The 2004 Olympic Games

[1 morejump]

Okay this may get long so bare with me here.

I don't know why it took me so long to get around to this but I finally got my hands on a copy of the 2004 Games in Athens.  I can't believe what I just saw!  It was disgusting!!!    I'm only going to rant on a few of them because I ran out of paper on which I was taking notes, seriously, I stopped half-way through and went to find paper it write down my thoughts.  If you think you may get offended look no further gentle reader. :P

First up was a rider from America, I didn't get her name because my mind was to concerned with her horses back.  Every time she did a passage she went up and down and up and down with such force that I though her horses back would break.  

Another rider, this one from Denmark, Per Sandgdard(sp) did okay except his legs stayed very "busy" through the whole ride never staying quiet.  His upper body was behind the verticle a lot but his piaffe was very nice.

A lady from the UK, Emma Hirdle, couldn't keep her legs quiet for love nor money.  She kept them rhythmically banging into his side to try and create more impulsion.

Finally, saving the worst for last, (in my opinion) Rafael Soto on Invasor an Andalusion stallion.  I love the horse, hate the rider.  He couldn't make up his mind as to what his whole body was doing!  I have a better seat than him!  He has a very unsound seat, however the first American was worse.  His hands were moving all over the place, upper body was not calm at all, and the most annoying thing was the fact that his body kept slinging left, then right in time with the flying changes.  Even the announcer commented on this and he still strolled out with a 72%!!!!  The horse was excellent at putting up with all of this bad communtication and at the end the announcer praised the rider for the lovely job he did.  What nonsense!  

Has anyone else watched these in this much extent or am I just crazy and obsessive?  If you haven't seen it, go find a copy at the library to watch.  Warning: contents may make one sick!

[luckyrider]

Oh dear, I do sympathise.  I have not seen this video but I did attend the WEG in Jerez, gosh when was it, 2002 ? (sorry not sure).  Rafael Soto could not put a foot wrong as far as the crowd were concerned because he was very much on his home turf.  Rythmic clapping (the highest accolade in Spain) preceeded his entrance into the arena, which the lovely Invasor did in Spanish walk.  I cannot remember his score but I do remember it was higher than I thought Rafael deserved, but I do feel that the judges were worried they'd be lynched by the crowds if they awarded any less.

What stuck in my mind far more, and I sight I won't forget, was seeing this brilliant American horse come in.  Checking my schedule, I said to my husband (we were sitting some way from the front) "there's been a mistake -- this is a stallion, not a mare".  In fact, it was a mare, but she was giving 200% and moving with better expression than most stallions there.  She is called Brentina, ridden very quietly by... I think she is called Debbie McDonald -- the picture of subtlety and balance on horseback -- and I was livid that this pair did not win.  Still, I'm not a dressage judge.

 

[Linda Baia]

I have only heard good about debbie MacDonald.

I keep my eyes opens for her.

While in France, in april, I watched teh SJ wrold cup in Maylaysia. Again, I saw the good, the bad, the ugly....
I try to remenber the good. the winner Marcus Ehning, rode like a God for Show-jumper, same contact with horse, and the rider did not seem to move. it was beautifull.

I think we need to look for the good, to be able to be inspired to do the same at home. Ingore the mediocrity. it does not give us anything !

[Jo*]

I havnt heard of the dressage riders you talk about, however Linda Baia- Im with you on the Marcus Ehning front Theres a few showjumpers who ride quietly and sympathetically, not hanging off the sides, pulling their horses mouths out like the majority of the others. I really enjoy watching a few of the german riders jump, everything looks to be in harmony and its so graceul

(Sorry I couldnt reply to the actual thread :P )

[shoveltrash]

i actually videotaped the rides......Lisa Wilcox (the first rider, American).......
her horse was hollow backed the ENTIRE ride.  headset/hollowbacked.

i didn't get to see Soto/Invasor (tape had a glitch).  but i've heard he's a busy rider :( .  

there was a woman rider from Spain, whose horse was SO TENSE i could NOT believe it.  you could hear it's teeth GNASHING! :unsure:   miserable looking horse.

and to my mind, Salinero has genetically beautiful elevated paces (why he wins), but he doesn't look happy AT ALL.

