The Baran

[Midge]

Isn’t he leased right now for like, a billion dollars?

[Tackpud]

@Midge

Isn’t he leased right now for like, a billion dollars?

Yes but they’ve been advertising Paige is taking him, so I guess it’s ok with the owners.

[Paint_Party]

@dags

But John French on a freshly minted euro hunter that hasn’t even crossed the ocean yet is something I would have paid to see.

Just have to interrupt to say that I like the term “euro hunter.” Seems like an appropriate term that can continue to have use.

[MHM]

@dags

But John French on a freshly minted euro hunter that hasn’t even crossed the ocean yet is something I would have paid to see.

Honestly, it would not surprise me at all if John French managed to make such a horse look like it had been doing the hunters for years.

But it would be interesting to see nonetheless.

[Midge]

Oh I know, but the idea that winning money is the reason he’s going doesn’t really seem logical.

[Tackpud]

@Midge

Oh I know, but the idea that winning money is the reason he’s going doesn’t really seem logical.

So true!

[NaturallyHappy]

@MHM

Honestly, it would not surprise me at all if John French managed to make such a horse look like it had been doing the hunters for years.

Agreed!

[dags]

@MHM

Honestly, it would not surprise me at all if John French managed to make such a horse look like it had been doing the hunters for years.

My entire desire in seeing it is to prove that his hunter “duck” is not his SOP, as he’s been the butt of many arguments about The Duck over the past decade. Being an old left coast person I know he’s so much more than that, but the live-feed viewing public always sees him on horses he knows and trusts.

That said, he’s earned his laurels and has nothing to prove on a potentially rank euro hunter (appreciate the @Paint_Party!) so I get why they’re flying known mounts over In that respect.

[MHM]

@dags

I get why they’re flying known mounts over In that respect.

I will be interested to see what actually ends up walking through the gate.

[Renn_aissance]

@MHM

I will be interested to see what actually ends up walking through the gate.

Likewise, and I do hope some of them are local.

We couldn’t get a whole lot of the WCHR list to fly to Europe with their top conformation hunters at the drop of a hat, apparently, so how else to have a horse show that people will watch other than John French catch-riding the Dutch equivalent of a first-year green horse?*

I’m very interested in how the pro jumper riders are mounted.

*yes, I know that the American equivalent of a Dutch first year green horse is a Dutch horse 6 months later with one more stamp on its passport, you know what I mean.

[TWilson]

@dags

Sorry, was jokingly referring to my earlier post where I said this:

@dags

I admit, when I first saw this I thought some European breeder had realized they’d accidentally developed some really solid hunter lines and the whole thing was a marketing ploy. They’d take a few of their horses, some top-notch, big name euro showjump riders and perhaps a couple American hunter riders, fly in a panel of true American hunter judges, run the class under USEF hunter rules, and let the entertainment begin.

Ah, I missed that. Thanks for clarifying!

[TWilson]

@Midge

As a friend said, would they really put a horse that valuable on the plane for what is essentially an exhibition?

The only thing that makes sense that they would fly Babylon over there for this class is that he’s not a derby horse so he’s not going to derby finals, and the kid’s family is loaded enough that the cost of this to them is like what the rest of us find in our couch cushions when we’re looking for the remote.

[Hunterammy2020]

They have working hunter, it’s a bit different and divided by “plated” and “native” breeds. I just had a very long conversation with a girl I was riding with in the UK last month . The way the kids ride there is unbelievable. Their hands are so textbook. But working hunter is different than hunters here. First they aren’t slow, second they don’t move like ours for the most part (they’re generally heavier horses), and the courses are much much more difficult. She was showing me a video of a working hunter class at a show she had just been at with her “young horse” which is 7 (they don’t really believe in jumping them before that age there). The most interesting part is the judge gets on and rides the native breeds on the flat at the conclusion of their riders rides to judge how well broke and how great they actually think the horse is. So there’s no hiding anything. It’s a very different system than American hunters

[capalypinto]

I think it’s awesome that they’re having this. I think it’s just what the hunter/jumpers need. A shock to the system. Think it may lead to a new paradigm for judging that is maybe more horse-friendly and less drug-induced.

[HipNo34]

I have no idea. I only ever spot-checked it when the mood (or wine) struck me. One day, it was down and the next, it was the “is this your domain?” thing.

Was that the thread that involved an interior decorator (one of the moms?) who was billing a metric fckton for accessories from TJ Maxx or somewhere?

Either way, thanks to Diva, Wellington went from dream bucket list item to Carnival of Souls destination for me.

Sorry to derail. Back to the Baran…

[MHM]

@HipNo34

Wellington went from dream bucket list item to Carnival of Souls destination for me.

It can go either way, depending on how you go about it.

[Limerick2017]

Yes, it was.

Gosh, why am I thinking of that quote from Taylor Swift…. “No point trying to defeat your enemies. Trash takes itself out every single time.”

[MHM]

@TWilson

The only thing that makes sense that they would fly Babylon over there for this class is that he’s not a derby horse so he’s not going to derby finals, and the kid’s family is loaded enough that the cost of this to them is like what the rest of us find in our couch cushions when we’re looking for the remote.

No matter how much money the people have, a horse like that is pretty much a unicorn. Which is what makes him so valuable in the first place, obviously.

But to have one that moves and jumps that well, and also goes around the ring and wins with multiple different juniors, is a rare treat.

Of course, I don’t know the horse personally, and they do. So maybe they figure this is not a big deal for him.

Or maybe he showed at that venue all the time before he came to this country, who knows?

[TWilson]

@MHM

No matter how much money the people have, a horse like that is pretty much a unicorn. Which is what makes him so valuable in the first place, obviously.

But to have one that moves and jumps that well, and also goes around the ring and wins with multiple different juniors, is a rare treat.

Of course, I don’t know the horse personally, and they do. So maybe they figure this is not a big deal for him.

Or maybe he showed at that venue all the time before he came to this country, who knows?

That horse is definitely a unicorn. There’s nothing left for him to win here in the US, maybe they figure this is their chance to conquer Europe.

[BAC]

Thank you for such a detailed explanation, I realize that they have show hunters in the UK but I have never seen a picture of one jumping! I can tell by the photos of them wearing their championship ribbons that they are a different type from the show hunters we are used to seeing in the US. I’ve also heard about the judges riding some of the horses, is that part of a jumping class? Anyway, they sound like they are a lot more fun to show even if they aren’t as fancy as our US hunters.