I don’t think you can save this leg of this event, because it appears the riders can’t deal with the escalation of a bad ride after a bad ride on a horse.
The minute that horse turns to that white fence with Asian writing on it, he puts on the brakes, and finally he starts to get light and half rear. At that point, for his sake and that of the inexperienced rider, their trip needs to be over.
I suggested earlier in the thread: take out the show jumping, replace with cycling. Or motocross. Or anything that does not involve another living creature that can suffer pain.
@Thames_Pirate, I had to go back and watch again. You said the second rider had ONE bad spot before the refusals? Really?
Let’s say fence 1 was OK (it seemed a little short the way the horse popped over it). Fence two was horrible. Fence 3 was nice. Fence four was ugly, Five they took most of the fence down and six was when the stopping started.
The sweat is natural for a distressed horse in a hot climate, and from what the rider said (and I know that is only one source), the horse jumped well in warm up but even the owner was concerned about his issue being in the arena and told the rider to canter into the arena and just never let him get into that mental place. We didn’t see her enter, so I can’t speak to whether that was attempted.
Yes, the rider used her spurs and crop, but she did not do so excessively. She DID NOT have a tight hold of the gag, and in fact had her hands forward through that minute… Yes, her seat was not helping matters–this is mostly where her emotions were the issue. Her tense state was the part that was problematic and making things worse, mostly through her seat, which is why I said she was absolutely to blame for the outcome. And no, that would NOT get you eliminated in most competitions. And no, the contact was not exceptionally tight coming around the turn; it was just normal contact as you’d see in the regular showjumping. The horse is shaking his head because he wants to crab toward the in-gate on his left and she is keeping him on the outside (right) rein. But she is not in any way yanking on his mouth. But I doubt anyone but a handful of people in the world could have gotten him over any fences on that course after they had the bad spot and went through number 5. The horse was simply done.
We all know that in a lesson, we would have taken a walk break while the trainer set the fence to a cross rail. We all know that we would have done some flatwork, jumped the cross rail or maybe a tiny vertical or oxer with the back rail dropped on one side or something. And we all know that at a show we would have walked out, gone into the warmup, and done the same thing. That was the horse sense the German rider–and several others, including but not limited to the Russian–did not have. And that horse sense at the start would have helped calm him without the seat grinding and whip. Her own emotional calm might have bought her enough goodwill from an honest horse–and these horses are all honest as the day is long–to get around. Maybe not, but it was her best option, and she didn’t know enough to use it. So yes, her fault. But no, not wailing on the horse.
And the rider doesn’t pick the bit.
No one provides their shoes or their clothes or swords or guns. Why provide the horses? Either ride your own that your practice and train on or eliminate / change the riding par. It’s so weird to me to take this world class sport and think it’s the freaking unknown to the “athlete” and that horse who is supposed to elevate your bad riding self to gold.
Yes. Earlier on this thread (I think) a regular poster here said their horse was used for this sport at the Pan Ams. So yes, the horse will likely get some time to build its confidence back. And the interview was with the German rider, not the owner; she said she talked to the owner after seeing the Russian’s ride and before she got on, and the owner/rider was the one who told her to canter into the arena.
BS. This is the Olympics. These athletes should ride as well as they run or shoot or fence. Otherwise hoses suffer
This is the best IN THE PENTATHLON, but by no means the best riders. Now, I agree that the sport as a whole has this very questionable element. I am not a fan of the sport and think it should be with their own horses or without the riding portion (replace it with something else). I am simply looking at the events I saw as they run based on the current rules.
Any sport in which the horses are quite literally equipment and treated and talked about as such doesn’t sit well with me.
One of them, I forget which catches bay horse badly in the mouth after fence one.?its hard to see because the camera cuts away.
I agree completely. Make the horse theirs or eliminate it
Do they get to watch previous rides?
That long approach to the white/Asian writing fence wouldn’t have been my plan after seeing him melt down there
Thanks for the clarification. That makes me feel better. He’s a beautiful horse.
Not ideal spots, but not confidence destroying spots for a basically honest horse.
Like I said, the rider was wanting to make withdrawals after the account was drawn down. It is absolutely the nature of the sport. Again, I am not defending the sport, nor do I think it was great riding. But how many of us have had rounds where we have several fences like 1-4? And after fence 5, most of us would need to regroup, as would most of our horses.
The horse had a pretty high account balance–he had been drawn down by the Russian, who was way worse. Again, very few riders could have gotten his account balance back up, which is what he needed, while she was still trying to make withdrawals because that is how the sport works. Quite literally they are expected to get on and count on the horse to bail them out if they get a bad distance because they have neither the riding skills/training to get the good spot every time nor the chance to figure out how to get that particular horse to the spot if they do see it. So the issue there is the sport.
They do. But she never even got to that point in the course. I have no idea if she had a plan on that score though given her mental state and lack of simple horse sense.
I’d take any one of these, including the unfortunately maligned Saint Boy, any day. These horses are so willing, and one so forgiving of SO MANY bad spots and awkward rides is sure to help the confidence of a rider who only needs the bailout every once in awhile and at a lower height!
I am not debating the whole bank thing with you. This horse did not have enough of a sense of humor for this type of riding. Not the horses fault.
I am simply not agreeing with your theory that there was only ONE bad spot (as you said in post #114).
Not the horse’s fault at all.
I will correct and say one truly heinous spot and several awkward ones because you are right on that score. He tolerated the awkward ones quite well and even forgave the earlier really bad ones from the previous rider. That was just one too many.
If the warmup went so well, why did her coach punch the horse there? 
Between the 4 and 5 minute mark, the rider has entered the arena, but not technically begun her round… I don’t think. Not sure how the official start of a jumping round in modern pentathlon works. Regardless, in that one minute, as the horse is balking, she reached behind her leg and smacked him with the whip almost 15 times, by my best count. She also picked her legs up off his sides, and then kicked hard WITH spurs, more than once.
You most certainly could and would be eliminated in other competitions for riding like that. Excessive use of the whip.
Yes… she was using an opening rein during that one minute (while whipping, spurring and grinding with her seat). Once she gets the horse going on course, however, she rides the horse with a very tight rein. He’s already lost all confidence, as you have acknowledged. She approaches each fence with a hard seat, firm hold on his face, and sends him forward with a less than tactful leg, plus more grinding of the seat.
That’s a punishing, and incorrect way to ride with a gag. It’s a specific bit that applies significant pole pressure… combined with the running martingale, and THIS rider’s seat… it’s awful.
I’m sure the riders don’t choose the bit, given their lack of familiarity with the horse, etc. I feel terrible for THIS horse though, given the situation he was put in with these riders and this particular tack set up.
I agree she’s not yanking on the bit per se… but it’s the combination of her hard application of other aids, and the way she’s holding on his face with that bit… it’s awful.
And yes… horses sweat in hot climates. But he looks like a frantic mess entering the arena the second time. Other comments elsewhere online allege the German trainer actually punched the horse in the face during warm up. I have no idea if that’s true. But the rider’s claim in an interview that she has a good warmup? It doesn’t jive with the way horse and rider presented as soon as they entered the arena.
Surely it must be easier for us to learn to sword fight, shoot, etc
But the thought of getting on an unknown horse to jump that height terrifies me more than learning the other disciplines I don’t know.
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