Pentathlon jumping phase

[MyGiantPony]

I know nothing about this sport. I think it’s impressive that these athletes are so skilled in different sports, but I’m really curious about their riding skills.

They are jumping around 3’6 - 4’ on loaner horses they get to ride for 15 minutes before competing.

I’d imagine they MUST compete at shows to get that skill level, but I’ve never heard of any of the US riders…haven’t looked up any other teams.

Does anyone know anything about this sport or the riders? I hope to catch some of it on TV. It sounds pretty exciting, but somehow it’s been under my radar all this time.

[danceronice]

Search the forums for the thread about the LAST Olympic pentathalon to see how many of us sent complaint letters to their federation suggesting perhaps they consider bicycles instead…

[MyGiantPony]

That good, huh?

[Twisting]

They are all swimmers, as that is seen as the hardest of the events to improve/teach. Most had never ridden before being taking up the sport.

You gotta admit they are brave. I sure as heck wouldn’t jump a horse around those courses knowing as little as they do. Or maybe ignorance is bliss.

Perhaps it could be modernized a bit more to include driving a HMMWV through an obstacle course.

[Renn_aissance]

I don’t know anyone else, but the USA’s Suzanne Stettinius is a PC member and steeplechase rider, so she is one to watch.

[danceronice]

[QUOTE=Twisting;6450049]

You gotta admit they are brave. I sure as heck wouldn’t jump a horse around those courses knowing as little as they do. Or maybe ignorance is bliss.
.[/QUOTE]

It’s basically doing IHSA, only you also have to swim and run and stuff. A few are decent riders, most at Beijing…I was actually rooting for some to fall off so they’d stop banging the poor horses in the mouths and backs.

[JER]

MyGiantPony, I’ve been writing an occasional series of posts about pentathlon for Eventing Nation. If you click here, you can read through them, and also watch some interviews and riding videos of pentathletes.

The riding standard has improved substantially in recent years. Beijing was a disaster but that can’t be blamed solely on the athletes. The horses were inexperienced OTTBs, trained and prepared in the Beijing area, where equestrian culture does not have deep roots. Most of the riders were very, very nervous about having to get on those horses and go in the ring. It was unfortunate for all involved that many viewers around the world were introduced to pentathlon this way.

London will be different. GB is probably the world’s strongest nation in pentathlon, with a well-developed feeder system into the sport via Pony Club. The horses – many of which have previous pentathlon experience – will be first-rate and the course will be big.

Pentathlon is a unique and wonderful sport. Pentathletes are not ‘all swimmers’, not at all. Many come from Pony Club. Many were riders before they did anything else. They are often at national or international level in fencing, shooting, running and/or swimming. It isn’t easy to have this degree of proficiency in one sport, never mind several.

So please give pentathlon another try in London. This will be pentathlon’s first Olympics with the combined run/shoot event – 1k laps of running interspersed with shooting, like biathlon – which is really exciting to watch.

[Carol_Ames]

some do take lessomns

When I was teaching at Potomac HorseCenter ;)in the eighties (!!:eek:) I taught a man who was a candidate for the team; there were no horses :no:there jumping 4 feet except, :mad: my own horse, so, we jumped LOTS of gymnastics; he developed good basics pretty quickly:cool::yes:

[vineyridge]

Doesn’t Pony Club have something similar now?

[Carol_Ames]

some do take lessons

When I was teaching at Potomac HorseCenter ;)in the eighties (!!:eek:) I taught a man who was a candidate for the team; there were no horses :no:there jumping 4 feet except, :mad: my own horse, so, we jumped LOTS of gymnastics; he developed god basics;) pretty quickly:cool::yes:

[Satin_Filly]

OMG…where’s PITA when you need them??
Just at the first horse/rider’s round in the video below. This poor animal is a SAINT! Look at how the neck is bent as the rider uses his poor mouth to get her leg back over the saddle!! :eek::no::mad:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=3w2wFkmo8No

[Laurierace]

PITA bread is available at most grocery stores.

