# Our Olympic Showjumping Team



## poops (15 August 2016)

I have nothing but the greatest respect for our Showjumpers & the huge contribution they have made to the sport, but I would really like to see some of the youngsters make the team.

Hope our guys do well.


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## dixie (15 August 2016)

I agree. Doesn't bode well when one rider admits he doesn't know his horse very well and the other says his horse isn't very experienced at this level.

They didn't do too bad though, so let's hope lady luck is on our side and the old men come good.


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## Clodagh (15 August 2016)

The old men rode beautifullt though, didn't they? How do the Whitakers jump a whole course with no visible aids. Superstars!


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## TheOldTrout (15 August 2016)

Clodagh said:



			The old men rode beautifullt though, didn't they? How do the Whitakers jump a whole course with no visible aids. Superstars!
		
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Indeed, John W showed a lot of  the younger ones how to ride!
And Ben Maher isn't that old (he's a lot younger than me!)


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## Chloe..x (15 August 2016)

I thought they all did fantastic! As did the horses.


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## OLDGREYMARE (15 August 2016)

John Whitaker has enough experience for the horse as well. Love Big Star, very aptly named.


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## ljohnsonsj (16 August 2016)

It's a shame not to see Scott Brash on the team, However John showed them all how to do it, he is the ultimate professional. Nick admitted he was to fault at the last that big star got down and the other 2 was just unlucky. Hopefully they'll have it together today!


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## autumnap (16 August 2016)

Oh dear, what a calamity.  

Following our dismal showing in the eventing and today's debacle in the show jumping, I wonder if the powers that be will bother funding our teams for Tokyo in four years' time.  I think if Valegro is retired, we can forget any more medals in the dressage too.

Sad to say that we just don't appear to have the edge I remember from years ago in the heady days of David Broome, Harvey Smith and co.


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## Nicnac (16 August 2016)

autumnap said:



			Oh dear, what a calamity.  

Following our dismal showing in the eventing and today's debacle in the show jumping, I wonder if the powers that be will bother funding our teams for Tokyo in four years' time.  I think if Valegro is retired, we can forget any more medals in the dressage too.

Sad to say that we just don't appear to have the edge I remember from years ago in the heady days of David Broome, Harvey Smith and co.
		
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Calamity is a bit strong.  Our dressage team also got a Silver medal which everyone seems to have forgotten already!   Eventing we did well in the dressage and show jumping ;-) 

Didn't watch as am at work but agree very poor result.  However as the strategy includes Tokyo, funding will continue although not sure at what amounts.  If Tokyo is as poor then equestrianism is on a slide out.


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## teapot (16 August 2016)

Nicnac said:



			Calamity is a bit strong.  Our dressage team also got a Silver medal which everyone seems to have forgotten already!   Eventing we did well in the dressage and show jumping ;-) 

Didn't watch as am at work but agree very poor result.  However as the strategy includes Tokyo, funding will continue although not sure at what amounts.  If Tokyo is as poor then equestrianism is on a slide out.
		
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Tokyo is a new funding cycle, and while two medals in the dressage is good, and no doubt Para medals too, the lack of Eventing medals and I doubt any in the show jumping either does not bode well for the next funding bid.


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## Slightlyconfused (16 August 2016)

Carl and charlotte have some nice up and coming horses so don't discount our medal chances in Tokyo just because Valegro is retiring.


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## teapot (16 August 2016)

Slightlyconfused said:



			Carl and charlotte have some nice up and coming horses so don't discount our medal chances in Tokyo just because Valegro is retiring.
		
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Oh I'm not, it's what funding the equestrian sports will have for Toyko that concerns me.


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## TheOldTrout (16 August 2016)

So where do we think it went wrong for the show jumpers? Bad luck, wrong combinations selected, bad planning???


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## dixie (16 August 2016)

Well I stand by my original post sadly. Don't think it's a coincidence that the gold medalists in dressage and eventing have both nurtured their horses from a very young age and have kept onto them. 
I think eventing has some nice horses coming up but don't know about the sj, they just seem to sell them as soon as they're doing well with some exceptions is Big Star.


