Olympic Showjumping

i was watching some of it yesterday! so cool! brings back memories for me, as my best friend when i was a kid (and her whole family) did showjumping and i went to many events with them!

just sucks, they arent really getting much airtime over here. couldnt even finish watching the event, cause they switched over to the 10000 meter running (which i find a bit boring to be honest)...

Yeah, I've been watching online. THE USA WON!!! But man oh man, Canada put in some truly awesome rounds. Laura *** was running around squealing like a schoolgirl after the results came out, lol! Personally, I think Beezie looked kind of bummed she didn't get to ride in the jump-off, heh.

I haven't watched. I don't mind spoilers so let me confirm US won??? YEAH!! We were not supposed to do that well.

I am surprised to hear about Canada. I have not followed them that closely but they have not been a "powerhouse" and they didn't have Ian did they?

I am assuming you meant Laura ***? She is the NICEST person. I met her YEARS ago. Just swell. Beezie is the best rider I have seen since Melanie Smith in my book. She is incredible. How did Will do? It was his first Olympics. I don't really care about McLean, I do not like him. I worked for his dad, I know the person. Yes he rides great, and his mare is incredible. Obviously he is a better horse person than his father to keep that horse sound for 2 Olympics.

Spoil away PLEASE!!! How did Meredith Beerbaum do? She is amazing too. I have Oxygen to tape tonight. I have more to watch from last week but they jump around and I don't see necessarily what I want to see.
 

 Yep, Laura K-r-a-u-t (lol)! She looked SO thrilled. I loved watching them - she was practically falling off Cedric's neck as she was patting him and rubbing his neck enthusiastically as they left the ring. They seem to have a great relationship, and Cedric just seems like such a neat horse! Laura was using her voice a lot throughout the courses - I've not watched many of her rides, so I don't know if this is standard for her or not. But it certainly seemed to work well, and Cedric seemed to listen really well.

Will Simspon did really well - a lot of people were essentially saying they were relieved and surprised! His horse looked quite... strong...! Glad I wasn't sitting on that thing, I think the horse would be in Canada by now, and I'd be sitting on my bum in the dirt! He definitely gave that horse some impressive rides.

Beezie put in a strong performance, but just a tad below the rest of the team. Just didn't seem to be her best rides this week. Maybe it had something to do with going so late in the jump order?

I've heard interesting things about the Wards, I'm not at all surprised you had a bad experience (though that sucks)... McLain and Sapphire did do some really spectacular rounds today, though. Definitely the top American combo at these games.

Ian Millar *was* there for Canada, and did incredibly well. I *think* it was Jill Henselwood who "lost" the gold for the Canadians - one of their riders knocked a rail in the jumpoff, and the first three riders for the USA went clear, so there it was. The Canadians were at a disadvantage because they only had 3 riders in the final round compared to the USA's 4 riders. Apparently Mac Cone's horse, Ole, hit a rail in warmups or something yesterday and didn't come up sound this morning, so he had to scratch. Bummer for Canada, but Jill, Ian, and Eric carried the team without him! People were giving Jill a hard time since some of her earlier rounds were a little bit messy, but when push came to shove she did really well. Losing the gold by 1 jumping penalty is nothing to be ashamed of!!

Meredith and Ludger both did quite well for the Germans. Meredith's horse, Shutterfly, seemed to be kind of spooky in the ring... and Ludger got a refusal. The Germans did well, just not quite well enough. Pessoa also had some amazing rounds (of course), but his teammates weren't quite up there with him.

Overall, a lot of Americans had penalties at the water jump. In her last round, Beezie had a really really unfortunate fault at the water - Authentic just baaaaaaaaarely nicked the line. It was sooooo close!! Of course, without that fault I *think* the US would have won outright over Canada, without the excitement of a jumpoff, so maybe it wasn't so bad after all. Heh.

I didn't watch all the rounds, but apparently one rider also had a bad refusal that ended up knocking over a standard. Whoops. 

The Swiss team was also very, very strong - it looked like they might beat the US up until the very last round. Disappointing for them, but still a very strong showing.

Cita

Shutterfly, seemed to be kind of spooky in the ring

They were worried about this. That horse has been EVERYWHERE I wonder why it got spooky here.

Cita

a lot of Americans had penalties at the water jump

Olympic waters are HUGE!!!!! OMG I remember going to a show at Bromont after the Olympics. They could hold swimming events in those things. I think the horses (and riders) perhaps were both caught off guard.

Mac Cone is a converted Tennessee guy! Really nice. I am glad he was on the team. I remember Eric when he was 13. I used to work for Jimmy Elder in Canada, and I remember his daughter Erin having a crush on him. I think the may have gone out once or twice.

