds.[/QUOTE]

Reed’s FATHER told me a couple of years ago, that she IS running her riding as a business, and that particular year, had broken even. She was buying and selling lower level horses in order to be able to contribute to buying the more expensive ones. He helps, yes, but according to the agreement they made. She also finds the horses for her mother.

The FACT is that it is ENORMOUSLY expensive to compete at that level. Most riders have to spend huge amounts of their time cozying up to sponsors and trying to put together money to buy the best, but over priced, horses. So let’s leave the jealousy train in the shed and just watch to see how she does, instead of tearing her down before she even gets started.

[woodhillsmanhattan]

I am plenty jealous of Jessica Springsteen, Georgina Bloomberg and Lilly Keenan but absolutely adore them. They come across as polite, genuine and approachable in their interviews. So I don’t think the multiple controversial (maybe not the best word choice?) threads on Reed Kessler are due to jealousy. Heck, I am jealous of the “average” WEF attendant. There is something about how she comes across in interviews that others find not likeable. I have never met her, so I can’t attest to whether it is an accurate perception or not.

[SnicklefritzG]

[QUOTE=woodhillsmanhattan;8209612]
I am plenty jealous of Jessica Springsteen, Georgina Bloomberg and Lilly Keenan but absolutely adore them. They come across as polite, genuine and approachable in their interviews. So I don’t think the multiple controversial (maybe not the best word choice?) threads on Reed Kessler are due to jealousy. Heck, I am jealous of the “average” WEF attendant. There is something about how she comes across in interviews that others find not likeable. I have never met her, so I can’t attest to whether it is an accurate perception or not.[/QUOTE]

Jessica Springsteen interviews well and comes across as very gracious and kind.