@Manni01, what words do you use to describe someone having an emotional outburst at a horse and treating the horse horribly during that outburst?
Does one actually have to personally know someone to see them acting like a poor sport and with poor horsemanship?
Horrible rider does not mean lacks any riding skills so much as lacks the most basic horsemanship skills in this case.
. Sure that’s what your group always want… and JER has an opinion but she is obviously not the number one expert in the world…. So I choose to have another opinion…. Riding a horse which refused to go close to any jumps with the previous Russian rider in the end seems to me not what the discipline riding in Pentathlon is about… you can continue to try to bully me into another opinion but your bundled expertise will not convince me otherwise
Is Pentathlon about beating the horse with your stick and spurs while having an emotional break down?
How would you feel if someone did that at a dressage horse when their horse would not go down the center line?
I would think that if you participate in a sport where you ride a random draw horse, you know that sometimes your random draw will not make you look good.
6 times.
That’s how many times in a row the horse was beaten before the round even started. Not to mention countless other one-off hits.
If that’s not abuse to you, I’d hate to be one of your horses.
So you’re blaming the horse instead of the German rider?
And how am I bullying you? I’m just engaging with you. You certainly are allowed to have an opinion. No doubt. My opinion is that your judgement is clouded on this one because of Annika Schleu’s nationality. I’m sorry if it offends you for me to state that. But that’s how I see it.
I think this is important. This is before the horse refused a jump for her. Before the timers started. The whistle had not been blown. She had endless options that did not involve a melt down and a beating. (And then that poor horse went on to try very hard for her and she let it down at too many fences.)
But I guess to some, since she is German and she must be an amazing rider because she is German, this is all OK and we are mean for noticing it and talking about it.
I repeat this article… I posted it before but I don’t even think anybody bothered to read it…. It describes the situation from the view of other pentathlon participants…. Somehow I think they have a better insight then most of you do …. https://www.reuters.com/article/olympics-2020-mpn-idUSL1N2PE06E
I think that article really proves some of the points being made here. They KNOW going in that it is the luck of the draw. That makes her horrible reaction and poor riding even worse, it is not like she thought she would always get a saintly packer horse that would deal with whatever she did up there.
Yeah, so screw the horses. She should have hit him 8 times instead of 6, and used sharper spurs.
I don’t think my eyes can roll any harder. It’s an ANIMAL. He didn’t volunteer for this shenanigan, and then bail - he is being forced to participate. It’s not. The horse’s. Fault.
Take this advice yourself… I prefer to listen to experienced people…
There are experienced people who say that it is OK to have an emotional break down and whip and spur to the horse like that?
Please tell me who that is that says that.
Usually you are a reasonable person… I really wonder why you put all the blame on this rider… did you ever watch a pentathlon live?? The format asks for it… I am all for changing the rules but I believe it’s a bit cruel to throw one person under the bus simply because she was unlucky at the wrong moment at the wrong place…. But I already know nothing I can write will change the dynamic of this thread😔
I love your posts
Ok… I read it.
I still think that article is utter horseshit. Pardon the pun. Blaming the horse in any equestrian discipline is ALWAYS poor form. ALWAYS.
I wish I had a link to where I read about the history of the sport of pentathlon, and I will likely butcher it… but here you go… I’ll do my best to summarize.
The sport was conceived of as a way to test a cavalry officer from a prior age (late 19th / early 20th century). The thought as I understand it was, “What if a cavalry officer was given an urgent message and had to deliver it in a battlefield situation? Could the officer complete the task and meet and overcome any and all obstacles in his path? Could he tirelessly run, swim, fight (with sword or gun) and grab a random, available horse from any cavalry string, and go across potentially hostile terrain with obstacles in the way, and succeed in delivering the message?”
So… if that is the thought process at the heart of the development of this sport… then the whole test is for Annika to make due with the horse she got. If it all went to hell with the hypothetical random cavalry horse in the field, then I guess she would have either:
A. Had to run, swim, fence and shoot just that much better in order to succeed in her mission…
or
B. She would have failed in her mission
It’s very interesting that after the riding skills have been demonstrably lacking in at least some of the pentathletes for multiple Olympic cycles, without anything changing, suddenly the organization seems to be taking gigantic steps forward in an extremely short timeframe. The whole episode just happened about a week ago. I hope they actually follow through on it.
I think it’s very safe to say that the organization would not have taken any action whatsoever had it not been for the huge amount of attention in the news and on social media from all around the world.
And let’s face it, that attention was not for her riding skills. That would have passed without any notice outside of horse circles. The attention was for the meltdown and the poor treatment of the horse before her round even started. That was the thing that drew all the attention that got the organization to finally lift a finger in very short order.
I wonder what Denny Emerson has to say about that? Although I don’t wonder quite enough to actually look at his Facebook page.
You are funny 
so you think that a random cavalry horse was already fried by the previous rider?? I don’t think so because at that time riders depended on their horses and treated them well…. This was a horse rented from a professional barn who does rent out these horses. So potentially it already had bad experiences in the past which came to the surface during the ride of the Russian rider… so your story has no connection whatsoever to this sport…
True that.
I had it drilled into me from a very young age by my mother, a lifelong horsewoman, that when things go well in the show ring, you give the credit to your horse. When things go badly, you take the blame yourself. Period. Full stop.
I DID jump that high (yes a long time ago, I’m 72) and I thought she was very stiff and unsympathetic.
Oooh, no you don’t. You don’t get to frame this as “she was unlucky at the wrong moment in the wrong place”. She had a melt down and abused a horse on the a national stage surrounded by cameras. That wasn’t being unlucky, that was being an idiot and a bad horseman.
Lots of other MP participants have gotten a fried horse over the years. Hell, lots of pony clubbers sharing a schoolie at a show have had their hopes dashed because Dobbins said “no” after the last rider. And sadly, most pony clubbers handle that disappointment with less blubbering and they surely don’t get to abuse their mounts by smacking them repeatedly. When 6 years olds are showing you up in the horsemanship & sportsmanship department, well, you & your choices are the problem.
Seriously, I can’t believe anyone is acting like that German “rider” was somehow not responsible for every swing of her jumping bat!
There are obvious issues with the horse and some of the horses chosen IMO but that doesn’t negate the terrible riding and horsemanship, not to mention sportmanship.
It doesn’t have to be one or the other.
Many unsuitable horses are used regularly but the riders are also unsuitable, for the competition level they entered.
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