Charlotte Casiraghi's equestrian career


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Moonmaiden23 said:
HRHHermione, is that Jacqueline Kennedy riding in your avatar photo?

It looks like Sirdar, the bay gelding that the former President of Pakistan(Ayub Khan) gave her when she was First Lady...
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It's The Princess Royal actually :) I love her in this picture
 
Look, when one is concentrating in the jump off, one is not smiling and singing songs of joy. Here is a picture of my coach winning (for the 4th time) the $175,000 derby at Spruce meadows last week. She's not smiling. She has no weight in her heel here. She's turning in the air. www.barnmice.com/group/barnmicenews/forum/topics/spruce-meadows-national-sunday?xg_source=activity. She has an olympic gold and silver as well as a world championship on the wall. My point is, even the best riders in the world are not text book correct every moment of the day. Cut the amateur a little slack. She shows up and tries her best to do the job. The sport requires some personal bravery, unlike some like tennis or golf. Not to mention daily practise. Let's also remember that even with the best horses...they are NOT cars. They have opinions and likes and fears just like any other living beings. Sometimes for no discernable reason a horse will be absolutely appalled by a particular jump. Then even the best laid plans must go awry.
 
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Excuse my lack of horse knowledge...but what is turning in the air?
 
In the timed second round, whoever goes the fastest and leaves the jumps up wins. The course is always laid out (differently each time) in order to challenge the pair in terms of quickly turning from one jump to the next to save time. In which case turning in the air is one of the most critical skills a jumper rider can have. First you slice diagonally across the jump (instead of jumping straight across as it's set and then turning), lets say left to right if its a right turn. Then as the horse leaves the ground you continue to lead her in the direction of the turn, which makes them turn in the air. This only works with a carefull horse or many faults add up.
 
Usually a horse takes a jump straight on or at a straight angle but recently I have been seeing horses start their turn in the middle of the jump (bending at the waist). This is a huge advantage. It allows very sharp turns and flatter turning arcs on the ground to the next jump. Every second counts. Watch post 1101.
 
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Zonk said:
Excuse my lack of horse knowledge...but what is turning in the air?
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It just means that she's giving the horse cues to turn when he's in the middle of the jump. She's giving too direct a signal at the wrong time.

When cues are given correctly in riding, they're very subtle. You signal the horse in several ways- with your legs, seat, hands, and your body position. Also, in jumping, timing is very important. Her timing on her cues just seems to be off, and it doesn't look like she's riding her horse very considerately. That's normal- it's part of the learning process. I've been riding most of my life and I won't pretend that I'm even close to perfect. But I also don't ride at Charlotte's level- I know that I don't have the skill set to do it, and it would be bad and dangerous for both me and my horse to try.

The problem with Charlotte's career as I see it is that she's trying to ride at a higher level than she should be and the reason she's able to do it is because she's capable of buying horses that are very, very talented. But the most important part of riding is the partnership, and she's not fostering an equal partnership. I'd like to see her reassess her skill level, and go back to riding at a lower level until she improves her form a bit. It'd be very fun to see her really interact and bond with her horses too- I've never seen a picture where she seems to just be loving on her horse.

This picture made me cringe... neither of them looks like they're having fun:
http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/...siraghiCharlotteJumpsCarolineoQ53Anwh-Rxl.jpg

It looks like she's giving her horse conflicting signals- which is pretty typical of a rider who's unsure of themselves. It's bad for both horse and rider.
 
Okay...I see.....thanks to all.
 
scooter said:
In the timed second round, whoever goes the fastest and leaves the jumps up wins. The course is always laid out (differently each time) in order to challenge the pair in terms of quickly turning from one jump to the next to save time. In which case turning in the air is one of the most critical skills a jumper rider can have. First you slice diagonally across the jump (instead of jumping straight across as it's set and then turning), lets say left to right if its a right turn. Then as the horse leaves the ground you continue to lead her in the direction of the turn, which makes them turn in the air. This only works with a carefull horse or many faults add up.
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This is a good explanation of how it should be, absolutely :)

