Well, knew it could happen. Poor Stephen has been replaced as one of the six riders to go to WEG for the eventing squad. Karen and Woody will now get to go to Aachen. Ah, the winds of fortune change frequently in this game. Congrats to Karen::sadsmile: , tears for Stephen:cry: .
yes, i am very curious as to what happened with stephen. i just hope that joshua is ok. that is a very sweet horse.
I love Karen and Woody, but damn , Stephen is so overdue for some good luck and I was crossing my fingers for him. Heartbreaking.
OkâŚI am editing this because I did not know Jedi had reinjured himself in England. I also DO BELIEVE that every rider over there deserves to be there.
I also understand that Jan was never on the team to begin with, and that she and Jedi were only assured to go.
I am sorry, but I did not mean to direct any ânegativeâ comments toward Will or any of the US Team members. That was just my reaction when I heard the Team announced.
I want them to bring back the gold just as much as anyone. And, I understand that this is the team, and am glad we have riders of their ability representing us.
On a more personal note, I really hope Jan and Jedi earn themselves an individual medal over there. They sure deserve it!!! :yes:
So excited about Woody!!! I hope he and Karen have a great run!! 
Good luck USA! Bring us back some Gold!!! 
If anyone hears why Stephen was replaced, please post it⌠Iâm curious. I feel sooo badly for him! 
My question is why Karen/Upstage over Bonnie/Jenga?
Upstage has had problems at corners (including an E at gatcombe) at the last two events. Bonnie/Jenga have been foot-perfect all spring and summer.
I agree. I think the US is out of contention for a medal in Eventing. 
What? Who said Jan was being replaced? Stephen and Will were named as individuals. The Team has not changed, just that Stephen has been replaced by Karen.
I am surprised at all the outcry here, unless you know something we donât. It has everything to do with soundness at this point, not much else unless a rider is injured or a horse has some type of last-minute mental blowout.
I think weâll see that most likely Jenga, Josh and Task Force had some kind of physical oops during the last few days. I hardly think the selectors are being arbitrary with these decisions.
Iâm also convinced that the selectors are not being arbitraryâtheyâre with those horses every day, and theyâre up to date on injuries and soundness. Weâre not. I feel for Stephen and Bonnie, but doubt that anythingâs really stupid or unfair.
And GO KAREN! Iâm terrifically happy for her.
And, truthfully, Iâm not sure why our team should now suck. Jan and Karen are riding as individuals, so what they do wonât affect the team score. Kim, Amy, Will, Heidi? Itâs best 3 out of 4âand these riders donât suck.
shrapnel,
Why would you be so dissappointed in this team? Have they all not worked so very hard to get where they are? Does no one remember Will winning the AEC last year?? His results in Dressage were 26.30 on Antigua & 38.70 on Wild Frontier - not bad I would say. Not to mention, he is brilliant on XC - and went clear on SJ at Rolex AND Gatcombe. Yes, he is inconsistent - but wasnât Karen, David, Bruce, even Capt Mark & loads of others inconsistent at his age?? Personally, I am impressed as hell, and I do not think Will has even scratched the surfaceâŚ
All I know is, you would be hard-pressed to find anyone who has more passion for this sport than Will Faudree - it is THAT type of passion that can only better this sport for everyone. The best thing we can do is put out positive & good Karma, whether our personal favorite was chosen or not. So, letâs support ALL the team, they may just pull off an upset and show the world the US is a contention to be dealt withâŚ
Karen told me before she left that soundness was virtually ALL there was to the decisions made after everyone shipped over. It is not a matter of how they ran in events over thereâunless a performance was impacted by a soundness issue. Thatâs probably why Karen and Woodyâs errors havenât had the impact some might thing they should have. Such things, as this late stage, donât indicate that the pair has a âproblemââitâs well known they are capable. I guess one way you can think of it is that a âmistakeâ isnât necessarily the same thing as a âproblemâ
Anyway, my understanding of it is that itâs just a soundess thing that is going on, nothing more than that. In fact, Karen said the selectors actually anticipate (i.e. âplan forâ) a 50% attrition rate before the games! That is the actual figure she used: 50%. It shook me up a bitâsince Iâm a worrier about Teddy anywayâthat at that level, soundess issues crop up at such a rate.
On the comforting side , Wynn, Iâm sure what selectors see as âsoundness issuesâ before the WEG and what the rest of us see as soundness issues, or at least what we see as lameness, are worlds apart.
A horse with a wee whiff of a hint of a maybe NQR after a gallop might foreshadow being unable to complete day 3 in the big event , and be replaced by one who is 100%, but that wee whiff of a hint is worlds different from being "lame" in everyday thinking.Soundness and NO replacement on âteamâ
First of all, if everyone will look back, there was NEVER a team named until Saturday. After the mandatory outing at Jersey Horse Park, four MEMBERS OF THE SQUAD were named-Kim, Amy, Jan and Heidi. They were never called the team. That was not decided until Saturday. And so, Jan was Not replaced by Will, as she was never on the team to begin with. Secondly, 3dazey, gullyâs pilot and pwynnnorman hit the nail on the head. On this side of the pond, we do not see those horses every day or know the state of soundness, welfare and mental stress that is going on. The attrition rate is about 50% and at this point there is no selection, itâs whatâs left standing with the best chance to finish the competition, hopefully within the medals.
