Three Day Event -- Thrills & Spills: crosscountry champions

[pegasecam]

Wow

[alice7905]

amazing video, some of the best horse/ rider combinations ever. thank you x

[russianStasia5]

Oh wow! What a great horses! That XC fences look crazy !

[ImmortalSynn]

Have several vids of Nightcap too... but they're all bloopers!

Amazing how much he and priceless looked alike though.

[ThatNinjaChild]

soo proud, my horse is in close relations with Priceless and ginny's other horse, night cap!!!!!!!

[ShameAndBlame]

oh man, xc looks like fun! but I ride dressage, and I haven't jumped in 8 years or so, so I'd probably fall on my face just cantering downhill or something . . . But I wish I could do it!

[livelaughlove79318]

@ShameAndBlame you would be fine

[Harkamgirl]

Its great to see a crosscountry video that's not just horses smashing into fences :) Awesome video - thanks and well done! :)

[TheLahlexis]

Do you know why Ian Stark had such a long reign on Murphy Himself? Was it some form of strategy or just loss of balance in some spots?

[ImmortalSynn]

@TheLahlexis

Murphy was known for going best when he was allowed to have his head. If you'll look at some of the other clips from the series, you'll notice that Ian does not ride Sir Wattie with the same length.

Also, keep in mind that many of the jumps seen here are drops, thus (temporarily) requiring a longer rein than flat-jumping.

[Gizmos69]

@TheLahlexis do you mean rein or reign. He had a long reign (as in time) on MH because he was a phenomenal horse! MH took a long rein (leather thongs attached to the bit you use for steering) because he was always a strong forward going horse that Ian trusted with his head as ImmortalSynn mentioned below.

[linneareno]

I just love to see Murphy Himself. Especially in the combo at 02:47. It´s from Stockholm 1990 and I was there, and those fences where HUGE!! Most of the horses took at least one stride in between, but Murphy bounced it!!

[jen4dougie4eva]

Does anyone else see some of Murphy Himself in Nicola Wilson's Opposition Buzz? They aren't exactly similar but both horses are in a different league when it comes to xc, I don't think there is a horse as good as Buzz doing the tracks right now. . . and like MH he would probably bounce everything possible!!

[Emily2whisper]

this is fantastic :) really enjoyed it thank you :)

[ImmortalSynn]

@Emily2whisper

Welcome :)

[MeeriiBokawa]

amazing :)

[ginnie321]

love seeing the old style xc courses thanx for puttin this up

[ImmortalSynn]

@ginnie321

welcome :)

[TheEquestrian22]

i have no idea how they do that. if i pointed my horse at those jumps im pretty sure id be flung off his back in a heartbeat

[TBsPlease]

I don't think anyone could have possibly ridden those questions better & more masterfully than Ginny did. A class rider all the way!

[FLoSs110]

i think that horses asre the most amazing amimals in the world to do the aspects that they are tought

[mclean1970]

I went to a Mark Todd Selects show last night at Gleneagles....he is just amazing & even more impressive to watch him working his magic in the flesh...It was a great night....

[imabananabetch]

Mark Todd and The Irishman had the most AMAZING round.

And Ginny- how accurate! Fantastic stuff, all of them (riders and horses) complete legends.

Thanks for uploading this!

[TrueRider2010]

nice video ... i went the the ian stark clinic at galway downs..... ha my friends were right ... he is know 4 making people fall! but hes an amazing trainer... btw does anyone know of any good eventing places in Southern California?

[amsilverny]

what event was this? it looked a bit like ledyard, but i couldn't tell.

[ImmortalSynn]

Spliced mix of Badminton and Burghley

[rustbugs4ever]

I once watch a three day event on crosscountry and a person broke his stirrup and still finished the hole corse with no faults!! XD Amazing!!!

[horseA123]

The more I study eventing, the more I know it is too much to ask of our horses. If we love them and they are our pets first, this so-called sport is so wrong. It is like a 4 year old child standing at the top of a hill in San Francisco straddling his tricycle - yep, it looks fun. They know about the same amount as the horse. Of course they'll do it if you ask, but they shouldn't...