scooter said:
Look, when one is concentrating in the jump off, one is not smiling and singing songs of joy. Here is a picture of my coach winning (for the 4th time) the $175,000 derby at Spruce meadows last week. She's not smiling. She has no weight in her heel here. She's turning in the air. www.barnmice.com/group/barnmicenews/forum/topics/spruce-meadows-national-sunday?xg_source=activity. She has an olympic gold and silver as well as a world championship on the wall. My point is, even the best riders in the world are not text book correct every moment of the day. Cut the amateur a little slack. She shows up and tries her best to do the job. The sport requires some personal bravery, unlike some like tennis or golf. Not to mention daily practise. Let's also remember that even with the best horses...they are NOT cars. They have opinions and likes and fears just like any other living beings. Sometimes for no discernable reason a horse will be absolutely appalled by a particular jump. Then even the best laid plans must go awry.
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And by the way, your coach looks absolutely freaking perfect there. No weight in her heels, no conflicting signals, just beautiful. It must be an absolute privilege to train with her.
 
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Thank you, so much, Scooter for sharing your well-earned, factual expertise - I appreciate your opinion as a practitioner, rather than some arm-chair critic with nothing to back up their complaints. Thanks for sharing the picture to also illustrate that even an Olympic-level, world-class champion can show less-than-perfect technique, and still win.....after YEARS of experience. I agree that Charlotte is still growing and learning, and not sure why some expect her to be immediately at the same level as champions with years of expertise....cut her a break while she continues to grow and learn.
 
You know I am the eternal optimist about Charlotte's riding, but I think Stephan Bern made a mistake about her riding in the London Olympics. She is only riding at the 2 star level and just beginning to jump 1.40 and 1.45m. 1.40 is the low jumping height at the Olympics and the fences are set at the 5 star level. Her coach said she was shooting for the Rio Olympics in an interview a few months ago.

As thin as Charlotte as gotten, I was wondering if maybe she was training to do a marathon or half marathon. Pure speculation on my part.
 
Well I'm honestly just worried that she will hurt herself, it's a dangerous sport, and I keep thinking of what happened to actor Christopher Reeve, not to mention her own father, though I realize that was a different sport all together, still, worries remain... :ermm:

And things *can* go wrong, especially when an athlete is not quite at the level of the top echelon of the sport. Even then accidents happen - Stefano Casiraghi was the World Champion in Offshore Speed Boat Racing, but look what happened, but Thank God rules have changed so what happened to him will not happen to anyone again.

I mean I realize in all sport there is danger, that's part of the thrill and challenge, to overcome those dangers, but alas one can't help but worry. I wonder how Caroline feels about it all?

Here's hoping Charlotte doesn't feel pressured into doing anything she's not quite ready to do, just yet. :)

That said, I admire Charlotte's drive, determination, discipline, and hard work, as I do all athletes! :heart1:
 
Horseygal said:
not sure why some expect her to be immediately at the same level as champions with years of expertise....cut her a break while she continues to grow and learn.
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You got it all wrong, horseygal. Charlotte and his trainer seem to be then only ones who want her inmediately looking like an experienced champion.

What most of us are saying is exactly the oposite. That she lacks experiences and she should ride easier competions (the same way other riders of her level do), and do a serious and slow work with her horses, instead of trying to compete among the champions when it is too early and she obviously isn't ready yet.

We want her to grow and learn. She and her trainer are the ones that for some unknown reason want to show off.
 
It's a lovely photo - the rider hugging her horse.

I think everyone should leave Charlotte to make her own decisions about her horseriding, and other aspects of her life. She is young, and a Grimaldi.
 
Reading Charlotte's interview with Madame Figaro and comparing the posts here about her skills as an equestrian are a bit confusing. In the interview she says Thierry knows her by heart and she goes on about how you have to respect your horse's needs and everything, but from what I'm reading from some of you guys she doesn't seem to practice what she preaches. I don't know anything about equestrian sport, so I'll leave it up to the experts to debate about, but it is a very interesting read though. She sounds like a smart girl, and I didn't pick up any pretention in her words (but French is not my native tongue so don't hold me to that). I do like when she talks about the books she reads though, especially since we just wrapped up Baudelaire and Rimbaud (love) in my French Lit. class. :ROFLMAO:
 
