Short list update

I would like to see Paddy added. At least have him there as an option and see how he is doing and what is sound and going well then as well.

I would love to see Last Monarch make the list. I really really like that horse.

8th National ROLEX 4* CHAMPION HIGHEST PLACED USA OWNER/RIDER
14th international ROLEX 4*
7th The Fork 3*
2nd RedHills Advanced
14th Fairhill 3*
2nd Morven Advanced
8th Five Points Advanced
9th Jersey 3*
5th The Fork 3*
3rd The Fork 3*
7th Rocking Horse Advanced

Just wanted to point out Lainey Ashker's record with Anthony Patch for the past 2 years.

When will the US name team?

Paul the Octopus. He's a clever fellow.

You have to go with horses that have been around a four star XC and done a four star stadium with minimal bleeding afterward. You simply cannot send a three star horse to the world championship and HOPE they get thru, that is lunacy. You would only even consider such horses if ALL your four star horses were lame. And very lame.

>>Callie: agree
>>*******: Laine has a ton of fans, no doubt, but to my knowledge she didn't apply for the WEG team which takes her out of consideration in all but the most extreme circumstances.
>>tmb: sometime after the AECs (WEG selection trials)
>>Anonymous: agree, but pick another name
>>Retreadeventer: agree, although yet another reality of our sport that most people don't understand is that if you walk most 4* horses out of their stall and jog them, they will be at least a 1/5. By the time a horse gets to that level, it's almost certain they have some kind of issue developing, usually in the front end, and of course they require maintenance behind.

How about Manfred or Georg? :-)

retreadeventer, i agree, it makes no sense to send a 3 * horse, and hope it's a 4* horse at the World's, we all agree even then you have no guarantee, but why would you send an uncertainty?

They are ALL unsound to some degree, you just try to pick the unsoundness that a team vet feels comfortable with -- i.e., something that responds to legal treatment (icing, magnetic, etc.). You would try and stay away from horses with things, or developing things, that can't be legally treated. You want a horse that you are pretty sure you can get thru the first jog, and at least 50 percent sure you can get thru the 2nd, and that depends on getting around clean on XC. (A clean jumping horse is less likely to have something happen on course, knocking them out of the competition.) A coach is worried about dressage judging and that magical 50 point threshold, and again, worried about that stadium thing at the end of the competition. He's looking for steely nerves from riders selected as well as capable horseflesh. Buck, Phillip and Becky look at the top of this heap to me right now. The other three have to be chosen based on soundness and four star street cred. After those three, it gets dicey since WE don't know how sound the rest of the pack is. This is where you really wish you had a Jack Le Goff picking -- he was a wiz at correctly predicting peaking horses and riders, to the dismay of the rest of the world...

The selectors would be idiotic not to include kim and Paddy. Even if she does have 12 jumping faults in the show jumping she can get the team up there and in the hunt with her first two phases. She has ice in her veins and i bet she is doing everything humanly and horsley possible right now to correct Paddy's non-chalance over the colored poles.

I think there are circumstances where it may make some sense from the selector's standpoint to send a 3* horse, but I've always thought it was a tough position to put the rider in. That is choosing between team aspirations and having a horse step up to that level at perhaps a not ideal time. Would Mandiba ultimately ended up a more consistent horse if he hadn't been sent to Beijing? That was a lot to put on a young horse with no 4* miles.

Kim 100% deserves to go to WEGs... but not this year or on this horse.

Jen I feel has been overlooked each year, which is really unfortunate. She is talented, quiet and gutsy. While her dressage isn't going to place her in the top 10, she can still hold her own being in the top 50% at least, which is saying more than some riders "higher" on the list. Plus, the great thing about eventing is that there are two other phases entirely, both of which she has down pact. While she has had bad luck in the last two Kentucky four stars, every other four star she has done very well in.

Tryon has been very quiet, entering events and then withdrawing again. The last time she and Leyland completed a XC was in late March 2010 and the last time she and Leyland placed above 5th place in any event was March of 2009. I'm just lost as to why she is such a surefire candidate with this mount.

Once you get past the obvious selections, depending on who else is sound, I agree the The Good Witch deserves a shot, but to say that they have X-C down pat is misleading. They've fallen twice on the WEG course (one horse fall, one rider fall, if I'm not mistaken).
One the other hand, a look at their dressage results shows that they're not as bad as people like to imply.

With respect to Amy and Leyland, unless something is going on that we don't know about, I suspect that their uneven schedule has more to do with Amy's soundness than the horse's as she's not been riding all that much even on her other horses. If I'm not mistaken, Leyland just did an Intermediate with one of her students/grooms? as HC, so he's out and about even if Amy's not. They're scheduled for Rebecca Farm at the end of the month so we'll see. I think they'll be on the team if they're sound.

If WEG were anywhere other than Kentucky, I wouldn't put Becky and Comet on the team but they seem to step up in Kentucky.

Once again our commenters are demonstrating how Eventing Nation has the smartest readers in the horse world.

I didn't want to get into the Amy situation, because Amy tends to be pretty reserved and I want to respect that. But, Elaine is pretty much on top of the situation. Leyland has done a couple of prelims this summer with another rider-just did dressage at one and finished on a 33 at the second. I completely agree that if both Amy and Leyland are sound they will make the team, if only because you want Amy's incredible mental toughness.

It's an interesting argument with Comet between a very spotty 4* record, but the fact that, as Elaine points out, he tends to do well at Kentucky. Gun to my head right now: Woodburn, Ballynoe Castle, Neville, Leyland on the team, Mandiba, Comet as individuals, and Pawlow waiting for someone to drop because of soundness which will inevitably happen.

John, you are probably correct with your team selections, but I wouldn't rule out Last Monarch as the lady in waiting. The selectors were very impressed with his XC at Rolex.

Would love to see Stewie on that team. He was just awesome at Rolex and Holly can get the job done.

Comet will be there. He is highly respected outside of the US as one of the world's GREATEST event horses right now. . .

I agree Comet will be there but I think that it will be extremely important for Becky to keep herself together - both to get good results at WEG itself and to show that she is an international competitor.

Adore Comet though - we need to clone him.

John,
I agree with your "gun to the head" call, except I'd have Karen on the team and No Amy.
You can't have had the year she's having and be expected to step up and actually perform at the big show.
Pawlow deserves to go