Black dressage rider goes to the Olympics

There is a very nice article here about Rogerio Clementino, a black dressage rider from Brazil, who will be riding a Lusitano at Hong Kong.

A friend of mine has seen this kid ride and says he has a bright future ahead of him!

I don’t understand why the color of the person has to be pointed out:confused: What a strange thing to post…

Sorry, I just thought it was a cool thing to note - didn’t mean to offend anyone.

My dad always said Brazil would lead the world in progress in this area.

Wonderful rider with a fascinating history and - a great ability.

Dressage has a lack of diversity that we all should be ashamed of. It IS notable, it is news, and I think it’s great!

It shouldn’t matter, but the fact is that he is a small minority as a Black dressage rider, and he is the first Afro-Brazilian to ride in an equestrian event in the Olympics, making it newsworthy.

I googled him, and he really has an interesting story - he has been a bull rider and a stable hand and grew up as the son of farm laborers. Some are now predicting that he may medal at the Olympics. His story is really inspirational and worth reading about, all race issues aside. The kid came from pretty much nothing, and is now going to the Olympics in what is probably the most expensive sport in the games (at that level of competition).

slc2 wrote:

Dressage has a lack of diversity that we all should be ashamed of. It IS notable, it is news, and I think it’s great!

I agree whole-heartedly. A buyer of one of my horses recently remarked that it was wonderful to see that my trainer was black, to which I replied I feel that he is one of the best there is. I am also proud to point out that my grandchildren are of Arab descent and ride beautifully as well. Diversity is wonderful. Peg

Y’all Bubba!

OP may not have meant to offend anyone…but equibrit certainly did.

I love to hear about people breaking racial and ethnic barriers

[QUOTE=Ambrey;3408673]
I love to hear about people breaking racial and ethnic barriers :)[/QUOTE]

I didn’t realize there was racial and ethnic barriers in dressage:eek:

You’re kidding right?

[QUOTE=Gayla;3408697]
You’re kidding right?[/QUOTE]

No please enlighten me…thank you

Umm, yeah there really is…

I have to agree with Gayla.
The competitive/training side of the horse world, be it dressage, hunters, racing, etc., has so many barriers and judgments stemming back to so many historical and class based ideas. The horse world and areas are SO heavily influenced by money and power. The average working joe schmo is not able to afford to buy a horse watch some one else train it, show it, or ride it, just because it is beautiful. It is a luxury.

Look, we are impressed that a young man made it from a farming family and as a groom was able break into the upper echelon of dressage. Which would be amazing enough due to the price tag of the sport. Throw in the fact that he is Black and yes he just broken another barrier. I say go him! Lets hope we can see more diversity in both our riders and or mentalities.

It was only a few years ago a black man made it up the ranks of the rodeo circuit, and that made just as many headlines. Both inside and outside the horse world.

As an instructor working outside many urban areas I have had only a handful of non-Caucasian students of many backgrounds.

The horse world in general has sheltered itself on the whole. Sorry if you can’t see that.

I would love to see it become a non-issue, but it still is in so many areas.

I’m with Peg, I love the diversity!

actually, horse people in general, with a few notable selections, i would say overall, are the most racially exclusive of any other group i’ve ever been around. part of the exclusion is real estate sales that keep many of the rural and suburban areas (where many stables are) as white as possible. and i think there are too many horse people that are very, very proud of their own racist views. it may come concealed with some pretty cool sounding talk when the subject comes up, and they might be willing to hire an african american or hispanic to clean stalls, but they would rarely consider an african american apprentice, rider or trainer, club president, etc.

i’ve found prejudice to be very, very open in groups of people involved with horses. i never again went to the tack shop (with several people who post here, actually) after hearing them complain about ‘darkies’ around the tack shop.

i expect them both to check into this thread any moment, and say something lofty and noble sounding about how they welcome diversity.:no:

if you haven’t seen it, or read articles in national publications naming riding, yachting and several other sports as the most un-integrated sports in america, or noticed that the only black and hispanic people around horse shows are usually cleaning up manure rather than riding (except in saddle seat, where there have been a handful of riders and trainers who are african american), you may be visually (and hearing) impaired.,…or willfully and with great effort, trying to pretend it isn’t happening…i actually heard a dressage trainer talk endlessly about how ‘filthy black people are’ and how hispanics can’t ride dressage because they aren’t intelligent enough. it’s very, very open and really horrible, from what i’ve seen. i applaud any sort of improvement in the situation, 'cause it is pretty bad.

Well, seeing that there is a black trainer that used to WORK in our tack shop (he rode hunters), no I haven’t heard of anyone speaking of “darkies” there. Honestly, never heard it anywhere around horses, but maybe I am deaf.

I think the fact that there are more white people riding is due to class issues more than racism. Riding is expensive, and the general public sees it as something that only the upper class can afford (even if this isnt really the case).

I’m probably not going to go to a show and see lower class white kids riding, why would I see lower class black kids? If there were the same percentage of middle and upper-class black famlies, we would probably see more riding and training.

Sad that equestrian sports have to cut people out because of money, but its true.

The outward perception is that dressage (and competitive equestrian sports in general) excludes ethnic diversity. I would argue that the matter is not a race issue, but rather an economic issue. Horse sports exclude a much larger portion of the population than just racial minorities, but we don’t notice it as much because there is no immediately visible ‘priviledged’ or ‘poor’ marker such as skin color is to race.

Ah, Eventer13, you and I were posting at the same time…:yes:

Maybe it’s like that in dressage and racing but in the hunter/jumper world they couldn’t care less what color you are if you have the big bucks you’re good enough for them. The only barrier to this sport is $$. I just think it’s odd that people have to point out the race of a person/rider and the more we do that the more we seperate ourselves from each other…JMHO

If you’ve ever been to the KY horse park you will know the grand prix ring is named after the Johnson’s. There is no doubt that the horse world besides racing is 90% or more female because boys aren’t as interested in riding/horses, is that a barrier?

[QUOTE=ridgeback;3408850]
Maybe it’s like that in dressage and racing but in the hunter/jumper world they couldn’t care less what color you are if you have the big bucks you’re good enough for them. The only barrier to this sport is $$. I just think it’s odd that people have to point out the race of a person/rider and the more we do that the more we seperate ourselves from each other…JMHO

If you’ve ever been to the horse park you will know the grand prix ring is named after the Johnson’s. There is no doubt that the horse world besides racing is 90% or more female because boys aren’t as interested in riding/horses, is that a barrier?[/QUOTE]

I agree with your first paragraph. With gas prices rising so fast, all of the horse world is going to have some real money issues rearing their heads. Historically the poor were not horse owners, the rich were; our society is one of a classless system, but as one is richer one can afford more in the line of hobbies, and for most people horses are a hobby.

Your second paragraph brings up an interesting view. Why do girls like horses more than boys do? No one seems to be able to figure out that one realistically. :):)

Aside: Most of the early jockeys in this country were black, the racing horses were owned by white men, and the riders were slaves.

[QUOTE=DownYonder;3408563]
Sorry, I just thought it was a cool thing to note - didn’t mean to offend anyone. ;)[/QUOTE]
Don’t worry. We know you meant no harm. One day when people go into the ring or anywhere else, horsewise or otherwise, people won’t notice whether they are white or black or hispanic or multiracial, just whether they are good or not. I’m only concerned with whether someone is riding a WB or a TB (I love both) and if a WB, maybe a Hessen, lol, like only Roxanna 112 is Hessen and she’s on the jumper reserve list, I think.
Thanks for the post.