Watching conversation play out here and on various FB threads.
I think it’s human nature if you have trusted, admired, and respected a person, and something dodgy comes to light, your reaction is going to be “it’s an isolated incident” or “person was under stress.” Etc. Or to deny because you don’t want to be tainted by association.
But if you don’t respect them, don’t know who they are, or already have a bad impression of them, you tend to think this one proven example is just the tip of the iceberg.
I’m sure there is some extra motive in the timing of the video release, but that doesn’t change the nature of the video.
As far as the Olympics: I get why every sport in the world likes to have a fantasy goal for children, and I get why various countries can feel like the performance of a swimmer or runner or horse or hockey team feels like validation for the entire social system and ethos of that country. But I wonder if they may run their course as mega spectacles just like the World Expositions eventually stopped happening. Oops, I Googled. They haven’t stopped. They happen every 5 years. But have you heard anything about them or given them any thought? They are kind of irrelevant.
Olympics and Expos are often hosted by cities that want to jump start some urban redevelopment but they often don’t create as much as hoped for.
Anyhow I thought for years that the Olympics drew “the best athletes in the world” but they don’t, they draw the best athletes in each country and that means a few internationally top ranked athletes battling it out against a backdrop of many many lower ranked athletes
Dressage is a very clear cut example because there’s one FEI international ranking list and the first 25 spots are usually all German and Dutch with maybe a British rider. The true “top ranked competition” would be some CDI4* in Northern Europe in an Olympic qualifying year with a dozen German or Dutch riders trying to boost their scores and ratings to make the team. Not the actual Olympics where someone ranked 125 rides against the #1 on the list.
I guess the Olympic mythos is that some unknown from an underperforming country will pull a personal best and run or swim or hurdle faster than everyone else in the world. How often does that happen? I think it’s even less likely with horses.
I no longer enjoy watching most high level dressage because I see the tension and imbalance, and I didn’t particularly find Valegro and CD way better in that respect
I don’t know what it means for equestrian sports to be out of the Olympics. I guess it means Safe Sport no longer applies, so it’s back to business as usual with creepy coaches and teenage riders.