Poor Beezie nobody wants their "bad" day to be at the Olympics. Do you know if she will be in the individual or will Laura? Historically they (USET) have picked the top riders in their minds. I know Peter Leone had an awesome Olympics in Atlanta but they put someone else in the individual instead of him because they had more "Olympic" experience. WHATEVER! I personally think like the other sports you should "earn" you individual spot. Maybe that has all changed.

Eric must have been a very different person at 13 years old, no? Seems like the poor guy had a rougher start to life than most people. Kudos to him for cleaning up his act!

Beezie, Laura, and McLain will be the individual medal contenders. Apparently it's selected based on qualification order, and I think Simpson had (cumulatively) 1 more fault than Beezie.

I was reading her blog (http://teamusa.usatoday.com/bmadden/) and it seems that part of Authentic's odd behavior might be due in part to sweat catching in his fly bonnet and dripping into his ear, so they took the bonnet off today, and he seemed to go better. Here's hoping it will hold up tomorrow!! I just love Beezie - I think it's beyond terrific that you can look at any photo of her, jumping any height, on any horse, and 98% of the time she will have spectacular form. She also seems like a neat person, though I've never had any personal experiences with her, so she could just be a good faker! Didn't she also show extensively in IHSA competitions as a youngster, going for Caccione Cup and such? Big bonus points for intercollegiate showing!! :)

Beezie is a midwesterner. She is from Wisconsin. I met her several years ago before she was "famous". She catch rode a couple horses for the barn I worked at. She was just an up and comer at the time, she was very nice. I hope too she stayed that way. I do like her husband. He is my second favorite Madden. I like Frank but I like their younger brother Matt the best. He worked at Beacon Hill when I was at Malloy's we had so much fun at the shows. He made me laugh so hard!! John and Frank have always been nice to me. Perhaps I like John better because he complimented a couple of my horses on two different occasions. Who am I, yet he made a point of making a comment. He is an awesome horseman. Beezie is an incredible rider and horsewoman. Her horses always work so well for her.

Two years ago at the World Championships where the top four had to ride each others horse. I thought Beezie did the best on all the horses, and I thought they did the best for her. I remember an extremely unlucky rail, but I do not remember if it cost her the win. It may have.
 

Isn't it the best when an accomplished and respected horseman compliments your horse?!!  Many years ago, I took a clinic with Michael Plumb.  There were 4 riders in my class, including myself and my really good friend.  The other two girls were people we knew, but didn't really get along with (snobby riders...you guys know the type!).  Anyway, at the beginning of the class, he asked us to tell him a little about each of our horses, and one of the snobby girls was tauting her horse, "Oh, he's been to Rolex!" like she was trying to impress Mr. Plumb.  He looked the horse over and flatly said, "Well, I've never seen him there."  Hehe...gotcha!!  Then he got onto the other girl for using a gag in the flat portion of our class and made her change bridles before we could start the class (seriously, what was she thinking?!).  At the end of the class, he was doing a final talk to us, and he came over to me, patted Aerial on the neck, looked her over, and said, "She's really nice, I really like her."  I seriously almost fell off right then and there!  My horse that bought for $2000 and trained myself, and Mike Plumb gave her a compliment...I'll never forget that day.  Oh, and he liked my friend, too.  He told the clinic organizer that she was a spitfire and he really liked that kind of rider.  We were both over the moon!

Beezie lives in Cazenovia, NY now, right?  My BF's dad lives there!  Small world!

aerial1313

Isn't it the best when an accomplished and respected horseman compliments your horse?!!  Many years ago, I took a clinic with Michael Plumb.  There were 4 riders in my class, including myself and my really good friend.  The other two girls were people we knew, but didn't really get along with (snobby riders...you guys know the type!).  Anyway, at the beginning of the class, he asked us to tell him a little about each of our horses, and one of the snobby girls was tauting her horse, "Oh, he's been to Rolex!" like she was trying to impress Mr. Plumb.  He looked the horse over and flatly said, "Well, I've never seen him there."  Hehe...gotcha!!  Then he got onto the other girl for using a gag in the flat portion of our class and made her change bridles before we could start the class (seriously, what was she thinking?!).  At the end of the class, he was doing a final talk to us, and he came over to me, patted Aerial on the neck, looked her over, and said, "She's really nice, I really like her."  I seriously almost fell off right then and there!  My horse that bought for $2000 and trained myself, and Mike Plumb gave her a compliment...I'll never forget that day.  Oh, and he liked my friend, too.  He told the clinic organizer that she was a spitfire and he really liked that kind of rider.  We were both over the moon!

Beezie lives in Cazenovia, NY now, right?  My BF's dad lives there!  Small world!

