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

Sport has so much to answer for ...
It starts off in school pitting child against child
Then fierce competition between schools
It is possible to keep fit have fun without the short sighted nature
of competitive sport.

Of the riders who won a gold medal at Tokyo for GB 3 day equestrian event one was raised by a single mother working numerous jobs, another's father was a milkman and mother a carer. Not from wealthy backgrounds. Nor was Charlotte Dujardin.

Socially mixed? Are you having a laugh? How many kids from council estates do you think can afford riding and sailing lessons ?
No, I'm not having a laugh.
I'd say sailing is more accessible than riding TBH, depending on where you live. If you live near an estuary or a marina, you can wheedle your way onto someone's boat.

And let's face it, the world is not divided into 'rich people' and 'kids from council estates'. There are a lot of people who aren't remotely wealthy, in the area where I grew up, who have horses (hairdresser, bod who used to run the dry cleaners) or boats (retired handyman, social worker).

How many kids from council estates do you think can afford riding and sailing lessons ?

All our local riding schools offer lessons and hacks in exchange for helping out.

My daughter would spend her Saturday mornings mucking out, tacking up for lessons, grooming, etc and would have a hack to the beach or something in the afternoon.

We’re not all rich either. Neither DH or I are horsey, DD learned to ride with the occasional paid for lesson mixed with helping out at the yard. She had a share pony, then a loan pony. We were lucky enough to buy her her pony with some of a redundancy payment I received when I lost my job - fortunately I found a new job straight away.

With sailing, there are loads of initiatives round here getting kids of all backgrounds into sailing - we have sea scouts who spend all summer out on the water, there are charities all over the uk getting kids into sailing.

I live in a sailing town - it’s a very big thing here, people from all walks of life sail.

I had a few refresher lessons a couple of years ago. The girl who taught me lived on a rough estate with her parents and was a pole dancer in the evenings which earned her enough so she could train as an instructor during the day. She was about 19 with dyed hair and piercings. Loved the horses and was a decent teacher. Thanks Libby!

Very well said, people who don’t understand and cannot ride just look utterly foolish with some of these comments. Years and years of hard work and dedication has gone into their performances.

A lot is being done to make equestrian sports more inclusive and available to all.

Why have the Olympics? Waste of money... Sports should be enjoyed for what you individually or collectively put into them not for winning medals. Especially when there is a pandemic on... The IOC is full of fantacists who need to come down into the real world

Just leave the horses alone, basically.

Why have the Olympics?

To introduce people to new sports, to inspire young people to try a range of sports, to celebrate sporting achievement across a vast range of sports?

Lauren Williams was inspired as a youngster by Jade Jones for instance.

There are lots of inner city riding schools that offer riding lessons to kids from deprived areas - look up Ebony Horse Club (Brixton), The Urban Equestrian Academy (Leicester), Park Palace Ponies (Liverpool) to name a few.

Have a read up on Khadija Mella (who learned to ride at Ebony Horse Club) who fulfilled her dream to be a jockey in 2019 when riding in, and winning, The Magnolia Cup - a charity race for amateur female jockeys run at Goodwood.

I agree

Faffing about on a horse should not be an olympic sport.

I love the equestrian events. They take incredible skill. I was a decent 5K runner years ago (19 minutes) and that was a damn sight easier for me than show jumping, which most riders can do to a point, but far fewer at Grand Prix level.

Also, my dad was a bus driver and I rode from 8-18, and on and off throughout my adulthood. I grew up in the countryside, which does make it easier to access, but I knew a ton of working-class kids who were competitive pony riders.

I used to work on a yard in the holidays when I was a student and the overwhelming majority of the kids I taught were not from wealthy backgrounds. We let them ride regularly in exchange for helping out - they got points for poo picking, grooming, tack cleaning, mucking out, leading little children during lessons etc, and when they reached a certain number of points (usually a day’s work) they got a ride. All work they were delighted to do because they loved horses and wanted to be around them.

Many of them ended up with their own ponies because that’s what their family prioritised. One girl who I’m still in touch with now was the daughter of a postie and a man who worked at the butcher’s counter in Tesco, got a lovely pony and was allowed to keep it at the yard on a very reduced rate because she helped out when she was there looking after her own. She’s now a hairdresser and still has a horse.

Horses are inherently expensive - they’re large animals and need specialist care and equipment. But they inspire enormous devotion in those who love them, and for most people there can be ways to make it work if the will is there. It’s simply not accurate to say it’s all ‘toffs’, and it does a great disservice to the work ordinary people put in to suggest otherwise.

@BlobbyBloo

I agree

Faffing about on a horse should not be an olympic sport.

"Faffing about on a horse" actually made me laugh.

"Hey Mum / Dad guess what? I'm going to the Olympics!!"
"Ooh really what you doing?"
"Faffing and fucking about on a horse they're letting me on the team"
(all together) Yaaaaaaaayyy!!!

AND NOW FAFFING ON A HORSE FOR GREAT BRITAIN...

@PinniGig I’d quite like to see anyone using the phrase “Faffing about on a horse”, put on the back of a competition horse to see how long they could faff become being on the ground in pain!

Before, not become 🙄

Horses are inherently expensive - they’re large animals and need specialist care and equipment. But they inspire enormous devotion in those who love them, and for most people there can be ways to make it work if the will is there. It’s simply not accurate to say it’s all ‘toffs’, and it does a great disservice to the work ordinary people put in to suggest otherwise.

This is so true, my dc ride because we pay for a part share in ponies who's owners could not afford them without having sharers. It's a LOT of work on my part as I have to help them learn to do everything, have to do all the stable jobs, teach them to ride as can't afford instructors but I can do this to the best of my ability because my low earning parents made sacrifices for me to learn too. No one at our yard are even close to wealthy. They have jobs such as care assistants, hairdressers and office admin.

People are just so bloody miserable and stupid. We've done really well at something and the team have done amazing but apparently it's 'cruel', 'ridiculous' and only done by 'posh people'.

Time and time again people have given good evidence that none of those things are true!

Every single horse in team GB has been ridden beautifully and has looked so happy and comfortable. They have done amazingly we should be proud of the horses and the riders not having to defend them to idiots!

Look at him faffing about up there. Just sitting there! 🙃

[quote AnnieSnap]@PinniGig I’d quite like to see anyone using the phrase “Faffing about on a horse”, put on the back of a competition horse to see how long they could faff become being on the ground in pain![/quote]
Yeah it's all pretty standard stuff. Just pick a horse that's poppin yo

@liveforsummer

Look at him faffing about up there. Just sitting there! 🙃

I can clearly see him reading the small ads and supping a mug of tea that shit ain't no sport!

And anyone who knows the slightest thing about horse body language knows that horse is far from unhappy

Bloody hell @liveforsummer that horse has some scope!! What I noticed is, most horses shorten so they don't get too close, Explosion seems to shorten to make sure he can stand off!? Every fence he's a mile off but must be the way he likes it?

@imamearcat

Bloody hell *@liveforsummer* that horse has some scope!! What I noticed is, most horses shorten so they don't get too close, Explosion seems to shorten to make sure he can stand off!? Every fence he's a mile off but must be the way he likes it?

That water jump I imagine is 6 or 7 ft wide and he's just added an extra couple out of choice. What an animal!