Cheers to this one for not putting on a martingale just for fashion purposes!
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Who is judge panel 3? The scores for 1 and 2 have been fairly consistent with each other but a lot of variability high and low for the third. Wonder where they are located compared to the others.
Did I actually hear Dani say that the judges can be influenced by the cheers after the round?
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and the thick (fake broomstick) tail LOL
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And the horsesā markings.
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Theyāre not helping to improve the European perception of North American hunters with idiotic comments like those.
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āā¦ is the tail beautifully combedā¦ā
š«£
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Itās weird that they didnāt get a notable rider/trainer currently involved in the show hunter industry to commentate.
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I was thinking how spoiled Iāve gotten with good commentary.
I feel like the commentary has only perpetuated the negative stereotypes of the hunters. It also could have emphasized the challenge of making a hunter and that it can take years for one to reach the top of the sport. The subtle communication of horse and rider and elegance and brilliance of a good round are more important than the oft emphasized pointing toes. I feel like this competition was good at pointing out how difficult it is but the comments did not show much knowledge of judging or why they reward certain things. It is about smooth but also brilliance, not so much fake tails or chrome. Also the horse is judged not the rider so the comments did about the pros being penalized more than a junior were ignorant. If you want to promote the sport hire someone who is knowledgeable to educate folks. I wonder if this will do more harm than good. Stands virtually empty. Unfortunate because the sport has many many excellent qualities and riders and trainers.
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It is incomprehensible that they did not have a commentator who knew what they heck they were talking about. I donāt think they saw the trot jump. They didnāt seem to notice that every horse that had lead change issues had a problem going past the in gate.
Gorgeous (fake) tails? Pointy toes? Gleaming coat?
Get someone on the mic who knows what they are talking about! Useful comments, like, you can see this horse has a spectacular jump, but heās really building up some steam here. Pointing the nose? No, how about heās getting a little high-headed and Rodrigo is really having to work to slow him down and fit in the strides, etc.
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How about some background? This horse never wears a martingale because she puts her head between her knees over every jump, and the martingale can become a hazard. Paisley Park has won these events. Babylon is not just a famous horse, he has won here, here, and here. Like, have the competitors fill out a short questionnaire.
And for crying out loud, if you canāt remember the riderās name for the entire course, get yourself some flash cards!
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I believe someone who is a hunter judge was originally supposed to do the commentary. So maybe this was a last minute substitution.
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I went into this with a snarky attitude but then kinda got into the spirit of things, especially with seeing the international riders taking it on (nice to see Lillie Keenan on a hunter ā or wouldāve been sans technical difficulties ā but she still felt like a ringer 
maybe giving the edge to riders with less hunter experience, in the event of a tie, is to offset something like that?)ā¦
But on the whole, the inanity and repetitiveness of the commentary was not helpful to generating respect for the discipline. I get that providing commentary isnāt easy but still theyāre not green to it and Dani W. often sends me up walls when sheās doing Florida. I think Chris Sorensen was a lot better today but mightāve been better served by a different partner.
Other notes, Faith Schuttemeyer and Juan Carlos were a real joy to watch go around, in particular to me. I havenāt waded through any ābonus contentā but would be curious to hear the international riders talk about their experience. And also, again, Iām curious about the grooms and the backstage stuff, as well as the ship (it seems numerous pros bought horses over there and but didnāt immediately bring them home because they were doing this? How-all did that work in terms of teaching the horse a new job?!).
But yeah, on the whole, I know many people will never love hunters the way some of us do. I just donāt want to see the discipline disrespected because it is effing hard.
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I enjoyed watching the actual show and thought if anything it did show how difficult it is to put in a really lovely perfect trip. You need an experienced rider and a brilliant and experienced horse to put it all together. This showcased those facts. It was very fun to watch the pro jumper riders go and see how they handled a different style ride. It was worth watching. Maybe the comments will be better tomorrow. 
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Iām always glued to the screen when itās John French. I clapped in the kitchen and my family looked over like, what?!
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A friend and I have been comparing it to Fyre Festival.
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Itās just such a weird place to have this. There is a big divide between sport horse and showing horses (ridden and in hand) in Europe, the parts I know anyway, and almost no crossover. The people who would be genuinely interested in this and are used to subjective judging arenāt at the Tops tho because that is purely a sport horse venue.
Then again āhey letās all fly over to show in a field in Kentā doesnāt have the same hook for rich Americans I guess.
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Yup. Thatās me, too.
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John French and Crystal Blue and Geoffrey Hesslink and Paisley Park both had scores in the 90s and were the top two for the day. Both experienced excellent hunter riders and brilliant experienced horses although I think John Frenchās horse is not as seasoned.
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