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

@DroopyClematis

Isn't the Olympics about a human's prowess, not a horse's? Not a fan of using any animal for sport as it involves coercion. Just wrong.

No, all humans perform the same moves, it’s how the horses respond

[quote XelaM]@DroopyClematis Are you seriously suggesting the horses train themselves?[/quote]
No, just that they shouldn’t be trained at all, to perform tricks for humans , to win medals.

It's coercion in the same way as taking your dog for a walk is coercion. 😆

I prefer watching beautiful healthy horses and amazing riding than women lifting 180Kg. Looks appalling to me

I think all sports have their Merits and the equestrian is equally as interesting to watch as the BMX , diving or gymnastics for example.

Adding modern sports (such as surfing and skateboarding) is exciting- I don't think any should be discredited just because they don't appeal to everyone.

I find I watch a plethora of sports I wouldn't usually- isn't that the joy?

I think the beauty of the Olympics is there is likely to be something of interest to everyone (or most people)

I'm sick of people saying dressage is dancing horses. I studied dressage for 7 years and rode for 16 and I fancy my chances in the 100m sprint better than the olympic dressage. It is RIDICULOUSLY difficult. If they made the same horse compete from one games to the next people would moan about that too. Abolish all events involving animals fine, but don't undermine the utter skill on display.

I find them a bit ridiculous as well but I accept that I am absolutely not interested in horses or anything to do with them. have been educated by this thread actually on the history of equestrian events.

I'm not a rider but I'm always fascinated by the dressage. How to get the horse to perform the steps just like that. Amazing.
I don't watch the taekwondo, boxing, wrestling, weightlifting etc. Should the Olympics get rid of those because I don't like them?

And no, I can absolutely say that the rider is working far, far harder than the horse.

No, just that they shouldn’t be trained at all, to perform tricks for humans , to win medals.

I agree. What’s the difference between this and the circus?

@ Kittii Exactly! Those horses are SO well-cared for and love their job! All the horses looked incredibly fit and healthy and had teams of trainers/vets taking care of them. They are by no means expendable commodities! Riders work with their horses for many many years to achieve that level of riding

@Pedalpushers Yes, my daughter does some low level dressage and show jumping competitions and she finds dressage incredibly hard

People say it's the horse but if the same person wins several times in several horses then surely it isn't just the horse. I live every single event, swimming is my favourite but ill watch anything, lol

Typo after typo after typo, sorry!

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

Almost every culture which celebrates or depends upon horses has thought of it in one millennia or another.

@bluewanda You should see how these type of hugely expensive horses are treated! Better than human athletes in most countries

@MajorNeville It’s definitely not just the horse! These type of horses are VERY difficult to ride. Any normal person would be thrown off pretty quickly

I'm from an equestrian background and I do have a little chuckle to myself when people describe dressage as 'dancing'. It isn't, but anyway, trying to explain why to anybody non-horsey...

It takes an incredible amount of skill and training to compete on a horse at that level.
The horse isn't born able to do that either. Oh and it isn't cruel, at all. These horses are bred for that exact purpose.

Well I enjoy the fact that (a) men and women can compete in the same events on their own merits and (b) age is much less of a barrier to success so you get gold medalists who are 62, for example

Plus it’s like gymnastics crossed with the marathon but for animals and with an added human in the mix … not even a fan of it really but would rather watch this 100% than badminton or golf or shooting (all of which have skill and respect them being in the Olympics but honestly I just find dull)

@bluewanda

No, just that they shouldn’t be trained at all, to perform tricks for humans , to win medals.

I agree. What’s the difference between this and the circus?

Quite a big difference really, which further proves your ignorance.

There was an interesting clip on YouTube about transporting the horses overseas- search Olympic horses flying to Tokyo. The care those horses receive is amazing. I do wonder what it's like when their ears pop during takeoff!
I'm beginning to understand dressage now as a friend does it. I like watching the horses!

@LtDansleg organised sport is a cess pit of physical and drug abuse.

Russia for example, literally banned from the games due to athlete doping, but it’s ok you can attend if you don’t say your from Russia

I think it's very true that when you boil any sport down to its crux it sounds ridiculous- why do we care about people running around a track? What's special about someone tapping something over a net? I watched someone win a gold medal for jumping their skateboard over some steps - pointless right?

@DroopyClematis

Isn't the Olympics about a human's prowess, not a horse's? Not a fan of using any animal for sport as it involves coercion. Just wrong.

Have you ever tried to persuade any horse to do something it didn't want to do?

[quote Salanda]I agree - flying horses halfway across the world to ‘compete’ in high humidity and heat can’t be in the horses’ best interests. I’m sure there’s a lot of skill behind it but that doesn’t mean it’s ok.

Off on a tangent but did you see this in the news recently? www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/jul/19/thousands-of-ex-racehorses-being-sent-to-abattoirs-bbc-investigation-claims[/quote]
I used to work at an airport and any horse that was transported had a groom to accompany them (a trained vet). Dogs, on the other hand, could travel on their own.