I half agree, half desagree with you FanofOmanco.
I Charlotte loves the sport whether she does well or not.
I'd say that she loves the sport independently of her Gucci contract. She first returned to showjumping and then came the Gucci contract.
But showjumping is a sport that you can't keep on practising if you don't do well (I don't mean riding high level but simply fiinishing you parcours, whatever the height without minor incidents).
First because it's dangerous and you get scared and suffer.
And second because it's not like a other sports. You can suck at football, tennis or voleyball and still have fun at it playing with your friends and entering competitions appropiate to your level. You will never be ridiculous because you will be among your peers with no public.
Sadly, showjumping allows you to enter public competitions you are nor ready for. And you are on your own, in the middle of a track, with megaphony shouting your name and the public looking at you (even more if your name is charlotte casiraghi).
Performing so poorly once and again in front of everybody with all eyes on you it's a harsh experience. You can't enjoy that even if you love horses.
Gucci has sold lots of custom riding boots because of Charlotte in addition to fashion.
I don't think so. I believe that the Gucci riding boots are designed exclusively for Charlotte and Edwina. That's their value. They are something exceptional nobody but them can wear, increasing the appetite of everybody else to own something Gucci.
Also, Gucci is not in the business of riding gear and clothes. They do it for Charlotte, as brand image, but they don't want to make a business of it.
All pros and most serious amateur riders own custom made boots (they are a necessity because don't fit like normal street boots), but the Gucci boots are only for Charlotte and Edwina.
Edwina may be the best woman rider but she only got the Gucci job because of Charlotte. Edwina said so herself in an interview.
I agree 100%. Riders are not famous like football players, tennis players, F-1 drivers, etc... They aren't worth investing on them this way. Unless you are Charlotte's partner.
I also believe she is an investor in the GCT
I think you hit a clue here and I totally agree with you. She has money and she follows the tour so closely. Even before her Gucci contract. I'm quite certain that she is an investor aswell.
I doubt the top riders are making fun of her. Their paychecks are going up because of her.
Who do think is financing the GCT? It's' people like PC, Charlotte, Athina Onassis, Marta Ortega and Edward de Rothschild. Athina is the only pro in the bunch.
Oh, but THEY ARE! They were already doing it last year when she was still getting half decent results (I remember some really hurtful conversations with riders and journalists after the Valencia GCT days), so I can only imagine what's happening this year.
And the fact that she is spending a lot of money on showjumping only enances the hilarity factor!! That's the way the horse people' heads work!
There is nothing that riders love better that to laugh at little rich heiress who can't ride but have all the money in the world to buy good horses and ti crack them one after the other. They even celebrate with laughs when someone makes them buy a new horse or when they are ripped off by their trainers! (something very very usual, it's not just Thierry)
Also, the fact that she is being laughed at has nothing to be with her being a pro or an amateur.
Athina and Marta have never been laughed at that way as far as I know. From what I heard Athina is always been considered someone who doesn't bother the horse, doesn't detract from him. She is not a first rank rider but she doesn't waste her money. She buys the most appropiate horse she can find, she pays for it and she rides it correctly.
Marta has never been laughed at because she is also a correct rider who doesn't pretend to be something she is not and she has invested her money wisely. She always stated that she was just an amateur and she always did correctly in the competitions she entered.
Her father built a high class showjumping center in their town but the brought brilliant riders like Michel Robert to it. Now, she may invest in her husband horses, but Sergio Álvarez Moya is a very good rider.
Now, I can tell you that the
Infanta Elena is generaly laughed at!! A lot! Her career is not as surreal as Charlotte's one because at least she stays mainly at home and doesn't go riding CSI around the world, but she has no talent whatsoever.
Also, she usually doesn't warm-up her horses herself. She has an instructor who does all the job at leaves the horse ready for her just to jump on it, and finish the course.
But even so she is less laughed at than Charlotte because neither her or her trainer were never caught telling the press that they wanted to be pros or go to the olympics and she doesn't waste money like a fool. She pays good horses who are right for her and that's it.
Now, Charlotte:
- She made the mistake of letting her trainer say that she was going to the Olympics and didn't correct him (at least she could have said: it would be nice but I know it would be very very difficult and they are so many other talented riders, bla bla bla).
- She spends a lot of money and buys a lot of horses that don't suit her (laughing factor number one among the equestrians).
- She has the worst results ever. Eliminations are often a laughing matter if the rider is not your friend (and she is rich).
- Oh, and I forgot! The Gucci clothes!! There is an unwritten rule among showjumpers. If you are not a little kid, you don't overdress unless you are riding high level or you know you are going to have good results. Showjumping aficionados can be mean! When you are not sure of your capacities or you are jumping in the lower divisions you usually wear discreet riding gear because you don't want people to say "who does she think she is? She is riding a 1.10!" or if you are not sure you are going to do well you don't want to know people are thinking: "ha, ha, ha, she dressed up for that". And you don't wear red if you are jumping lower than 1'20!
Now, Charlotte is wearing exclusively designed Gucci clothes and horse gear! She even was in red a few month ago when she was repetedly eliminated with Tintero in a 1.10!
Oh, GOd how I would wish to be dressed in a current brand during those moments if I was her!
Please, understand, I am not saying that it is bad for Gucci. 99'99% of people in the world don't know this and they will want to buy Gucci clothes because they look so good on Charlotte Casiraghi when she is riding.
But I am sure the fact that she is dressed by them only increases the laughs of the mean fellow riders.