[Fairview_Horse_Cente]

[QUOTE=Satin Filly;6450172]

Just at the first horse/rider’s round in the video below. This poor animal is a SAINT! Look at how the neck is bent as the rider uses his poor mouth to get her leg back over the saddle!! :eek::no::mad:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=3w2wFkmo8No[/QUOTE]

OH, yeah, MUCH improved… NOT. :mad:

[MyGiantPony]

@Laurierace;6450217

PITA bread is available at most grocery stores.

You owe me a new laptop. Tea. Splatter.

[Foxtrot_s]

Pain In The Ass - is that what you meant?

Every time a Pentathlon thread comes up, all the haters come out of the woodwork and start up again - not so many, but they are loud.

Pony Club has its version of Pentathlon, called Tetrathlon, except the riding is x-country and there is no fencing, so it is not penta, being five, but four sports.

[Fairview_Horse_Cente]

[QUOTE=Foxtrot’s;6450248]

Every time a Pentathlon thread comes up, all the haters come out of the woodwork and start up again - not so many, but they are loud.[/QUOTE]

By “haters” do you mean someone like me, that was so excited to see it that I purchased tickets for it in Atlanta, over a year in advance? I had also purchased tickets for the swimming phase, but reality was the venues were too far apart to see both, so I still have those original tickets.

Watching how abusive it was to horses in Atlanta MADE me a hater, as it would anyone else that cared about horses, and ever actually watched the sport. Current videos have not made me see it is any different.

Jumping around 3’6"+ courses 3-4 times plus a warm-up period for EACH, within about an hour and a half, ridden by beginners in Atlanta heat was severely abusive, and I am about as anti animal “rights”/PETA as you can get. You will notice I have been just as “loud” at opposing them.

[JER]

[QUOTE=Satin Filly;6450172]
OMG…where’s PITA when you need them??
Just at the first horse/rider’s round in the video below.[/QUOTE]

That is the only ride of that caliber on the entire video. It is a terrible ride, although the horse also was said to have rearing issue, so it was a bad situation that might have been prevented by eliminating the rider in the warm-up, as is allowed under UIPM rules.

But keep watching because there is some very good riding. At 13:05, you can see Melanie McCann, who’ll be going to the Olympics for Canada. Unlike the others on our national team, Melanie did not start out in Pony Club. She started riding for pentathlon, about 4-5 years ago. She’s worked very hard on her riding and has become a careful, thoughtful rider who is usually near the top for riding points.

At 57:42, the current world champion Mhairi Spence shows considerable riding skill (she is excellent), as does the final rider, 2008 Olympic champion Lene Schoneborn of Germany, on a horse that’s not the easiest ride.

In pentathlon, you have 20 minutes to ride the horse in warm-up. You may jump 5 fences and no more. It’s easy to wag fingers at pentathlon riding (and it is true that some nations do not have a reputation for good riding or horsemanship), but there is a lot to be said for learning how to get on a strange horse and go out on a 1m course. Because your goal is to get around, you have to work with the horse and make improvements going forward.

I can guarantee everyone out there that you wouldn’t be so quick to put it down if you’d ever tried it yourself.

I can also guarantee you that if you ever try pentathlon, you will absolutely love it.

[Fairview_Horse_Cente]

It is easy to fix the MP. Either require one horse per rider, and have plenty for back-up so no horse gets used twice, OR a rider has to supply their own.

That would actually make it a competition too. Riding a horse that someone else has already been around the course on, good or horrible, makes it into a gamble, not a sport.

[Satin_Filly]

[QUOTE=Laurierace;6450217]
PITA bread is available at most grocery stores.[/QUOTE]

BAHAHA! Wooops, that was a typo, see below-

@Foxtrot's;6450248

Pain In The Ass - is that what you meant?

What I meant to type is “PETA”, lol. I’m recovering from surgery (clavicle repair from getting bucked off) and I’m on a steady dose of Percocet at the moment. My head is not right. :lol:

[Guin]

@Satin Filly;6450379

BAHAHA! Wooops, that was a typo, see below-

What I meant to type is “PETA”, lol. I’m recovering from surgery (clavicle repair from getting bucked off) and I’m on a steady dose of Percocet at the moment. My head is not right. :lol:

We know. It just came out REALLY funny. :lol: I hope you heal quickly!