Well that’s reassuring to hear 
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There’s no way the horses are not back sore after those rides…
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What about a race instead of a jumping competition? You might have to have several heats in order to accommodate the number or riders, but…
Here’s the mounts I would use:
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Or mutton busting?
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Love this idea. I want to see the German sobbing because her sheep didn’t run straight enough. 
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Also it’s worth noting that this thread was started 3 weeks before this year’s mess. Everyone here was already holding our breath because we knew what a shit show it would be. MP officials would’ve had to have known too they just didn’t care until they pissed off all of horse Twitter and Facebook.
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I’m watching the pony finals, and all I can say is those pony jumper riders look like Grand Prix professionals compared to the pentathalon! 
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I know a gag is common in the US but I bet that the German rider did not have hundreds of rides in a gag….
Still you blame everything on one specific rider… she has to carry the burden of years of neglectance…… Nice….
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Not that it matters, but I wonder about the vet as well…. I know the German rider had a conversation with him about whether the horse was fit to compete and he declared the horse fit…. I Wonder what his qualifications are?? He really messed up his responsibility for the horse…
And just saying for all the people creating big stories about how I would abuse the horse 
…. I feel totally sorry for the horse which was
sacrificed
By his owner for money,
by the MP officials for their glory, and
by the vet because he didn’t care or did not have the knowledge to see the problems…
The horse and the rider were the scape goats…. and yes I do blame the rider for getting into this situation Who in the world goes for an Olympic medal in a sport who exploits horses that bad
Well, you can’t really blame anyone else for her meltdown in the ring and the overuse of a crop. Her own riding can’t be blamed entirely on her coach, either. Her behavior is what made this a media scandal, not her riding.
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You are right her behavior is her own personal fault….
I blame a lot of things for producing this unnecessary Situation though…
Small suggestion…
‘Pentathlon’ is the correct name/spelling.
Not ‘pentathalon’, as in the title of this thread.
Carry on.
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Look at my many many posts on this thread examining the ENTIRE situation at Tokyo, including the role officiating, rules, and the governing body of the sport played in this meltdown.
It’s completely untrue to say I ONLY blame this one rider for the scope of the bad riding, athlete safety, and horse welfare concerns in Pentathlon.
But go with a straw man strategy if that’s what you want to do.
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Don’t feed her.
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Then I wonder how all these pages bashing the unfortunate rider came together???
Including accusing me that I only defend her because she is German, Calling me a bad person, likely animal abuser, because I would let her ride my horse, even declaring that the horse was a packer and she did everything wrong and people from this board could have done better……
no not all these things were your posts but I never had the impression that you did agree with all these other poster……
It is kind of curious that now you sound different……
I’ve been watching PF all week, too, thinking the exact same thing. And also how lovely it is when a kid’s had an ehhhh kind of trip but comes out smiling, patting her pony, and to a boisterous cheering section at the gate. Clearly a lot of them are thrilled to be there and for the experience.
My favorite was the little girl on Posh Girly Girl in the mediums today. She had a stop, IIRC, at the first fence, and the pony was peeking a lot. The kid got her around, used her stick appropriately and left the ring smiling from ear to ear while patting the pony. 130-some in the class, she would’ve known it was over at the stop but she didn’t quit and still came out smiling and patting the pony. If she were my kid, I wouldn’t be prouder of a top ten finish.
To bring it back to pentathlon, the other thing PF got me thinking about was use of the stick – using it appropriately and able to recognize circumstances under which using it is appropriate. Now clearly this is a different situation altogether but something I observed with more than one kid dealing with a balky pony, particularly leaving the gate (at least two were excused before the first fence). I believe all of the ones I saw were carrying sticks but only one actually used hers (appropriately, one swift wallop behind the girth which netted her a pony tantrum). Most of them were kicking like mad and trying to turn the pony into some sort of forward momentum.
Each time, and I was yelling “OMG, honey NOW use your STICK” at the livestream, I suddenly and awkwardly remembered the road to this pentathlon discussion and was glad my rail was virtual.
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Lol one of the MP riders in the first round of jumps whacked her bay horse between fences in the combo…and he advised her not to do that again with a pretty solid buck/kick out. I cackled and cheered for the horse to carry through on the threat. He was forward, TYVM.
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I see there’s a proposal from the federation to address the problem by having fewer jumps.
I’m curious what @JER and others think.
To me this is exactly wrong. It continues the mindset of Equestrian as the phase to survive rather than to show excellence. It is most forgiving to those athletes who practice less or are less skilled in this phase, that their mistakes won’t compound into penalty points before they get to the end. It’s not that much less wear and tear on the horses.
Make the jumps lower, if anything maybe make the courses a little longer and more rider-technical at the lower height. Have FEI-licensed stewards who can end a ride or substitute a horse or authorize a reride at any time as necessary to safeguard the horse and give the rider a fair test.
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Fewer jumps?
Meatloaf is still meatloaf, no matter the serving size.
I would wade back up the thread (or god forbid, use the search function) but, isn’t a 90 minute limit for all the disciplines in MP one of the definite changes for Paris?
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