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## Slightlyconfused (16 August 2016)

dixie said:



			Well I stand by my original post sadly. Don't think it's a coincidence that the gold medalists in dressage and eventing have both nurtured their horses from a very young age and have kept onto them. 
I think eventing has some nice horses coming up but don't know about the sj, they just seem to sell them as soon as they're doing well with some exceptions is Big Star.
		
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Agree with you here.


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## stencilface (16 August 2016)

I think that sometimes to do with the fact that for showjumpers it's a business. They don't have the luxury always of having owners and syndicates who want to keep horses with them, ad will sell as soon as they get a good offer.  

It does look bad when the commentators talk about the fact the horses have moved around so many riders, makes it seem more like the horses are sports cars rather than partners.

Hopefully our boys will be ready for the individual competition.


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## stormox (16 August 2016)

Show jumping is much more commercial than dressage, or eventing. A lot more advertising has always been used in showjumpers names, like Sanyo Video etc. A lot more money is involved, and it makes sense if you have a good offer for a horse, you take it. Horses are horses and any horse can break a leg, get colic etc and be worthless the next day. There isnt really room for sentiment.


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## Irish gal (16 August 2016)

Yes as others have said, it's really big business, and there is no greater show case than the Olympics. At the last games horses who did well were sold almost before they left the venue. When you have buyers with deep pockets like Bruce Springsteen shopping for his daughter or the quataris, who apparently had no upper limit on their budgets, owners can make huge sums overnight. Horses are changing hands for figures like £15m - what producer is going to turn that down, it's a lottery win!


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## stencilface (16 August 2016)

Probably a lot more lucrative these days as more of them are left as stallions than they used to be, as far as i remember anyway!  Before a 12 year old gelding would have had an upper limit, prices sky rocket for stallions! My friend is very pleased that her mare is by verdi, one of the only ones with a clear on the first day.


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## Peregrine Falcon (16 August 2016)

I don't think we have the horsepower at the moment to challenge/worry the competition.  When I was young the British were good and funnily enough 3 of the "older" riders make up the team now.  

I'm not sure what the answer is.  Sad to see us failing to even finish in the top 6.


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## {97702} (16 August 2016)

Slightlyconfused said:



			Carl and charlotte have some nice up and coming horses so don't discount our medal chances in Tokyo just because Valegro is retiring.
		
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At the moment I would say they don't have anything of the required level..... and I would like Carl to get a Tokyo horse more than anything right at this moment, he has given SO much to British Dressage that he totally deserves an Olympic medal

I didn't see the SJ because I was off clear round SJ with my baby horse, but John Whitaker HAS to be the best horse man I have EVER seen... love his riding


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## stencilface (16 August 2016)

I have no idea how John rides as he does.  He basically never moves, and is quite a small man on big horses.  Physically and mentally he must be rock hard to come back from illness.


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## Peregrine Falcon (16 August 2016)

I love watching John ride too. Nick also came back from breaking his neck in 2000.  Tough as old boots them pair!


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## dixie (17 August 2016)

Lévrier;13342785 said:
			
		


			At the moment I would say they don't have anything of the required level..... and I would like Carl to get a Tokyo horse more than anything right at this moment, he has given SO much to British Dressage that he totally deserves an Olympic medal

I didn't see the SJ because I was off clear round SJ with my baby horse, but John Whitaker HAS to be the best horse man I have EVER seen... love his riding
		
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To be controversial but I think his brother Michael is better..............................

I had a yard visit at Carl's and Charlottes recently and they were very excited about a mare Charlotte had, which I believe is 6.  So in 4 yrs time she might be ready?


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## stormox (17 August 2016)

Just wondering- are the sizes of the jumps actually bigger than say the 1980/90s Olympics? is the time allowed faster? I can see the jumps fall a lot easier but how do people think the Harvey/Broome/Mould etc teams would fare today?


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## bluebellfreddy (17 August 2016)

I think we could not have expected a medal in the Show Jumping, we have just been relegated in the Nations Cup. I don't know what is going on with British Show jumping at the moment but we are just not at the top at the moment.

The dressage, I think Carl has started a trend of good GB riders, I too think he deserves a medal more than anything. I think Nip Tuck is just coming into his own and we can't rule him out from Tokyo, he is still a young horse.

