Who else is depressed?

[Petstorejunkie]

I’m depressed that is the end of the equestrian olympics for 2012
I’m depressed that Juan is upset about something and it effected his rides (I suspect Fuego is on the line for him)
But most of all I’m depressed that most of those lovely pairings just made their final performances together.
Steffen and Ravel
Charlotte and Velegro
Carl and Uthopia
Anky (as much as I hate her that freestyle was decent) and Salinero
and I suspect Juan and Fuego

I hate the business end of dressage. It freakin sucks, and if there was ever a reason to not want to get to that level of competition its because you’re just the monkey to the money. I hate it.

[katarine]

No, not at all.

I saw some gorgeous riding and no massive drama llamas (save for the Canadians) and tons of helmets being worn in dressage competition and warm up on the world’s stage. My favorite, Carl Hester, rode beautifully as did so many, many more. Steffen’s last ride on Ravel was not their best ever, but any one of us would aspire to be that ‘off.’ Carl’s horse(s) will be sold and maybe he’ll ride them, or maybe not. Either way he can ease up a little, and maybe that frees him to travel and clinic and share his easy breezey breath of fresh air ways a bit. We could all benefit from some of his demeanor.

I appreciate the sharing of how to get expatshield so that I might watch and hear the BBC commentary, or choose NBC. I am glad the weather mostly held itself together -esp for cross country and that no horses or riders were killed in competition.

And tonight I’m taking a lesson and making a pizza.

If it is going to send you into a tailspin to follow the happenings in the big leagues- maybe you shouldn’t even watch?

[NOMIOMI1]

IT seems all of these events are an end of an era but the start of a new one that really looks GREAT to me

Personally I learn so much watching people deal with HUGE problems at these shows and my little ones are in perspective.

I hope all of these guys go to great homes, and the rest have GREAT RETIRMENTS!

[BAC]

I am always sad as the Olympic games come to an end, but not about the equestrian sports in particular. I do hope that some means are found to keep the British dressage horses with their current riders though, although I know its unlikely to happen.

[RedmondDressage]

I’m not depressed at all… We saw some absolutely gorgeous rides! There was also a ton of new blood in the ring which I absolutely loved. It was great to see some of the old guard out there with all of their experience but there were so many young up and comers it made me super excited to see what’s ahead in the sport. I also saw some great young horses that are going to be absolute powerhouses as they progress in their training. There are going to be some amazing things happening over the next several years in this sport and I think it’s truly inspiring!

There are some magical partnerships coming to an end or likely to be ending but that is the nature of the business. It’s sad for the fans and I know it’s a bit sad for the riders but I don’t hate the business… Far from it. I doubt they do either. When you have that kind of skill you thrive on developing the up and coming horses. There’s nothing more rewarding than bringing a new horse along and I’m sure they are looking forward to the future. These changes are what enable new, exciting partnerships to form and that is a great thing for individual riders and for the sport.

This has been a fantastic Olympic year and rather than making me depressed, it has made me extremely anxious to see where we go from here!

[atr]

Paras to go yet…

[PonyPeep]

[QUOTE=Petstorejunkie;6489266]

But most of all I’m depressed that most of those lovely pairings just made their final performances together.
Steffen and Ravel
Charlotte and Velegro
Carl and Uthopia
Anky (as much as I hate her that freestyle was decent) and Salinero
and I suspect Juan and Fuego
.[/QUOTE]

Are all of these horses being sold… ?! i would love to see Velegro stay with charlotte.

[joiedevie99]

[QUOTE=PonyPeep;6489730]
Are all of these horses being sold… ?! i would love to see Velegro stay with charlotte. :([/QUOTE]

Ravel and Salinero are being retired from competition. Valegro and Uthopia are for sale, as are, I’m sure, a few others.

[Pippigirl]

@katarine;6489282

No, not at all.

I saw some gorgeous riding and no massive drama llamas (save for the Canadians) and tons of helmets being worn in dressage competition and warm up on the world’s stage.

