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?

Yes, I know lots of "ordinary" folk who go horse riding or lease/own horses.

My DH's cousins had horses (farming family who were not rich at all).

Im as rough as fuck . I used to ride. Dressage is probably the most challenging of all equestrian sports . It is subtle but v difficult . you could just switch off. Im not keen on football so i don't watch it.

Olga Corbett has just called dressage "a very piece of cake" which had me in stitches. However, she is talking from experience apparently having done it for a few years after the gymnastics career.

Condoleeza - you think horses don't jump in the wild? I'm fairly sure they probably do ...

lol at the steeplechase without a horse.

I am not at all horsey but grew up in a rural area, to me horsey people aren't posh. Lots of friends were as skint as I was but still got to ride due to the fact they spent all their spare time cleaning horse manure etc. Riding, hunting etc isn't posh to me, just normal country life, and I am far from posh.

I was sobbing when Nick skeleton and his team one gold yesterday he was my childhood hero. I have never owned a horse

Sorry, wasn't clear, I meant the dressage specifically.

'not doing things they would do naturally?'

Horses have been bred for thousands of years for various human purposes, they aren't wild animals. What most horses in the wild seem to have done is to go extinct. The ones that haven't (eg zebras) aren't rideable and would presumably be stressed by 'performing'. Horses seem not to be.

That Nick Skelton is a trooper - broken back, hip replacement, broken ribs etc.

One?? err won!

CondeelzzaRice, Yes they are performing but horses are domesticated animals, whereas traditional circuses use mainly wild animals (only non wild ones are horses I think), so for them doing things naturally would be being out in the wild.

You cannot make horses do anything they really don't want to, especially at this level. I used to showjump and do cross country and believe me my horse loved it.

OP YABU

There are still herds of wild horses though Grimma - e.g. mustangs and, erm, others ...

Doesn't the BBC have 24 channels dedicated to covering the Olympics not counting BBC 1, BBC 2 and BBC three? If you don't like the equestrian events, which are far better than some of the other 'sports', the change channel.

Dressage isn't a 'toffs' sport. It takes a fuck-load of skill and training to do what they do.

If you want to talk about a strange sport, how about the Modern Pentathlon? DH and I got tickets, so read up on it to find out what we were in for. Apparently it's based on escaping from a castle - swimming (across the moat?!), fencing (fighting your way out?) showjumping on an unfamiliar horse, then a cross country run during which you have to stop and shoot pistols. It's only popular in Eastern Europe, apparently, the rest of the world thinks it's mental quite rightly . Still, looking forward to it!

GetOrf, I've been on a Shire horse when he decided to go for a run. Then jump the tree that had fallen over the path at the bottom.

I wasn't still on top when he landed on the other side

Well, can you explain to me yellowraincoat what exactly is the significance of the fact that a horse has a temper but a bicycle doesn't? I don't understand that. The horse's "temper" creates extra challenges and a whole new arena of skill for the rider that has to train him/her and get the best performance from him/her.

If it has a good temper that is partly the result of the riders good work and skill, and partly the result of good breeding and good fortune. If a bicycle is a good one, that is something that is entirely unachieved by the bike's rider. So in fact the bike is less compatible, not more compatible, with sporting excellence.

Or are your concerns to do with animal welfare, and in fact not at all to do with whther or not horseriding can count as a sport. in which case someone has to show that the horse's welfare suffers from participating. Which would be hard because a working horse, like a working dog, generally has a better life than a non-working one.

getorf it took a lot of training. Mostly they are good. It's the whole if they know you are nervous malarkey. I'm having second thoughts my career though when DD arrives.
The care and love that goes into putting any horse in a training regime like dressage makes it so rewarding for horse and rider. Horses love to please people, they thrive on routine, they love learning, they are sensitive, soulful and therapeutic.
I can also assure you that they are as stubborn as hell and If half a ton of muscle says no... It says no
They really are natural show offs too, they are quite fearful animals deep down, so what your watching them doing today is really a horse having the massive skill of trusting a human. Putting all its faith in a human. Don't forget they are normally herd animals

I don't think it was really a shire horse. It's just that it was my first go on a horse, I assumed that because I was a novice they would put me on a little pony. I didn't think it was based on height and weight of the rider. I am 6 feet tall and they put me on the largest horse alive.

He was lovely though. My second go (years later) was on a psychopathic appaloosa stallion (with a great big willy, god that was a shock) who ran down the hill with me on it.

I haven't been on a horse since.

I really admire anyone who rides with skill - it looks incredibly hard.

The appalooosas are lovely. Great big spotty things, like Dalmatians.

TheDreadedFoosa I am embarrassed myself regarding the water polo as well by asking where their sticks were and was the ball underwater......

The dressage is amazing.

Is polo (the jilly cooper type) an olympic sport?

horse riding is not only for toffs, and there are plenty of other sports where a private income might come in handy, although perhaps less obviously to those who only wish to deal in tired stereotypes.
My dd's pony cost 140 quid and it lives in a muddy field and she rides in old stretchy jeans and wellies. A whole lot cheaper than, say, a gymnastic club or a range of expensive after school activities.

I think there should also be a sport involving alpacas - I second that!

@ about water polo where i wondered how the horses got in and out of the pool