I have a couple similar stories. Yes it IS fun!!! My best one story was when I worked in MN I started as a groom in FL, but when the trainer was fired. I became the trainer and rider. In FL I got help from Ronnie Mutch. After FL Ronnie ended up coming to MN for a clinic. It was my first "appearance" as a trainer. The fired person was bad mouthing me (it was NOT my fault he was fired, I knew nothing until after it happened) and of course it was his territory not mine so I was the "outsider" big time! Ronnie was SO INCREDIBLY nice to me during the clinic, and talked "at" the other clinic riders. I loved it.  

Yes John and Beezie are in Casenovia.
 

Maxs Mom

I am surprised to hear about Canada. I have not followed them that closely but they have not been a "powerhouse" and they didn't have Ian did they?

This was actually Ian Millar's 9th olympics, so I was pleased to see him win his first medal. Gold would have been nice, but I'm sure he's thrilled. I remember watching him years ago when he road Big Ben. Ian is now 61 yr. old and poor Big Ben is long gone! 

denise m

Maxs Mom

I am surprised to hear about Canada. I have not followed them that closely but they have not been a "powerhouse" and they didn't have Ian did they?

 

This was actually Ian Millar's 9th olympics, so I was pleased to see him win his first medal. Gold would have been nice, but I'm sure he's thrilled. I remember watching him years ago when he road Big Ben. Ian is now 61 yr. old and poor Big Ben is long gone! 

The worst part is he "should" have a gold. In 1980 I was working for Jimmy at the time. It was the year of the Olympic boycott. The Canadians won the "alternate" Olympics held in Rotterdam (US was 4th). What fun. I didn't actually get to go. I was supposed to but Jimmy's first string jumper got hurt. He ended up borrowing Terry Liebel's Volunteer, and they wanted their groom to go take care of him so I was asked to stay home. Disappointed yes. Heck it happened again 2 years later for the Worlds. Volunteer was now completely in Jimmy's care and I was the caretaker. He came up not sound enough to go to Worlds or at least too high a risk to send (when Jimmy started riding Vol he only had 1 good leg, he was HIGH maintanence). So Jimmy borrowed Shawline, they wanted Shawline's groom to go. Oh well.  

Cita

I was reading her blog (http://teamusa.usatoday.com/bmadden/) and it seems that part of Authentic's odd behavior might be due in part to sweat catching in his fly bonnet and dripping into his ear, so they took the bonnet off today, and he seemed to go better.......

I thought he was acting like something got in his ear.  I couldn't figure out how with the fly bonnet- never thought of sweat.

 Of course horses can "think" something is in their ears too. Sweat sounds very possible to me though. I just know my horse wears a bonnet, and acts like flies are bothering him. We haven't done enough to be hot so it can't be sweat, in his case I sometimes think it is "bats in the belfry".

aerial1313

Isn't it the best when an accomplished and respected horseman compliments your horse?!!  Many years ago, I took a clinic with Michael Plumb.  There were 4 riders in my class, including myself and my really good friend.  The other two girls were people we knew, but didn't really get along with (snobby riders...you guys know the type!).  Anyway, at the beginning of the class, he asked us to tell him a little about each of our horses, and one of the snobby girls was tauting her horse, "Oh, he's been to Rolex!" like she was trying to impress Mr. Plumb.  He looked the horse over and flatly said, "Well, I've never seen him there."  Hehe...gotcha!!  Then he got onto the other girl for using a gag in the flat portion of our class and made her change bridles before we could start the class (seriously, what was she thinking?!).  At the end of the class, he was doing a final talk to us, and he came over to me, patted Aerial on the neck, looked her over, and said, "She's really nice, I really like her."  I seriously almost fell off right then and there!  My horse that bought for $2000 and trained myself, and Mike Plumb gave her a compliment...I'll never forget that day.  Oh, and he liked my friend, too.  He told the clinic organizer that she was a spitfire and he really liked that kind of rider.  We were both over the moon!

Beezie lives in Cazenovia, NY now, right?  My BF's dad lives there!  Small world!

This really reminded me of the time when I found myself at a Lendon Gray clinic with my little 15hh Appy mare.  All the big warmbloods were there, and me with my tiny girl that I bought at a local sale barn for $1500.  She was not "nice", she had slightly cow hocks, but a heart of gold, and more guts than ability.  But, Lendon complimented her attitude and the way we worked as a team, and I do believe that she went better that day in that clinic than any other time in her life.  During those days, I worked as a groom for a rider at our barn who went to all the big events (met people like Bruce Davidson, Karen Stives, Tad Coffin, and Mike).  I remember that we arrived at the Red Fox in Middleburg, VA one morning when they were closed, and were dying for coffee.  Mike Plumb arrived a few minutes later and they opened the door for him - he turned and motioned us in and we got our coffee!  Nice guy.