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

He took some absolutely flyers! He must be one of the best showjumpers in the world, surely

@liveforsummer normal fences are up to 6 to 7 feet wide, the water jump is up to 4.5 meters (14 feet!)! He must be jumping at least 20 feet wide there.

@VeryLongBeeeep
Glenfly, a member of the Brazilian 3DE team, is an ex-racehorse who raced at the likes of Towcester. (Incidentally, his rider withdrew the horse after the cross-country phase because he felt the showjumping would be too much for him, demonstrating how riders at all levels are capable of putting the welfare of his horse above their personal quest for glory.)

That’s good to know, thank you

@liveforsummer The suffering 😭😭

Nah, does anyone really think that horse looks anything other than completely happy in his job? I’d put money on it being harder to hold him back than to let him at the jumps 🤣🤣

As for a sport for posh, rich people. Clearly you’ve never been on your average livery yard…

[quote imamearcat]@liveforsummer normal fences are up to 6 to 7 feet wide, the water jump is up to 4.5 meters (14 feet!)! He must be jumping at least 20 feet wide there. [/quote]
I was only guessing from the photo re the width but wow, and he's jumping it like there is an imaginary 6ft high rail there too

@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, it actually doesn't involve coercion. What it involves is building a trusting partnership with your animal - in this case, horses - and gradually teaching them what you want from them, by way of rewarding the tiniest step in the direction you're aiming for and ignoring "mistakes". A Warmblood horse, those most commonly found in the upper echelons of dressage and eventing, is in the region of 800 to 1000 pounds in weight, whilst a Thoroughbred as racehorses all are is not much lighter. Believe me, if it comes to a battle between horse and rider, the horse will always win.

As to your comment about it being about a human's prowess - to be able to ride well at ALL, never mind at a competitive level, takes fitness, knowledge and finesse. Anyone can sit on a lovely, placid pony-trekking pony: but that doesn't make them a rider, it just makes them a passenger.

No horse - or pony for that matter - will jump an obstacle that overfaces it. That's why you get refusals and runouts.

Just to give you one example to illustrate that coercion's not involved I'm going to include a link to one of the best sprinters of all time, an Australian horse who won almost $AUD 9 million before he made the decision that he didn't want to race anymore. (As you'll read in the article he's much loved and in a new career now, NOT the dog food factory.)

www.smh.com.au/sport/stubborn-as-a-mule-the-champion-racehorse-that-went-on-strike-20191007-p52ydd.html

@a1poshpaws

That is really funny I've never seen that before! He full on went "Nah.. nah can't be arsed today just not in the mood for it" Dunno what's funnier his nonchalant expression of his jockey kicking like a demon to no effect whatsoever.

Can't find the video now but there was some really old footage of a lass riding XC at she went arse over tit at once fence and was hanging on and desperately trying to clamber her way back up and I swear that horse just stood there and let her struggle.

Like he was giving it "You know what? You got yourself in that mess - you can get yourself out of it" and he stood there ears pricked looking around like it was a regular Sunday morning and he was just waiting for the kettle to boil. No fussed at all and incredibly after what felt like an eternity she managed to get back up and pull the most impressive save I've ever seen.

I've ridden horses that would just go off and suddenly decide to do their own thing one was murder. He'd just have a do now and then "You know what? I think we should go this way... yeah let's go this way instead" and I could sense when he was gearing up to go off and when he'd decided on it, sod all else I could do but roll with it and ride it out.

This one tickles me. Just decides to do a sharp left and you can tell by how his rider takes that gate she'd been there and done that a few times already. He's a lot bigger and stronger so no point fighting him it's safer to go with him and go with him she does

I don't understand why on earth they need to make the horses dance ffs! 🤪 Totally unnecessary, poor things.

I enjoy the Cross Country but I do think it should've been in cooler temperatures - if there weren't any at this time on year in Japan, then they shouldn't have gone ahead. You could hear the poor horses gasping and the steam coming off them.

Imagine how scared they would've been on the cargo flight/s

@Saidtoomuch

Oh for God's sake. Switch it off if you don't want to watch it or understand it. Its just as valid as any other sport.

This is a forum where everybody is permitted to discuss these things. No need to throw a tantrum just because you don't agree....

|allLobotomisedIceSkatingFan Tue 03-Aug-21 08:02:18
I think they're absurd, too. And that's at best - personally, my view is that it's Charro dancing in 'The Rutshire Chronicles' garb. Stick a horse in a field for ten years and it'll never occur to it to jump over a fence: 'not coerced' my left tit.

My daughters horse jumps fences for fun put her in a paddock in the morning she will not be where you put her when you go back. At the moment she is away she is doing the same thing in fact she jumped 2 5 bar gates yesterday so horses will jump without being coerced, and she she not the only one we have had that has jumped into the next paddock. we have 8 horses and ponies at the moment and no we are not rich I'm retired on state pension, single daughter with 2 children and works, no high power job. where I live there is a hugh amount of horses an no one I know has money

@Carthief

What would you rather see in the olympics?

Sexually abused half starved gymnasts who are permanently stunted due to the training regime since they were 3?

13 year old skate board enthusiasts who fall off every 3 minutes whilst wearing no safety gear?

Testosterone laden athletes running 100m?

People assaulting each other in the name of sport aka “boxing”

Oh wait, you can watch those too.

