As best I can tell…
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[QUOTE=Drvmb1ggl3;1844065]
As best I can tell…
(Zara herself of course is by a Badminton winner out of a Olympic medallist, certainly bred for the job… I’d send that mare back to that sire again, har har har.)[/QUOTE]
One of the best posts I’ve read in a while. Excellent confirmation and Royal breeding helps too …
Seriously though, Zara does work very hard, has the talent and deserved the win. Kudos to her!
Got a dumb question.
Shouldn’t she be Princess Zara or Lady Zara or even The Honorable Zara if her mother is the Princess Royal?
If you’re into breeding, her catalog page would be much stronger if she herself were blacktype.
:winkgrin:
And thank you SO much for the rundown on the horses. I guess blood does tell.
Fascinating and amusing–many thanks!
Anyone want to hazzard a quess as to what in Glengarrick’s pedigree makes him so durable and/or such a cool horse?
[QUOTE=vineyridge;1844331]
Got a dumb question.
Shouldn’t she be Princess Zara or Lady Zara or even The Honorable Zara if her mother is the Princess Royal?[/QUOTE]
The ‘Royal Rebel’, Miss Zara Anne Elizabeth Phillips who is 11th in the line for the throne, like her brother Peter (10th in line) are the only two of Queen Elizabeth II’s grandchildren who do not have royal titles. It was the decision of Princess Anne, aka The Princess Royal, to have aid in them having slightly more normal lives. Accordingly Anne declined an offer from the Queen to grant them titles.
Off topic, slightly, Zara and Peter receive a relatively small (compared to their cousins) £15,000 p.a. from their mother’s Civil List share.
So, no, they do not have titles to insert 
I think winning the Gold at WEG is equal to a solid Grade 1 (err, make that Group One as she is a Euro) win which bumps up her considerably in desirability
Amongst those biting their nails as Zara Phillips and Toytown were going cross country was Toytown’s previous owner Meryl Winter.
Meryl, from Overbury in Gloucestershire, bought the then difficult gelding as a four year old.
“He was in such poor condition when I first saw him that I didn’t even ride him and although I felt there was a good horse in there at first he was impossible – I fell off him everyday. He would buck, rear and pull me under trees trying to get me out of the saddle”.
The turning point came when after words of wisdom from her farrier Meryl changed her attitude towards him and instead of berating him for his misdemeanours chose to ignore him. “He was amazing – he always had the most fantastic jump and riding him became like driving a Ferrari,” recalls Meryl, “Unfortunately we have never been able to trace his breeding or even where he came from – the most we can presume is that he is Irish.”
While Meryl and Toytown were having a lesson with Mark Phillips Mark suggested that if ever she wanted to sell him to get in touch. The rest is history.
“Zara is great she has always kept me in touch with his progress,” said Meryl who came to Burghley especially to watch her protégé. “it is just such a fairytale come true.”
Well, the ISH has most of the horses genetically tested these days, so, I would bet they could do something!!
I have two that are Clover Hill/King of Diamonds breeding
Too bad we don’t have the breeding on those “Hann” (etc) mares - as I mentioned previously, many of the fine Irish mares would up in Europe for breeding stock. Of course, they got approved, and are no longer called “Irish”… :rolleyes:
By the way, Zara was already European Champion, so this was just the next step in the climb!!
WARNING - Unashamed flag waving moment
(well you have to have one now and again) 
I know, i know, I’m biased on all scores here, but I’m going to say it anyway!
As well as Zara being the reigning European & World Champion, Great Britain also has the Olympic Champion - Leslie Law. This is a really great time for eventing as a whole in GB, one of our most successful periods. What’s equally exciting is that the new kids on the block outshone our old stalwarts at WEG, which will hopefully mean we won’t suffer the dip between quality teams that nations like Australia and New Zealand have. It would seem Yogi’s gamble of taking a young squad of freshers has paid off big time, in view of the impending Olympics in 2008 and the London Games in 2012.
On the horsey front, I have to say that whilst Dan’s whoopsie at fence 5 was really disappointing, to me he was still the class horse on the day. He skipped round the rest of the course without a hair-raising moment, it flowed and he made it look easy - which can’t be said even of Zara’s round, which at times was distinctly uncomfortable.
Whilst Team Gold would have been great, everyone always knew the Germans on home ground, would be very difficult to beat by anyone. I was very glad that the xc proved to be so influential - that’s how it should be - even if it did result in my favourite horse getting caught out.
