WEG Pratoni 2022

[Blackeventer]

Right!
Eventing is no exact science, selecting (team) horse/rider combinations even less so.

The US have a team medal, GB doesn’t.

Germany was sure to clinch individual gold with their Terminator… And guess what…?

France was an almost sure thing for a podium finish… And bad luck struck.

NZ has outstanding talent on top of an amazing eventing culture and track record spanning a couple of decades, but not much depth at this stage (The Price power couple can’t make up a team just by themselves).
They have been waiting for a team medal since London 2012!

I could go on and on…

I think the US did a fabulous job (especially given the managerial issues, the US system as a whole, etc…)
The “what ifs” are a bit pointless. Just my opinion.

(And for good measure, if one nation could go into the What If game, it would be France, not the US!!! )

[Marigold]

@Blackeventer

Eventing is no exact science, selecting (team) horse/rider combinations even less so.

Definitely not an exact science. However, that makes it all the more frustrating when the results could have been better if the statistics were looked at. At least Team GB can be comforted by the fact that they made the best selection they possibly could given the facts they had at the time. All I am saying is that I do not think the same is true for the US, and I don’t know why.

When evaluating team performance and looking for areas to improve, it is not just horse and rider performance that should be considered, it is selector performance as well. Do they need more data access? Should the criteria be adjusted? Don’t get me wrong - silver is amazing and I’m so excited! But it could have been gold, and honestly, probably should have been.

[Blackeventer]

Come on! a silver medal at the world championships after 20 years with NOTHING!!!
You must be very young…

Read the following carefully and see how the argument of putting 5* winners on the GB Team somehow wasn’t the magic recipe you thought could have made the difference for the US.

Team:http://www.timandjonelle.com/news/pratoni-del-vivaro-cross-country-2/

[Marigold]

@Blackeventer

You must be very young…

I will accept that completely unearned compliment, and bow out of this conversation lest I reveal the quantity of my grey hairs! I think it’s safe to say we disagree on team selection procedures, which I assume is irrelevant because they certainly aren’t naming me a selector and I’m going to presume you don’t currently hold the title either. What we do agree on is that a team silver is a wonderful result, and something to be celebrated. Well done to all American riders this weekend!

[Blackeventer]

Yes, agreed!
And I also agree to disagree!
Tim, Jonelle, Andrew (Nicholson), Laura (Collett) and a few others expressed their opinions on the fact that riding a 5* horse on the Pratoni xc course would probably be a challenge rather than an advantage.
For me, and since you raised that argument, it got me thinking… that the more stars you’ve ridden aren’t always the one and only criterion involved.

Like you, (and thank god, especially in this era of social media), I’m no selector!
And huge congrats to the US Team!!!

And to Gaspard Maksud, young UK-based French rider in his first senior selection, with Zaragoza, his 9 yo mare; the only survivor of Team France finishing in 6th place and on his dressage score

[initiate1987]

@FitToBeTied

We could send to Paris in 2024, Grald (current age 34), Smith (46), Coleman (39) and Dorr(24).

While I think we were all very impressed with Cornelia’s debut, her dressage needs to get quite a bit better. It could in the next two years, but right now I would put LHS on the team first.

[DogWithBigEars]

That article is a gem! With it referring to Tim and Jonelle in person, I assume it wasn’t one of them.

[Blackeventer]

This is written by Jacky Green, who chronicles every single one of Tim & Jonelle’s eventing adventures and shows.
I’ve been following it for years. Jacky has a wealth of experience in eventing on top of her great writing skills:
www.timandjonelle.com

[Willesdon]

Selle Francais do seem to be a flavour of the month in eventing at present. I’m thinking they are bred to jump, have plenty of blood, generally seem to have good minds and are probably cheaper than other European WB. Both dressage and show jumping will pay much higher prices for horses than Eventers habitually do and there are big marketing machines associated with the big stud books. The French are catching up.

[punchy]

I’m impressed with Julia Krajewski. Gold medal at the Olympics, silver medal at WEG. Plus, she started Chipmunk. (I always remember who started the great horses, and lost them). Move over MJ…

[NEEDS_A_NAP]

Hey, I love watching Julia ride and especially love pictures of her - she has that cat that swallowed the canary smile. But I can’t forget the 19 start and 56 finish on Chipmunk at 2018 Wegs. And the positive drug test at 2017 Europeans that caused Germany to forfeit team silver. But MJ kept his individual silver.

[Larksmom]

I love MJ and as I recall, he didn’t have anything to do with the transfer of Chipmunk, but it is sort of satisfying for Julia to beat him twice in international competition.

[brindille]

@punchy

Julia Krajewsk

She vehemently denied having intentionally drugged the horse fwiw (I know they all do, but I always thought her evidence - as outlined here - was logical)

[iris2006]

I’ve been lucky enough to watch Lauren and Bug show jump and they are fabulous to watch!!

[NEEDS_A_NAP]

I remember reading multiple stories, including that one and also various allegations that the Germans all drugged their horses anyway.

[Jealoushe]

@punchy

Move over MJ…

There’s room for more than one at the top in our sport!

Gotta love Julia and also her mare…there wasn’t much buzz about her coming in to this despite having a great prep for it. She really showed everyone that Olympic medal was not a one off.

The women are dominating right now!

[jcc813]

A local event trainer in my area has partnered with Maxime Livio over the past few years to find horses for his students. Most of the ones they’ve imported are SFs. Granted it’s a relatively small operation but they’re getting some here to be eventers.

[Blackeventer]

Yes, Maxime has been developing FEH (French Eventing Horses), in order to promote young French event prospects and I know he has an established connection with Versailles Equestrian, IL.
Philip Dutton was over to his place to try some horses just before going back to the US before Pratoni.
Maxime is a highly respected professional. he also enjoys teaching clinics, working abroad and coaching foreigners.
As you may know, he’s the coach of the newly born Thai eventing team and has all the members of Team Thailand living in residence in France with him.
One of them competed at Pratoni, first Thai participant to an Eventing World Championship and did a fabulous job!

[Marigold]

@Blackeventer

One of them competed at Pratoni, first Thai participant to an Eventing World Championship and did a fabulous job!

Korntawat did a phenomenal job for Thailand at Pratoni - low 30s dressage, a clear round with a reasonable amount of xc time, and clear show jumping inside the time to finish one place behind Sandra Auffarth herself in the top 25! He’s got a new (French) horse after a tough Olympics and seems to have formed a fast partnership with him. I’m looking forward to continuing to follow them!

[Equibrit]

GB learnt not to put their solid 5* campaigners on a team for a rinky dink 4* Championship with bad footing. The horses that delivered for them were the less tested, who benefited from the exposure.