i don’t think anyone has accused anyone of cheating at this event. Just saying questions are raised by this new scandal and of course past events …
http://chronofhorse.com/article/top-trainers-respond-tough-usef-penalties
[QUOTE=carroal;8344887]
i don’t think anyone has accused anyone of cheating at this event. Just saying questions are raised by this new scandal and of course past events …
http://chronofhorse.com/article/top-trainers-respond-tough-usef-penalties[/QUOTE]
You posted this in response to someone who said Tori was the best rider this weekend, which is what makes it sound like you are accusing Tori of cheating at this event.
This is such a sad situation. 
As a previous poster mentioned this young lady is an exceptional rider and can very quickly “tune in” to almost any horse. She seems to me to be the last person who needs to ride a horse that has been “prepared”.
She is a junior and thus has learned the “ropes” from her elders who, in my opinion, have done her a terrible disservice by their example. Even at 17 you don’t really understand the ways of the world except through the example given to you by those whom you trust, admire, and depend upon.
She will soon be of an age to take control of some of the issues that affect her riding career and hopefully she will overcome the lousy example set for her by many of her adult connections.
I hope that someone who cares about her will step up and explain to her that her talent is such that as an adult, even as a rider that needs a sponsor to provide horses, she WILL be able to insist that when she rides it will be by the rules or she will not ride.
If she chooses to ride jumpers as an adult, there are owners that don’t allow their horses to be drugged in violation of USEF or FEI rules and I hope that one of them would be happy to have her as a rider.
Hopefully Miss Colvin will find a good mentor (somewhere) who will have this heart to heart with her. She needs to know that she does not have to sell her soul to the devil (so to speak) to be able to ride. She is obviously a hard worker as well as an excellent rider.
After reading the USEF transcripts, it appeared to me that her mother was terrified of the possibility of her daughter “losing the rides” on Ms. Parker’s horses. I’m sure that her mother’s fear was not lost on Miss Colvin. It could easily seem like the end of the world to a 17yr old. Someone needs to present a more sane view of the world to this young lady.
I too have read about her love of horses, and the behavior and the example set by the adults around her seems to conflict with that love.
Hopefully someone with horses will step up, require and demand good sportsmanship, and help her on her way to what could be a wonderful life, doing what she loves in an ethical manner.
I think tori needs to get away from her mother. She seems to be the root of the problem.
[QUOTE=SnicklefritzG;8344863]
In this case it doesn’t matter who is issuing the stays because the end product is similar, the person in question isn’t forbidden from doing certain things (i.e. show attendance) for a period of time. I can see why doping or drugging a horse is a risk that some people will take because the penalty is not very severe.[/QUOTE]
That will depends on the result of the court case. If she loses, she will be suspended. If she wins, she won’t be.
I pointed out the lawsuit thing because it was being implied that USEF was vacillating about the punishment, and they are not.
[QUOTE=carroal;8344887]
i don’t think anyone has accused anyone of cheating at this event. Just saying questions are raised by this new scandal and of course past events …
http://chronofhorse.com/article/top-trainers-respond-tough-usef-penalties[/QUOTE]
You’re right. That’s why there’s already several lengthy threads on it.
Say it isn’t so…Inclusive on USEF Drug List
And one on Brigid Colvin’s civil suit.
And a 65-page thread on SS’s win at Cap Challenge: Spin Off of Colvin Civil Suit: Stewart Wows Once Again At WCHR Pro Challenge.
I totally agree that the culture needs to change. But this thread is about the USET Finals. As previously mentioned, different team of people, and Tori rode the ever-loving hide off all four horses. You might question her previous wins, but this one’s rock solid.
I’m a huge fan of Tori, and I was glued to the screen for the Final 4. To me, she was the winner by a landslide. I didn’t see the flat phase, but it looked from her scores that the class was hers from the beginning. Everyone else in the Final 4 made (small) errors and she did not. And every horse went best for her. To me, the judges got it right in regards to the Final 4 and eventual winner.
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I am surprised everyone is so focused on dragging Tori down that no one has mentioned Devin Ryan WON the GP at Princeton, and in the pictures his horses are over the standards. That to me gets way more of a shameful :no: then Tori riding wonderfully on 3 strange horses she/ mom have no control over the management of.
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I was also surprised by some of the scores of the rounds I did see. How did Katherine Strauss get such a good phase 2 score? she visibly cantered all the way through the trot poles and hung a leg badly in the bounces. And Kendra Gierkink also- she badly chipped one of the poles in the s-line and her back is so roached.
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One girl, I forgot her name, but a beautiful strong rider, had her horse in a kimberwick (and a loose ring in the flat phase!). Coupled with THIS finals last week–are they making a comeback?
Tori may have ridden well, but I have lost all respect for her as a rider and horsewoman. I suspect many other people feel the same way
[QUOTE=Simba27;8345175]
Tori may have ridden well, but I have lost all respect for her as a rider and horsewoman. I suspect many other people feel the same way[/QUOTE]
This is exactly how I feel. I keep seeing various sponsor companies putting up pictures of her on their FB and IG feeds and it makes me just shake my head. I just want to post comments with #9tubapalooza or “how many tubes of perfect prep got you the win this time Tori?” but I know they’d get edited by the sponsors pretty quick.
