How many people want to hang a rider for riding too
fast and hurting their horse when riding here at home? And yet here I am reading
that in the big leagues, they can't win if they don't ride their own ride! They
will all be held back by the slowest rider or the faster ones will run
the slower ones into the ground. And at this level these people should be
RACING, no matter what!!
What happened to "To Finish is to Win"?
If the US has gotten beat, (how does one get beat
if finishing is winning? I'm being a smartie) maybe it is because they did
the RIGHT thing so that they could continue to campaign the SAME horses next
year. NO? Maybe it has gotten to the point of no return. Riders from other
teams campaigning one horse for that one race and after that it doesn't
matter. Is THAT the right thing to do? I don't know one person on our team
personally, I am just hoping that collectively, they are all trying to do right
by the horses, not necessarily the sport.
I could not even begin to second guess our "team's"
strategy, (yes, they did go over as a team, did they not??) but looking at the
pull rates and the fact that some of the other countries had the better
horses for the DAY, I think that the more conservative ride was in the
best interest of the USA horses. I thought that was what we here in the USA were
all about?
It looks like 111 pulls and 64 finishes.
Twice as many pulled, than finished. That is horrible, I don't care WHAT level
they (all the teams) are riding. If they are such smart riders and so
experienced, there should have been more RO pulls than lameness and metabolics.
I would have much rather seen more horses finish a little slower but still fit
to continue than to see all those L and M pulls. I guess that isn't as exciting.
Some days you get the bear, and some days
the bear gets you. There may not be anything our team could have done
better, faster or individually if the other countries were getting the bear
today. Period.
I did appreciate all the news coverage by John and
Lucy. Thanks so much.
