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

@ElvenDreamer

Wow, all the replies on here are unlikely to have helped the OP understand, all you've all done is effectively yelled at them and slammed other sports instead. Calling someone ignorant is pointless, horseriding, particularly dressage is hardly something the majority get to experience so how could we understand it? I grew up on a farm and I still could afford to horse ride even though we had space for a horse! So EXPLAIN the dressage, you say it's natural movements etc, ok, how does that work? To the uninitiated onlooker it seems as though the rider is holding the horses head at a terribly awkward angle to make them take small steps, I have never seen a horse out in a field choose to walk like that. So HOW do they train them? And don't yell please, I'm genuinely trying to understand, because yes, honestly, it seems cruel, so help me understand. (And to all who compare it with other animal welfare issues, I don't think it's one or the other few, eg, most people should not have dogs, the dogs shut in houses is astoundingly cruel and unnatural.)

I do get what you are saying, but to me the tone of OP's post was not a request to be educated and to even try to understand dressage. It was to slate it as "ridiculous" and as cruel ("poor horses") and to gain validation for her poorly informed opinions.

I do hope that she has been educated by this thread, but I wouldn't like to guarantee it.

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.

It is ridiculous. I saw something where the horse was dancing. It was mad, why on earth is this called sport? There's no way it should be in the Olympics. I felt sorry for the horse it might have been well cared for but it was like one of those chimpanzees in the PG tips adverts. Should be banned.

@LobotomisedIceSkatingFan my horse would jump out his field nearly every day. It's not an uncommon thing
If you ever see a horse canter round or play with others then they will do the movements in dressage, not as refined no but they will do extended trot, pirouettes etc etc

Icelandic horses can never return to the country and are left behind after international competitions.

As a pretty decent rider with several decades of experience at the time, I once had the honour of a ride on a friend's horse, who had retired from top level dressage and was living the life of Riley on her farm.. I couldn't get this beautiful creature to walk in a straight line. He was so sensitive to every tiny movement or weight shift in the saddle we were wavering around like drunks. Top dressage riders are incredibly fit and have amazing bonds with their horses. They don't perform "tricks" whilst the riders sit back and have a jolly old time.

SmokeyDevil- I understand a lot of riders don’t own the horses and have sponsorship (just like any other sport), but how did they get started in the first place? Riding lessons are expensive as is horse ownership even at the most basic level. Presume they were involved in competition at pony club and junior level and worked their way up? How do they fund that without significant input from their parents financially?

I dont enjoy it as much as some of the other sports and wouldnt choose to watch it but that's fairly irrelevant. I also think the skateboarding , fencing and shooting are pretty dull.
It surprised me how old the competitors were though (a few in their 50s and 60s) which is very unusual in most sports. We were speculating how much a horse like that was worth and how much it would cost to transport them (with groom etc)....although we basically had no idea!!! ....which then made me wonder if the people in sailing use their own boat in competitions and how many bikes each the cyclists took!

Interesting thread.

I don’t know much about dressage but I’m (tangentially) professionally involved with horse racing. To say you can’t coerce a horse to do something is really stupid. Have you ever watched a jockey race? They have whips.

if the people in sailing use their own boat in competitions and how many bikes each the cyclists took?

Bikes are provided by British Cycling, depending on the discipline there will be at least one spare and plenty of parts for repairs by mechanics (also provided by BC).

@LobotomisedIceSkatingFan

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.

Believe me, they do jump over fences completely of their own free will. I've watched my (egg packer, daughter of a car mechanic) neighbour put her horse back in his own field only for him jump back into the hay field as soon as she walks away.

Icelandic horses can never return to the country and are left behind after international competitions.

Icelandic horses don't compete at the Olympics, they're a small tough breed suited to harsh terrain. Dressage horses are generally pretty delicate and are much bigger. Icelandic horses do get exported from Iceland and you're right they're not allowed back in - this is because they're a very distinct and hardy breed who have never been exposed to horse diseases from the rest of the world so they wouldn't have any immunity. If they leave iceland, they're normally sold to Icelandic horse enthusiasts around the world who have their own communities and breeding programmes outside Iceland. And yes there are competitions but nobody in their right mind would leave their very valuable horse behind. A competition horse would be worth thousands of pounds. Heck even buying a bog standard one for just riding around on could set you back up to £5k.

@Tippexy

Icelandic horses can never return to the country and are left behind after international competitions.

Many international riders are not based in their home country though, are they? Icelandic competitors can just as easily base themselves in Europe.

@garlictwist

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

The teams fly their own horses to every Olympics or other international events.

The pairing is the rider plus their own horse that they have built a relationship with and been heavily involved in the training of. Building that takes months and years. It isn't rider plus a random horse flung together at the last minute on arrival at the event!

