basically, the US system cannot gather competitive teams any longer—show jumping, dressage and eventing all finished down around 6th/7th. Even Saudi Arabia beat us in show jumping. Forget thinking the US is superior any longer–we’re running in the middle of the pack with everyone else…
You are right feather. Our system as it is currently run will not beat the best ones.
We don’t HAVE a system. That is the problem.
I think Jumper is talking about Eric’s comment ABOUT HIS OWN HORSE.
Not his comment about the other Canadian horse.
[QUOTE=chunky munky;6492138]
Oh please. Eric took it out on the FEI an CE. Mclain is just speaking the truth. Horse cuts down. Always has. And Eric doesn’t own his horse. Mclain does. Lets all look at facts like a grown up, not who petted their horse.[/QUOTE]
Eric does own his own horses. 
Derly is owned by Ashland Stables and Torrey Pines Stable. Torrey Pines is Eric.
https://data.fei.org/Horse/Detail.aspx?p=DB843F6B48345F77D52EE2FDF76CC33A
[QUOTE=swmorse;6491109]
McLain’s comments showed no class. He basically said, my horse did not do well, I however, rode great.
If the horse was not up to the task, the blame falls on the rider. He said his horse ran out of gas. Perhaps a better conditioning program?
He did say all the horses are great, just don’t have the consistancy. Hopefully he and his teammates will work with those horses so they have the chance to become great teams, as he and Beezie had with Sapphire and Authentic.
But I have to say, if he were on my horse, I believe I’d find another rider.
If he publicly says my horse isn’t good enough, I guess he can find something better to ride.[/QUOTE]
If you, as an owner, are going to choose the rider for your horse based on performance at a press conference rather than performance in the ring, then I expect you will get what you pay for!:lol:
I doubt that diplomacy on camera will figure too heavily in the selection process in the future.
What is with all this, “the US riders can’t be as competitive because they also have to teach lessons” crap. Maybe the Saudi’s don’t but Ireland’s bronze medal winner sure does. I’ve seen this comment for every discipline as an excuse for poor performance. I think you’ll find most riders have clients and have to teach to keep the ball rolling.
Terri
I would like to make clear my remarks regarding my performance at the Olympics before this thread gets out of control. I think the world of Antares and always have, I chose him with a view to these Olympics. I have always believed he is capable of great things and I am very proud of the successes we have had together. Saying that though our performance last week, as a partnership was a disappointment. I look at my performance as a rider, trainer, horseman first. Secondly I look to the areas I can improve my horse. To sugar coat our performance last week and use some cliche about there always being next time would be lie to myself, my sponsors, my teammates, and my country. I believe that success comes from looking within honestly to learn how you can do better. It is a privilege to ride horses like Andy and I am truly grateful for the opportunities given to me by all of my owners but I would be doing them a disservice and I would not be the best I can be if I were not honest about those performances.
Well hats off to you MW. Not many are brave enough to give their side of the story. It’s a very fine line here.
Terri
[QUOTE=lep;6490176]
I found this article interesting:
http://horsetalk.co.nz/2012/08/09/olympic-jumping-final-what-the-riders-said/
I was not really impressed though with MW’s comments … he said you’re only as strong as the horse you’re stuck on.[/QUOTE]
What he actually said was “but you’re only as strong as the horse stock you’re on.”
McLain, thank you for taking the time to clarify.
You and Richard Spooner are my favourite US riders…
[QUOTE=mward;6492799]
I would like to make clear my remarks regarding my performance at the Olympics before this thread gets out of control. I think the world of Antares and always have, I chose him with a view to these Olympics. I have always believed he is capable of great things and I am very proud of the successes we have had together. Saying that though our performance last week, as a partnership was a disappointment. I look at my performance as a rider, trainer, horseman first. Secondly I look to the areas I can improve my horse. To sugar coat our performance last week and use some cliche about there always being next time would be lie to myself, my sponsors, my teammates, and my country. I believe that success comes from looking within honestly to learn how you can do better. It is a privilege to ride horses like Andy and I am truly grateful for the opportunities given to me by all of my owners but I would be doing them a disservice and I would not be the best I can be if I were not honest about those performances.[/QUOTE]
Thank you for coming on here and clarifying things. Now if we could only know whether you said “stock” or “stuck” …
[QUOTE=MrsFitzDarcy&Feliks;6493559]
Thank you for coming on here and clarifying things. Now if we could only know whether you said “stock” or “stuck” …[/QUOTE]
Really? It pretty clearly reads “the horse stock you’re on.” The only reason anyone thought otherwise is because they read the summary written by a poster and not the original article.
Also the idea mentioned by MW that someone who both rides and trains a mount needs to identify rider error versus trainer is an interesting distinction that would not have occurred to me.
