Show Jumping at its Finest - American Invitational

[SmeezySisters]

My heart was pounding for them in the jump off. Like I was in the crowd!

[someofusarebrave]

Melanie is my new heroine. WHAT a competitor. What a handy, fun-loving horse. Makes a difference when horse and rider truly work as a pair, don't it?

[someofusarebrave]

Waterloo is no jumper; he needs to go cross-country, he would be FABULOUS at doing that, one of the best of this generation of horses in fact...his stride is just too long for showjumping, plus he needs a course he can think about instead of relying on his rider to expend the mental energy to get them both over the fences cleanly. Barney is great, but he fusses with his hands too much. The horses jump well for him cuz they love him, but they fuss with their heads cuz they hate his hands.

[someofusarebrave]

Katie Monahan got in way too close to that combination, no? She had him back too far onto his haunches over the oxer, so she gunned him to get his impulsion moving again; he got in too close to the first fence of the combination but his strides were too big and discombobulated to make it into the combination at a collected enough pace to make the distance work well. When Louis Jacobs gets nervous, he guns it; that horse has a HUGE stride; he needs to be WAY more collected going into combos.

[2101lovelilly]

I love it how back then it was all about the horses, now it's a bit more about the riders and what horse they chose that day 

[2101lovelilly]

it is a shame that the millions don't watch horses any more, more sports came into appeal it is a shame that they havn't relised what horses did for us back in the war days and what they still do for us now, but it is one sport i will follow and love for all my life. 

[vcalland]

I saw only one video on riding at the website. is that right?

[allinaday]

@vcalland I have several selections from my one hour film on Olympic level horseback riding on my YouTube channel. The entire film is available via my website. Thank you.

David Hoffman -- filmmaker

[SitybytheSea]

@gryphonkeen If you're into horses, as I suspect you are, you may have heard of his son, Mclain Ward. He, too, has been accused of abusing his horses and putting plastic in their boots so touch rails is made seriously painful. It makes them jump higher, but at what cost?

[allinaday]

@kkenney24 Thank you for your response. I completely agree with your comment regarding the most recent films from the United States Equestrian Team. I call the USET and spoke with the Executive Director and tried to interest her in a new first class first rate film and she said she would call me back. That was six months ago. Unfortunate.

David Hoffman -- filmmaker

[LyndaP31]

thanks for the clip! sounds like a good program. May just buy this...

[BPayjack]

What a great video! Thank you for posting.

[ImmortalSynn]

OMG, Jet Run, Touch of Class, and Calypso all in one vid.... you friggin ROCK for posting this!!!!!!!

[TheLightEclipse]

04:31 He was going waaaay to fast! It was his own fault..

[lisa6662]

bare

[AdrenalineArt]

This was in the day where you could wallop those fences and they'd stay put xD 2010 and you breath on a plastic pole and it falls!

[aklemm26]

@AdrenalineArt

gotta love those flat cups they use in shows now eh? =P

[AdrenalineArt]

@aklemm26 - Bane of my life ;)

[88keysatl]

LOVED this vid! Thanks!

[noodlemonkey6]

who needs wings to fly when you can have a horse:).

[SHOJMPR42]

Waterloo is super powerful. Quite a set of shoulders on that horse.

[chili0977]

ah..... the horse killing barney ward is here. yep, he doesn't like to lose, and he just kills the ones that fail his ego.

[allinaday]

Yes he is. I did not choose the wriders. I was making a movie about the sport. Barney Ward was very rough. Disturbing for me at least, as a filmmaker.

[gryphonkeen]

@allinaday Wow, I never heard of Barney Ward before. What a jerk!

[cleverfeather]

wow! absolutely wow

[Sparky666Pivot]

Wow he is amazing o.o