To think that equestrian events are ridiculous

|allLobotomisedIceSkatingFan Tue 03-Aug-21 08:02:18
I think they're absurd, too. And that's at best - personally, my view is that it's Charro dancing in 'The Rutshire Chronicles' garb. Stick a horse in a field for ten years and it'll never occur to it to jump over a fence: 'not coerced' my left tit.

My daughters horse jumps fences for fun put her in a paddock in the morning she will not be where you put her when you go back. At the moment she is away she is doing the same thing in fact she jumped 2 5 bar gates yesterday so horses will jump without being coerced, and she she not the only one we have had that has jumped into the next paddock. we have 8 horses and ponies at the moment and no we are not rich I'm retired on state pension, single daughter with 2 children and works, no high power job. where I live there is a hugh amount of horses an no one I know has money

I don't understand why on earth they need to make the horses dance ffs! 🤪 Totally unnecessary, poor things.

I enjoy the Cross Country but I do think it should've been in cooler temperatures - if there weren't any at this time on year in Japan, then they shouldn't have gone ahead. You could hear the poor horses gasping and the steam coming off them.

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

Can't find the video now but there was some really old footage of a lass riding XC at she went arse over tit at once fence and was hanging on and desperately trying to clamber her way back up and I swear that horse just stood there and let her struggle.

Like he was giving it "You know what? You got yourself in that mess - you can get yourself out of it" and he stood there ears pricked looking around like it was a regular Sunday morning and he was just waiting for the kettle to boil. No fussed at all and incredibly after what felt like an eternity she managed to get back up and pull the most impressive save I've ever seen.

I've ridden horses that would just go off and suddenly decide to do their own thing one was murder. He'd just have a do now and then "You know what? I think we should go this way... yeah let's go this way instead" and I could sense when he was gearing up to go off and when he'd decided on it, sod all else I could do but roll with it and ride it out.

This one tickles me. Just decides to do a sharp left and you can tell by how his rider takes that gate she'd been there and done that a few times already. He's a lot bigger and stronger so no point fighting him it's safer to go with him and go with him she does

@a1poshpaws

That is really funny I've never seen that before! He full on went "Nah.. nah can't be arsed today just not in the mood for it" Dunno what's funnier his nonchalant expression of his jockey kicking like a demon to no effect whatsoever.

As to your comment about it being about a human's prowess - to be able to ride well at ALL, never mind at a competitive level, takes fitness, knowledge and finesse. Anyone can sit on a lovely, placid pony-trekking pony: but that doesn't make them a rider, it just makes them a passenger.

No horse - or pony for that matter - will jump an obstacle that overfaces it. That's why you get refusals and runouts.

Just to give you one example to illustrate that coercion's not involved I'm going to include a link to one of the best sprinters of all time, an Australian horse who won almost $AUD 9 million before he made the decision that he didn't want to race anymore. (As you'll read in the article he's much loved and in a new career now, NOT the dog food factory.)

www.smh.com.au/sport/stubborn-as-a-mule-the-champion-racehorse-that-went-on-strike-20191007-p52ydd.html

[quote imamearcat]@liveforsummer normal fences are up to 6 to 7 feet wide, the water jump is up to 4.5 meters (14 feet!)! He must be jumping at least 20 feet wide there. [/quote]
I was only guessing from the photo re the width but wow, and he's jumping it like there is an imaginary 6ft high rail there too

@liveforsummer The suffering 😭😭

Nah, does anyone really think that horse looks anything other than completely happy in his job? I’d put money on it being harder to hold him back than to let him at the jumps 🤣🤣

As for a sport for posh, rich people. Clearly you’ve never been on your average livery yard…

@VeryLongBeeeep
Glenfly, a member of the Brazilian 3DE team, is an ex-racehorse who raced at the likes of Towcester. (Incidentally, his rider withdrew the horse after the cross-country phase because he felt the showjumping would be too much for him, demonstrating how riders at all levels are capable of putting the welfare of his horse above their personal quest for glory.)

