To think that equestrian events are ridiculous

[BFrazzled]

In the Olympics.

Poor horses. This ridiculous dancing in dressage, who the hell thought of that?

There was one winner of the dressage contest who supposedly also won in the nineties. No mention of the horse, guess it was with a different one then

Well, I'd be tremendously surprised if a horse spontaneously decides to jump over an obstacle.
Hm, okay then.
I was taken over 3' wire by a horse who didn't agree with my ideas. DD was on a horse with the plan of going over trot poles, and he cleared the lot in one leap.

I was taken over 3' wire by a horse who didn't agree with my ideas. DD was on a horse with the plan of going over trot poles, and he cleared the lot in one leap.

The pony Dad rides does that frequently too. You also see foals often jumping an obstacle like a fallen branch over and over when playing

Dd not dad 😆

@GrumpyMiddleAgedWoman

Well, I'd be tremendously surprised if a horse spontaneously decides to jump over an obstacle. Hm, okay then. I was taken over 3' wire by a horse who didn't agree with my ideas. DD was on a horse with the plan of going over trot poles, and he cleared the lot in one leap.

My DD’s pony used to do that with trotting poles. She’s mostly got the hang of them now, but still surprises DD by jumping them now and then. DD never fully trusts her

We also have an unbacked youngster at our yard that regularly jumps the fence out of his field.

Well, I'd be tremendously surprised if a horse spontaneously decides to jump over an obstacle

One of my dhorses regularly jumps out of his grazing paddock bumhead

I have a 42 year old pony who we have had to adopt a Redwings pony for as a companion , because after her field mate died , she would jump 4 feet of post and rail into my neighbour’s field to talk to the horses the other side of his field . And then charge up and down like a snorting dragon while I would try and catch her ..

I find dressage odd, but entertaining. I also find Tae Kwondo odd, where the object seems to be to kick your opponent in the head. And floor gymnastics, no idea how the scoring works. Oh. ,and how do you judge between 2 high divers both at the top of their sport, where the difference in their performance is miniscule to me. However, a Nobel Laureate once wrote 'Don't criticise what you don't understand' and I think it applies perfectly to all these disciplines.

For a lovely example of horses enjoying prancing around in their field, check out https://instagram.com/playlovelearn.se?utmmedium=copyy_link

She's taught her Shetland pony and horse dressage moves from the ground using positive reinforcement techniques (clicker training, like you'd train a dog) and her Shetland particularly enjoys showing off his prancing about. Not sure he'd win any Olympic medals as he mainly seems to freestyle to the beat of his own very cute drum but it's a lovely example of horses really enjoying their training.

All we do is sit there

Ave heart rate 186bpm.... was the horse threatening to buck you off over a 100ft cliff for a solid hour?

[quote Penistoe]@Carthief all your examples are humans who
Choose to be there.

Horses wouldn’t choose this.[/quote]
Really @Penistoe all of those gymnasts “choose” to be there?

Or is it one of the few ways out of poverty for many of them? How much choice do they really have when they’ve been at gymnastics farms since they were a toddler? When they’ve been hot-housed and pressurised to believe that the only thing worth doing with their lives is winning? And then when they ages out of competitions…what then? When they have no other skills?

The horses might not chose to be in Tokyo specifically I’ll grant you that, but anyone who has ever been near a horse will tell you that there’s very little persuading one to do something it doesn’t want to do.

I think that perhaps people who know very little about horses, mebbee ought to admit that they don't know a lot about horses, and therefore their opinions are possibly relegated on that basis? As opposes to thinking that because they know nothing about horses and equestrianism, and that makes them so much purer in their opinions? Obviously they'd know so much more than the people that have dealt with horses year in, year out, they're positively psychic via a forum. . .

It's an agenda thing, innit?

@powershowerforanhour

Ave heart rate 186bpm.... was the horse threatening to buck you off over a 100ft cliff for a solid hour?

He’s an absolute twat. You have to ride so positively and cannot give an inch or he will spook or spin.

@JudgeJ
I'd stick to Love Island type of programme, sounds more your type of thing, you clearly have no appreciation of skill!

Why is it either Love Island or dressage? Are those the only two things you watch on the telly?

Watches an hour of a highly skilled dressage horse probably worth more than you house and declares it ridiculous.

How is the cost of the horse relevant here?! Am I supposed to enjoy it because someone made a lot of money selling the poor horse?

@rantymcrantface66

Dammit, I meant to say that Rollkur is still used on the continent, and that some of the current Olympic horses have been trained using that method.

However they aren't winning medals

So what, that’s ok then?

Yes It needs to be banned. Obviously. As does horse racing where so many are shot. Diabolical.

Just to add my bit. Couple of points as a horse rider!

People saying 'they don't mention the horse', don't they??? As someone who is probably more interested in the horse than the rider I always know who they are riding and the commentators talk about the horses etc. They do the lap of honour.. how / when do they not mention the horse!? It is a partnership, horse and rider win together. They know how each other tick and have trained together for years.

Also I knew OT when he was a kid. Definitely a 'normal' background but his parents were hugely committed from a young age. Also a good amount of money will have been put into ponies / lessons etc. I agree not in reach for everyone but probably a similar level of dedication as from some of the swimming / gymnastics parents. It's not all about money.

Wait, they fly the horses to Japan? Don't they have horses over there? I just assumed the olympics provided the horses.

Of course they provide the horses, in the same way that you'll see Lewis Hamilton queuing up at the Budget desk for the next Grand Prix!

[quote BFrazzled]@JudgeJ
I'd stick to Love Island type of programme, sounds more your type of thing, you clearly have no appreciation of skill!

Why is it either Love Island or dressage? Are those the only two things you watch on the telly?[/quote]
No love, it's equestrian and sailing all the way, I still recall Ainslie and Scheidt at Sydney.

@Germolenequeen

So much abuse in dressage please Google Rollkur for further info.

I've ridden horses for 55 years

Wow I hadn’t heard of this @Germolenequeen - truly disturbing.

So many posts saying there’s a lot of skill, dedication and so on. That may be so, but that doesn’t mean it’s ethically ok to breed and train horses to do these tricks and then ship them around the world to compete.

There’s probably a lot of skill in bull fighting but that doesn’t mean it’s not cruel. I bet a fox hunter would say there’s lots of skill in their ‘sport’. Or horse racing - how many horses are injured racing and put down because they’re no longer of use?

I can recognise that there’s skill involved in the equestrian events but that doesn’t mean it’s ethically acceptable.

OP, if you’re concerned about the horses being dumped after the competition, why don’t you go and follow Charlotte Dujardin’s groom on Instagram? His handle is @alandaviesgroom

That will give you a better idea of how cherished, nurtured and adored these horses are. You’ve made some fair points on this thread, but also said a lot of very ignorant things. Hopefully if you look into firsthand examples you’ll understand it better.

@powershowerforanhour

Ave heart rate 186bpm.... was the horse threatening to buck you off over a 100ft cliff for a solid hour?

Last time I jumped round (an 11 year old child pony club level) cross country course I had burning in my lungs 1/3 of the way through, and I'm fairly fit in general and fairly riding fit too. I ached for days after.

I think the horses should also get a medal - or a rosette... or at least a big carrot, and bucket of molasses.

@JudgeJ
Very classy telly choices.