These riders have done well to get where they are, and Kim, Amy and Karen have the experience, Northern Spy is one of the best horses in the world-10th at Badminton is nothing to sneeze at-Will usually does a good job, and his horse is amazingly sound, and Jan is hungry and talented. So letâs not give up the medals just yet. Unfortunately, we do not have the depth of horses and riders that the Europeans, Brits, Aussies and Kiwis have, and thereâs not much on the horizon. So I think we should count ourselves lucky to have the squad that we do.
Since soundness is of utmost importance, it would be well to know that Task Force received a serious injury at Jersey Fresh that caused him to be held at the final jog. In a mishap in Britain, he reinjured the same spot, causing great concern should he hit it or reinjure it again on cross country at the WEG.
Josh had a soundness issue that is hopefully not serious but was of enough concern that he is not doing Burghley. Stephen is already back home and Josh returns next week.
Karen has the most experience of anybody that was in the running. Yes, in a way it seems unfair that she was placed in front of Bonnie, who definitely deserves a shot, but as to Woodyâs problems at Jersey and Gatcombe, he obviously had a bad day at Jersey, as he had not had a cross country penalty in 6 years, according to Karen, and who doesnât have a bad day? At Gatcombe, there were circumstances that caused his fall that were out of Karenâs control. And there also may have been other considerations in choosing Karen over Bonnie.
Anyway, off the soapbox, just wanted to express an opinion and give some information so that maybe certain people wonât be so quick to jump to judgements, and blame people who are basically at the mercy of Fate and Happenstance.:sigh:
Murphy1-
1st of all, dressage at an Advanced H.T. is SOOO different than at the CCI*** and CCI**** level . Just so you know. I mean, look at the dressage results from Pine Top, then at Rolex. Very different if you ask me.
2nd of all, I did not mean to direct that comment toward Will. I think he, and all of the other riders deserve to be there, but I think the selectors could have done a better job with team/individual placement. Iâm sorry, thats just how I feel.
I do agree with you on 1 thing though. Wishing the team well and giving them good Karma is great. Letâs just hope and pray they represent us wellâŚ
Well said bridlewise!!! Thank you so much for updating us. I didnât know Jedi had reinjured himself. So dissappointing for Jan. I am glad he still has a shot at the WEG.
Anyone know how Bonnie and Jenga are?? Iâve heard about all 3 alternates except her!! Stephenâs out, Will moved up, Jan moved down, and Karen is in. What about Bonnie???
Woody has to be extremely sound to be chosen after his poor showing at Jersey fresh and at Gatcombe. could be that jenga has a problem and there is no one else but karen/woody to replace them with.
The next time i have a stop on XC âŚIâll petition the TD and say I was having a bad day⌠maybe theyâll reverse the penalities! haha!
I feel sorry for Bonnie to have come this far, but she is a previous world - class level athlete, and I know she can deal with the disappointment â and after all, she does get to run at Burghley â and look at the great ride she has in Close The Deal, who did so well at the British Championships â thereâs no doubt she is one of our best, as are all the others. To be sixth or seventh best in the whole US as an advanced rider has to be a truly encouraging place to be and I am sure she is enjoying her time in England immensely. Jenga is a GREAT horse and all will be well.
The team as named is a terrific set of riders and horses. We are in a vacuum in terms of info about soundness. No there is not a different âlamenessâ and âsoundnessâ circumstance. I think we should ALL have the same outlook on soundness, is that not the correct way to approach horsemanship and all horses?
Also we obviously do not have the same information they (team) have. Which is not right. I am sure the British know all about their teamâs ups and downs, they have much better press over there, but one of my pet peeves with the USET is the fact that they act like they only want money from us great unwashed know-nothings out here in Backyard Horseland, and could care less how we feel about our team representation! We do care, thank goodness for people like Charles Mann and The Chronicle who at GREAT expense has sent over a whole squad of reporters to cover the thing.
Someone posted on this forum, but another thread, that Karen took Woody to a horse trial the week after Gatcombe and did wellâthey wanted to see what sort of consequences his fall at Gatcombe would have. But I do think itâs coming down to soundness.
âŚone of my pet peeves with the USET is the fact that they act like they only want money from us great unwashed know-nothings out here in Backyard Horseland, and could care less how we feel about our team representation!
since the USET is defunct (doesnât exist circa almost 3 years now), I presume you are talking about the USET Foundation. The USET Foundation has nothing whatsoever to do with fielding teams or informing you about your team representation; itâs sole purpose and reason for incorporation is to get your money, and my money, and everyone elseâs money, so they can pool all that money together and donate it to the USEF, which IS concerned with your team representation. And consequently has staff there covering such. And writing about it. http://www.usef.org/weg2006/.
