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No, The French have done well in stadium jumping in international competation.  This is from personal knowledge, as I have competed in international competition and was long listed for the Olympics.. 

Again, the clarification is that the French, like other European countries - such as England, Germany etc, have a different cultural outlook towards equstrain sports and has led to a generalized support; that includes goverment subsidies in training etc.  Ireland still has a cavalry (and I mean horses not jeeps.  The American "cavalry" now consists of jeeps and other vehicles). 

Further, America has been lacking in quality trainers for many years; at least in the disipline that I was heavily involved in.  I was trained by an Ex Prussian calavary officer and an English trainer before I ever hit an American trainer.  The differences were startling.  It has been my personal experience (that consists of riding for over 45 years, showing in stadium jumping on an international level; owning a hunt/jump barn, importing Irish Tb's, riding for George Morris and clinicing with Olympians) that many American trainers are still unwilling to provide a firm and solid basic, and instead, rush their students.  Again, overall collective mindset comes into play.  As a society, we want things fast; fast food, fast cars etc.  It takes many years to train a good rider.  Not too many people want to hear this.  Again, I speak only to issues of the disipline that I know; as everyone wants to jump.  What is very difficult to convey is that one learns how to jump on the flat and only the flat.  Again, in generalities, Europeans are not insuch a hurry.  Again, in Ireland, there is an equatation division of the calavary.  Those who are selected for this division first start out mucking stalls and working their way up. 

 

It is a different way and over the long haul (which is the true test of success and not one or two years but 30 or 40 years), Europeans, in which the French are included,  has met with success.  Thus, I think it does bear looking at.  No one system is going to work over here (because we are a differnt culture) but one will miss out on learning and further one's knowledge if different ways are dismissed because "only" one individual medal or because of some year's performance etc.  There have been many years when the Americans were no where in the running in the equestrian sports.  It has been a long, hard growing process and happily, meeting with success of recent (I am referencing to all disiplines).

. 

  There is always something to learn, no matter how long one has been in horses; whether it be one months or many years.  It is why I joined this list. 

 

Jackie

 

"katswig@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <katswig@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> liz said:
>
> > Where did I hear the French got a GOLD medal? 
>
> I suspect that you heard that a French rider was awarded the individual
> gold medal. However, it was a gentleman from the UAE that won the gold
> medal; a French rider won the individual silver medal.
>
> But it was the Italians who won the team gold, the Australians won the
> silver, the Belgians the bronze, and the Canadians were the only other team
> that finished the requisite three riders. The French team only finished
> one rider (incidentally, the same rider that won the individual silver,
> which suggests that pursuit of individual achievement doesn't preclude
> finishing for the team) and wasn't even in the running.
>
> The French team did win the team gold in 2002 in Jerez, but they also were
> not even in the running in 2000, when the event was held on their home turf
> in
>  France.
>
> There isn't anything in the record of WEC accomplishment that suggests that
> the French are so good at it that the US needs to figure out what the
> French are doing right and the US is doing wrong.
>
> Additionally, theories about the French attitude in general about
> equestrian sport providing them with an edge in horse sports other than
> endurance are not borne out by a perusal of the records for
> international/championship level competition for them either. The Germans
> and the Dutch are the powerhouses in dressage (with the US and maybe Spain
> snapping at their heels), the Germans are the powerhouse in show jumping
> (with the US snapping at their heels); and the US, the British, and New
> Zealand are the powerhouses in eventing. So far, the US owns reining (but
> that may change as other countries figure the sport out and develop their
> own programs). I don't know enough about driving and vaulting to know
> whether the French are
>  particularly capable in those disciplines, but I
> have heard anything to suggest that this is the case. I suspect that the
> Germans are predominant in driving as well.
>
> This isn't to say that there have not produced some great riders and great
> horses, but they aren't any better known for it than anybody else (unlike
> the Germans). It used to be (and may still be the case, I am not sure)
> that French riders were limited in their achievement in international horse
> competition by the fact that they were required to compete on a horse that
> was born in France.
>
> Certainly, French accomplishments have been better in endurance than in the
> other horse sports, but they don't dominate the sport to the extent that
> the whole world needs to figure out how to "catch up" with them. Nor does
> the US have make excuses about there being a lack of support for horse
> sports in the broader culture to explain some perceived lack of success
>  by
> comparison.
>
> Endurance is, in fact, still a wide open sport; at least on the team level.
> And, I suspect that the reason for this is, as was alluded by Truman, that
> success at the team level in endurance is as much a matter of luck as
> anything else :).
>
> If the FEI wanted to really make endurance a respected team sport, they
> would figure out how to design an event with a better completion rate so
> that the teams that win aren't just the ones that are lucky enough to have
> enough people finish.e I am not sure that this can be done.
>
> kat
> Orange County, Calif.
>
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