Not a Single "Olympic Moment"

[Wellspotted]

I’ve just been watching the Today Show. They ran two montages of Olympic moments, one featuring the athletes, the other featuring the Today crew in different activities, including various Olympic sports.

There was not a single equestrian moment.

Why was that, I wonder? Why do they ignore our sport? Why did they ignore one whole group of athletes?

Is it because we don’t hold a paddle, a racquet, a saber, but reins in our hands and a horse between our legs? Is it because a horse is more than a boat, a BMX bike, or a bobsleigh?

Actually, they ignored two groups of athletes, the equestrians, and the horses themselves.

Is it because they just don’t get the relationship between horse and rider? Is it because they’ve never experienced it themselves?

[Jealoushe]

because regardless of the fact that it’s an Olympic sport, they still think we are rich people who sit on something that does all the work. :no:

[chukkerchild]

They probably ignored some other athletes too Was there ping pong? Synchro? Decathlon? I think a lot of the Olympic sports feel shunted to the side.

[MsM]

Ummm, maybe cuz the equestrian wasnt even IN Bejing?

[jse]

It’s sad, however, I believe that the general population doesn’t really pay much attention to our sport.
I believe they are more interested in the soccer and the swimming and the gymnastics.
There are a lot of sports in the Homelympics (how my niece calls the Olympics), that go unnoticed.

[chukkerchild]

I do have a coworker who I was talking with one day-- she found out I rode and brought in some magazines and big-show programs she had from when she was younger. She’s had stuff autographed by Ludger Beerbaum and met Albert Kley’s horses and stuff, knows all the big names. I asked her, “Do you ride?” And she said, “No, I just really love the sport.”

I was like, “Waahhh?”

[Wellspotted]

Take her out to the barn, chukkerchild, and put her up on a horse! :yes:
(I know, I know … easier said than done. One of my horsey friends, returning from a trail ride last week on his newly sound horse, met a couple who live nextdoor to the farm. The husband asked for a ride on his horse. My friend let him up–no helmet, no release, no knowledge of this neighbor. Husband cantered horse down the driveway. :eek: When my friend told me about it later I was speechless.)

I was like your co-worker when young. Knew the names (equine and human), loved to watch, had no horse to actually ride most of the time … and not enough talent or money to compete.

[Briaffer]

a little off topic, but I love how Erik Lamaz (sp?) pointed to his horse after his gold medal jump off. It actually made me teary eyed :’)

[Moesha]

I also think it is the length…let’s be honest most people have very short attention spans and want instant results…with the exception of hugely popular sports like baseball and basketball…most of the olympic events they focus on are very quick, very much action packed and easy to follow…it is a clear cut and easy to understand process. Sure obvious faults are easy to spot in riding, but look at how confusing the dressage scoring was to dressage riders…this combined with elitism angle, I think combine to make it less focused on…it really is probably too much effort to explain and deal with the variable that might come up…

[Moesha]

[QUOTE=Briaffer;3464759]
a little off topic, but I love how Erik Lamaz (sp?) pointed to his horse after his gold medal jump off. It actually made me teary eyed :’)[/QUOTE]

That is awesome!!

Can I also add that I work in an international organization and just happen to work with a lot of Canadians…many who are not horsey at all…“know” him ,and “know” Ian Miller as a national sports hero…and have such a vast overall knowledge about show jumping compared to many of my fellow American friends and colleagues…

[LisaB]

We won one team gold and we are far away from the action.

[Wellspotted]

[QUOTE=Moesha;3464772]
That is awesome!!

Can I also add that I work in an international organization and just happen to work with a lot of Canadians…many who are not horsey at all…“know” him ,and “know” Ian Miller as a national sports hero…and have such a vast overall knowledge about show jumping compared to many of my fellow American friends and colleagues…[/QUOTE]

This is going to date me …
I remember reading a magazine article years ago about the Beatles. A fan asked if any of them like to ride horses. One of the Beatles (can’t believe I can’t remember which one!) replied that they had ridden “four fat donkeys” on a beach once, but he doubted if that put them in a show jumping class. I remember being impressed that the Beatles knew enough about horses to know what show jumping was!

