Fan post: your thoughts from Rolex and Badminton

By John on

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courtesy of HC
In the past couple of weeks we have had major stories broken in the comment section of our posts a couple of times, such as William’s travel complications and the horse fatality at Badminton, and we have had phenomenal, thought provoking comments on many of our articles.  While I consider any article that doesn’t get at least 10 comments to be somewhat of a failure, Eventing Nation is quickly becoming a community of hundreds of informed contributors working together. 
What is your most important thought from the spring 4* season?
Today, I turn Eventing Nation completely over to our readers.  You can make this about frangible pins, about the development of riders in the US, about the difference in course design between Rolex and Badminton, about the Grand Slam, or about ANYTHING.
There’s no pressure Eventing Nation, just don’t do this
—-
In our One Shining Moment post last week, I promised to tell the story of why I pointlessly ran around the Rolex XC course with a video camera if we received enough comments.  Here it is: 

On Wednesday afternoon, I realized that the Rolex website had not published their virtual XC course walk yet and there were thousands of eventing fans at home who didn’t know what the course looked like.  I decided to video the course and upload it onto Eventing Nation.  Unfortunately it was 6PM and I only had one hour before I had to be at the Rolex cocktail party.  If you know me, you know that once this challenge was presented there was no way I could back down.  

So I grabbed my video camera and started to run the course.  At fence 3, I was soaked by those innovative but menacing sprinklers.  By fence 10, I had received funny looks from both Mark and Oliver as I was running past them soaking wet, holding a video camera, and laughing.  What else could I do but laugh?  At the coffin, I met David who told me (as only David can) that I needed to run faster to simulate course speed–after all, the horses did it in 11 minutes.  So I ran faster.  

I crossed the finish line 37 minutes after starting.  I feel this was a pretty good time for a 4 mile run holding a camera in front of me and stopping at all the jumps to video them entirely.  And did I mention I was wearing jeans?

Now why didn’t this video make it onto Eventing Nation?  Unfortunately, when we reviewed the footage, we saw that the camera shook up and down so much when I was running that the resulting video looked like a cross between the Blair Witch Project and a video that NASA shows Astronaut trainees to make them throw up.  On top of that, Rolex had put their course preview online by late Wednesday night.  Overall, it was an exhausting, pointless experience, but I did learn that the run up the gradual hill to the Quarry in the back really takes it out of you, just like all the riders say.

If we get enough comments to today’s post then I won’t go on vacation to Siberia and forget my computer.

  • andrea

    thoughts.............
    there seemed to be a higher caliber of riders at badminton - definitely a larger entry list. A waiting list for a 4*!!! wow.
    - the course looked a little more technical - Rolex was big and gallopy. But both were hard no doubt about that.
    - weather sucked at both
    - the attendance and spectator participation at badminton was amazing. Rolex was great but there was just something about that badminton crowd that seemed well different.
    - this year is the first year I have ever watched and cared. I never followed this until I met Eventing Nation.
    - there were no canadians at badminton and that sucked. sigh.
    - I spend too much time on this site. lol.
    - I need to get back to work. sigh.
    - attendance at BC events is more than awful. It is disastrous and a threat to eventing in BC. Why!How! do you get decent size rider turnout in the US - I just dont understand. ugh.
    I feel burned out.

    ----------
    My rambling thoughts of the day.

  • Katie

    My thoughts of the spring season follows thus:
    - Canada is becoming a force, if still as small one!!!!! Despite our absence at Badminton this year, our showing at Rolex was more than a little impressive.
    - The up and coming talent in the eventing world are coming and they are talented!!!!! With rides like Lauren Kieffer's around her first 4* (by the way, I have started to watch those youtubes of her x and stadium before I jump - mini lectures themselves) and Steph RB's 5 place finish ...
    - I really think that video of the course being run on foot should be made available. Especially if you got video of the odd looks and the encouragement from David

  • Lisab

    The US is going to get creamed. Even with the horrible conditions on x-c at Badminton, they still got better overall scores than us. And we even tried to thwart them from coming over here by creating a volcano eruption. And they still beat us.
    Canada is up and coming along with the West Coasters. It would be wonderful if we could ramp up the competition out west. They still have a long ways to go because even the easterners are not up to snuff with the Europeans. I think it has to deal with the pressure of competition more than anything at this point.
    We've got some awesome up and comers!