WARNING - Unashamed flag waving moment
(well you have to have one now and again)
I know, i know, I’m biased on all scores here, but I’m going to say it anyway!
As well as Zara being the reigning European & World Champion, Great Britain also has the Olympic Champion - Leslie Law. This is a really great time for eventing as a whole in GB (not withstanding the recent tragedy), one of our most successful periods. What’s equally exciting is that the new kids on the block outshone our old stalwarts at WEG, which will hopefully mean we won’t suffer the dip between quality teams that nations like Australia and New Zealand have. It would seem Yogi’s gamble of taking a young squad of freshers has paid off big time, in view of the impending Olympics in 2008 and the London Games in 2012.
On the horsey front, I have to say that whilst Dan’s whoopsie at fence 5 was really disappointing, to me he was still the class horse on the day. He skipped round the rest of the course without a hair-raising moment, it flowed and he made it look easy - which can’t be said even of Zara’s round, which at times was distinctly uncomfortable.
Whilst Team Gold would have been great, everyone always knew the Germans on home ground, would be very difficult to beat by anyone. I was very glad that the xc proved to be so influential - that’s how it should be - even if it did result in my favourite horse getting caught out.
WARNING - Unashamed flag waving moment
(well you have to have one now and again)
I know, i know, I’m biased on all scores here, but I’m going to say it anyway!
As well as Zara being the reigning European & World Champion, Great Britain also has the Olympic Champion - Leslie Law. This is a really great time for eventing as a whole in GB (not withstanding the recent tragedy), one of our most successful periods. What’s equally exciting is that the new kids on the block outshone our old stalwarts at WEG, which will hopefully mean we won’t suffer the dip between quality teams that nations like Australia and New Zealand have. It would seem Yogi’s gamble of taking a young squad of freshers has paid off big time, in view of the impending Olympics in 2008 and the London Games in 2012.
On the horsey front, I have to say that whilst Dan’s whoopsie at fence 5 was really disappointing, to me he was still the class horse on the day. He skipped round the rest of the course without a hair-raising moment, it flowed and he made it look easy - which can’t be said even of Zara’s round, which at times was distinctly uncomfortable.
Whilst Team Gold would have been great, everyone always knew the Germans on home ground, would be very difficult to beat by anyone. I was very glad that the xc proved to be so influential - that’s how it should be - even if it did result in my favourite horse getting caught out.
[quote=Drvmb1ggl3;1844065]
As best I can tell…
1) Toy Town (ISH??) ----
Note: Breeding unknown. Most sources have him listed as Irish bred, though some claim he might be by a Hann stallion called Voltiare who stood in Eng. (Zara herself of course is by a Badminton winner out of a Olympic medallist, certainly bred for the job… I’d send that mare back to that sire again, har har har.)
Actually, although the Princess Royal was European champion, I don’t believe she won any Olympic medals at Bromont although she did compete there on Goodwill.
Zara also has a father!
Having enjoyed huge success in his own career — Mark Phillips won Olympic Gold in 1972 and a Silver in 1988.
I realize that Equibrit but her quote was “by ----- out of an Olympic medalist” - I assumed she was referring to Zara’s mother when she referred to “out of.” :lol: Mark Phillips’ many accomplished are well known.
Princess Anne fell at the water in Montreal. But perhaps there was a team medal?
She is a Burghley winner though.
I don’t believe the Brits won a team medal either (in Montreal) although I could be wrong. Maybe JHodkin would know the answer.
[QUOTE=BAC;1847387]
I don’t believe the Brits won a team medal either (in Montreal) although I could be wrong.[/QUOTE]
The 1976 Summer (Montreal) Olympic Games medal winners in Equestrian:
Great Britain = None
Canada, Belgium and Australia all tied with just one medal.
(GB in the end finished with 13 medals and also ranked 13th of the participating countries; USSR and East Germany crushed everyone in the medal count)
A very odd aside: Princess Anne of the United Kingdom was the only female competitor not to have to submit to a sex test.
I checked after I posted
Gold USA
Silver Germany
Bronze Australia
So no team medal either.
Ummmm…
What kind of a sex test are we talking about here??
[QUOTE=circusponydreams;1847738]
Ummmm… What kind of a sex test are we talking about here??[/QUOTE]
There is a sex test performed on athletes at the Olympics to ensure they are the sex they claim to be. However, since transgender athletes are now eligible to compete, this test may not be done anymore.
