I don’t know his name but it would have been the 1st or 2nd day (sorry to be vague). Anyway his horse refused, 2x I believe. I thought he gave a very harsh correction-while they were just standing he hit the horse with the stick then yanked on his mouth when the horse leaped forward. Then again while they were standing he jabbed the horse with his spurs and again yanked on his mouth.
I can only imagine how frustrating it is to be riding in the olympics and have your horse refuse but I still thought that was uncalled for. You didn’t see Beezie doing that after her mare refused.
I saw it, and I agree. The punishment gave conflicted signals and was, IMO, unwarranted anyway (if I recall correctly, didn’t he ride the horse to nothing?). In any event, it did seem like a temper tantrum rather than a correction linked in time to the actual stop. I could understand hitting the horse with the stick immediately after the stop, even if the bad distance was rider error…the horse should still try if there is any way possible (opinions on this may vary…I actually would prefer a stop to crashing through a fence and so do not mind a horse that stops when the alternative is to kill us both…but that’s just me).
But, yes, I did find the timing and type of corrections concerning.
Are you referring to Christian Ahlmann’s ride? If so, then the first correction with the stick did seem delayed and inappropriate.
Someone on here did post that they did not like as he was walking out he stopped and “see-sawed” on his mouth, but if I was watching the same ride, I saw none of that; Ahlmann merely backed his horse a few steps.
I would agree. I saw Beezie pop Via after a stop and had no problem with that, but the delayed use of the stick and then the proceeding to yank on the bit when the horse freaked out seemed very unneccessary. Very unfortunate for the German team to be represented with such behavior when the other riders have been so lovely.
