Sigh… is anyone else seeing outcries and/or getting angry messages on their social media about when they are going to stop abusing their horse and quit making them do sport?
All of a sudden folks in my network are coming out of the woodwork and are letting me know how terribly my horse is suffering 
just like the ones in the pentathlon 
Ugh, lord I hope change comes sooner to the pentathlon sooner rather than later…
Uhhhh no??? Wait like people you’re friends with or just random trolls? Are you worried about pentathaletes making us look bad? I’m not… we have enough wrong with our sport already so I’m not buying that the attention modern pentathlon gets once every 4 years is going to make a difference.
This has me howling with laughter. You made my day, @Equkelly.
No one ever worries about pentathletes making them look bad. No one. Not ever.
What’s the word for something that’s so esoteric that it’s not even a first world problem?
To this I say: you have never raced the 200 free.
I promised I’d stay out of this thread, I promised I’d stay out of this thread…
I have, and I totally agree with Bogie. I also agree with Bogie that I’d rather jump the course than race a 200 fly (done that too)…
Nice to see you back with us @JER 
I say that to myself about any and every Michael Barisone thread.
Well people I thought I was at least on decent terms with! Former coworkers and classmates.
Truly I’m a little surprised they have nothing better to do with their time apart from finding my photos, messaging them to me, and shaming me for jumping the poor horse over painted sticks. Like I can’t even respond. I am fairly confident these folks must donate to PETA given the language of their messages.
And oh yes, I know we’ve got our own problems—I just didn’t want another!
My son has been swimming since fourth grade, running XC since sixth.
He did range shooting in JROTC.
So he’d have to learn fencing and riding…
I’d love to see that.
I think the difference in the public reaction is due to the fact that one was televised and seemed to be the riding norm. We witnessed it firsthand. The second was not televised and seemed to be an exception to the norm. We were detached and it was reported as freak accident since it was an exception to the norm.
It’s certainly not going to help.
I don’t ever recall seeing so much negative coverage on any sort of show jumping event before, and to the casual observer who knows nothing about it, they will think it’s all part of the same sport. Especially with the help of PETA.
And especially since it was a horrible display of poor sportsmanship by the rider, poor horsemanship by the coach, and the poor horse had obviously had enough for one day, but was still being coerced to perform.
Hey People - I was quoting Denny Emerson’s posts on Facebook about this whole pentathlon situation. Not my words… you can see both posts on his Tamarack hill farm page
I’m fully aware of that (you can see me using the pronoun them).
One more thing, apparently for this individual no real harm has been done to this particular horse. No! No mental breakdown and/or possible ptsd (because you know, horses remember and have feelings) or physical injury from plowing through the fences for her (even after he got mercilessly beaten)…
Uhhhh what??? Like as in more than one person is doing that??? I’d love to see the screenshots of those comments… how odd. I mean peta trolls I can see doing that but acquaintances?!?
Are you telling me that you think they were inspired to lash out due to the poor horsemanship in MP???
Bruh you serious? That’s wild. I feel like, based on comments I’ve seen on tik tok and the like people really think they can have an educated opinion on everything without having any kind of education on it. Some bold comments I’ve seen from non equestrians but it’s wild to think your friends would be that presumptuous.
Please tell me you have blocked / deleted those “frenemies” from your FB! Nobody needs that crap.
There are those, even those who love the sport of eventing, who are basically saying this. At the upper levels, too many rotational falls.
I finally found the full video of the German rider; it was really bad. But the dumbest thing is the outcry about the coach “punching” the horse. I mean, who hasn’t bopped their horse in the butt with their fist…that was nothing. But the terrible ride - including riding into the jump - that was horrible!
I thought the German coach hauled off and punched the horse in the face or something. Have to admit I had to rewind to actually see the “punch” that occurred…then I laugned.
I read (maybe here, maybe online) that some of the riders admitted to riding only 2-3 days a month or something. I can’t even imagine. No wonder they were so bad. I’m truly baffled…
Also…no matter what. Don’t we all know that nothing ever works with a horse when you lose control of your emotions. Why didn’t she stop and take a breath, and calm herself down? Instead of just sobbing around the ring. That certainly wasn’t going to help. I was embarrassed for her.
Hickstead’s death brought out the same type of reaction. How dare you jump those poor things over sticks.
As someone who has been having recurring nightmares about the pentathlon SJ for the past four nights running, I am really appreciating this thread and a lot of the ideas to improve the safety of this phase.
One idea to throw out there is to require safety vests for all riders. I was shocked that only ONE rider went in with a vest. As this is required in cross country, I think it should also be required in this sport.
I was also shocked that there were so many riders competing in half chaps at the Olympics, but alas…
I do support 100% that the round should finish after the first fall. I think we all know how rattled the nerves can get after a fall, and having to get right back on and finish the course with those nerves plus the nerves of being on international TV, the nerves of riding a horse over a 1.2 m fences…as the German rider exemplified, there are already enough nerves involved without adding post-fall nerves to it all, which will only make the situation much, much worse for both horse and rider. Especially as they are still on the clock so barely take a shallow breath before continuing on.
I do love the idea of switching the shooting out from running and make it mounted shooting instead.
If nothing else, the jumps must be lower than 1 meter IMHO.
I also have a question about the tack - I’m assuming each horse has their own saddle and bridle and the riders bring their own stirrups? Asking because I saw some riders in saddles that looked too small which I’m sure didn’t help much. If they are the horses’ own saddles, are all the saddles the same size…?
Exactly how do you think this will ‘improve’ the riding phase. Right now, you can wear a body protector if you want to. The lack of body protectors is not causing any issues right now. Not one ride in Tokyo would have been improved by a body protector.
Half-chaps are allowed. They’re an easier travel option. Packing a pentathlon bag is a multisport of its own. Maybe you don’t like half-chaps but again, requiring boots is only going to cost riders money (many are self-funded) and won’t improve anything you see out there.
I suggest watching the laser run - the running and shooting phase that ends the competition. It’s hugely exciting and unique.
I appreciate your helpful suggestions to dismantle a sport you’re unfamiliar with - much the same way people on this forum react when non-horse people try to tell them what to do in equestrian sports.
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