Charlotte Casiraghi's equestrian career


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This looks like an excellent facility, but it is not associated with the Olympics. I'm thinking of the official training centers like the ones at Lake Placid, Colorado Springs and Salt Lake City. In addition to regular training they analyze movements by computer and may use computer simulators. They attack sports like NASA. I don't know if they handle all sports or just certain ones like track, swimming and figure skating.
 
That's an interesting question FanofMonaco - I'm not a rider at the level of Scooter (more pleasure hacks, etc), but maybe she knows of such a facility. I guess what could be reviewed would be the horse's "soundness" for eventing, jumping, dressage, because coming up to/clearing jumps is about counting steps and making split decisions in the moment. Track designs change all year long, and are designed by different people, so you can't get used to any particular course (talking about hunt-seat/jumping & eventing).
 
FanofMonaco said:
This looks like an excellent facility, but it is not associated with the Olympics. I'm thinking of the official training centers like the ones at Lake Placid, Colorado Springs and Salt Lake City. In addition to regular training they analyze movements by computer and may use computer simulators. They attack sports like NASA. I don't know if they handle all sports or just certain ones like track, swimming and figure skating.
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In the US, there is no such thing as 'associated with the Olympics'. The USET maintains a facility in Kentucky (formerly in Gladstone NJ), but there is no 'official' training facility limited only to the Olympics. Individual Olympians as well as hopefuls of a Grand Prix level have their own training facility, such as ours. Lake Placid is the site of a 2 week A3 rated horse show in early July. Lake Placid was twice the site of the winter olympic games, but it has no affliation with the summer games. While the Olympics are certainly on every top GP rider's radar, so are the World Eqestrian Games, the World Cup, the European Championships, Spruce Meadows and the Winter Equestrian Festival culminating in the American Invitational are all equally on the radar. All extremely prestigious and have a big purse.
 
Thanks for the info Scooter. Is the Kentucky site where they just had the FEI World Championships?

Charlotte may get to compete with some of the professionals like Phillipe Rozier and Daniel Duesser. I guess they are working some of their younger horses or looking for some easy money.
 
Yes, at the Kentucky Horse Park. I am not sure how the selection for the national team goes for Monaco. Here, there was famously a very rich and quite sucessful 'amateur' (which in those days everyone had to be to be elegible) named Debbie Dolan who sued the USET when she was left off the Olympic Team, which has led to the present system of several objective trials for the team along with one or two 'byes' for someone who has had consistant dominance in the sport, but has been temporarily laid up and cant do the trials, such as Margie Goldstein-Engle (when she broke her leg 3 weeks before the trials). However, in between Olympic years, it is more along the lines of...USET needs to field 2 teams to Europe for Dublin, Hickstead, Aachen, Rome, Maastricht, etc. The USET will ask a certain rider and owner to commit to that part of the tour with X horse, with Y horse as back up in case of injury. But one really needs to be consistantly at the top 5 of the leader board GP after GP to be on the short list. I think Charlotte could improve 'her game' tremendously by going to train with a serious mentor for her. But Carlotte needs to be serious, rather than recreational herself first. Or perhaps she is not as dedicated/driven. She may just want to go horseshowing with her string. Nothing wrong with that....just because her family 'has a country'....JMO.
 
My best one ever...American TB, which you dont see so much any more, was of the Man o War bloodline by way of Hoist the Flag, born and raised in the Bluegrass. But true that bloodline, he was a lightning fast maneater...Bit, kicked, broke the cross ties when the girth touched his belly. But boy he was The Winner.
 
Another Kentucky TB here! He has Secretariat, Native Dancer, and of course, Northern Dancer.
He bites, he kicks, he bucks, he's the terror of every farrier around. He actually sent a man to the hospital by catching him by the waist and lifting him on the air.
But when he is in the ring!
 
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So I see you guys have a thing for race horses. :) My favorite one though, was Seabiscuit. Horse with a will to fight and succeed, those are golden.

My horse is Dutch Warmblood. Never anything else for me. :cool: If I'm not mistaken, one of Charlotte's horses is a Dutch Warmblood aswell. Was it G.I Joe? I tend to forget names when I need them.
 