[jai13086]

horses arent pets. they are bred to do a job and event horses job is to event. if the sport didnt exsist neither would the horses.

[quarterflash1133]

@jai13086 SO very true of performance horses of all ilks asked and willing to perform at the peak of their ability. Amazing hearts! Amazing horses!

[PnkPantherxEventr]

@horseA123 i love how clueless you are. but its all good.

[Spritzer45]

@horseA123 hahaha what do you think makes murphy himself jump when he's got 3 feet of reins to do whatever he wants with? he does it because he wants to

[ljp1993]

lol you dik!! a horse has a mind of it own you know!! my horse is an eventer and this is exactly what we do!! if he doesn't wanna do somthing then he refuses point blank so i dnt push him!! but more often than not he jumps things first time with out a question!!!! you know fack all about eventing and by the sounds of it fuck all about horses aswel... so fuck you prick!!

[RUSALOSHKA]

Damn! Crosscountry=total insane trust.

And these guys have THE skill and THE power and strength! lord i wanna be a cross country rider! i know one thing, i'll fall off by random, XD

[Agilitypoodle385]

WOW... O.O that Murphy Himself horse is Bloody Fucking amazing... O.O OMG OMG OMG.... Love the vid btw :D x

[ImmortalSynn]

Indeed, he was amazing... with multiple riders too, which detailed his talent.

[bowleserised]

My mistake: it was Nightcap and Priceless who shared a sire. This might be Night Cap.

[ImmortalSynn]

Bingo. Easy to distinguish them as well, as Nightcap's star is far larger.

[bowleserised]

It's glorious to see Murphy Himself in action.

The quotation from Ginny was:

"If Priceless were human, he would have made a good sergeant major. He'd be butch, short, muscular and aggressive. Night Cap is much more the officer type: incredibly polite, very good-looking and far more sensitive than his bossy stable companion."

Forgive my advanced senility. I'd run Crafty and Night Cap together...

[ImmortalSynn]

Nah, I appreciate the admiration for them... I found (the way) eventing (was) to be much more interesting back then than it is now.

[bowleserised]

Wonderful compilation!

I think some of the clips of Ginny Leng show not Priceless, but Master Craftsman. He had the same sire as P (Ben Faerie) but was darker bay and a lighter build.

I remember her writing that Priceless had a little pony blood and therefore had very strong opinions about how they would take a fence. "Crafty" would do exactly what he was told. You can see the difference in the two horses very well in these clips.

[ImmortalSynn]

No. I have clips of Master Craftman, but he's not in these. These are all Priceless, except for one, which is Nightcap.

[kyosinmyheart]

i love this dvd but i lost it like 2 years ago, i loved the dressage to music part too

[ImmortalSynn]

I got this on VHS from when it first came out, 19yrs ago... never seen the DVD, didn't even know they included dressage in it.

[kyosinmyheart]

oh wow, well inaustralia they sell a DVD set called thrills and spills 1 & 2 it has this exact footage, how crazy :D

[KristenKanterro]

the white horse is sweet:):):)

[emaieoghanahally]

Really good video :-D

sadly, im not as fond as cross country as i was :-/ I think the test is how brave the horse is instead of how quick and skilled they are, seeing some of those jumps must be terryfying for the horses ): and also the amount of fences that cause horses to flip these days, its not really x-country anymore. You wouldn't find those sorts of jumps throughout the countryside! :L but good video :-) and amazing riders, amazing horses :)

[kiwikizi123]

this vid makes eventing look so easy lol xxx

[ImmortalSynn]

Indeed.

However, if that feeling becomes too pervasive... then scroll on over to the MORE INFO box, and click on the video "Fixed Obstacle Faceplants"

THAT should take care of that feeling, nice and quickly ;)

[AdrenalineArt]

1:01 makes me grin :D. Ginny sees her 4 strides and presses, and just look at the way that Priceless tucks his back end up and reaches over the ditch with his front legs. :-) i must have commented on this vid a million times, but each time i find something new to marvel about. 5*s I subbed x x :D

[ImmortalSynn]

Indeed, he was amazing.

