Dressage Make the WSJ: Dressage Dumps Tchaikovsky for Beyoncé

[alicen]

@Silverbridge

I’m just going to hazard a guess that Steffen knows more about what influences his Freestyle scores at the upper echelon of competition, than you do. I could be wrong.

No doubt, I just found his statement, if quoted accurately, to be disturbing.

[Larksmom]

I for one always LOVED Steffan’s freestyles. He had a real flair and a way with the music. He could have had a bad day that day, we all have them you know. Besides, if he was the FIRST ride of the day, meaning in the first group, perhaps not much was expected. I do n’t know how they schedule the rides but the winner never rides early.

[Silverbridge]

@alicen

No doubt, I just found his statement, if quoted accurately, to be disturbing.

Ah I apologize. I took it to mean you were doubting his perspective and that he was scored down for other reasons.

[Silverbridge]

But to your point which I didn’t get at first: the bottom line is that dressage judging is subjective and dressage Musical Freestyle judging is even MORE subjective. It just is. That’s sort of the premise of the article and Steffen’s comments underscore that construct.

[alicen]

I don’t know. I just found the article to be rather distasteful and flip and don’t think Peter’s comment about the judges did anything to dispel that. But that just might be the fault of the author’s editing choices. Michael K ? Seriously?

[Larksmom]

Dressage takes itself too seriously. This was WSJ. Most of the readers have no idea what a horse is. I thought it was light but not idiotic. They were communicating with the people we would like to attract to the sport?

[BigMama1]

@Rackonteur

I read an article the other day about a local public golf course. The article said that golf is the most expensive sport there is. I have trouble believing that.

I was surprised several years ago when I went Christmas shopping for a tennis-playing friend of mine to find how expensive the items in the tennis shop were. It was just like being in a tack shop but with different clothes and gear, and just as pricey.

As to skiing, I only knew one kid when I was growing up who skiied. The rest of us came from families who could not afford vacations at ski resorts, let alone skis and all the other equipment. And I’ve seen enough clips about Olympic snowboarders to know it’s a rich kid’s sport – look at the guy who built his own half-pipe training venue and helicoptered to it!

Pick-up sports like baseball, soccer, football, and running can be played by just about anyone. Public pools exist if you can ride a bus to them, but granted swimming lessons cost money. But few kids have ski slopes in their back yards, and how many public schools have rowing teams?

I think if dressage would get rid of the shadbellies (they have already given riders the option of a helmet instead of top hat) and the humonguous warmbloods, it might look less elitist. Or if western dressage were included in the Olympics. Even a pricey Quarter Horse looks more accessible than a huge warmblood with braids.

The earlier post about a 16-hand mare being “small” just tickled me. I wonder which breed Aerosmith would prefer!

(Oh, never mind, they’d probably say Friesian. lol)

Are we really willing to sacrifice the sport just to “appear” less elitist?

And let’s be honest - at the Olympic level EVERY sport is elitist. It takes big, big bucks to make it to that level.

[BatCoach]

@Rackonteur

I read an article the other day about a local public golf course. The article said that golf is the most expensive sport there is. I have trouble believing that.

I was surprised several years ago when I went Christmas shopping for a tennis-playing friend of mine to find how expensive the items in the tennis shop were. It was just like being in a tack shop but with different clothes and gear, and just as pricey.

As to skiing, I only knew one kid when I was growing up who skiied. The rest of us came from families who could not afford vacations at ski resorts, let alone skis and all the other equipment. And I’ve seen enough clips about Olympic snowboarders to know it’s a rich kid’s sport – look at the guy who built his own half-pipe training venue and helicoptered to it!

Pick-up sports like baseball, soccer, football, and running can be played by just about anyone. Public pools exist if you can ride a bus to them, but granted swimming lessons cost money. But few kids have ski slopes in their back yards, and how many public schools have rowing teams?

I think if dressage would get rid of the shadbellies (they have already given riders the option of a helmet instead of top hat) and the humonguous warmbloods, it might look less elitist. Or if western dressage were included in the Olympics. Even a pricey Quarter Horse looks more accessible than a huge warmblood with braids.

The earlier post about a 16-hand mare being “small” just tickled me. I wonder which breed Aerosmith would prefer!

(Oh, never mind, they’d probably say Friesian. lol)

LOL well I sure am glad that you watching a few internet clips on snowboarding makes you an expert on what it takes to be a competitor. Imagine non horse people watching a few grand prix clips and thinking that ALL dressage riders were exactly like that! When you only see a few bits of high level competition you forget that there are all levels of involvement and enjoyment in just about any sport.

You are proving my point that lack of accessibility makes a sport seem elitist. I lived in mountain states and had friends who lived in their vans and were totally poor ski-bums and were amazing sponsored snowboarders due to their dedication. Rather than get a 9 to 5 job they would do odd jobs or work only part time so they could maximize their time on the mountain and eventually some of them did get successful and compete internationally with VERY little start up cost. Their gear was free (sponsored) and their travel was free - also sponsored. Compare that to your life where only the richest kid in town got 1 ski vacation a year and yep - I can see how you view snow-sports as elitist. (BTW Shawn White’s half pipe that you referenced didn’t cost him a dime, red bull and later gopro built that for him - when you are the Michael Jordan of your sport rich corporate sponsors will go out of their way to make sure you keep winning).

Again, its all a matter of perspective. To most people living in an urban environment (which I will assume is the WSJ’s audience) owning a horse is a rare, expensive thing. Riding stables are few and far between and you need to pay big bucks to be properly outfitted and only ride in the confines of a lesson program. Compare that to someone who lives in a rural community where horses are more commonplace and you can ride your neighbor’s horse for free.

[netg]

Not that it really matters, but I assume that Steffen’s comment was in relation to the opening of the freestyle they had referenced. However, riding first may well have affected how far down he placed as well; it wasn’t his best, and he wouldn’t have gotten a medal, but first rides usually score lower than deserved from a purely subjective perspective. I’ve seen a few informal and not scientific studies trying to quantify that, too.

[CFFarm]

Not one of my favorite rides but ya gotta love Debby McDonald and Brentina’s “Brick House” freestyle music.

[Ace1]

If the horse can move to the beat, I’m in! Or, you know, select music/choreograph so it looks like the hooves are striking to the beat.

I know this was WSJ and not COTH, but oy! Can we not talk about an upper-level horse “prancing”?! Just one of my (many) hang ups.