I have a dutch warmblood/KWPN as well..full sister to Leslie Howard's olympic medalist Extreme. By Wolfgang out of a Lucky Boy-Le Mexico mare. The Dutch breed some of the best jumping horses in the world, so I would tend to think Charlotte has some, too.
 
Joe is a Holstein, Troy is the Dutch wb and Tintero the Belgian wb.

Charlotte came in 48/66 with 4 faults at 1.25 m with Troy and 36/63 with 5 faults at 1.35 m with Tintero today at the Bois. Not one of her better days but at least there were no eliminations.
 
scooter said:
I have a dutch warmblood/KWPN as well..full sister to Leslie Howard's olympic medalist Extreme. By Wolfgang out of a Lucky Boy-Le Mexico mare. The Dutch breed some of the best jumping horses in the world, so I would tend to think Charlotte has some, too.
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Are you competing at the Syracuse International? I would love to have the opportunity, some day, to see Charlotte compete - live; I'd cheer her on!
 
I think she would help raise American awareness of horse jumping. Most Americans don't even know we won a gold medal in team jumping in Bejing. We're so spoiled. I'm guessing she wouldn't compete over here until she gets much better or the GCT has a stop here.
 
It was a real shock to my husband when we first went to a horse show in Europe. It's so under the radar in the US. But in many parts of Europe, it's second only to football/soccer in popularity and gets so much tv coverage.

I will not be at Syracuse this year as we have a family wedding (no escape).
 
Charlotte came in 45/74 with 11 faults in the second round at 1.25 m with Troy. It doesn't look like she is riding Tintero today.
 
Yeah, she jumped Troy yesterday too and again today. Actually, the riders after rank 46 don't really count because they were eliminated/retired. So really she's 45/46 riders with a time.

Yesterday she was 48/58 (that's 58 timed riders, not eliminated) and had 4 faults and a time of 65.07.

Just for reference for everyone, the link for the results is here: http://www.jump-results.com/OPEN/bois10.htm
They have one more day, Sunday/Dimanche. :)
 
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scooter said:
It was a real shock to my husband when we first went to a horse show in Europe. It's so under the radar in the US. But in many parts of Europe, it's second only to football/soccer in popularity and gets so much tv coverage.

I will not be at Syracuse this year as we have a family wedding (no escape).
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You would think so but it's really annoying here. Horse riding is huge (I mean, our country has all the world records in dressage) and all the big boys at the sports channels barely give any attention towards the equestrian sport. Football (soccer) is more important, even if Equestrian is more succesful. Don't get me wrong, football is great but people who don't ride or love horses, seem to be allergic to it all. :bang:

My rant is over. :whistling:
 
I disagree CasiTrio about not counting the eliminated/retired riders.
These riders started the competition but fouled out or quit; so they should count as an entrant. I agree you shouldn't count the Do not Starts because they didn't cross the start line.

Charlotte did ride Tintero this afternoon in the 6 Bars competition. It appears to be more of a high jump than a race course. She cleared 1.55m, 1.65 m and at least once at 1.75 m (4 faults). She came in 12/24. The upper height limit at the Olympics is 1.60m. She still has to improve from 2* to 5* (fence placement difficulty). She would have to have a miracle 2011 to qualify for the London Olympics. Sunday she is riding both horses at 1.30m.
 
Empress Merel said:
You would think so but it's really annoying here. Horse riding is huge (I mean, our country has all the world records in dressage) and all the big boys at the sports channels barely give any attention towards the equestrian sport. Football (soccer) is more important, even if Equestrian is more succesful. Don't get me wrong, football is great but people who don't ride or love horses, seem to be allergic to it all. :bang:

My rant is over. :whistling:
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Unfortunately, like most sports with a history of being dominated by women (other than gymnastics), they get less attention because it's perceived there is no audience.....which means no money thru advertising, etc. :bang:
 
True. The only exception to that is figure skating.
 
