To think horses do not belong in the Olympics

[StunningCunt]

They've got this horse prancing sideways with a toff in a top hat on the top, and they are devoting hours of TV coverage because we might get a gold medal in this nonsense?

Why don't they just have a dog show there and be done with it?

Competitive sheep herding?

Motor racing?

"Utterly subjective performance of an animal" - cross country and show jumping elements - scores are based on faults - knock downs / refusals / falls / time fautls - the scoring is objective - its yes / no on these.

The dressage elements - based on scoring of particular moves - set criteria for how it should be judged, just like diving, gymnastics, synchronised swimming.

As for it depending on the animal, so many posters have provided a counter argument I'm not going to repeat it.

Surely though that the fact a horse is an animal, not a machine, that your performance can be determined on its mood, makes the achievements of the equestrian teams all the greater? Not only do the riders have to be in peak physical condition, so do the horses. Not only do the riders have to be on absolute top form, so do the horses. To be able to execute such precision in such challenging moves is an incredible feat.

I would equate dressage riders/horses with gymnasts; show jumpers with high/long jumpers, sprinters and steep-chasers; and 3 day eventers as decathletes.

Like many others my first thought was Harvey Smith == toff!

I remember when I was younger and a reasonably competant rider getting on an ex point-to-point horse (without being told he was an ex p-t-p ). I leave you to guess how many seconds it was before I was lying on my back on the ground with the horse jumping over me (luckily). I got back on and he calmed down a bit apart from the obligatory dancing sideways every time a leaf moved.

As others have said you really shouldn't underestimate how difficult these horses are to ride well.

Would Chris Hoy do as well on anyone else's bike? I don't know much about it but I'd have thought there were various tweaks and adjustments. I'm pretty sure that's the case with the boats - there's all sorts of bits and bobs on a 'standard' boat which you can tune.

The rider's skill is vital to the partnership. obviously.

I recall way back in the day when I had a lovely old, grumpy, Dutch Warmblood gelding. He was a lovely horse, good breeding, solid, reliable and dependable. We never did brilliantly- just pony club stuff, but I was uber ambitious (and worked my socks off at Morrisons after school and at weekends to pay for his livery- no rich parents for me).

Anyway- we were lucky enough to participate in a masterclass run by David Green. And at one point, to demonstrate what he was asking of me, he got on my horse. The transformation was unbelievable. from grumpy bad tempered plodding boy, my horse changed infront of my eyes. He just kind of floated. It was then, that I realised, that at the very top levels, you need that something extra. I knew that I would never ever be more than a jobbing rider. It was quite heartbreaking at the time.

I love the horsey stuff. yabu and jealous of something.

Some poor spanish bloke lost out in the cycling road race because his chain snapped. It isn't true that his performance would have been unaffected by swapping bikes with Bradley Wiggins. And it didn't occur to anyone to think that the difference between the faulty bike and the other bikes undermined the status of cycling as a sport. The need to maintain your bike in pristine condition is just a factor built into that particular sport.

StunningCunt, you are just that, although I'm sure you already know that

YABU !
Completely disagree with op.
What other Olympic sport do women and men compete on equal terms against one another.
Also, the equestrian team had Mary King who is 52 yrs old. What a great role model.
The horses are top class athletes too and it is a special relationship between rider and horse.
It's a team sport.

Er, I think the fact that they have a 52-year-old competing just goes to show it shouldn't be in the Olympics. They might as well do cake baking. I'm sure 52-year-olds can do that well too.

52-year-olds can't even play snooker at a competitive level, so what are they doing in the Olympics?

Apparently Mary King is a graduate of the Evendine Court School of Domestic Economy, so I guess she might do rather well in the cake baking.

cunt, the more you post, the more ignorant you make yourself sound.

Mary King has won golds at Olympics, World and European championships. She has won Badminton several times, Burghley too.

Before you judge the riders' achievements, I suggest you take a 17hh warm blood around Badminton cross country course, if you don't run screaming at the first fence (or even when you first sit on the horse), then come back here and comment. Or take QueenofDiamonds up on her kind offer, if you can ride her horse for 20 minutes without breaking out in a cold sweat, then come back here and comment. Or even sit on a staid old pony from a riding school, who is used to complete novices kicking and yanking it to buggery, for an hour. If you can walk, without pain for the next few days, then come back here and comment.

Being an inverse snob and ageist are really not terribly endearing character traits.

There was a 71 year old competed last week.

Poor you, if only sour grapes were an Olympic sport.

Why does being 52 yo mean that you shouldn't be at the Olympics? Honestly, why?

My father was always one for quotes CUNT whoops caps. One of his favourites, which I think applies to you is, "better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt".

Animal acts aren't allowed in circuses anymore. How is dressage any different?

Referring back to Fireandashes - Matthew Raas wasn't selected because he has glandular fever.....apparently!

Sour grapes?

I'm not bitter, I just think it's ridiculous that horses are in the Olympics.

I don't doubt that Mary King is good at riding a horse, just as Mary Berry is good at baking a cake, or Robin Page at rounding up sheep.

That doesn't make these in anyway Olympic activities, any more than Chess, Scrabble, or shoot-em-up video games.

sunflower how is it in any way the same?

Chris Hoy's bike is part of the reason he has won golds- it is tailor made for him and him alone. Ben Ainslie got his boat back from display in order to race - as he couldn't find one that would go as fast.

sunflower I and others have addressed that point at length, if you bother to read the thread.

YABVVVU Why shouldn't people be able to compete if the are nearing retirement age? One of the dressage competitors is 71 and he did really well.

The Olympics shouldn't be based around age it should be around your ability. Chris Hoy and Victoria Pendleton retired today at 36 and 31. If you can have a longer career on horseback then why not.
Have you ever sat on a horse? It takes skill to make it do what you want it to do. I have tried dressage, at a very low level and it is hard, you have to remember the test, not the horse and you can't just sit and coast, you have to tell that horse what to do all the time. As you get better and nearer GP standard these aids you give them look more subtle but they are still kicking and flexing reins and shifting their seat to signal to the horse what they want them to do.

And who said you can't play snooker at 52, Steve Davis played in the Worlds last year and he most be getting on for 50. He might not of done very well but he still played and gave it a shot

unusual and discontinued events Tandem cycling for Hoy and Pendleton, Live pigeon shooting for the more down to earth of us and rope climb, the torture of gym class.

OP if you think age should be a bar to Olympic participation (an ignorant view counter to the ethos of the Games) then heaven help you when Rio rolls round. One of the new sports there is golf, and AFAIK there have been six PGA winners aged over 50. Best stock up on some blood pressure pills!