In subsequent years I’ve learned that “nonhorsey” people in some other countries know a lot more about horse sports than nonhorsey people do in the US.

Like the wonderful article someone posted in another thread here
http://www.chronicleforums.com/Forum/showthread.php?t=161774&highlight=dentist
about the fans welcoming the German team home at the airport. Would that happen here in the US?

Link to article about airport welcome:
http://www.buschreiter.de/hongkong25.html

[jse]

Ian Millar is such a person, my favorite moments were just seeing him smiling and happy for his team mate!
My husband says that he’s schooled in the same ring with him before and he is the ONLY one who will stop and say hello, ask you your name etc.

[Reiter]

[QUOTE=Wellspotted;3464826]

In subsequent years I’ve learned that “nonhorsey” people in some other countries know a lot more about horse sports than nonhorsey people do in the US. [/QUOTE]

I think that’s largely due to the fact that equestrian events in Europe are shown on prime time TV like Baseball and Basketball over here! Boy do I miss that!

[Lessonlady]

Yes, I have met Ian Millar on several occasions and he is delightful! Not only an amazing rider, also a good Dad and a good horseman! I wish he and Rodrigo Pessoa rode for the USA!

[jse]

[QUOTE=Lessonlady;3465596]
Yes, I have met Ian Millar on several occasions and he is delightful! Not only an amazing rider, also a good Dad and a good horseman! I wish he and Rodrigo Pessoa rode for the USA! :-D[/QUOTE]

Oh I bet he is a good Dad! I was saying to my husband last night how he is like the “dad” of the team. He seems so supportive and just an all around nice guy. It would be so incredibly nice to have him with the US!

[spurgirl]

It would be nice if they did some sort of daily overview,and at least MENTION the Equestrian team,(and other lesser known sports)and show them on the podium when they medal…I think if I had to sit through one more replay/interview with the gymnasts,I was going to gag.Don’t get me wrong,I watched many of the gymnasts’ routines,but I don’t need it rehashed 650 times!!Same with Phelps-ABSOLUTELY the world’s greatest athlete right now,but show a few other things,could ya???When they got to evaluating his swimmers’ physique,I was wondering if they were going to discuss twig n’ berries stats,too:eek:…Watching tonight,my 17 YO daughter commented “Boy,Mom where did they find this guy?(Meaning Bob Costas)He’s a real jerk”.Mary Carillo (former tennis great?),is doing human interest stories,and he is so condescending to her.I’d like to slap him!!What a doofus:mad:!

[hunterjumpereqrider6]

seriously tho, who cares if anyone likes our sport or finds it interesting. it sucks that its not on tv more often or anything, but theres a lot of sports that people dont pay attention to. to be honest, i dont care what anyone thinks of the sport whether they think its boring or not.

[Fixerupper]

I suggest that everybody who watched any part of the Olympic equestrian sports on NBC/NBC streaming/CBC Bold ought to write/e-mail the respective stations and let them know how many hours of your undivided attention it got. It’s all about advertising dollars on tv and even the net. If they don’t know how many ‘bums are in the seats’ they can’t sell the airtime. Vote early and vote often!

[Party_Rose]

It’s sad, however, I believe that the general population doesn’t really pay much attention to our sport.
Gotta’ disagree. Last I heard (and these old ears could be deaf by now) that stadium jumping was the number two specator sport in the world, only second to soccer. It’s a USA thang’ and my guess is that the networks get much more money in advertising from the sports that they already air. Funny though that there is so much track and field aired (even more than soccer), that not many Americans run T&F and it’s a sport that most people seem to watch when the Olympics come around. Go figure!