How do they choose the horses for Modern Pentathlon?

[DazzlePaintedBattlePants]

Just watched the German competitor leave the arena in tears at the Tokyo Olympics after a fairly horrific showjumping round, where the horse was being a complete sod. I’m fairly sure the horses are assigned randomly to the competitors but where do they come from? Do the organisers phone up their mates and ask for the stroppiest horses going?

I get that horsemanship is obviously the important skill to demonstrate but the horses are a fairly large confounding variable😂

Never knew this competition existed it's like a mini olympics !!! I know nothing about horses at all but I think it's a skill to get on any horse and jump it tell me if I wrong the horse must of felt her nerves but if your first at everything else and the horse isn't feeling it could you change the horse or those who ride what do you do to make it go!! Again apologies I have no knowledge of horses at all would of loved to ride but allergic xx

Actually thinking of the dressage thread which is fascinating if they don't want to do anything they clearly won't will they god I know nothing about horses jumping dressage but it's really interesting to read from those of you who know I was watching the dressage thinking how do you get a horse to do that ??? Beautiful creatures

The riding was not good enough. They could do with a fresh horse each but it is not the horse on trial it is the rider. Asking the horse to jump while in floods of tears and loosing it is not fair on the horse

I found this so difficult to watch. My sympathies though lay entirely with the horse.

The standard of riding was terrible (I'm a qualified instructor). I'm surprised a lot of the horses jumped as well as they did in the circumstances.

She rode appallingly. She missed every time - meaning that she couldn't judge the distance required so that the horse could jump the fence, so I'm not surprised he said no thank you.

I've seen that tense shoulders, crying, and everything going horribly wrong many times - usually it's 12 year old children though - not people apparently capable of jumping 1m20 courses.

I loved the grey though - he was an absolute gem! I'd love a go on that one

the horses are 'highly qualified' from a riding stables and chosen for ability and temperament.

I think it was very clear which of the women were 'pony club girls' and which see horses as sporting equipment.

and compared to dressage show jumping at pentathlon level is easy peasy

Thanks all for your insight ! Wish I could watch the whole of it tho not just snippets so in a nut shell it's the rider not the poor horse ahh I see now !!

purplesequins agree. Was it the Italian girl who threw her reins at the groom and stomped off. Thought the Irish girl was very assured and there was a stunning chestnut earlier on who jumped beautifully.

loved the grey though - he was an absolute gem! I'd love a go on that one

Wasn't he! What a super horse

I was heartbroken for the horse. It was obviously distressed and in any other circumstance the rider would have retired.

Agree.

Usually equestrian events are competed between horse and jockey who have a relationship and it's a partnership of mutual trust.

That horse was clearly agitated and then her rider was clearly distressed.

It wasn't fair on the horse that she had to try and make it jump to continue competing.

She should have had the option to use a different horse for both their sakes.

@friskybivalves

Haven't watched today's coverage so don't know if the commentators have made this point but modern pentathlon is meant to test the skills of a crack cavalry officer caught behind enemy lines and trying to make his or her escape.

They'd have to be able to shoot accurately, nick a random horse and make off on it etc etc. So even having 20 mins to get to know the horse is being generous I suppose.

Yes - this was my hit of Olympic trivia I learnt today too!

I know the girl was distressed but she did hit the horse very hard and didn't use her legs and heels at all. The poor horse will take a time to recover from having two unsympathetic riders in one competition. Hope someone he trusts will take care of him tonight.

I had the impression that the horse had possibly already been through a tough round with an inadequate/heavy handed and footed rider and to end up with another one was enough for him to say 'no fucking way'. It wouldn't surprise me if he'd already been on the receiving end of something in the twenty minutes before any of us saw the sobbing child tantrum, either.

I can’t stop thinking about him. Horses are so disposable - hés an old fella too at 20.

I watched most of the pentathlon jumping through my fingers, it was awful.

I should have known better I remember years ago it was brought up after an appalling jumping round (yanking on the mouths, hitting and just running them into the fences) that the riders should not be competing until they are more experienced and capable of riding as it's not fair on the horses.

it's like the riding is an after thought.

Yaay I can run fast, shot good blah blah I could be a Olympian! now all I'll have to do is have just enough lessons to able to point a horse at fence and steer left and right and Bob's your uncle.

I remember reading about how they selected the horses for the London Olympics. They do try to get horses of similar ability and temperament.

The horses at the Beijing Olympics were genuinely just not up to the job - the whole thing was just horrific to watch.

These ones today though were all very good citizens. As long as you didn't ride like a complete div they'd get you round just fine.

The fact that she was crying and whacking the poor thing surely ensured that it was never going to end well.

but modern pentathlon is meant to test the skills of a crack cavalry officer caught behind enemy lines and trying to make his or her escape

Yes and first and foremost is a cavalry officer is a rider. They would have been riding since children so would have life time experience of it before they were then trained how to ride in battle too.

The Riding should be the most important part, not the side show addition it is in the modern pentathlon.

As this is the tack room I presume we are all aware that she was hardly beating seven bales of shit out of that horse.

It wasn’t pretty and she shouldn’t have even attempted to jump it considering the vibe that was going on but I doubt that horse is having nightmares.

The german girl rode appallingly, really unsympathetic and very self centred. He needed a rub down the neck and sweet nothings whispering in his ear. We used to do this at uni competitions, i had the fun of being on the GB uni team a couple of years on the go ( many moons ago) and we would rock up and jump courses of similar difficulty to the modern pentathletes with 15 mins warm up on a strange horse. Some of them look like they hardly practice this phase.

@BlossomingSlowly

I felt sad for the rider, but without wanting to sound harsh, any rider or coach who deems it acceptable to hit a horse when things start to go wrong should not be in the olympics. I think horse riding already has a bad name due to horse deaths at the grand national and various other things, it really doesn't need a horse being smacked on TV to bring it down further. Animals do not exist for our human gain. I wouldn't smack a crying and distressed child and push it back on stage at a school performance. It's completely unethical.

That horse was far too distressed to be performing and rules should have allowed for it to be retired and a different horse given. Difficult situation for the rider and coach and absolutely not a nice one, but also no excuse to hit.

Yep, and not a single pat at the end either. Horrible to watch a sentient animal being treated like that.