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

I had my horse flown to the UK in 2012. Not an Olympian, just a pampered pet.

He had an oversized stall to himself, a personal groom, vetting on both departure and arrival, and travelled in considerably more state than the rest of us!

I love all the equestrian events - I have a friend who is a groom for a competition rider, not quite at olympic level, but who accompanies the horses on trips to europe and they are so well cared for - I'm sure olympic level horses have amazing care! Dressage is fascinating to watch and is technically very difficult- the skill of the rider makes it appear that they are doing very little! I would much rather watch this than boxing or rugby, or endless dull running!

Also these horses love to jump. Trust me if they didn't like jumping, no amount of rider skill would get them over the first fence, never mind them all!

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

The whole point of dressage is that they are moves that the horse can do naturally, they’re not “poor horses” at all. And of fucking course Carl Hester was riding a different horse in 2021 to the one he competed on in the 1990s, you’d have to be spectacularly dim to think otherwise

As a dressage rider, I can see that your ignorance is clearly showing, OP.

OP you just show your huge ignorance and inbuilt misconceptions with this post. Horse athletes are incredibly well cared for, and only those horses who want to work and enjoy it will ever get to the Olympics, watch Ollie T’s cross country round, a masterpiece of riding and watch the horse, bloody loving it. It’s an incredibly clean sport, we were dope testing 30 + years ago when I had the brief pleasure of riding internationally and a huge amount if time and money is invested in research into how best treat competition horses. For example did you see the post competition tents with fans blowing iced air over the horses as they were washed off, far better conditions than for example the GB women’s hockey team who looked stuffed in the weather conditions.
If you don’t like equestrian sports no one is forcing you to watch, and equally non one is forcing the horses to work either. Those that don’t like it certainly aren’t at Tokyo.

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

I know. It's like sailors & rowers who have to use the same boats throughout their entire career... oh no, wait, they don't... Maybe it's about the skill, talent & experience of the person involved, and how they get the best out of their horses? As PPs have said, you try making a horse do something it doesn't want to & see how well you get on.

@atlastifoundit
Why would I ? It's a stupid idea.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=r-y13R0YJr4

Dressage rider explaining why she does it- ie art as much as sport (With slightly annoying background music).

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

Yes, every time we approach the bloody wash bay.

Trust me, if the horse didn’t enjoy doing it then it wouldn’t. Horses like to be told what to do, they’re not just humans with four legs.

Also, in dressage, I have never had the aim of 'making' the horse do anything. The training is all about working with the natural movement of the horse and responding with your own body to improve your messages in line with how your horse works.

Just to clarify the horse and rider that won, won in the 90% not the year!
Dressage is out off 100%

I love dressage, but I can't spend hours watching the same test over and over.

Please see Carl Hester and Charlotte's Instagram for the treatment of their horses, some riders are not great at allowing the horse to be a horse but our GB riders are fab!

A horse of dressage breeding will naturally show the high level movements when they play, the skill in dressage is gentle communication to get them to do it on command.
There is no better feeling as a rider when you manage to get your horse into self carriage, feels like you are floating!

Trust me, most horses will only perform if they are 100% happy too, sadly there are also saints of horses that put up with a lot from their riders and sadly this has been seen in this competition.

Haha the horses getting left behind, do you k know how EXPENSIVE those things are? Hundreds of thousands sometimes, no one is dumping them!

They also get flown earlier and worked softly often to acclimatise.

My favourite fact that makes me smile is the main airline used is “Air Horse One”.

Animals shouldn't be used for entertainment.

I love the fact that the horse whose official name is London 52 is actually called Dan

I do think they should put the horses' names on screen alongside the medallists' names though

@Carthief Let's not pretend that Russian athletes were the only one doping! Plus they are now all tested a lot more vigorously than some of those swimmers and track and field athletes

m.youtube.com/watch?v=wI094Rs1AR4

Can somebody explain to me how this horse is being coerced?

@Tiddleztheelephant

I love equestrian events, they take as much skill and dedication as any other. More in some ways because the human athlete has to maintain their own fitness and their horses too. The horses are extremely well cared for and often loved by their owners so I don't think you need to feel too sorry for them. If you're not keen on the events, don't watch. I hate the golf myself, so I switch the TV off. Problem solved!

I love equestrian events too. They are so elegant.

You don't have to watch, I don't watch things I don't like.

[quote XelaM]@Carthief Let's not pretend that Russian athletes were the only one doping! Plus they are now all tested a lot more vigorously than some of those swimmers and track and field athletes[/quote]
I don’t think this quite makes the statement you think it makes….

Just because it wasn’t only the Russians…does it make it any better?

There is something similar done with dogs. The dogs appear to enjoy it, though I was disappointed to learn that dogs don't hear music in the same way that we do. In this clip you can (just) hear the handler giving commands

Well nobody is forcing you to watch them OP.

Personally I think they are great, I mean I couldn't get up on a horse and hold on as it galloped about and jumped over things...I'd be in a and e!! And it clearly takes stamina and muscle. Those athletes look knackered afterwards.

I'm not a fan of the shooting, I mean it's a skill I'll give them that, but doesn't really scream "sport" at me, bit like darts. So guess what....I don't watch it.

I love the artistic swimming, loads of people mock it, but I think it's amazing.

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

m.youtube.com/watch?v=cReoBXA-Jm4

This horse has some good lateral moves!

Most Olympic sports are a bit ridiculous when you distill it down - there are many events where grown ups literally run around in circles.

No sport outside equestrianism, however, has 'equipment' that has a mind of its own. You don't see BMXers having to persuade their bike to do a jump, or shoes refusing to be worn. It adds another layer of complexity.

The horses ought to get a bit more recognition though!

Astounding ignorance of equestrianism.

Do you know anything about horses OP?