General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsZara Philips, the Princess Royal's daughter, is on the GB Olympic team
Today, to quote Yahoo: "Zara Phillips of Britain riding High Kingdom performs during the equestrian Eventing Individual Dressage Day 2 in the Greenwich Park during the London 2012 Olympic Games."
The Prince Royal=Princess Anne, so Zara is the Queen's granddaughter, for non-Royals watchers. She is a noted equestrian, and seems a decent egg, but it is interesting that Ann Romney's Olympic rider stated that dressage is for ordinary folks. Being able to call Elizabeth II "Grammy" makes one an ordinary folk?
I am not one to despise people for having money, I just want them to realize their good fortune and give back to their community. At least Zara Philips, along with a good chunk of her family, donate much time to charitable causes, and was raised to be a "good citizen." Unlike the Romneys.
(Neither Zara nor her brother hold any Royal titles, as per her mother's request. She is not a Princess.)
baldguy
(36,649 posts)The rest of us - the 99% - are no better than pond scum.
obamanut2012
(26,181 posts)The American uber-wealthy married into the British Aristocracy quite a bit. Not the same, but close.
Siwsan
(26,317 posts)Rosa Luxemburg
(28,627 posts)DCBob
(24,689 posts)I doubt there are any "ordinary folks", wealth-wise, on that list.
Berlum
(7,044 posts)magical thyme
(14,881 posts)the German Gold Medal team included a German police horse and his policeman partner. They practiced during their off-time, when they weren't patrolling.
One of our early top riders, Hilda Gurney, made the team on an off-the-track thoroughbred.
Yes, the 1%ers have bought their way into it, and at least some of us who participate are aware of and resent that. We have our own pony envy to deal with.
But there are also ordinary middle-class people who make it. In fact, most of our team consists of professional trainers sponsored by 1%ers, and they do not all have Ebeling's money or connections. Plus, it's not like the 1%ers do the actual training or riding. They just bankroll it. And unlike the Romneys, most of them don't try to claim big tax deductions out of it, either.
DCBob
(24,689 posts)-- Prince Abdullah al Saud of Saudi Arabia
-- Alvaro Affonso de Miranda Neto, husband of Athina Onassis
-- Princess Nathalie Zu Sayn-Wittgenstein of Denmark
-- Zara Phillips, granddaughter of Britains Queen Elizabeth II
magical thyme
(14,881 posts)And those are 4 names out of how many equestrian competitors?
Were you referring specifically to the Dressage team or all of the equestrian events? And yes, you will find 1%ers dominating many teams, especially in dressage. To compete with horses internationally is expensive; there is no question about that. Combined training and open jumping are more of a mixed bag. One of the US top combined training riders was strictly middle class. She picked up relativel low-cost thoroughbreds with talent, brought them along on her own, had a horse business with her husband, similar to RiderintheStorm, plus worked for the fire department to support it. Sadly, she unexpectedly died in her sleep a couple months ago.
Btw, Zara's mother, Princess Anne, also competed on the Uk's combined training team. My first teacher, Lockie Richards, taught Princess Anne when he resided in the UK and trained with Oberbereiter Franz Rockawanski, formerly of the Spanish Riding School. Lockie was himself middle class, first riding a neighbor's ponies bareback on the beaches of New Zealand. Lockie came to the US after teaching in their top school, first to the Potomac Horse Center in Maryland and then to Fox Hollow Farms in PA. Many of his students were wealthy, and many more were middle class. He taught us on camp horses -- definitely not 1%er material. From there, he became principal of the American Dressage Institute, which was founded by a 1%er who wanted to help foster dressage in the US. She gave the Institute half a dozen top horses, and students were allowed to have lessons on those horses. I was one of those students, and was able to learn the upper level movements on a 20 year old, semi-retired Grand Prix horse and a 15 year old, actively competing and performing Grand Prix horse. I also occasionally got lessons with future Olympians when Lockie was away (Mike Poulin) and watched other future Olympians and BNTs in their early training (George Williams, Bill Woods, and others I don't remember any more). 4 of us got to ride in front of the Director of the Spanish Riding School, Cl. Hans Handler. Of the 4, 2 were wealthy and 2 of us were middle class and didn't own our own horse at the time.
DCBob
(24,689 posts)It wasnt a complete list of competitors and I guess it wasnt specific to the Romney dressage event.
Regardless, its clear this is probably the only event in the Olympics that a person can simply buy their way in with a very expensive/talented horse and trainer.
magical thyme
(14,881 posts)However, in fairness, Combined Training and Jumping are the two equestrian sports where they aren't buying access and middle class riders do routinely compete at the Olympics. For example, it takes enormous talent, lots of training and incredible guts to ride a cross country course at that level. That is one sport you need to see in real life, up close and personal, to get a sense of the level of talent and risk. The jumps cross-country are enormous and not on "groomed" footing. And they are solid: mistakes can be deadly. You stand by one of the jumps and look up at the horse soaring well over your head and you begin to get a hint of it. (My first teacher wanted me to go into combined training, which was his first passion. I had the talent, but frankly lacked the necessary guts. As a teen with a crush on him, I would jump whatever he pointed me at, but that wasn't going to be real practical over the long haul, lol.)
Furthermore, thoroughbreds excel at it and are relatively low cost; gifted middle-class riders can pick them up on the cheap from the backstretch of any track. They are the (relatively) slow ones that prefer jumping to racing.
Dressage is a different story, for a number of reasons too lengthy to go into here. Although you don't have to be a 1%er to compete at the Olympic level, these days you do need to find one or more to sponsor you. That, in itself, is a specific talent that should have no bearing, but unfortunately does.
When I was young and middle class, I rode with a top international trainer and fully trained horses (called schoolmasters) to learn on, without having to buy that access access.
These days, young, aspiring riders have to buy, at prices that would buy a house, schoolmasters to learn on.
If you research deeper, however, you will find something else. Those people are able to buy access, but they aren't able to buy medals.
That is why the US and the other countries you mentioned are never in the medals in Dressage. They won't be this year, either. The Romneys can buy all the German cast offs they want; Germany's best stays in Germany and represents Germany.
DCBob
(24,689 posts)Thanks for posting.
riderinthestorm
(23,272 posts)Berlum
(7,044 posts)obamanut2012
(26,181 posts)Berlum
(7,044 posts)xmas74
(29,676 posts)I just like the look of the whole outfit.
bedazzled
(1,771 posts)that is a pretty lady, whoever she is...
muriel_volestrangler
(101,407 posts)The face doesn't look right, and the image title ("spectacular-glimpses-royal-wedding-hats-at-zara-phillips-mike-tindall" refers to her wedding (she married Mike Tindall, captain of the England rugby team).
WillowTree
(5,325 posts)Londoncalling
(66 posts)She earned her place through very good results.
kskiska
(27,051 posts)nadinbrzezinski
(154,021 posts)Last edited Mon Jul 30, 2012, 12:01 PM - Edit history (1)
horsemanship is something they learn from early on... and it goes back a LONG TIME, when kings did lead troops in combat.
Oh wait, aren't the two crown princes one in the army the other in the Royal Airforce, flying choppers as a rescue pilot?
Tell me, when was the last time you saw any of the Romney's do anything more productive "than serve the country (daddy) while daddy ran for office."
obamanut2012
(26,181 posts)Even as he received fourth draft deferments.