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?

Nancy, the fact it looks like the rider is doing nothing is testament to their expertise. You wanna watch me try to do dressage - I look like a demented frog... the horse still looks beautiful (if slightly nonplussed at the idiot on its back).

Hands, seat,core muscles, Shifting their weight, spurs, leg aids...

Nancy that's the whole point, its a mark of the riders skill that he/she looks to be sitting perfectly relaxed and still whilst actually every muscle is individually working to communicate something different to the horse.

legs squeezing, positioning, your body weight slightly shifting - these all give the horse little instructions what to do. It's hard to explain but I have been riding for many years and couldn't really begin the test they just did.

They use their hands alot too nancy

I dont want to distress anyone (as this upsets me too) but i believe this used to be an olympic sport? www.google.co.uk/search?q=horse+diving&hl=en&safe=off&qscrl=1&nord=1&rlz=1T4ADBS_enGB324GB325&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=OzEhUOKQBaar0QXO5YGQCg&sqi=2&ved=0CGAQsAQ&biw=1401&bih=731

Oh i cant do links, can someone do it please?

OK - I will consider myself suitably educated

What's the difference between what the horses are doing here, and what the animals do in circuses

Horses and dogs are domesticated animals (that is why they don't automatically attack us, or run away). We have bred them (since BC) to be what we want them to be, different breeds have different skills and uses.

Animals used in the circus cannot and are not domesticated and the one's that tolerate 'performing', generally do so because they have been trained to using abusive methods and the way that they are kept is inflicting daily cruelity on them.

We cannot meet a wild animals needs, in a circus and thankfully zoos in the UK have gotten much better.

'AIBU to think horses do not belong in the Olympics?'

Neigh YABVU

But the rider doesn't appear to be doing a thing That's sort of the point, really.

It takes enormous skill to look like you're not doing anything.

I can see why some people don't find dressage that exciting to watch, if they don't understand it, but there is a huge amount of skill involved. If you don't like it, there are plenty of other sports to watch. Personally I think it is bloody amazing!

Pickles link

Horse doing the test from memory? No, it's not that easy. The rider appears to be sitting there doing nothing because they are very very very good at it. The difference between the leg aids for say passage and piaffe (poncing slightly forwards as opposed to poncing on the spot) is as little as 2cm difference in the position of the riders heel against the horses side. We have a psg horse at our yard (one level below the grand prix on the telly at the moment) I had a ride and I asked for trot and got a canter and flying change. Chuff knows what I did wrong but apparently I wasnt moving my legs in the correct rhythm.

the dressage just looked amazing. and we appear to ahve another gold

Sorry, x posted.

Condoleezza dressage horses do everything in the wild that they do in a dressage test, because a test is based on walk, trot, canter, sideways (half-pass) and flying changes (the 'skipping' movement they make). The challenge of dressage is that each movement is refined so that the rider can ask the horse for a canter as slow as a walk, or to trot on the spot, or to change legs every stride, with signals that are virtually invisible to a watcher - shifting their weight in the saddle, moving their leg a few millimetres one way or the other. That's why it looks as though the rider is 'just sitting there' when in fact they are giving and receiving countless unseen signals to and from the horse every few seconds.

This refining process takes years, both in terms of schooling the horse so that it understands that 'riders legs placed here and here, seat bone forward in the saddle' means 'start cantering with the other leg first' and also so that the horse gradually builds up the fitness and muscle to be able to carry itself, to be supple and flexible without any tension or stiffness. That's why it's not just about money - it takes years to build up the partnership and understanding between horse and rider, for the horse to learn the individual rider's subtle 'cues' and for the rider to be able to 'read' his/her horse and know how it's likely to perform, what the best training exercise will be for it to carry out that day etc etc.

Performed correctly and classically it's a beautiful, harmonious thing to watch when you understand a little about the effort that's gone in to get to that stage - bit like the swan gliding effortlessly but paddling like hell underneath.

Oh, I saw Katie Price competing in dressage (on Youtube) - it must have been her first event because it wasn't great, she was quite evidently heavy-handed and pulling on her horse's mouth. As many ^ have said, the riders that appear to be doing nothing tend to have the greatest skill.

although i would have said, with the horses, it is the horse doing the work, i see now that for the dressage the rider tels them what to do.
what about the jumping?
doesnt the horse just jump automaticlaly, does the rider ensure they go a certain height??

Pickles

That was a show thought up by an American, it never featured in the Olympics.

There was a lot of horse cruelity in the days of 'wild west' shows, as well, people wanted more extreme shows.

Thanks :)
Te horse can judge the take off its self, or with help from its rider. The horse judges distance and height

Ok here's what I'm thinking whilst doing (not very good) dressage....

Right, shit, here we go, right where am I going? Oh yes, right at B, that's it, now...
Sit up, but don't arch your back. Neutral spine, neutral spine!!!! Fuck that's hard when you're doing sitting trot...
Are my arms relaxed? But are my elbows in? Shit I'm getting hand cramp from holding these double reins, but I need to relax my wrists and move with the horse....

Shit!!! Where next?? Oh yes, left at C....

Ok, so I've got neutral spine but am I sitting on my bumcheeks properly? Am I balanced exactly right? Am I communicating through my arse? (no, really...) Are my thighs tense? Am I gripping? Shit, relax thighs, but NOT TOO MUCH!! Are my knees loose and extended? But are my calves flush with the horse's flanks??? Right, try and push heels down a bit more but DON'T POINT TOES OUT SIDEWAYS!!!!

Aaaaaaand breathe! And relax!

Oh fuck, now I've got to think about whether the horse is straight, or on the right bend, and the right trotting diagonal, and where we're going, and what we're doing next.

Oh yes and I'm forgetting to smile!!!

It's really NOT that easy!!!

We just won another gold thanks to a whore

I am loving the idea of horses doing the test from memory though, they are clever animals, but not that clever!!

horse not whore

Also- the horses are not doing the test from memory. The riders are not meant to take the horse through the actual test very often. One thing the judges look out for is signs of that- when the horse very slightly anticipates the rider. A skilled observer (spectator or judge) can identify that very easily.