Well, today in the 1m30/2* Prix Wan Video, Charlotte and Troy were 81/90 places (+3 eliminated/+2 abandon) with 12 fault points and time of 87.17.
 
scooter said:
True. The only exception to that is figure skating.
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Yes, Women's Gymnastics and Figure Skating.....of course, scandal helped skating :lol:. Now that my kids are in school, I'm going to be jumping back in the saddle and getting my skills back! I haven't owened a horse for years (since, of course, I couldn't ride while pregnant...and trying!), but am in the market....really only interested in hunter/jumpers (not planning on eventing or dressage) - what would you recommend. I'm 5' 7 1/2", approx 130 lbs (still working on that, however!;)) - let me know your thoughts. Thanks.
 
Well, I'm assuming you're kids will be interacting with your horse aswell? I'd say go for anything Warmblood. You can trust them and they're good allround horses.

But have you ever considered a Welsh Cob? (Not those who are 1.30 but 1.50 or taller?) They're quite variable. Stoeterij Du Bois - Our breed
 
Empress Merel said:
Well, I'm assuming you're kids will be interacting with your horse aswell? I'd say go for anything Warmblood. You can trust them and they're good allround horses.

But have you ever considered a Welsh Cob? (Not those who are 1.30 but 1.50 or taller?) They're quite variable. Stoeterij Du Bois - Our breed
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Thanks - the kids have shown some interest, but it seems to be giving way to soccer and other group sports - no prob, they can always pick it up later. I've checked out the web site - CUTE!!
 
Empress Merel said:
So I see you guys have a thing for race horses. :) My favorite one though, was Seabiscuit. Horse with a will to fight and succeed, those are golden.

My horse is Dutch Warmblood. Never anything else for me. :cool: If I'm not mistaken, one of Charlotte's horses is a Dutch Warmblood aswell. Was it G.I Joe? I tend to forget names when I need them.
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Don't you think horse racing is kind of unethical? It seems very harmful to the horses. One hears of so many problems, really awful problems with their legs and knees, and then they have to have major invasive surgery which they don't always survive. Well, at least the racing is not so bad on the grass like at Ascot! But at the Kentucky Derby they don't want to switch to grass because of cost! If it saves the horses, who cares about cost?! :bang: It just reminds me how much I really don't like Kentucky. I mean, there are some nice things about it, but mostly my experience in the --- what do they call it "bluegrass" state -- was not so positive.
 
Actually, the surgery for chipped knees, which is the primary issue with horses who have been race trained, is done arthroscopically under light sedation with local anesthesia. I do not know where you are getting your information about the derby. Horse racing in the US is overwhelmingly in the 'dirt' footing. Now I must also point out, that we have had horses have bone chips in the knees/ankles/fetlocks who are KWPN and are strictly jumpers who never saw more than 1.10m before they were 5 and were schooled at the home farm in immaculate footing...just to play the devil's advocate ;-P
 
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I come from the racetrack and didn't arrive into the jumping world until later in my life. I will never understand where does this unethical feeling jumpers have about horse races comes from (it exists also in europe).

The cruelest training methods I have seen in my life are used both in jumping and dressage. Thinks I couldn't even imagine existed.
And don't get me started on drugs control! If the jumping competitions had half the drug controls race horses have to go throught, they will all be banned from competition.

Why on earth is it more unethical to make run a horse (something they are born to do) without altering their mecanics or forcing them to do exercices they would never willlingly do in the nature and it is ok to make them jump over huge fences or compress them in the most antinatural and dominating way? Horse races are semi wild proud animals while dressage and jumping horses are subjugated beings.

I am a jumper now, so don't you think I am attacking the discipline, but if less physicallly demanding (warmblood horses don't have the athletic capacities of thoroughbreds) it is not flowers and puppies either, and if we want to be thoroughlly ethical, it is as horse exploitative as any other equestrian activity. Actually riding a horse in unnatural enough already.
 
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CasiraghiTrio said:
But at the Kentucky Derby they don't want to switch to grass because of cost! .
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I seriously doubt that is the reason. American and european racing are very different and races are run in a very different manner. American love jockeys with excellent rythm feeling? ("step sense" would be the literal translation but I'm not sure it makes any sense in english) and races that are run quickly from the beginnig. Sand courses favor that stylo of running.

European like more tactical, expectant races, with horses running grouped and the real action reserved to the last hundred of meters, and irregular horse tracks with slightly steep designs that favor horses with the capaticy of changing their rythm at the end of the races. Grass is better for that style.
 
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