[QUOTE=Midge;8344974]
That will depends on the result of the court case. If she loses, she will be suspended. If she wins, she won’t be.[/QUOTE]
But the stay still allows Tori’s mom to watch her at the various BigEq finals which is something she wanted to be able to do. If the suspension eventually sticks, it is much less harmful over the winter when Tori will have got past some of the important milestones in her junior career.
[QUOTE=Rescuer;8345196]
This is exactly how I feel. I keep seeing various sponsor companies putting up pictures of her on their FB and IG feeds and it makes me just shake my head. I just want to post comments with #9tubapalooza or “how many tubes of perfect prep got you the win this time Tori?” but I know they’d get edited by the sponsors pretty quick.[/QUOTE]
AGAIN, at least three of the horses she rode to the win were not prepped by her team (and Avalanche was prepped by Andre’s team). I understand your frustration, but that argument is totally specious in relation to this particular win.
[QUOTE=Rescuer;8345196]
This is exactly how I feel. I keep seeing various sponsor companies putting up pictures of her on their FB and IG feeds and it makes me just shake my head. I just want to post comments with #9tubapalooza or “how many tubes of perfect prep got you the win this time Tori?” but I know they’d get edited by the sponsors pretty quick.[/QUOTE]
Well that would certainly make you seem all grown up and I’m sure everyone at these companies would totally take you seriously. Because everyone knows that it’s completely appropriate to harass a kid on the Internet.
[QUOTE=jmjhp;8344935]
I think tori needs to get away from her mother. She seems to be the root of the problem.[/QUOTE]
Nah. I think that’s scapegoating one adult among many who contributed. If it were fair/reasonable to expect Mothers to have some special super power to guard their kids and the moral high ground, then fine: We can lay all blame at the feet of the female parent for whatever their kid becomes. But that strategy seems to lie somewhere between unfair and ineffectual in deciding how to distribute praise and blame so that we get better behavior from people.
Any one of the folks involved-- from a seasoned HO who should care about her animals’ well-being, to the professional horse trainers who, similarly, should advocate for the horse and take an interest in keeping the rider aboard them safe-- could have done the right thing.
And Colvin Senior is not the first parent to have ever had to allow her kid to be mentored by less-than-adequate adults. I mean there are some parents all of the country right now who are wondering how they’ll help their kid survive the school year with a “bad” teacher in charge for the year. Would you decide that “the mother is the root of the problem” here?
[QUOTE=SnicklefritzG;8345207]
But the stay still allows Tori’s mom to watch her at the various BigEq finals which is something she wanted to be able to do. If the suspension eventually sticks, it is much less harmful over the winter when Tori will have got past some of the important milestones in her junior career.[/QUOTE]
So. It’s more important to you that she be punished regardless, than it is to make sure she is the appropriate person to be punished?
[QUOTE=sarcam02;8344718]
She rode the best of all and deserved that win hands down.[/QUOTE]
Agreed. I was particularly impressed how she held the best and consistent lines on all the horses–THAT was riding more like a jumper…no one else was able to do that.
To me…she is still a junior. Any controversy etc. should be aimed at the adults in her life. For now…she is a lovely junior rider. What will make her a great horseman/trainer and rider is what she accomplishes as an adult with her own program. And as a junior…she is a few years away from that.
[QUOTE=bornfreenowexpensive;8345297]
Agreed. I was particularly impressed how she held the best and consistent lines on all the horses–THAT was riding more like a jumper…no one else was able to do that.[/QUOTE]
I agree with most of your post, but instead of “like a jumper”, I’d have inserted professional. No matter the discipline, she rode like a pro. Riding like a jumper is a debatable statement.
[QUOTE=Midge;8345276]
So. It’s more important to you that she be punished regardless, than it is to make sure she is the appropriate person to be punished?[/QUOTE]
That wasn’t the point of my comment.
This is about the larger issue of punishments being a mere slap on the hand in many cases. So there should be no surprise that people will risk cheating if punishments don’t have much weight or if “stays” enable some people to still get what they want regardless.
The industry is a mess as many others have stated, but it doesn’t appear to be betting much better regardless of what little things USEF or other organizations are doing.
[QUOTE=Pennywell Bay;8345304]
I agree with most of your post, but instead of “like a jumper”, I’d have inserted professional. No matter the discipline, she rode like a pro. Riding like a jumper is a debatable statement.[/QUOTE]
The class was judged on Jumper riding…to see who has the base skills to potentially represent the team in the future in the jumpers. THAT is why leaving rails up was important, smooth turns, holding that inside line to the 3 stride etc. While not ridden like a pure jumper class…they were being judged on demonstrating jumper skills.
[QUOTE=longtimelurker;8345243]
AGAIN, at least three of the horses she rode to the win were not prepped by her team (and Avalanche was prepped by Andre’s team). I understand your frustration, but that argument is totally specious in relation to this particular win.[/QUOTE]
If you’ll note my post refers to sponsors making postS (mulitple) and I didn’t specify relating to THIS competition.
Regardless, if you do want to talk about this competition specifically, she had to get through the first few rounds solely on her own horse who for all we know was prepped to the gills in order to get to that final 4. And lets be realistic. Who actually thinks those final 4 were competing ‘sober’? Not me. The whole show world situation as has been discussed ad nauseum is disgusting since its obviously not just Tori - however - now that those she’s connected to have been caught - I’m surprised sponsors would continue to be so forthright in their support. My opinion. You don’t like it that’s fine.