Debbie MacDonald & Brentina are the most harmonius pair i've seen in FEI competition.  and Debbie is the only person who has ever ridden that mare (she started her, trained her, etc.).  they are beautiful together - and the horse is HAPPY.

all in all very disappointing.

[luckyrider]

That's great to know about Debbie MacDonald and Brentina.   Quite touching, really.  Now I think I like her even more.

Was the Spanish woman called something like Gabriella Ferrer-Salat?  Cos what you say rings a bell, although she did very well in Jerez.  Again, home turf.

Muriel, you're absolutely right -- be inspired by the good and the great and forget the rest.  Have you ever tried riding in a lesson behind someone REALLY REALLY good?  I have.  It was great.  I just mimicked her every move, I don't really know how it worked so well, maybe my horse was in on the game, but Amicus went like a dream and I felt a million dollars.  When things are not going so great I recall moments like that in my mind and try to relive them as if it was happening all over again.

And that's my thought for the day.

[Heather]

Hi 1morejump-

No your are not nuts, you are absolutely correct in your observations, sadly. I agree totally, re Soto, nice guy, super horse, pity about the rider- I have some video footage of him on another stallion in a pas de deux, and in slow motion, his legs are literally eighteen inches off the horses sides at each stride in sitting trot.

Debbie MacDonald was far and away the most elegant, classical rider, and I thought Brentina very meanly marked.

The Spanish woman was Beatriz Ferrer-Salat, on Beauvelais, and again, I couldnt agree more- horrible to watch.

My friend and previous trainer just came back from Aachen though- said there was some beautiful riding there, and not a sniff of rolkur in sight, which might have been due to the absence of a certain top rider...................


Heather

[1 morejump]

I finished watching another DVD of the competitions and got around to watching another US rider.  I can't remember his name but the horse was a gray named Aragon.  I though that aside from a slip up in the canter pirrouette and a goofy step coming out of the extended canter they did a very nice job.  He had a nice seat, the extended walk a very pretty and the two worked well together.  However, the lousy judges only gave them a 69%.  I just don't get it, Soto was sliding all over the place and still got a 72%.    

So I guess that its not entierly hopeless.  There are good riders out there but no one wants to recognise them for their ability.  I'm with you Heather, Debbie MacDonald and Brentina did not get what they deserved.  

Well, I guess that the only way to fix this is for all of us to ride in the olympics next time, we'll show 'em!   :P  With so many classical riders, one of us will have to get at least a 70  B)      

[Styric]

Guenter Seidel I believe is the rider you're trying to remember.

[lmevans]

we'll show 'em!   With so many classical riders, one of us will have to get at least a 70   

dont count on it!  last competition test I rode the comments in the riding bit was "rider quiet and ineffectual" <_<  and when my mare struck off on the wrong leg in canter, I changed her right after a single stride with a neat change and the judge wrote "wrong lead in canter, involuntary correction":lol:

maybe if I'd been flapping, nodding and shovelling with my seat all the way round they'd have liked it!

Incidently, rider was quiet - mare is like a time bomb! and since when has being quiet been a negative thing? but as for ineffectual - i stayed in the arena and performed all the moves in all the right places - who do you suppose they thought was driving the whole operation? :blink:   on a horse who's only inclination was to bolt out the arena - sideways if possible - back to her buddies in the warm up!  And as for the canter change - dont let me get started!

Dressage judges - dontcha love em!


Lucie x

[Melia]

Some judges are good.  Locally, I've got exactly what I deserved in each test I've done.  But then, we compete unaffiliated, so no flashy horses present, just ordinary horses and ordinary riders.  I ride quietly, and get 'quietly ridden, calm horse' as a praise, fairly often.  

Some people who can't ride that well do try to take flashy horses, but they don't do well.

Hmm, I wonder what a FEI judge would say, and who he/she would give the winning score to, I dread to think!

[Possum]

Stephen Clarke would give it to the horse who is working most correctly.