The Eventing was a shame, had the Olympics been a year later I think we could have got in the medals. The team where very unlucky all the horses (apart from Chilli) could have done with another years experience.  Looking at all the top GB eventers at the moment have very good 7/8/9 year olds, give them a year.

Stallions is a hard one, look at Chilli no problems there being one.


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## Clodagh (17 August 2016)

Why did Scott Brash get told he had to 'qualify' for it? As though Sanctos needed to prove anything. Why didn't Ben Maher take Cella? Is it because she is Amercain owned?


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## Honeylight (17 August 2016)

Showjumping is almost a different sport today compared with the 1960s. I don't think the jumps are bigger, look at images of the 1968 and 1956 Olympic courses, but the poles are much lighter and they dislodge more easily.
I think it comes down to horsepower, we just don't have it at the moment.
Where riders like Smith, Broome, Mould, Smythe etc would have been perfectly capable their horses wouldny have been able to compete with the purpose bred warmbloods we see today. The German showjumping horses were much more coarse in the 1950s, 60s and 70s. Look at pictures of gold winning Meteor and Halla by comparison. The Holstein and Hanoverian breeds have been improved in the last thirty years.


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## TheOldTrout (17 August 2016)

bluebellfreddy said:



			I think we could not have expected a medal in the Show Jumping, we have just been relegated in the Nations Cup. I don't know what is going on with British Show jumping at the moment but we are just not at the top at the moment.

The dressage, I think Carl has started a trend of good GB riders, I too think he deserves a medal more than anything. I think Nip Tuck is just coming into his own and we can't rule him out from Tokyo, he is still a young horse.

The Eventing was a shame, had the Olympics been a year later I think we could have got in the medals. The team where very unlucky all the horses (apart from Chilli) could have done with another years experience.  Looking at all the top GB eventers at the moment have very good 7/8/9 year olds, give them a year.

Stallions is a hard one, look at Chilli no problems there being one.
		
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I agree about the eventers, I think there's encouraging signs there for the new management to work with. Three horses and two riders inexperienced at international level completing, up and coming  riders like Emily King and Holly Woodhead for the future... And practically every team apart from the French has something to moan about / feel they need to work on. (If we were German, would we be bemoaning losing gold in spite of being hot favourites to win? Worrying about over-dependence on Michael, Sandra, Ingrid and our one young rider on the team being eliminated?)


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## Lanky Loll (17 August 2016)

Clodagh said:



			Why did Scott Brash get told he had to 'qualify' for it? As though Sanctos needed to prove anything. Why didn't Ben Maher take Cella? Is it because she is Amercain owned?
		
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Sanctos is injured - Scott sadly didn't have an alternative horse up to the job.  Cella if you watch her struggles to make the back bar on the absolutely top flight tracks.
Sadly SJ is kind of broken in GB at the moment.  Our youngsters don't seem to stand up to the pressure very well when tested - see the NC results/teams for this year.  
The younger Whit's (Rob who is 33 etc) are not coming through strong enough to jock John and Michael off to get the top string horses, and we have a habit of selling the top horses to the Middle East or America.
It's not a new problem it's one that's been brewing for the last 20+ years sadly.  We managed to get it all come right in London but it's not really gone right since.


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## Nicnac (17 August 2016)

Whatever the results, I really hope Michael Whittaker's beautiful grey is ok :-(


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## Mooseontheloose (17 August 2016)

One of the problems is, and I've posted this before, is to get noticed you have to jump at the five star shows, and very few youngsters appear to get a look in.
I can think of two really good young riders who've performed brilliantly who haven't had a chance, not at the Olympics, but at the big international shows where they could be getting the experience for the next ones.
If you've only one horse you're discounted because they aren't interested in case your horse breaks, but you don't get the chance to be seen and possibly get other rides - it's just a Catch 22 situation for some young riders without the buying power of some others.


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## ljohnsonsj (17 August 2016)

Showjumping is too fast moving, the riders are always on different rides and the rides are often being sold by owners to other countries etc. We was lucky with the rider/horse combinations at London, as far as the olympics go I think it'll always be down to luck of which horse is being rode by who at the time.


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## Mooseontheloose (18 August 2016)

Wish UK had been able to hang on to Tripple X, what a horse!


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## TheOldTrout (18 August 2016)

At least GB had its own team, not one bought in from elsewhere like the Ukraine!


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