Page 14 | To think that equestrian events are ridiculous

BFrazzled · 2021-08-02T22:05:12+00:00

In the Olympics. Poor horses. This ridiculous dancing in dressage, who the hell thought of that? There was one winner of the dressage contest who supposedly also won in the nineties. No mention of the horse, guess it was with a different one then [hmm]

PinniGig · 05/08/2021 01:42

@Mamanyt I don't blame you one bit. Last month we found a dead cat by the side of the road I couldn't leave for the poor owners to find. Bagged him up, put him on the back seat and took him to the vets for scanning and then contacting the owners to let him know without them having to stumble across the poor sod and be left with that trauma :(

Often wonder how people cope when their cats are out roaming all night - not that I'm either way in opinion some cats are happier outside and others seem more content to kick back and enjoy being a fat loaf of bread indoor cat but I'd never sleep.

But yeah the horse community and the dog community - never has their been two groups so at odds with each other about EVERYTHING.

Sure it's the same with cat owners too but we'll lay low and hope not to throw that into the mix and go nuclear 😂😂

Mamanyt · 05/08/2021 01:25

[quote PinniGig]@Mamanyt Oh God don't mention dogs as well you'll start an all out war!😂[/quote]
OOPS! My bad! LOL, I have a cat. An indoor cat, and have been roundly castigated in some quarters for not allowing her out. However, the world is so large, and she is so small, and that VERY busing road is SO near!

PinniGig · 05/08/2021 01:17

@Mamanyt Oh God don't mention dogs as well you'll start an all out war!😂

Mamanyt · 05/08/2021 01:10

@DroopyClematis

Isn't the Olympics about a human's prowess, not a horse's? Not a fan of using any animal for sport as it involves coercion. Just wrong.

Dressage horses are not coerced. They are trained, gently, in baby steps. Until you have seen a dressage horse "performing" in its pasture for fun, don't make judgements.

Am I to assume that you are also against having dogs on leashes? That would just as easily be called "coercion."

JulesRimetStillGleaming · 05/08/2021 01:02

To be honest, I used to ride motorbikes as well as riding horses and the same principles apply. You look round the corners and the subtle movement of leaning and pushing the handlebar slightly takes you round. You don't yank the handlebars round. It's about balance and subtlety.

Anyone want to laugh hysterically at that?

TheCrowening · 05/08/2021 00:52

And still people post who don’t appear to know one end of a horse from the other.

Pericombobulations · 05/08/2021 00:46

@lboogy

Who knew there were so many horse enthusiasts on MN.

I personally have no interest in elitist sports like equestrian events. Same with sailing. Bunch of rich people doing rich people stuff

Clearly the riding school I learnt to ride at in Bradford only attracted the local elites. The local reservoir was full of the elites too. I love the area but it is not known for having many rich locals.

The local kids got their lessons in return for mucking out etc, the conditions at the school would probably make BHS terrified but those horses and ponies were loved and well cared for.

gwenneh · 05/08/2021 00:37

@ellyeth

There was a time when it was thought acceptable to have elephants, bears and tigers performing all sorts of ridiculous tricks to entertain people. Now it is generally felt that it is wrong to exploit and degrade them in this way. Why is it OK to do the same to horses?

If I were to hazard a guess it is probably down to the fact that the former are undomesticated, endangered animals that in some cases have been hunted nearly to extinction, and the latter are domestic, purpose bred livestock who have been raised and bred to the job for literal millennia.

ellyeth · 05/08/2021 00:16

There was a time when it was thought acceptable to have elephants, bears and tigers performing all sorts of ridiculous tricks to entertain people. Now it is generally felt that it is wrong to exploit and degrade them in this way. Why is it OK to do the same to horses?

ellyeth · 05/08/2021 00:13

Yes, ghastly - and horse racing too.

PinniGig · 05/08/2021 00:02

@ChiefClerkDrumknott

All the time, yes. To move away from oncoming rain, to step aside from something they don't want to stand on, when they are excited, when they see a flower they've seen a thousand times but are in a silly mood so decide to react to it. It's generally just a way of being a bit exuberant. But yes they choose to walk sideways a lot

I identify with this comment 🤣🤣

Me too. The "Finding Nemo Crabs" springs to mind. Said flower is a threat and they will not turn their backs so walk out wide, to the side and give it the full "Hey.. hey... hey... watching you sunshine don't think I'm not wise"

ChiefClerkDrumknott · 05/08/2021 00:00

Have you ever ridden a horse? It's a very intuitive sport. The horses are anticipating your requests all the time. They want to please.

What’s in the brain goes down the rein

liveforsummer · 05/08/2021 00:00

Hahahahahahah!!! Omg I just splurted me tea out at this! Now Horses are mind readers?!?! Thinking about turning right does not 'send signals' to any muscles what an absolute load of utter tosh! Give your head a shake!!!

You sound so silly just now. This is something I say all the time to my 8 year old who is learning to ride and she's getting it. You think something, your body responds and the horse responds to your subtle body movements. Think forward, thing slower, look left. She gets it, her pony who is a newly broken youngster gets it - an Olympic level horse gets it in a way none of us could ever imagine. No head shaking needed.