IINM, Priceless never once had a fault on CC during his time with Ginny. I'm 99% sure that was the case.

[equiner7]

GREAT VIDEO!

[equestrianequine]

this is awesome. :)

[KyleeBIRD]

eventing back then seems so much more thrilling, some of the combinations that they did were so cool looking like the horse at 2.21 down that steep hill and over the jump before the hill even stops, i wish eventing was still like this

[schadenfreude93]

Ah I miss the long format. It was before my eventing time, but the cross country was so much more fun! Just a jump and then a go... But the horses were amazing enough to handle crazy combonations. I really wish they would do more long format... It really was better in a lot of ways. A lot safer before people started to put technical questions into something that's supposed to be done at a gallop.

[AdrenalineArt]

I agree with your comment about 'technical questions into something that's supposed to be done at a gallop' Maybe thats the problem now. the big, bold simple fences, it asked quite simply "whos got the balls" and you rode strong and commited or you didnt stand a chance. Now with so many technical questions at the same speed, its presenting more tragedies and problems. Do course designers need to cool it down with the technicality and promote positive forward riding with fences that ask that?

[ImmortalSynn]

Easy answer: Yes, they should.

Will they? Who knows-- unfortunately, it may take a tragedy to get them to dial it down on the technicality, and get back to the test of athleticism.

[AdrenalineArt]

How many deaths this year have we had to no avail? Though there was a stir after a death at Belton I believe it was, where a number of riders commented on a combination that killed a well known local rider after the striding wasnt certain (either 3 big stds or 4 short) on flat ground. There were also manicins on the fence, making it confusing, spooky and distracting for horse and rider. Im starting in eventing myself, and the frequency of tragidies leaves an unsettling chill about the sport.

[ImmortalSynn]

Granted I don't keep up with eventing to anywhere near the extent I do with jumpers... I realize there's been some equine tragedies, but unfortunately, I was of the opinion that it'd take a few (more) human ones to really drive the issue home :(

[AdrenalineArt]

Oh no i meant human tragidies, i havent heard of many equine recently, and regretably many talented young athletes are dying. All this nonsense about fragible pins, you wouldnt need them if riders insured their horses were fit at the lower levels aswell as higher, and courses were not so littered.

[kimettecrevette]

hey hello Immortal Synn ! I have already commented this vid but as I watch it all over I was wondering if you agree with the fact that the cross country on your vid looks more difficult than the same cross competitions today... Well for me it looks more difficult, the fence appears higher, wider...I don't know if it's just an impression...well it is for sure different! I am very intetested to know what you think!

this vid remains the best vid about cross country I've seen!

[ImmortalSynn]

To me, this represents the era when crosscountry separated the big boys&gals from the babies... I wish it'd go back to this!

[kimettecrevette]

thanks for your answer, I totally understand what you mean and I agree!

[AdrenalineArt]

The dimensions havent changed at top level. Now the courses are more technical, with twisting lines and skinnys that you would have never seen back in these days. But, like I said courses have changed, now they are so mind bogglingly busy with technical combinations and twists and turns, i think horses loose concerntration, contributing to the high rate of rotational falls we are getting. Anyone agree? Those days the stronger you rode the better you got on, now its a very different case.

[AdrenalineArt]

loved this video thankyou for uploading it :-) Its amazing to see how cross country has changed, the Badminton 2008 was a bit of a return to the old days with some more galloping fences, but I think it might do some good to have a bit of the essense of the old tracks back, cross country has got so un-natural, I think we need some courses to encourage "Riding by the seat of your pants" like Mark Todd amply demonstrates. Horses have become to reliant, and maybe riders need to be more impulsive?

[ImmortalSynn]

Welcome. And yeah, would agree with your points raised 100%

[giddyupgirl91]

AMAZING

Where was this??

[ImmortalSynn]

spliced clips, mostly of Badminton, some of Burghley.

[PnkPantherxEventr]

this is the kind of eventing i miss

[pegasus1747]

Ah yes! The good old days when horses had / got to run and jump!

[3dayEventerFHMI]

* 2:48 not 2:58*

[3dayEventerFHMI]

very amazing! at 2:58...holy crap!