Of all the events in the Olympics the horses are possibly the least ridiculous and the ones with the greatest welfare standards, it’s not the horses I worry about.

Those are some horrendous allegations you've made there.... Do you have proof of all of these please?

@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?

Exactly!

@NotMyCat

The thing is, they're not tricks. As in me teaching the cat to give me his paw is a trick because he wouldn't naturally do it The movements in dressage are movements that horses naturally do, even when they haven't been "taught" So it's harnessing that movement and teaching that a specific aid equals that movement

It's incredibly skilled but people don't see it because the skill is making it look like you are sitting doing nothing. There's a million things going through your head (you have to remember the test for one!), your stomach muscles are screaming, and the slightest wrong move of your weight and your horse will respond. It is years and years of work

So not only do you have to have a skilled and fit rider, you have to have a skilled and fit horse AND they have to be a perfect partnership

The movements in dressage are movements that horses naturally do

Horses naturally walk sideways do they?!

Funny, some PPs up thread have defended Dressage by saying that the whole point is that they're moves horses DON'T naturally do. Then you say they are.... Which is it?!?!

@DufferMum

My sister worked in an office next to a farm where the horses did dressage. She said the horses used to spend a lot of time doing the moves when they were in the field by themselves, Hugh trotting up and down, going sideways etc. It was the favourite thing to show to guests to the office. The horses obviously enjoyed it.

That's so sad

Imagine how scared they would've been on the cargo flight/s

There is plenty footage on SM of the horses on the flights looking calm and relaxed. These horses are used to travelling and if they arrived distressed they'd not perform at their best. As said earlier the ones who have one the medals have travelled some of the furthest distances which shows or doesn't affect them badly

I’m STILL waiting for specifics about which horses looked abused, stressed and coerced.

Personally, the nearest for me is Gal’s horse, but many seem to disagree. Apart from him I haven’t seen one horse who looked distressed.

If you think you can make half a tonne of animal do something it doesn’t want to, please have a word with this idiot who, last year, at almost 20 years and of vast experience, decided to spin and piss off with me because there was a chair on the lane

@Naaaaah Thinking it makes your brain send signals to your muscles and the horse can pick up on this.

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Hahahahahahah!!! Omg I just splurted me tea out at this! Now Horses are mind readers?!?! Thinking about turning right does not 'send signals' to any muscles what an absolute load of utter tosh! Give your head a shake!!!

Having competed in equestrian events and gymnastics in my youth, I can one million percent confirm that the equestrian events is not where there are safeguarding issues. The horses are very well cared for; the gymnasts not so much so.

[quote PerciphonePuma]**@Naaaaah* Thinking it makes your brain send signals to your muscles and the horse can pick up on this.*

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Hahahahahahah!!! Omg I just splurted me tea out at this! Now Horses are mind readers?!?! Thinking about turning right does not 'send signals' to any muscles what an absolute load of utter tosh! Give your head a shake!!![/quote]

Have you ever ridden a horse? It's a very intuitive sport. The horses are anticipating your requests all the time. They want to please.

Horses naturally walk sideways do they?!

All the time, yes. To move away from oncoming rain, to step aside from something they don't want to stand on, when they are excited, when they see a flower they've seen a thousand times but are in a silly mood so decide to react to it. It's generally just a way of being a bit exuberant. But yes they choose to walk sideways a lot

[quote PerciphonePuma]**@Naaaaah* Thinking it makes your brain send signals to your muscles and the horse can pick up on this.*

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Hahahahahahah!!! Omg I just splurted me tea out at this! Now Horses are mind readers?!?! Thinking about turning right does not 'send signals' to any muscles what an absolute load of utter tosh! Give your head a shake!!![/quote]
While this one sounds a bit out there I can assure you it’s not.

Say you are on a horse and you want to walk left. The first thing you do is think about it, and look where you want to go. The subtle shift in the weight of the seat bones is what sends the horse left. You then refine this by adding leg and then rein aids last. But the move begins with the thought and the subtle shift, not the visible aids.

The whole sport is about doing the least to get the movement you want, which is why the top riders have such utter, utter stillness. On those horses, it is possible to send multiple conflicting signals without even trying, if you are too “loud” a rider.

And yes, horses can and do naturally perform lateral (sideways) movements when they are at liberty. They will dance around one another in the field, sidle, trot in place. Observe a happy herd for a while, or watch when one horse gets turned out with mates. It’s easy to spot then.

All the time, yes. To move away from oncoming rain, to step aside from something they don't want to stand on, when they are excited, when they see a flower they've seen a thousand times but are in a silly mood so decide to react to it. It's generally just a way of being a bit exuberant. But yes they choose to walk sideways a lot

I identify with this comment 🤣🤣

Hahahahahahah!!! Omg I just splurted me tea out at this! Now Horses are mind readers?!?! Thinking about turning right does not 'send signals' to any muscles what an absolute load of utter tosh! Give your head a shake!!!

You sound so silly just now. This is something I say all the time to my 8 year old who is learning to ride and she's getting it. You think something, your body responds and the horse responds to your subtle body movements. Think forward, thing slower, look left. She gets it, her pony who is a newly broken youngster gets it - an Olympic level horse gets it in a way none of us could ever imagine. No head shaking needed.

Have you ever ridden a horse? It's a very intuitive sport. The horses are anticipating your requests all the time. They want to please.

What’s in the brain goes down the rein