  • Kirsten

    Two words: air vests.

  • andrea

    Trying to amp up the courses on the west if going to be an expensive and long haul.
    The attitude is to go west to play but go east to compete.
    To amp up the courses the attitude of go west to compete needs to happen.
    How many easterners will venture out to the west to compete? very very few I would venture to guess.

    The overall competition level in Europe puts us all to shame over here. Their events overall are of a much higher caliber with some incredible grass roots riders.
    We need to concentrate more on our grass roots riders and help them along and keep our pros but put more effort into the others. We had some amazing totally NON pros in the top 20 at Rolex - canadian and american.

  • Anonymous

    I second the notion that this cross country video should be made available to Eventing Nation's loyal followers. Props to you for running the whole course in soggy jeans, John!

  • McKenna

    My thoughts on the spring season so far...
    - Canadians are really starting to shine. They are definitely going to give a run for our money.
    -I believe the frangible pins need to be improved. They should have broken at most of the falls atthe hollow, yet they didn't. (I have read plenty of articles that have said that also)
    - We have a lot of up and coming young riders
    -Rolex was not super technical ( by all means am I saying it was easy!) which was a bit surprising for me as I thought Mike ES was basing of a prep course for the WEG's
    - It seemed as Burghley was more technical

    as for the video- John you should definitely put it up!! Kudos to you for running and doing it in wet jeans....I walked most of it and it took me at least an 1 hour plus!!

  • Christa

    I also think the cross country video should be posted for us to see!!!

  • wildride

    The spring three days got me excited about eventing.
    - The up and comers are looking good. Nice to see some fresh faces and talented horses.
    - We are still miles behind the Europeans/Kiwis and will really need to step up our game for WEG.
    - Canada has some serious riders and looks like great coaching....
    - Badminton always "brings it" and doesn't surprise me that it was more technical then Rolex. But we got a lot of our horses and riders around the future WEG grounds and that will hopefully give us an edge.
    - EN is the best site and makes me want to ride better!
    Thanks for everything you do for the eventing community.
    When are you going to start covering Jersey Fresh!?!?

  • Retreadeventer

    I'm number 10!!! Hooray!! It IS worthwhile! Do I get a prize? Seriously..what LisaB said. US gonna get creamed at WEG. We sort of suck. We don't have a single horse that can win. Heck we'll be lucky to beat the Canucks team wise. Oh well. Par-tay!

  • McKenna

    Retreadeventer- where I agree with you that we may be behind others and the Canucks have good horses...I beg to differ that we have horses that can't win. I believe some of Phillip's horses The Foreman, Connaught, Woodburn, are good and also I think Mandiba is getting better and we also have a lot of other riders with talented horse ( amy Tryon, Becky Holder,ect) who have amazing horses and if they are on their game can win!!! Just think...did anyone think Karen was going to be in the lead after day one of dress and tied for second after the second day of dress. nope! So things are surprising....just my prospective

  • subk

    One of the big things that comes to mind for me was the success of the TBs at both 4****. Both winners were TBs. At Rolex 4 of the top 6 were TBs. We've been told for years that the WBs are going to be the only way to go in the future, but I keep waiting.

    I'd love to see EN give us some breeding insights on these top horses in the future.

  • Visionaire

    Trust me... you do NOT want to see the Blair Witch Rolex video.

    It's really bad. John took it to me for editing, and, um, there was nothing I could to to salvage any of it.

    So he spent 40 minutes busting tail around the course, getting soaked by sprinklers, and it was all for nothing...he didn't take it too well! But I'm sure you will see better course videos in the future! :)

  • Laura

    To my friends south of the border, don't beat yourselves up too much. Are you forgetting that a number of your top horses were exempt from competing at Rolex?? I would love to pull from Philip's string, My Boy Bobby should be right up there and between Boyd, Karen, Amy and the Wills (I'm sure I'm forgetting someone(s) there is a lot of experience and horsepower to pull from. Not to take anything away from the Canucks...our team is starting to show the benefits of David's training and will certainly looking to leave a mark.