That’s good to know, thank you

@liveforsummer normal fences are up to 6 to 7 feet wide, the water jump is up to 4.5 meters (14 feet!)! He must be jumping at least 20 feet wide there.

He took some absolutely flyers! He must be one of the best showjumpers in the world, surely

Bloody hell @liveforsummer that horse has some scope!! What I noticed is, most horses shorten so they don't get too close, Explosion seems to shorten to make sure he can stand off!? Every fence he's a mile off but must be the way he likes it?

And anyone who knows the slightest thing about horse body language knows that horse is far from unhappy

[quote AnnieSnap]@PinniGig I’d quite like to see anyone using the phrase “Faffing about on a horse”, put on the back of a competition horse to see how long they could faff become being on the ground in pain![/quote]
Yeah it's all pretty standard stuff. Just pick a horse that's poppin yo

Look at him faffing about up there. Just sitting there! 🙃

People are just so bloody miserable and stupid. We've done really well at something and the team have done amazing but apparently it's 'cruel', 'ridiculous' and only done by 'posh people'.

Time and time again people have given good evidence that none of those things are true!

Every single horse in team GB has been ridden beautifully and has looked so happy and comfortable. They have done amazingly we should be proud of the horses and the riders not having to defend them to idiots!

Horses are inherently expensive - they’re large animals and need specialist care and equipment. But they inspire enormous devotion in those who love them, and for most people there can be ways to make it work if the will is there. It’s simply not accurate to say it’s all ‘toffs’, and it does a great disservice to the work ordinary people put in to suggest otherwise.

This is so true, my dc ride because we pay for a part share in ponies who's owners could not afford them without having sharers. It's a LOT of work on my part as I have to help them learn to do everything, have to do all the stable jobs, teach them to ride as can't afford instructors but I can do this to the best of my ability because my low earning parents made sacrifices for me to learn too. No one at our yard are even close to wealthy. They have jobs such as care assistants, hairdressers and office admin.

Before, not become 🙄

@PinniGig I’d quite like to see anyone using the phrase “Faffing about on a horse”, put on the back of a competition horse to see how long they could faff become being on the ground in pain!

"Hey Mum / Dad guess what? I'm going to the Olympics!!"
"Ooh really what you doing?"
"Faffing and fucking about on a horse they're letting me on the team"
(all together) Yaaaaaaaayyy!!!

AND NOW FAFFING ON A HORSE FOR GREAT BRITAIN...

I used to work on a yard in the holidays when I was a student and the overwhelming majority of the kids I taught were not from wealthy backgrounds. We let them ride regularly in exchange for helping out - they got points for poo picking, grooming, tack cleaning, mucking out, leading little children during lessons etc, and when they reached a certain number of points (usually a day’s work) they got a ride. All work they were delighted to do because they loved horses and wanted to be around them.

Many of them ended up with their own ponies because that’s what their family prioritised. One girl who I’m still in touch with now was the daughter of a postie and a man who worked at the butcher’s counter in Tesco, got a lovely pony and was allowed to keep it at the yard on a very reduced rate because she helped out when she was there looking after her own. She’s now a hairdresser and still has a horse.

Horses are inherently expensive - they’re large animals and need specialist care and equipment. But they inspire enormous devotion in those who love them, and for most people there can be ways to make it work if the will is there. It’s simply not accurate to say it’s all ‘toffs’, and it does a great disservice to the work ordinary people put in to suggest otherwise.

I love the equestrian events. They take incredible skill. I was a decent 5K runner years ago (19 minutes) and that was a damn sight easier for me than show jumping, which most riders can do to a point, but far fewer at Grand Prix level.

Also, my dad was a bus driver and I rode from 8-18, and on and off throughout my adulthood. I grew up in the countryside, which does make it easier to access, but I knew a ton of working-class kids who were competitive pony riders.

I agree

Faffing about on a horse should not be an olympic sport.