…uh yeh…gee, it’s always something eh…<eye roll>…

[CruisingforGold]

I am depressed that I accidentally drowned my cell phone, but no, I can’t say I am depressed about the Olympics. I thoroughly enjoyed watching all of the equestrian events and I think that those who won, deserved to win. And those who didn’t deserve to win didn’t win.

[Frank_B]

Time marches on and as some leave the limelight, others wait in the wings. There was a lot of potential demonstrated among the competitors.

[quietann]

@NOMIOMI1;6489409

Personally I learn so much watching people deal with HUGE problems at these shows and my little ones are in perspective.

Agreed. The ride I watch again and again is David Marcus on Capital, just because he handled that horse’s brains falling out of his head soooo very well.

[J-Lu]

I’m depressed!

I just love watching the olympics, equestrian sports and others. I love keeping that window open on my computer behind my other windows at work, I love cheering for the various nations and my favorite riders, and I love that Great Britain did so well at these Olympics.

It is sad that many of these horse/rider combinations won’t be together in the future, but that’s the reality of high-level dressage. Owners pour money into getting horse and rider ready for the olympics, very few are bottomless bank accounts. Many need to get money back by selling the horse, to recoup some expenses of buying horse, employing trainer for numbers of years, paying hefty vet and farrier bills, and sending horse and rider all over europe to show for a couple of years prior to the olympics. Many trainers require extra fees for “being away from regular clients and at the sole attention of the owner” when they travel to Europe and leave their clientelle behind. That adds up.

I do feel badly for Charlotte and Carl. However, that owner springboarded them to the top of dressage, and helped give Charlotte 2 gold medals. !!! They’ve (C and C) both proven what they can do with good horses. I can’t imagine that either will suffer for fantastic horses in the future, and Charlotte is so young and already a multi-gold medalist in dressage! She has such a bright future. We’ve not seen the last of them, and I think that’s very exciting.

The horses will get sold, but I don’t think either will suffer in their new homes. Personally, while I loved E. Gal and Totilas and hated to see the combination broken up, I’m CERTAIN that Totilas lacks for nothing in his current life, and that he has a better health care plan than I do. I am also certain that Rath is a better rider for riding a horse like him. We all want to see these fabulous combinations stay together but the fact is that it is toooooooooooo expensive…

[mellsmom]

Chicks rule!

Am I the only one who thought we had more female equestrian athletes on the podiums this year than ever???

I want a new t-shirt that has all the female olympic medalists for this year on it and the slogan
" You WISH you could ride like a girl!" (my old one is wearing out)

I am soo excited that the kids coming up these days have so many successful women to look up to. My generation had very few.

[CruisingforGold]

I also liked that there were so many mares competing, especially in the show jumping. Mares rule!

[IronwoodFarm]

I’m not depressed at all. I enjoyed watching the equestrian competition so much that I am determined to go to the WEG in Normandy in 2014. There are even MORE horse competitions to see there and Normandy is a lovely place to visit! Mr. IF and I are starting our plans.

[dwblover]

I really enjoyed watching the equestrian events. I am very excited about the future though. Think about it, Charlotte and Valegro literally burst onto the dressage scene basically 1 year before the Olympics. Who knows what kind of combinations may be popping up? Plus I am so excited to see how Paragon looks by the next Olympics. I have a feeling he may be the star in 2016.:winkgrin:

[mayhew]

I’m sad that it’s over. We won’t see as much equestrian coverage for another 4 years.

[PrettyBayMare]

[QUOTE=dwblover;6491381]
Plus I am so excited to see how Paragon looks by the next Olympics. I have a feeling he may be the star in 2016.:winkgrin:[/QUOTE]

I agree with you - it’s going to be fun to watch Paragon grow into that movement he has!

As sad as it made me to watch Steffen & Ravel for a last ride I love the aerial shot of them during their freestyle. Did anyone else find that unbelievably beautiful? Their shadow was cast out beside them and it was very moving to have that view for just a second or two. For me, that moment was a picture of what our sport aspires to be.

I have to admit that it was a hard morning to wake up and realize there was nothing to stream!

[Vesper_Sparrow]

Have the freestyles and GP Special PVRed so I can watch them over and over again… And I still have to watch all the cross-country rides. An outstanding Olympics, especially the dressage.