I think team games are utter shite. Nothing more ridiculous than pampered boys chasing a ball around for silly amounts of money.

Also cycling is tedious and very boring.

There are historical reasons for dressage but the ignorant don't know this.

Even the Aussie and Kiwi riders are largely based in Europe as that is where the majority of competitions are.

"There are historical reasons for dressage but the ignorant don't know this."

So rather than insult people why don't you explain? Unless you can't.

I agree with OP. I’m against these horses being transported around the world in the name of sport.
I am also against horse racing, dog racing and fox hunting. I don’t think animals should be used or controlled for human entertainment.

Horses unknown to the rider are however provided for the modern pentathlon showjumping and the difference is obvious

Wow, all the replies on here are unlikely to have helped the OP understand, all you've all done is effectively yelled at them and slammed other sports instead. Calling someone ignorant is pointless, horseriding, particularly dressage is hardly something the majority get to experience so how could we understand it?

@ElvenDreamer But OP didn’t phrase their post as “I don’t know how dressage works, can anyone enlighten me”, did they? No, they weighed in with a statement that it is “ridiculous” followed up by other similarly ignorant posters who claim that the horses are treated badly or that it’s wrong because it’s an elite sport (as so many are, but equestrianism always gets singled out). So don’t be surprised if the response is as blunt as OP’s post.

If someone is genuinely interested this thread shows that there are plenty willing to explain it, and there’s lots of YouTube videos etc out there too.

@Dentistlakes

SmokeyDevil- I understand a lot of riders don’t own the horses and have sponsorship (just like any other sport), but how did they get started in the first place? Riding lessons are expensive as is horse ownership even at the most basic level. Presume they were involved in competition at pony club and junior level and worked their way up? How do they fund that without significant input from their parents financially?

Some go that route. Others get jobs in stables, working alongside top riders and work their way up. Not all of them do pony club etc but it is definitely a route some take and that does usually cost the parents money yes. But that doesn't really mean they are privileged, when you think that all of the riders this time are older, so their parents were paying for this stuff back when you bought a pony for £500 and let the kid crack on with limited gear. The ponies lived out, not in stables, didn't get expensive feed or expensive rugs etc.

Now though, the ponies cost a bomb, so does the equipment and the livery. Feed costs more etc. The ponies and horses now are molly coddled more than back then, which costs more money. But having money doesn't mean you are good, and teams like gb, Germany etc will not take you for your money. They want the gold medal. They won't take your average rider just because they managed to buy an expensive horse. If you aren't getting the good scores, you're out. And getting those good scores takes a lot.

So rather than insult people why don't you explain? Unless you can't.

@Needapoodle You can’t be surprised when people bite back in the face of deliberately rude and ignorant comments. If someone is genuinely interested, maybe they could start here: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_dressage

I love watching all the equestrian events, and I think the dressage is fantastic and very skilled. Could someone 'horsey' explain just how the rider controls the horse? I know they use their knees in some way but how does that translate into different movements for the horse? Also, does the horse 'learn' the routine and practise it or does the rider rely on instructions every time?

OP, if you don't like 'dancing horses' you would have a fit if you went to the Spanish Riding School in Vienna!

Well, I'd be tremendously surprised if a horse spontaneously decides to jump over an obstacle. Possibly one that's already been 'taught' (viz, made) to jump.

I don't think any 'sport' which requires a sentient but ultimately non-consenting animal to be pressed into service is at best incredibly self-indulgent, and at worst, barbarous.

It is hard to talk to people who know and love horses sometimes, not always but sometimes. I was told by my Tory MP that I didn't understand hunting (he's v pro) because I have the wrong background. A v different conversation of course but it does effectively shut down dissent if you point out superiority of thought as an answer rather than engaging with the question. My eldest went on a school trip to one of our most prestigious horseracing stables and came home upset because they were shown and told about the gold plated care and dd had through natural curiosity asked what happens when they can't race anymore or were injured badly and she got in trouble for it. She was in primary school and there was no edge to her question. She genuinely wondered. I read a thread on here only the other day where a poster said a horse refusing to jump deserved the "skelp" it got due to being a "pig". As a non horse sport lover, that sounds awful as a statement but I actually don't dare ask or challenge the notion of an animal being hit when it won't perform because I've been patronised before when trying to talk to some people about horses. Maybe there's no middle ground. Horse lovers tell me that their horses don't mind being skelped, they like the discipline, they respond well to it, they aren't actually hitting them really and so on and I can't fathom the difference between that and a non-verbal child. I don't think how well any living creature is treated 90% of the time is licence to hit it or destroy it when it won't or can't do what you want any longer. Maybe there's just a natural impasse there and maybe it is want of understanding on my part.