So I watched the Olympic Women’s Modern Pentathlon tonight and was shocked at the horrible riding. Certainly with doing 5 sports I wouldn’t expect them to be exceptional, but many of the rider’s couldn’t even steer properly, had no understanding of distance, pace, line, etc. It was so difficult to watch as most of the horses were trying so hard, but it especially bothered me when the athletes blamed the horses for their loss. There a few articles also blaming the horses. Watch if you dare! I watched on Peacock. I think many of these riders undid a lot good training and know many of the horses there would have gone very well with more competent riders.
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The German media is absolutely dragging the athlete and trainer who manhandled poor Saint Boy in the name of medal chasing. If I understood correctly the trainer has been dismissed for striking the horse from the sidelines.
I’m really unclear about the rules of this sport or how the horses are chosen, but these spectacles and abuses in the riding portion seem to happen with some frequency so maybe it’s time for some changes.
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The German trainer was black carded and removed from the venue after punching the horse. This horse had already gone 3 previous rounds and was obviously scared after the first ride. The horses are drawn by lot and the jury can replace a problem horse but they didn’t consider this poor horse a problem! It is already being discussed replacing the equestrian portion with mountain biking. I worry about the future of this poor horse.
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It is probably a good idea to switch the format up.
the participants don’t really have the time to devote to riding as they should.
years ago I heard a pentathlete being interviewed whee they stated that while they have a horse, it is not encouraged. Since the format draws horses from a pool, and one has to adjust the riding in a short timeframe, etc…but the riding part has long since been an eyesore and eyebrow raising.
The horse is nervous, the rider is as well, what could possibly go wrong, right.
Other segments of the event give higher points and are more valuable that way.
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When we did the Pentathalon in Atlanta it was just awful watching them ride. They had something Ike 30 minutes to warm up with the horses and not many of them could ride at all. I a, surprised that people volunteer there horses for this and I really hope they take it out of the sport.
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This whole thing is wild to me. Granted, I’ve never been at a big time show barn, but the very best jumpers I know who work very hard at their sport and practice often only jump 3’6" at the very highest. I’m also surprised anyone would volunteer their horses to be ridden by someone who will likely traumatize them and undo some of their training.
There is a long thread about this topic in the Olympics section of the forum. Lots of comments about this situation there.
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these horses are often recruited rom sales barns - and people who have no idea what they have gotten themselves into.
They probably thought it would be like supplying the paralympics with mounts. You know, expect the athletes to have beenintroduced to the basics of horsemanship.
Or give it a point value where it matters if you mess it up.
I actually stand corrected.
The sport was invented in 1912 byt the father of the modern olympics, but has undergone so many changes by now.
I suppose back then, the people who had the time to play sports ad go to the games had enough money and spare time to know how to ride.
They really could replace it with mountain biking or something similar.
It won’t get any prettier down the road, for sure!
Does anyone recall the days of Fugly Horse? I remember a pretty lengthy discussion on pentathlon years ago. Evidentially, the athletes often do not spend nearly enough time practicing the riding aspect of their sport. Think like, one lesson a month. I wonder if this is really the common mentality in the sport? That the riding is a low priority/something that can learned with seemingly little effort.
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Actually, I do not think this is true. If you check out the above thread @JER explains that the horses are really well trained and are loaned from top riding schools, etc.
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the issue is that pentathletes don’t value the riding segment.
Or maybe they need to replace it with a trail class.
Ride over bridges, open and close gates, pick up stuff and carry it over to another place.
But that would narrow the pool of horses ad still demand ability from the passengers.
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