Ledyard 1975

[grabmaneandgo]

I just found this vid on YouTube. It is sooo cool!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_d3YjMo5SE

[denny]

That`s a great video. The very last shot is of Royal Core, a mare that I used to own, and sold to Essie Perkins.

I evented her son, Core Buff, and there are still descendents around even now.

[joharavhf]

Don't hit me for saying this......but.....

SOOOOO cool to see eventing prior to my birth year :eek:

Seriously, very very cool!

[Lori T]

Very cool and a good psyche for me before we do our first BN tomorrow!!

[Kanga]

Denny,

Wasn't 1977 the big Ledyard year?

Evan

[QuillcoteFarm]

Gosh, I remember sitting down in that "pit" kinda and watching the coffin, there were some pretty scary rides through that :eek: I also remember that bank that was straight up and straight down, so many cool fences, they seemed to use the terrain very well then!

[denny]

There were 3, all big and key to US eventing in that era, 1973, 1975, and 1977.

All brought European riders to the US, paid for, in part, I believe, by Neil and Helen Ayer.

[Alterageous]

I have to say it is kind of refreshing to see courses the way they used to ride. You watch some riders gallop down to a fence and their position hardly changes as the horse jumps up beneath them because the course rides forward and flowing. It's interesting to contrast that to some of the trappier rides of today, often by some of the same riders.

[IrishDeclan]

I have to say it is kind of refreshing to see courses the way they used to ride. You watch some riders gallop down to a fence and their position hardly changes as the horse jumps up beneath them because the course rides forward and flowing. It's interesting to contrast that to some of the trappier rides of today, often by some of the same riders.

I was just thinking the exact same thing. It seems much more straight forward with big galloping fences that are meant to be jumped out of stride. I didn't see anybody have to return to a showjumping canter in order to negotiate a 4-5 part combination.:D

[mbarrett]

I have to say it is kind of refreshing to see courses the way they used to ride. You watch some riders gallop down to a fence and their position hardly changes as the horse jumps up beneath them because the course rides forward and flowing. It's interesting to contrast that to some of the trappier rides of today, often by some of the same riders.

I was going to say the same thing. There is no "yank and pull" by the riders that you see all too much today. All the horses are jumping out of a beautiful galloping rhythm. No herky jerky strides up to the fence. Then again, the Ledyard '75 course wasn't as technical as courses today, but that's no excuse to "yank and pull."

What a fun video.

[evd]

Does anyone know...was Ledyard '75 the event that they used as footage for International Velvet?

[Merle]

That was awesome!!! I wish the courses were like that nowadays.

I didn't see any body protectors - were they not usually worn back then?

[Kanga]

IMDB.com (Internatiional Movie Database) states that International Velvet debuted in the United States July 19, 1978, in NY, NY, the city so great they named it twice. Guessing it could be 1975 or 1977.

Evan

[Alterageous]

Does anyone know...was Ledyard '75 the event that they used as footage for International Velvet?

I believe it was ledyard '77.

[rennyben]

that was awesome! Thanks for sharing. :):)
Besides the riding style - I noticed a few things:
1. The horses look so fit, and so workman like -- I loved it. I'm not sure how to describe the difference -- maybe they were a different kind of fit bc of the long format - maybe the lack of warmbloods...
2. the airyness of the jumps -- and I think I spotted a few without groundlines
3. style -- I mean the tack, colors and apparel -- I'm sure at the time those were the duds to be seen in -- and I wonder if 25 years from now people will look back and think how dated our courses, tack, etc..are. I mean, in the future will pink be as "sooo early 2000" as neon colors are soo 1980s?

[Alterageous]

That was awesome!!! I wish the courses were like that nowadays.

I didn't see any body protectors - were they not usually worn back then?

Denny can better answer this but, like true safety helmets, they were few and far between (and not all that protective, anyway).

[snoopy]

I believe it was ledyard '77.


This is correct.

[Kanga]

I have been thinking the same thing, a couple years before I got there.

[Black Points]

Thanks for posting that video. Brought back many memories as that was the first big event I went to and I had just started eventing. I sat at the coffin for a long time awed by that combo. Seems to me I saw Princess Anne either retire of get eliminated at the elephant trap that year.

I also went in 77 and saw Poltroon and I think that was when we watched them film Kim Walnes and The Grey Goose for a movie. Was that International Velvet?

Mary

[frugalannie]

His Greyness rocks.

[ThirdCharm]

Was that second horse on xc an app? With the black n white pad?

Jennifer

[War Admiral]

Cool vid. I spectated at all 3; fun times!

It's fun to watch the stadium, too - I used to just looooove that Myopia coop, painted in the hunt colors. They used it at regular H/J shows too.

Thanks so much for sharing these, His Grayness!

[RiverBendPol]

Body protectors didn't become 'suggested' until after 1990. I can't remember when they became required. 1993?

Remarkable too, no frangible pins, no mouse heads jutting out of cheese wedges, jumps were big and airy and horses just happily jumped them. Probably bc the horses had already warmed up and cooled down over A and C, and had gotten all kinds of confidence over phase B. Huh. I wonder if maybe those guys knew something back in those days that people nowadays have FORGOTTEN or perhaps have chosen to ignore.