This is such an important point - and it’s a problem in many sport federations.
Sport federations are often run by corrupt or entrenched officials who run the federation to their own (and their cronies’) benefit. Or, like with USA Swimming and USA Gymnastics, they cover up generations of child and sexual abuse.
There has to be a way for athletes to take back their sports from these people.
AMEN. Women’s gymnastics is a total tragedy. I follow many folks on Twitter who have been strong voices throughout the Nassar situation… it’s amazing to me how little power gold medal winning athletes had over the politics and dysfunction within their sport. Truly amazing… and sad.
In some respects, the Olympics amplifies certain dysfunctional dynamics within MANY sports. It’s an undeniable issue, once you start looking for it, and looking across multiple sports. That’s not a story anyone wants to publicize or look at in depth… we all like shiny, positive and inspiring Olympic stories. But the truth is definitely a bit messier.
Yeah, some real nut jobs. However, I do tend to agree that the picture posted of Saint Boy is either 1) not him or 2) not a very recent picture of him unless he has the worst case of Cushings ever which caused him to grow a winter coat in a few days’ time. 
Oh yes! They might just love it.
Two weeks ago at Pony Club Festival at KY Horse Park, I did two days of shooting and fencing clinics with the director of USA Pentathlon. I wasn’t sure how many kids we’d have coming through so was pleasantly surprised that we didn’t get a break from 8-5. We had repeat visitors and kids who came back on Day 2 to report that they’d found a fencing club near their home and were signing up for classes. That’s how much some kids liked it.
It was also a great weekend for fencing in Lexington because right when we started up on Sunday, we got the news that Lee Kiefer had won the gold medal in women’s foil. Lee is from Lexington and Bluegrass Fencers, our local club coached by the incredible Amgad Khazbak. We are a small club in a small city producing world-class fencers. I’d borrowed the club gear for the Pony Club kids and I was amazed at how many of the kids and their parents had heard about the gold medal.
So many ‘horse rescue’ people who truly seem to want to ship him from Japan to the US. On Twitter, people were posting pictures of horse sashimi in response to the World Pentathlon tweet… 
By chance, are any of these the same people who want to save California Chrome from his “horrible” treatment?
Where is this post with the picture?
Omfg the comments… those people are insane! I’m so glad I’m not on Facebook.
Thanks.
I’ll bet he was fatigued from the competition, whether or not that was the right horse in the picture.
Who?!
Quote from the post being referred to.
How do you know this horse doesn’t have to put up with a similar experience at the Minakuchi riding Club ?
A chance to lobby ?
https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1111562/uipm-riding-working-group
And she was in contention for a top medal.
Had she drawn a horse who hadn’t been frazzled by a previous bad ride, or was easier in general, she might have won.
But she’d still be a not great rider.
How do you know whether she is a good or bad rider… do you know her personally??
Someone who does posted in this thread about her typical riding style. Hard seat that does not get along with many horses (or wording similar).
And a good rider does not have a tantrum while on the horse and then blame the horse. Well, I guess I should say a good horseperson doesn’t do that.
Edit to add:
I found the post and much to my amusement it was addressed to you specifically, in response to one of your posts. So I have to assume you have already read it and are just saying this again to make some point. Here is a screen shot.
Six whip hits in a row when the horse was being nappy, and yet the coach gets DQed. Ha!
Looking at that full video again… It just hurts to watch it. Yes… the earlier Russian rider fried the horse. But… clearly the combination of Annika’s HARD seat, plus the way she rode him with a hard contact on that gag… yeah… he was absolutely flipped out. Poor gelding. It just appears like once she finally got him going on course… she was determined to hang onto that medal position (I can understand that), but instead of riding with some finesse, and sympathy, and a sense of give and go… well… she had ZERO ability or tools like that. What she did have was STRENGTH. So… she tried to strengthen all aids at once, on a frazzled mount, and push him around a 4 ft course that way.
Just awful.
As for your continued comments, @Manni01 , that don’t quite go so far as to defend her ride… but push back on anyone who condemns it… honest question… would you cut the same slack to the Russian rider if she was the 2nd one up on Saint Boy, and had a meltdown like this? What if it was a French of Polish rider on the horse? Call me crazy, but it seems like the nationality of the rider involved in the worst meltdown of the day just MIGHT be influencing your comments…
Looks to me like the horse took some seriously lame steps after crashing through the first fence. I wouldn’t jump either if I had just gotten NAILED because a rider buried me and left me high and dry, and then wanted to put a death grip on my face.
From 2012. Mens. Not much better.
By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. You may also receive promotional emails from The Chronicle of the Horse. You can opt out at any time.
For Customers
Company
Terms of Use