  • rl

    I am currently thinking...
    -America needs help with their dressage.
    -Badminton consistently has a technical course that produces a dynamic scoreboard.
    -about how the Rolex results would have differed under the original judges.
    -that said judges at Rolex were dressed extremely poorly for the first horse inspection.
    -along the same line as above, that Badminton is so much classier than Rolex. It's painful.
    -about how accurate Rolex can be taken as a predictor for WEGs given the absence of the lesser funded international competitors. (And who those might be that pose a threat to the top finishers.)
    -that there is a lot of time between now and fall for horses to go lame and to see what horses come along nicely (and whether riders are willing to take the chance).
    -that next year John ought to walk the Rolex course with care as soon as it opens, then produce the video in fast forward with dubbing.

  • Heidi

    I agree with Kirsten... air vests! I'd like to hear what the riders who fell while wearing them thought compared to a fall with just a safety vest.

  • John

    -I love subk's point about the TB's. I hadn't done the math on 4/6 top Rolex horses being TB's, but we can always count on subk having great statistics. The WB's are always enchanting as young horses but they seem to find ways to give it away in the jumping phases of big events. That's coming from the owner of an enchanting young warmblood, so don't hate on me warmblood lovers.

    -We promise that you don't want to see the video. I tried to hide the camera from Mark because I was afraid he would stop me and ask what I was doing, but I think he was too alarmed to say anything. He probably figured there had been an escape from one of the local mental institution's Rolex field trips, which is only half wrong. You can hear David on the audio, but Oliver was driving a golf cart and I was feeling kind so I avoided filming that.

    -The Canadians had a huge Rolex weekend, and that's an important point for many reasons.

    -Just because Canada was successful doesn't mean that the USA had an awful weekend or that Canada should be favored to bead the US at the WEGs. I don't think Rolex was a USA failure because the two A-list pairs that did run finished in the top 4. That said, the B-list was a debacle other than Karen and Mandiba and Will and Pawlow. If we can keep several horses healthy, the USA is looking like it will send one of the best teams to the WEGs that we have sent anywhere in quite some time.

    -Certainly there are more 4* horses in England than the US. Great Britain has had much more depth of talent than us over the past years, but at the WEGs it's going to be all about the top 6 riders for each country, and I wasn't very impressed with the performance of Great Britain's top riders at Badminton.

    -Without question the Badminton course was much harder than the Rolex course.

  • John

    Oh, and I've been meaning to say this somewhere. IF YOU GO TO ROLEX PLEASE DO NOT FORGET YOUR FREAKING DRESSAGE TEST. 5 riders had errors this year. Kelly Prather did an amazing job to not have more than 1 error, but no one else has any excuses.

  • McKenna

    I thought I hear bells signaling mistakes....who were the other riders?

  • lec

    The leading contender Brits had a bad weekends at Badminton but they will re route and go to Luhmuhlen. Some of them I did not think were their faults as riders as they were just unlucky (Piggy French), Tina Cook will give herself a massive kick up the arse for what happened so do not rule her out! None of the normal US contenders impressed me at Rolex. I am just not convinced Mandiba is a winner. It all looks like it is such an effort to get him clear xc. I think it will be all a lot clearer after June.

  • Lisab

    YEAH FOR THE TB'S! That's awesome, subk.
    What I meant was for the west coasters and Canadians (who seem to have a few that compete on the W. Coast), is not the courses themselves. Maybe they are softer. I don't know. But the actual competing against each other. They seemed to have crossed their t's and dotted their i's as far as training and prep but the head to head competition is what seems to get them. Well, and the east coasters too when faced with the European crowd.
    And the Europeans to do have that luxury to go the Luhmuhlen (can we come up with an acronym for that one?), lec. They will have competing on the brain still. Whereas our guys are pretty much screwed. There's Jersey Fresh, sure. But not as tough. Also, we won't have summer competitions and the riders aren't going to run on the hard east coast summer ground either. And we lost a number of Area 1 events over the years that could have prepped these guys better and given them the ground/weather to do so.

