Anyone watch the world cup in horse jumping?

[Ann]

I was just curious if anyone has been watching the world cup in horse jumping here, besides myself. It's been going on in Leipzig, Germany for a while now and the grand finale will be on Sunday. I watched it yesterday, was cheering for Pialotta and Rolf-Göran Bengtsson from Sweden because they seem to be such good friends and Pialotta is so pretty, but they had some trouble in the final round and Pialotta did a refusal on one of the fences. I was kind of expecting Rodrigo Pessoa and his stunning horse (Beaota or something, I can't remember the horse's name >_<) to win, but they got four fault in the final round. There was this absolutely BEAUTIFUL horse too, I think it was from Poland, it was totally black with a drop formed snip on it's nose.

Anyways, just curious who else watches this stuff!

[zippy-kat]

I love to watch jumping--however, I haven't seen any on TV for a LONG time.

The Kentucky Derby is today though! (I think...)

[Ann]

I've never seen horse racing! They only show jumping, dressage (that's rarely though) and trotting over here. They never show racing or eventing.

[delidog]

ann,
you should feel lucky to get daily updates there!!!in europe it is like football...in u.s....t.v. has barely heard of it....
how are the beerbaum brothers doing????(frg)
how is the american team faring?????
i was at the first in gotthenberg when hugo simon won it...(aus)
we had katie monahan and the jones boy who were second that year...1979...i worked it up till 89...then retired...great business...i was a stable manager for show jumping barns for years....you would remember nick skelton,the fuchs brothers,the great milton and the whittaker brothers....ian and his big ben....
we also had a sale barn that we built in santa fe n.m.(zippys area)....with pierre joliceur...robert ridland,michelle vaillancourt,mark laskin,gail greenough and joie gatlin....i could go on...i so miss those days....i go watch and visit every winter when they are all here in wellington...i see that eddie macken is now chef d'equipe for ireland....his great horse was the legendary boomerang!!!! he carried eddie through thick and thin!!!!!
oh stop me p[lease...too many memories!!!!but its' great to see another show jumping appreciater at pet talk...

[delidog]

p.s.....rodrigos' dad Nico was the hottest thing since sliced bread when i was there....rico was not even a thought in nicos' eye at that time...Nico is one of the worlds' master riders....particularly on the flat ....he can supple a dig oldenberg with just a light touch...he is truly a genius ...and his boy is following in daddys' footsteps...faster than nico ever did!!

[Ann]

Oooooh, that sounds like a great job delidog!!!

And Milton, boy was he wonderful...

The American team is doing great from what I remember, they have a good chance at winning today! The grand finale starts in 20 minutes and lasts for three hours, I'll post here after I've seen it!

[delidog]

ann...thank you...that will be great...do you know whos' riding for u.s.??? leslie howard,mclain ward,margie goldstein????
if you like show jumping...you can go to showjumping.com...and check out all the links....also theres' a great magazine that covers all aspects...thechronicleofthehorse.com....

yes, it was a great job...i really miss it...but when i was doing it there was no insurance unless the barn you were working for paid for it...and there is still no retirement benefits...i needed more stability...i saw too many people get hurt...then have nothing to go to and no money to pay for their injuries....but if i win the lotto...or a good derby bet...you know i'd open my own barn....

next milton wqas the most amazing,consistent animals i have ever seen...more scope than gem twist....
oh,i'm rambling again...
cannot wait for an update!!!!
thanks-in-advance,
delidog!!!!!

[Ann]

GGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR I had been writing a summaration for like 15 minutes and then I highlight all the text by mistake and press a key and boooooom; everything is gone! ARGH, here I go again then :

Contestants from the USA

• Raymond Texel
• Margie Goldstein-Engel
• Will Simpson
• Lauren Hough
• Leslie Howard
• Laura Kraut
• McLain Ward

The contest was very exciting! The big favorite was Ludger Beerbaum and Gladdy's from Germany, who won the European Championships last fall.

There was a big discussion because Micheal Whitaker's horse Handel has an old tendon damage that he was bothered by today, but they still entered the competition.

Rodrigo Pessoa's horse Baloubet had colic last thursday, but also entered the competition.

The oldest horse in today's competition was For Pleasure from Germany, 16 years old.

There were 28 contestants totally, and all my personal favorites went to the second round (Pialotta & Rolf-Göran Bengtsson, Goldika & Toni Hassman and Baloubet & Rodrigo Pessoa). The person who was in the lead in the second round was the American McLain Ward, something I was not too happy about... See, a while back he was caught with putting nails in his horse's leg protectors (Sorry, I don't know the official name for those in English) as to make it lift it's legs as high as possible, and I know his family once did a big insurace fraud and killed their horses to get out money. Anyways, in the second round he tore down several fences, and all my favorites did as well. The grand winner was Cento & Otto Becker. On second place came Goldika & Toni Hassman (yay!), on third came Gladdy's & Ludger Beerbaum and on fourth place came Baloubet & Rodrigo Pessoa.

Oh and I saw that stunning black horse with the white snip again! His name was Elf and he was ridden by Jacek Zagor from Poland.

I'm gonna go check out those links you gave me now, hopefully it can teach me some of the English official names for the different things like the leg protectors and so on!

[delidog]

sounds like a great class...shame that marcus beerbaum didn't do better...mclain is such a gifted rider....remember..you can choose your friends,not your family...he cannot help what his dad,barney ward did...barney was doing hot deals long before his mom chris was pregnant with him....actually, if you get animal planet...there is a show called busted...it has the whole story on what tommy burns,paul valliere,marion hulick,and barney ward were doing with horses...i think his dad might still be in jail....as for the "tacks in the run downs"....that is one of the oldest tricks in the book...or they staple carpet tacks to the tops of the jumps to "tune"the horses up...unfortunately,this practice has been used WORLDWIDE for years......i remember mclain being cleared of all charges....
but anywho...sorry that made headlines over there...you should see nick skelton,the irish team,and the good old whittaker boys in action...you have to understand...it is a sport...but these days there is so much money involved...about 25 years ago...the sport toned down...and the business took over.......thats' like anything in the horse industry....too much money involved....

but i'm glad that all your favorites did well...glad that baloubet did well....his sire galobet a was one of the greatest horses of all time....great in '84....you should go back and look up the games in 84!!!!great class....conrad holmfeld with abdullah...joe fargis on a touch of class...leslie on albany!!!! great team!!!!!!!

again,thanks for the update...if i find more info i will pass it on

[Ann]

Oh, I didn't know that! From what I heard, McLain was involved himself in that fraud, sorry for my assumptions >_<

And yeah, I know it's become more centered around money nowadays, too bad really...

I'll be sure to look up the 84 year! Great year all together it seems (it was the year I was born )!

[delidog]

hi ann!!!
found another link that you might be interested in....is a weekly update in your e-mail....magazine format...free!!!
it is called:
[email protected]
it is Equisearch horses weekly...very good info and links to all aspects of riding....
practicalhorseman.com is another good magazine....

so the equisearch had great photos of the world cup...sounded like a great course...challenging,yet fair....
those swedes' are nipping at our heels!!!!look out germany!!!!!!!

[delidog]

oh spencer...i saw that yesterday on the news.....how sad..though he had a great life...28 years....another great horse....not secreteriat...but nobody is.....or ever will be!!!!!!

[Ann]

That's so sad But atleast he had a long, great life and he will live on in all his sons and daughters!