They certainly made no effort whatsoever to check on the horse’s condition. He was down on the ground for several seconds, but they did not even walk him forward a few steps to see if he could bear weight on all four legs before the girl was climbing back on him. Then it looked like she kicked him right into the canter immediately to head to the next jump. That was really a horrendously bad display of poor horsemanship.
If the athletes are not horsemen, and obviously many of them are not, the rules need to protect the horses from such poor treatment.
If anyone would like to express their opinion to the organization in charge, this is the email address that was included in the post with that video:
It seems all the other sports that involve borrowed horses are about judging equitation. So that evens out the differences in horses somewhat. This sport does not want to go down the route of judging and I totally understand why.
I think their first move should be to adopt a set of FEI-approved rules. As many have pointed out, tightening up the rules for refusals and falls and including some horse welfare rules would help.
I definitely think the jumps need to be lowered for both horse and rider safety. Perhaps it becomes more like a hunter pace with points for those closest to the optimum time (and no watches, etc allowed!)
There are other jumper shows that do this. I’ve done one of them (and, as previously mentioned, at this height), and know of at least one other. But they fall under FEI jurisdiction and are few and far between at least over here.
I think modern pentathlon was about showing how handy soldiers are to adapt to circumstances.
Horses, rifles, swords, those are props to showcase the better all around, resourceful soldiers.
Dressage is more about how to train and ride a horse a certain way, focus on the horse, not what pentathlon was meant for.
I just read the discourse on the meaning and application of “being a jerk.” And I nodded in agreement that we should not anthropomorphize the kind beasts with malicious intent that is more accurately due to pain, fear, and/or misunderstanding.
I do wonder if part of why the officials won’t hold up the rules or try to make it less dangerous is that they think the crashes and falls look more exciting to the average viewer. I really wouldn’t be surprised honestly.
It occurred to me that the origins of the modern pentathlon trace to a time in “ye olden days” when many of the, um, smol height divisions now common in the hunter-jumper world simply did not exist. You know, back in the day when you jumped at least 3’ if you wanted to jump at a show.
What I am wondering about is how much it hurts if you have bad fall and still have to do the running part the next day…. Of course I am only an average old person who is bad in falling and those are Top athletes. So maybe they don’t have these Problems…
I admit, that was my first thought when I saw them bouncing back up. ‘Thank goodness that they are running today, because tomorrow they are going to be sore all over from that splat.’
A lot of Olympic athletes don’t work a full time job. Because they can’t train and work and still be competitive at that level.
I also can’t imagine that most Olympic caliber pentathletes just pick up the other 4 sports for the first time after many years riding. I would have to think they are more likely people who are already competent in at least two, if not several…and then start learning or getting better at the missing ones.
That said, at an amateur level, I’m sure that’s how it happens. I’m a triathlete training for a 70.3 with a FT job and a farm. I typically have 2 workouts a day, some at home, and some elsewhere, plus long workouts on the weekend right now. Other things go by the wayside instead. We do have an off season, though, so that is something to look forward to!
But - I would never be able to train the way a pro trains and work FT and have a farm/animals. Something would have to go.
I’m curious how well the Olympic pentathletes perform at the other sports in comparison to their Olympic counterparts - I’ll admit to not having really looked it up. E.g. how fast are they in their swim, and how does that compare to the Olympic swimmers? I would assume none of them are as good as other Olympic caliber athletes at most of their sports, but are some as good as some top athletes?
Obviously the riding is a very different situation since it is more dangerous if things go badly. It’s unlikely any of them would drown in the swim.
There are numbers mentioned up thread. I think the description given is that the run and swimming times are equal to the level of an elite high school athlete. So they are for sure good at running and swimming.
Thanks for finding those. I know a couple young triathletes that are already very competitive - one is a college swimmer, the other is a college runner; both have overall tri placings at very young ages, which is unusual since experience tends to be a benefit. The 2nd is also in ROTC so I could easily imagine him naturally having the running, swimming and shooting…and he’s one of those crazy fearless people so I could see him hopping on a horse and being able to get over fences just because he’s naturally athletic. On the right horse, it might seem easy. But in the wrong program I could see him being the kind of rider that thinks of a horse as a powerful bicycle, and not at all a sympathetic rider. And if the horse didn’t cooperate, wouldn’t have the depth of experience to get it back. In the right program though, he might be great. Maybe he’s a future Olympic MP athlete.
Interesting. I think triathlon is an unusual sport for young athletes - pentathlon must be even more so. I wonder how programs recruit young athletes into the sport.
