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?

I keep chuckling imagining buff herders

There are a lot of "sports" whose inclusion in the Olympics is dubious (BMX biking, archery, shooting). It seems the only sports that are "valid" are those where the competitive difference is measured in 1/10 ths of a second (or as in sprinting 1/100 ths of a second). You have the question whether the whole event is really that necessary in the days of international competitions of every sub-sport imaginable.

TheDreadedFoosa

We have sheep herding events at other shows, i actually miss 'one man and his dog' .

thedreaded I'm crying with laughter, I can't stop. I'm in a public place too. Having visions of water polo! Thank you

And if you can't do dressage you can't showjump. It's the foundation equestrian discipline.

Equestrian sports are one of the few sports that men and women compete on equal terms head to head. That may make a difference to some people. I enjoy watching all of them :)

Making it look easy is the skill. It takes hours of training the horse and rider to be separate athletes and to work as a team. Men and women compete together
I compete in dressage, not at that level and have absolutely no money

The horse's mood and temper and fitness are all part of the context in which the rider excels -- just like the tide and the wind are part of the context in which a sailor excels, or the competing strategies of other runners are part of the context in which a middle-distance runner excels. Also, mood, temper, fitness of the horse will all have been refined in training, just as an athlete will have refined her fitness and psychological approach in training. That refinement is a further part of the rider's skill. I don't get why it is hard to see this. Is it just a case of feeling annoyed by rich people? That annoyance is fair enough but is hardly the basis for deciding what counts as a sport.

Equestrian always gets seen as elitist. Personally I am just happy we may take a medal

I think all the horse sports are brilliant.

God knows how anyone stays on a horse when they start running away, hats off to them that's what I say

I might have been more inclined to agree with the OP had it not included "toff in a top hat". Snobbery's never cool, either way.

It's got nothing to do with rich people, I haven't even mentioned rich people.

It's not hard to "get" what you're saying OatyBeatie. I understand perfectly well what you're saying, I just don't agree.

getorf I ride racehorses & can assure you that when they decide they are going its the fucking terror adrenaline that keeps me on

I know zukie - he was a down to earth Yorkshireman (?) who looked very bad-tempered all the time! Not a toff by any stretch of the imagination!

If the horses did not like it then they woulddn't do it as they say "you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink". It takes a great deal of skill to compete in dressage.

I live in a HA house and my children ride, at my local country park, all of the children that go are working class, it isn't a upper class sport.

My back ground is working class, my DH's is Southern Irish, it is a shame that these skills/past times are dying out.

Ferret and hawk keeping, would keep the lads in my area off the streets and teach them dedication.

My DD has moderate LD's but rides beautifully, it has given her so much, that is why 'riding for the disabled' is actively encouraged.

OP have my very first

The equestrian stuff is the best part of the olympics for me, because its MY sport. The sport I can do and have competed in myself. I don't "get" other sports probably because I don't understand the rules or point scoring etc. Doesn't mean I think it doesn't belong in the olympics. How very rude to suggest the rider is a 'toff', due to the smart dress code of dressage.

Crikey you ride racehorses?

I have only been on a horse a few times in my life. One started to TROT and I thought I was going to fall off at the speed. It was huge as well, a great big massive 8 foot tall shire horse (ish).

I can't imagine the terror of sitting on top of one when it jumps over things, and running down hills. Christ.

What's the difference between what the horses are doing here, and what the animals do in circuses? Surely in both instances the animals are 'performing' for our entertainment, and are not doing things they would do naturally?

I don't care who the rider is, and I'm not involved in horses, it's a genuine question.

I love equestrian events. At least they do their jumping on horses. I was annoying dh watching the steeplechase while muttering "they all look like they've forgotten their horses". I mean really, why would you fling yourself around a track over jumps without a horse?

Lots of sports are 'elitist'. Anything which requires serious kit can be hard to access. But there's a good mix at the Olympics, its not as though its all sports which are hard to access.

what about him? not quite dressage, but similar. I think.