Equestrian Team USA - Page 2

candys mine · ‎08-20-2012

Congratulations to the members of Team USA and to all the nationalities of the teams from the 50 other countries from around the world that competed as well.

Kalli · ‎03-11-2010

Congrats to Jessica! I'm sure she's spent countless hours over the years working hard to achieve this success. And it looks like she can very possibly compete for years to come since experience counts and that comes with age.

Yes, this is the sport of folks with a lot of $$$. These top level horses can cost several million. That's how it is. Most don't have that kind of $$ to toss around on a whim. I give credit for the hard work involved. Some rich folks buy the horse and then hire a rider.

Anyway, always nice to see US athletes and their horses succeed!

Icegoddess · ‎03-19-2010

I don't think all the horses cost millions. I don't think jumping abilitiy is a bred trait, so it's more the luck of finding the right horse with the motivation to do the work, much like working dogs. There was one horse the commentators talked about that the rider had made a stop with his horses to give them a break and while the horses were on break, he asked a person where he was stopped if he had any horses for sale. He bought a horse from the guy and that was the horse he was riding in the competition.

I also saw on a local facebook group I'm in that one of the horses came from an area near me. The horse is owned by a couple locally, but is also co-owned and trained in SC.

I felt so bad for the French rider whose horse balked after hitting some rails and then also wouldn't take the next jump. At that point, the event was over for them and I think it took the team out of medal contention.

Greeneyedlady21 · ‎01-06-2015

She's ranked 14th in the world, she didn't achieve that because of her last name. Yes his money got her the best lessons and horses-but she put in the work.

Last I heard one of her brothers was a firefighter in NJ. So they have done well with what comes along with a famous last name. Their privacy has been protected by their parents.

Many years ago I was at one of his concerts in the general admission area. His kids came in and stood nearby and didn't call attention to themselves at all.

"This isn't a Wednesday night, this is New Year's Eve"