[QUOTE=mward;6492799]
I would like to make clear my remarks regarding my performance at the Olympics before this thread gets out of control. I think the world of Antares and always have, I chose him with a view to these Olympics. I have always believed he is capable of great things and I am very proud of the successes we have had together. Saying that though our performance last week, as a partnership was a disappointment. I look at my performance as a rider, trainer, horseman first. Secondly I look to the areas I can improve my horse. To sugar coat our performance last week and use some cliche about there always being next time would be lie to myself, my sponsors, my teammates, and my country. I believe that success comes from looking within honestly to learn how you can do better. It is a privilege to ride horses like Andy and I am truly grateful for the opportunities given to me by all of my owners but I would be doing them a disservice and I would not be the best I can be if I were not honest about those performances.[/QUOTE]
Brilliantly stated. Very articulate and classy response. And FWIW I found nothing at all problematic with the original comments. I have noticed that McClain is one rider who will always say when he made a mistake or could’ve done something different. So if he says he felt like he rode it well and the rail belonged to the horse, I believe it. I think he’s very analytical and it’s no secret the US has a woeful lack of infrastructure for equestrian sport, and we are starting to see that reflected in global results. Hopefully these nice younger horses will become the next generation of Sapphires and Authentics, but the riders can’t do it alone.
In general my response to the article is that I loved reading all the comments and thought it was a nice insight into the various riders experiences.
Instead of being critical of the comments, I think asking why might be more productive.
Most of the horses there someone thought on their best day could win or they would not have wasted the time and energy and money. And again, sometimes we dont ride the best horse - but the best horse available. And a horse that can go to Olympics and compete is not a crappy horse. Only 3 can medal.
I think for me, I saw horses that seemed to not be at their best. Like I know several of the eventing horses in person and have watched them in person and I was like - that horse is not himself today… maybe it was the travel - maybe it was the trial schedule - I dont know but I thought they did not look their best.
ALL that said - I always have something critical I can say I can do better after a competition EVEN if I win. But honestly, my horses are not always at their best. At the Olympics agaist the world - the rider, the horse - everything else needs to fall into place. Just 1-2 rails in several jumping rounds mean you are done.
And I dont want to take a thing away from the Brits - I used to live and be married to a Brit - I loved living in London. But I will say that it is an advantage when you are the host town - your horses dont have to go through the travel and everything. I know Mary King came to Rolex 2 years ago and won first AND second. So nothing to take from the Brits at all - but just saying that these horses are not robots. they are living creatures and the trials - the travel - the change in weather - the number of rounds… there is more to examine than just what quality of stock they are.
But again, on their best day, someone thought each one of these horses had a shot.
I’m glad Mclain came here to clarify, though I was not offended by the original remark.
I believe that at some point the issue of Antares’ rideability (and the hardware used to make it work) came up . My guess is that if MW hadn’t been hurt, Antares’ rideability would have been less of an issue.
Sometimes the timing of events is against you…
[QUOTE=LaraNSpeedy;6494771]
But again, on their best day, someone thought each one of these horses had a shot.[/QUOTE]
Many if not most of them probably did.
It all comes down to who has the best day(s) during that competition. Next week or next month or next year or in four years, it will probably be someone else’s turn.
McLain, thanks for taking the time to post here. It’s not easy to find a horse to fill Sapphire’s shoes. Good luck in the future!
[QUOTE=MrsFitzDarcy&Feliks;6493559]
Thank you for coming on here and clarifying things. Now if we could only know whether you said “stock” or “stuck” …[/QUOTE]
Try actually reading.
The brief quote in the article said that the horse was running out of gas, not that MW thinks his mount is a donkey or some of the other cr@p posted here.
I think she meant this as a joke.
I agree with Mclain’s statement. I did not read it as a knock on his horse and clearly he knows the meaning of partnership because who could question the partnership he had with Sapphire? It sounded to me like he was frustrated with himself. Maybe he felt he didn’t prepare the horse well enough, he wasn’t conditioned well enough, etc. etc. and so the horse “failed” because of him and his prep as a trainer. That would be my greatest fear in his position. That I would let my horse down. I think that’s acceptable. Like “I rode ok but the horse wasn’t as ready” - which the horses prep is also his responsiblity. And he took responsibility for it.
This is a guy that strives for perfection, so of course he is going to be proud of what he has accomplished and love his horse - but he’s also always going to rip his preformance apart and try to find how he could have done better. Would you want someone less critical of themself in that position? I think we want someone that is introspective and self critical. Those are your typical high achievers in life. They drive themselves to improve and aren’t soley motivated by external forces like medals and coaches and hecklers on COTH
