Michael Pollard posted the following thoughts on Facebook and he was kind enough to send them to us as well. I think it’s a terrific look at why thing have gone so well thus far at Burghley for Sinead and the American contingent. For much more awesomeness from Michael, be sure to like Pollard Eventing on Facebook.
—-
From Michael:
I had a hard time sleeping last night as I read the clamor to denounce the US selectors for leaving Sinead and Allison off of the Team following their incredible first two days at Burghley. While certainly Sinead, in particular, is showing why she would have been a tremendous asset, in my opinion, this whole debate is being framed in the wrong light.
Much has been made about Tate’s nosebleed as the primary source of leaving him off of the team, but let’s face facts…If Sinead and Tate had gotten anywhere in the ballpark of a 36 on the flat, anytime this year, her selection would have been assured and the veterinary issue would have been worked through (Clearly it didn’t prevent him from being one of the only horses inside the time at Burghley). While the veterinary concern may have been there, often these types of issues are used as a justification to take someone out of the running when their performance has been marginal. It only took a few weeks on her own for Sinead to come back at Hartpury with nearly ten points better than any other performance she had achieved all year. Then that progress continued to lead the Burghley field in the dressage. It wouldn’t have been possible for her to do that a few short weeks earlier. This must be attributed to the support between all the ladies at Maizey Manor leading up to Burghley. In fact, they probably operated….as a Team…
Thus, the real question should be, why is it that a partnership of this ability did not flourish until after the US team blanket was unwrapped? Is it due to motivation to prove everyone wrong? Or a late coming to form? Perhaps these points played a role, but I think it also points to an inherent problem with our team system. Rather than getting the best out of our top riders, I have seen time and again how team training seems to result in worse scores. I’m not a statistician, but I would venture to guess that over the last two decades our team riders finished on higher scores at championships than they received in the qualifying events getting there. If anything, you would think that spending the time to focus on an individual horses performance should improve ones score, but why does this appear not to be the case so often? Clearly, the ladies at Maizey manor were able to foster this type of atmosphere.
I have no idea how much Bettina played a role in test preparation before Burghley with Sinead and Allison, but if we can’t figure out as a nation a way to use her in an official capacity we are crazy. She is without question the best in the world at preparing a horse and rider to achieve their best test in an eventing dressage test, and if we don’t realize that, someone else will.
I hope Sinead can pull it out today and do what only two Americans have ever done. She rode superbly the first two days, and looked like a Burghley champion. I’m certainly cheering for her, and it is nice for all of us to have a result on the world stage that can get the negative vibes out of the current eventing conversation. Then, after we digest the magnitude of what has been shown this weekend, I hope we can figure out why our system doesn’t improve our scores. There are more riders of Sinead’s quality in this country and there is no reason we can’t start to have our share of big results like this, but if we can’t improve and develop our talent, it will be wasted.