[hrleslie]

why not bounce the road eh! haha

[jen4dougie4eva]

So glad Toddy found a horse that made him come back to eventing, we have a lot to thank Gandalf for!

[giddyupgirl91]

my goodness cross country jumping has changed.

Mark Todd is a legend!!

[chamfrom]

Fantastic!! you forget what the old courses were like! Not aying I could or would want to do them now, but they were much bigger and impressive!

[dorsetlady]

WOW - I say bring back some of those fences, look awsume and scarey, give Badminton the 'old feel' back!

[MargMarg101]

were did u get the footage from the very begining and the galloping stretch at 00:32

[ImmortalSynn]

These clips are from the Thrills & Spills collection

[3dayEventerFHMI]

absouletly love it! i expecially LOVE the water combo at 1:50!

[kimettecrevette]

Ian Stark and Mark Todd are the best!!!

[livelovelaugh9497]

and we have to ask ourselves what possessed Murphy HImself to jump the hedges, that were supposed to be a LONG one, in a bounce?

[ImmortalSynn]

No, it was supposed to be a bounce. Horses that tried to put in a stride there got their legs caught up.

[mojo606]

are you sure? it looks extrem long for an in-out. i thought that murphy was the only horse who jumped in-out over the hedges. that made him very famous.

[ImmortalSynn]

Saw Sir Wattie and Nightcap both get their fronts hung up trying to add there... so unless they added with too big a stride, it was made to be a bounce.

[livelovelaugh9497]

I'm not going to say that i'm 100% sure, but I'm fairly certain it was a one stride and that the problem came from horses adding in a second.

[kimettecrevette]

when was this filmed?

very good vid.

[ImmortalSynn]

Late 80s, not all clips were filmed at the same event.

[hanah22596]

ian stark at 2:50 onwards was really well done, the horse stretched so far to jump that hedge!!!

[hanah22596]

FROM 00:46 TO 1:42 WAS AMAZING!!!!! really gd riding=)

[lainerzzz]

Charisma was one of the most amazing horses to ever grace the sport... Watching that little pony go is absolutely inspiring (Mark Todd's definitely wonderful too... however talented his mount is). Great video!

[ImmortalSynn]

Indeed.

It truly says something about his athletic prowess, when his name STILL equates to "excellence", some 20yrs+ later.

[fabulousJanine]

where are the spills?

[ImmortalSynn]

As stated in the info box, this is part of a series... some clips are spills, others are thrills (as is this one).

[l3ahzukahandl3oo]

Wow Ian does an amazing job of not getting in Murphy face when they get a bit sticky.

Who was the little bay horse at the end? He was amazing!

[ImmortalSynn]

...I'm at a loss as to how you could POSSIBLY ~not~ know, considering that the horse's name is mentioned several times in the clip, and I have it written all out in the ----wait on it---- "MORE INFO" box for this video. LOL

[l3ahzukahandl3oo]

well aren't you full of sass?

i'm sorry that i didn't read the MORE INFO box

because i was watching your video

excuse me for being such a horrible, awful person

[ImmortalSynn]

...not horrible, just astonishing inattentive. :)

[laxcomet]

What amazing athletes.

[mojo606]

love it when murphy goes in-out over that street! what an amazing horse he was!

[oxHorseingAroundox]

were the spills just wondering lol good vid

[ImmortalSynn]

The clips are from the "Thrills & Spills" series... some (like this) are Thrills, some are Spills, some are both.

[PaoLarsson]

I just say "wow", skills!! x)

[mojo606]

great video!! ian stark and murphy himselfe!! mark todd charisma!! great

[noticeduaround]

When eventing was eventing!

[GoldenLuckyCharm]

HELL YA!

[GoldenLuckyCharm]

when steeplechase was a vital piece of the day not the exception...

[941sally]

i used to own a mare who was murphy himself's half sister. she was 17.3 hh and had his jump. cross country was nuts! she was a lot of horse

[horsey5432]

Mark todd is such a good rider, go new zealand! Murphy himself is amazing, great recoveries.

[ladyjes]

Murphy Himself is just an amazing horse, unbelievable - and FEARLESS!