  • clb

    Here are my thoughts:
    *Being stuck in Toronto with a new to Eventing TB (our first outing is in 2 weeks...woot...!!) it is super to be able to get the taste by watching all the BigTime Spring events South of the boarder...I almost feel the adreneline running through my veins watching the best in the business
    *The videos posted on this site are like a free lesson...sometimes on what to do, annnnnd, sometimes on what not to do.
    *The Canadians DID rock it at Rolex...looking at the Badminton course...not sure it would have been the same successful result if they would have made the trip across the pond.
    *I looked at the Rolex course and said 'do-able'
    *I looked at the Badminton course and hid in a closet shaking and crying for half an hour
    *Regardless of how old you are (ie 21 or 40 something) if your dream is to ride at Rolex, you work hard, are dedicated and committed (to your sport, not an institution) then you CAN achieve that goal
    *Two very expereienced Canadian horses were not at Rolex; both horses' names start with the letters 'Ex'
    *I have never been more proud of our Canadian riders then I was watching them go round the Rolex course.
    *It takes a little bit of luck to be good
    *I got caught on EN at the office the other day...when I tried to explain what eventing was I got what I refer to as the 'Blank Stare'
    *I 'heard' that DO'C is applying for perm. Canadian Resident status, so all you people South of the border, don't count on getting him back anytime soon.
    *EN rocks. Period.

    PS - That D'OC comment is completely untrue...although it would be nice.

  • bond

    Agree totally with lec about US chances. The scrappers out there will make it around the xc at the WEG's but without the needed dressage. The 2 that might be up there after dressage are never givens on the xc. Thank our stars and stripes for Buck and his boys, phillip and now Boyd-Silva -get him goin on the dressage! Kim S is one of our very finest but without the SJ she won't be there. I believe the WEG course will not be as technical as Badminton and with home court advantage we have a chance at a medal but as always, it will be what happens on the day. Go USA, Go eventing!

  • SillyHorse

    - Disappointed not to see Will riding at Rolex (he was there, and it is obviosuly understandable that he was not riding..) I think he and Twizzel are quite talented, and I think a good run at Luhmuhlen could certainly land them a spot on the WEG team.
    - Soundness, Soundness, Soundness. Everyone always worrys about Soundness for a reason!
    - Canada obviously put up a good show at Rolex, they need to keep up the good work for a while longer before I draw too many conclusions.
    - I think Rolex was a great wake-up call. Several riders have made great improvements with their horses, and some seem to be falling behind. I think this was a great chance to highlight was needs to be worked on for WEG. Although it might not have been astoundingly technical, it was still a good **** experience to remind riders and horses alike what it takes.
    - As far as the public is concerned, as a test event for WEG, I was disappointed with their ablilty to control traffic in almost every aspect at Rolex. (Cars, people, horses, in and outside the park, etc).

  • Anonymous

    Two thoughts that turned into four (that I just finished and then, by mistake hit the CANCEL button)! So in brief I repeat:
    1) I know we want things instantly; Rolex is 30 years old and Badminton 60 years old. Double the age, double the depth. Think sponsors, young folks learning about and getting into eventing, supplies, trainers, events, etc. These were rarities in 1980. We are a developing nation with respect to our sport.
    2) There has been some talk in the past few years about the galloping fences for the 3-days (and the steeplechase and roads and tracks). Perhaps as ME-S thought through his 2010 Rolex and WEG, he decided to set up a more "gallopy" Rolex to try it out. We do know he has said that they will be very different, and the WEG will go in the opposite direction of the Rolex. Think different, the WEG could be "techi". We also know there will be new jumps, maybe move some land and trees around!
    3) 200,000 visitors to Badminton, 62,000 to Rolex in 2010. More sponsors, awareness, household name on the island.
    4) In Britain it is soccer and horses, in the USA baseball and the beach are warm weather activities. We miss getting so many of the young prospects because we are fewer and further between than Britain.

  • Visionaire

    ^^ Great comments, Anon. ^^

    Eventing in the US will never have the depth that it does in GB-- there isn't the household support here, and I don't think it will ever grow to that extent. Only superficial (and probably detrimental "gimmicks" would rouse a sizeable eventing fanbase. We've already implemented one "gimmick" (short format), I'm not ready for another. I've accepted that our sport is not the next NASCAR; it is what it is. I'd like growth, sure, but I'm not willing to sell out on my horse to do it.