ChiefClerkDrumknott · 04/08/2021 23:59

All the time, yes. To move away from oncoming rain, to step aside from something they don't want to stand on, when they are excited, when they see a flower they've seen a thousand times but are in a silly mood so decide to react to it. It's generally just a way of being a bit exuberant. But yes they choose to walk sideways a lot

I identify with this comment 🤣🤣

gwenneh · 04/08/2021 23:57

[quote PerciphonePuma]**@Naaaaah* Thinking it makes your brain send signals to your muscles and the horse can pick up on this.*

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Hahahahahahah!!! Omg I just splurted me tea out at this! Now Horses are mind readers?!?! Thinking about turning right does not 'send signals' to any muscles what an absolute load of utter tosh! Give your head a shake!!![/quote]
While this one sounds a bit out there I can assure you it’s not.

Say you are on a horse and you want to walk left. The first thing you do is think about it, and look where you want to go. The subtle shift in the weight of the seat bones is what sends the horse left. You then refine this by adding leg and then rein aids last. But the move begins with the thought and the subtle shift, not the visible aids.

The whole sport is about doing the least to get the movement you want, which is why the top riders have such utter, utter stillness. On those horses, it is possible to send multiple conflicting signals without even trying, if you are too “loud” a rider.

And yes, horses can and do naturally perform lateral (sideways) movements when they are at liberty. They will dance around one another in the field, sidle, trot in place. Observe a happy herd for a while, or watch when one horse gets turned out with mates. It’s easy to spot then.

liveforsummer · 04/08/2021 23:52

Horses naturally walk sideways do they?!

All the time, yes. To move away from oncoming rain, to step aside from something they don't want to stand on, when they are excited, when they see a flower they've seen a thousand times but are in a silly mood so decide to react to it. It's generally just a way of being a bit exuberant. But yes they choose to walk sideways a lot

JulesRimetStillGleaming · 04/08/2021 23:48

[quote PerciphonePuma]**@Naaaaah* Thinking it makes your brain send signals to your muscles and the horse can pick up on this.*

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Hahahahahahah!!! Omg I just splurted me tea out at this! Now Horses are mind readers?!?! Thinking about turning right does not 'send signals' to any muscles what an absolute load of utter tosh! Give your head a shake!!![/quote]

Have you ever ridden a horse? It's a very intuitive sport. The horses are anticipating your requests all the time. They want to please.

JulesRimetStillGleaming · 04/08/2021 23:47

Having competed in equestrian events and gymnastics in my youth, I can one million percent confirm that the equestrian events is not where there are safeguarding issues. The horses are very well cared for; the gymnasts not so much so.

PerciphonePuma · 04/08/2021 23:46

@Naaaaah Thinking it makes your brain send signals to your muscles and the horse can pick up on this.

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Hahahahahahah!!! Omg I just splurted me tea out at this! Now Horses are mind readers?!?! Thinking about turning right does not 'send signals' to any muscles what an absolute load of utter tosh! Give your head a shake!!!

ChiefClerkDrumknott · 04/08/2021 23:46

I’m STILL waiting for specifics about which horses looked abused, stressed and coerced.

Personally, the nearest for me is Gal’s horse, but many seem to disagree. Apart from him I haven’t seen one horse who looked distressed.

If you think you can make half a tonne of animal do something it doesn’t want to, please have a word with this idiot who, last year, at almost 20 years and of vast experience, decided to spin and piss off with me because there was a chair on the lane

To think that equestrian events are ridiculous

liveforsummer · 04/08/2021 23:42

Imagine how scared they would've been on the cargo flight/s

There is plenty footage on SM of the horses on the flights looking calm and relaxed. These horses are used to travelling and if they arrived distressed they'd not perform at their best. As said earlier the ones who have one the medals have travelled some of the furthest distances which shows or doesn't affect them badly

PerciphonePuma · 04/08/2021 23:41

@DufferMum

My sister worked in an office next to a farm where the horses did dressage. She said the horses used to spend a lot of time doing the moves when they were in the field by themselves, Hugh trotting up and down, going sideways etc. It was the favourite thing to show to guests to the office. The horses obviously enjoyed it.

That's so sad

PerciphonePuma · 04/08/2021 23:38

@NotMyCat

The thing is, they're not tricks. As in me teaching the cat to give me his paw is a trick because he wouldn't naturally do it The movements in dressage are movements that horses naturally do, even when they haven't been "taught" So it's harnessing that movement and teaching that a specific aid equals that movement

It's incredibly skilled but people don't see it because the skill is making it look like you are sitting doing nothing. There's a million things going through your head (you have to remember the test for one!), your stomach muscles are screaming, and the slightest wrong move of your weight and your horse will respond. It is years and years of work

So not only do you have to have a skilled and fit rider, you have to have a skilled and fit horse AND they have to be a perfect partnership

The movements in dressage are movements that horses naturally do

Horses naturally walk sideways do they?!

Funny, some PPs up thread have defended Dressage by saying that the whole point is that they're moves horses DON'T naturally do. Then you say they are.... Which is it?!?!

PerciphonePuma · 04/08/2021 23:31

@bluewanda

No, just that they shouldn’t be trained at all, to perform tricks for humans , to win medals.

I agree. What’s the difference between this and the circus?

Exactly!

PerciphonePuma · 04/08/2021 23:30

@Carthief

What would you rather see in the olympics?

Sexually abused half starved gymnasts who are permanently stunted due to the training regime since they were 3?

13 year old skate board enthusiasts who fall off every 3 minutes whilst wearing no safety gear?

Testosterone laden athletes running 100m?

People assaulting each other in the name of sport aka “boxing”

Oh wait, you can watch those too.

Of all the events in the Olympics the horses are possibly the least ridiculous and the ones with the greatest welfare standards, it’s not the horses I worry about.

Those are some horrendous allegations you've made there.... Do you have proof of all of these please?