[triple9double8]

Yeah! Toddy! Irishman and Charisma! The smallest horse to compete at the Olympics!

[ImmortalSynn]

Interesting claim... what was the height on that one?

[triple9double8]

uumm... 15.1hh or 15.hh.

[ImmortalSynn]

...actually, he was 15.3, had looked it up earlier.

Unless you were speaking of a specific year, then that height does not qualify him for that "title".

[triple9double8]

oh okay, im sure he once had that title...but thats still small for eventing! i might be wrong...

[triple9double8]

oh actually it might have been smallest horse to compete at the Olympics and recieve an Medal!

[ImmortalSynn]

Nope, not that either.

Jappeloup de Luze was less than 15.2, and he competed (and medaled) in the 1988 Olympics.

[triple9double8]

o okay! :) im wrong then! =)

[purplepinto]

So is that first rider Mark Todd? He's New Zealand's most famous rider ever! And Charisma our most famous event horse ever! The little horse that could. Pity he's dead now :(

[ImmortalSynn]

...the riders and horses are listed, in order, in the description box for this video.

[NandiniJT]

Always great to see Murphy! He was amazing :-)

[live4xc]

If you check the footage of Murphy Himself at 2:47... I could be wrong, but I believe that is a one-stride combination that he "bounced" (left out the stride)....ridiculous athlete and amazing ride by Ian Stark

[ImmortalSynn]

No, it's not.

Other horses who tried to add a stride into that combo got in too deep and had their front legs tangled-- which is NOT what you want to happen on the high side of a drop jump!

[live4xc]

Wow - sounds like you were there!! How exciting! I guess the other risk is flipping over on the landing (of the drop) if you bounce it in any sort of unbalanced manner... Great riding still...

[ImmortalSynn]

I wasn't there, I've just seen more than one horse attempt that obstacle.

And yes, there were a few total flips, there and elsewhere. I have some bad ones in the water-whipeouts vid. I also have some dry (non-water) ones, but some are a little violent despite the horses all being able to get up, so not sure about posting them.

[rachemdferg]

murphy is (or was coz hes dead) a half bro of my horse an iv been looking for footage of him for ages so thank you so much :D

i hadda copy of thrills an spills yrs ago on VHS but forgot murphy was on it- tho as well i didnt have my horse at the time so tho i always loved murphy i appreciate him more now coz i wanted to look closely to see if he goes like my horse... if al that makes sense lol :)

[wooohooo101]

why does in ian (on Murphy Himself) always jump with like one hand??? at first i thought he just like lost reigns, but he kept doing it? that kinda dangerous isnt it??

[ImmortalSynn]

Because the horse is built on the forehand, and performing drop-jumps... standard procedure for those circumstances. ;)

[wooohooo101]

oh weird!! lol, thanks!!!

[ImmortalSynn]

No prob... though, curious-- what's "weird" about it?

[wooohooo101]

haha i just meant its weird to me, i mean it works obviously, lol, i've just never seen it before! i dont do 3 day eventing or anything like this, sooo.... lol!

[AoifeShowjumperhorse]

Murphy Himself is 1 clz horse and The Irishman...... Mark Todd is clz!!!

[ImmortalSynn]

clz?

[LiveLaughRide07]

wow thats some amazing stuff! especially the combo @ 2:18 :)

[ImmortalSynn]

...dang, that was quick-- I didn't even know that this vid was up yet, much less have enough time to edit the horses' names!

Anywho, I'm guessing you mean the combo at 02:12? Or the one immediately after it? Either one is incredible!

[LiveLaughRide07]

lol! like im always on youtube so when some1 i subscribed 2 posts a vid youtube tells me haha + i love ur videos LOL but ya i meant to combo @ 2:12 :) btw i posted some new videos...check them out if u want :)

[ImmortalSynn]

'Preciate it.

Curious as to whether you stick to the equestrian videos, of if you've also sampled others such as the Mythic Warriors and PJs series?

[LiveLaughRide07]

never heard of either of them haha

[ImmortalSynn]

Ah, I see... well, they're in the profile, check 'em out :)