kells said:
Reading Charlotte's interview with Madame Figaro and comparing the posts here about her skills as an equestrian are a bit confusing. In the interview she says Thierry knows her by heart and she goes on about how you have to respect your horse's needs and everything, but from what I'm reading from some of you guys she doesn't seem to practice what she preaches. I don't know anything about equestrian sport, so I'll leave it up to the experts to debate about, but it is a very interesting read though. She sounds like a smart girl, and I didn't pick up any pretention in her words (but French is not my native tongue so don't hold me to that). I do like when she talks about the books she reads though, especially since we just wrapped up Baudelaire and Rimbaud (love) in my French Lit. class. :ROFLMAO:
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Nice posting Kells! I see your point.
But I wouldn't put any faith on posts you read here by certain posters regarding Charlotte's pluses or minuses.
At this point I take her for her word AND her coach until there is decisive evidence otherwise.
The claim that Charlotte is "showing off", "playing around", that she is a "silly stupid girl" has been made ad nauseum.!:ohmy::ohmy::ohmy:
There are those creepy posters on here that only want to BELITTLE and TRIVIALIZE Charlotte and her efforts.:ohmy::ohmy::ohmy:
Lets give the girl our best wishes and discuss in a civilized manner her achievements and or short cummings based on fact not on prittle prattle of DUBIOUS posters!!!!!!:flowers::flowers::flowers:
 
trepstrep said:
You got it all wrong, horseygal. Charlotte and his trainer seem to be then only ones who want her inmediately looking like an experienced champion.

What most of us are saying is exactly the oposite. That she lacks experiences and she should ride easier competions (the same way other riders of her level do), and do a serious and slow work with her horses, instead of trying to compete among the champions when it is too early and she obviously isn't ready yet.

We want her to grow and learn. She and her trainer are the ones that for some unknown reason want to show off.
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Agreed. I actually like her- I think she's beautiful, and I love seeing pictures of her with Princess Caroline. There's no ill will here at all, and it's a bit insulting that legitimate criticisms of how her riding career is being handled are being treated like attacks. I'd like to see her riding well and forming really great relationships with her horses (and maybe she does- I don't know. I do know that riding is definitely not a glamorous sport when it's done correctly though)

Here's hoping she slows down a bit, and does fewer competitions and more serious training, and she grows as a rider.
 
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A spitting image of her mother !!

That last pic is my all time favourite of Charlotte.
 
kells said:
Reading Charlotte's interview with Madame Figaro and comparing the posts here about her skills as an equestrian are a bit confusing. In the interview she says Thierry knows her by heart and she goes on about how you have to respect your horse's needs and everything, but from what I'm reading from some of you guys she doesn't seem to practice what she preaches. I don't know anything about equestrian sport, so I'll leave it up to the experts to debate about, but it is a very interesting read though. She sounds like a smart girl, and I didn't pick up any pretention in her words (but French is not my native tongue so don't hold me to that). I do like when she talks about the books she reads though, especially since we just wrapped up Baudelaire and Rimbaud (love) in my French Lit. class. :ROFLMAO:
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I totally agree with you! No pretention in Charlotte's words, she talked in a very simple way. I really loved what she said about books (I'm fond of reading) and I found very sensitive all that she said about them. I even wish there were more interviews of Charlotte about litterature, it's very interesting. It's an other part of herself, a very interesting part of herself, a part I like a lot.

As horse riding is concerned, I regret that all that is said about Charlotte is quite considered as insults. If we don't really approve her behaviour, we have the right to say it without being attacked. Personnally, I don't hate Charlotte. She a very beautiful woman, sensitive and clever, but I think that she should improve in horse riding before competiting at high level. I disapprove some of her words about the Olympic Games, the glamorous side of horse riding, but I don't hate her, and you know what? I even quite admire her for doing it. Indeed, she's a wealthy youg girl, often introduced as a socialite. But with horse riding, she's trying to give a sense to her life. She could simply live of her family wealth, as Eugenie does, for exemple. She could live in a scandalous way, just to make people talk about her, as Hilton or Karadashian girls. But no, she's trying to do something. Something very sane and very difficult, because horse riding is difficult, but for the moment she keeps on in it. And I hope she's going to keep on, and to improve. :)
 
LovelyKate I agree with the pen portrait of Charlotte the Rider, and Charlotte the Grimaldi personality.
You also mentioned Charlotte the Socialite.

There is no reason she could not keep these three (and more) in a kind of creative tension.
 
I wonder if she'll come to Portugal, next weekend to participate in Estoril GCT... :question: :question: :question:
 
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