Olympic team gold medalist from Los Angeles in 1984 in show jumping, among many, many other accolades.
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I thought Lucinda was good with the eventing, but for Grand Prix dressage, not so much. Kyle adds very little to whatās actually going on in the test.
I think they may be somewhere in a booth watching a tv, just like we are. So when something odd happens off-camera they donāt see it and canāt explain what happened. Like the rider from Hong Kong who hopped out of the ring after her test. Of course, if itās the case that they are not actually seeing the whole event, thatās on NBC, not the commentators.
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I know they did that last time because of covid, so they may have decided to save a ton of money. But I think I remember hearing them say something about walking the xc course, so maybe they went. It would be difficult to find a commentator well versed in all three disciplines.
I imagine they are on site, but in a production booth somewhere.
When Jane got rung out, Kyle was yapping on about blood in the mouth and how that happens seemingly completely forgetting that the horse has been jumping around when she came into the stadium. I immediately thought it would be a bump on a leg, given what had happened just prior.
The networks could certainly find more specialized talent. That is their job.
I think thatās the case with many live streams. The commentators are just seeing the same view that weāre watching at home.
A few years back, I was at the Hunter Derby finals in Kentucky, and the two people doing the commentary were watching a monitor in a hallway underneath the seats in the stadium instead of being 30 feet away where they could actually see the whole ring.
Ditto for the Saturday night classes in Wellington. Those commentators are sitting in a little booth facing away from the ring at the far end and just watching a monitor the whole time.
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Maybe, but theyāre probably also thinking about their target audience for the different broadcasts. Some audience segments would probably get bored with commentary that was too technical, while other segments would be disappointed if the commentary was not technical enough to suit them.
Sure. But Lucinda spends a lot of time talking about horseās conformationāhow they are screwed together she says. I feel like sheās horse shopping or something. Iām just having a hard time following their commentary and getting their thoughts about why some horses are likely marked higher /lower than others. And if Iām seeing similar differences. I guess I expect too much.
I think I only heard Lucindaās commentary on the show jumping phase of the eventing. I donāt think Iāve heard her talk about dressage at all.
She definitely sounded very British to my ear, including mentioning a horse āusing the looā on the way to a jump. Lol.
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There are 7 judges thereā¦kind of makes it hard to comment on scores?
I am enjoying the diversity in horses! Nice to see the Iberians at the games.
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They show the average from all judges as the test progresses. I would submit itās kinda their job to comment on scores.
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She is 71 and everything is going so fast watching the horse etc. Is there anyone who does a good job at that? This is the first time I am seeing as much of the Olympics!
Also I have to say I like seeing the traditional dress, not missing all the color match match stuff.
Okā¦watching on E!. Melanie Smith Taylor is an accomplished jumping rider, but I donāt find her commentary useful. The guy talks too much and says nothing helpful. I wish they would have gotten someone who is a retired high level judge who is willing to speak their mind about the scoring so we could follow along as the tests progressed.
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I enjoy their commentating very much (eventing and dressage). He did London and Tokyo Olympics as well, and itās nice to hear a familiar voice. Lucindaās background really added to the eventing coverage. They work for the Olympic Broadcasting Service (OBS) and networks can tap into their commentating if they donāt have their own people to do it. My sister watches on another streaming service, and complains about Melanie and Randy. Theyāre muted most of the time !
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U.S. riders are heading home. 
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Yes but so many cool horses will be in the upcoming rounds. Plenty to watch!
