I watched part of the first round last night and noticed some hadn’t braided. I appreciate SJ is a performance sport, and not (dare I say it), judge’s opinion/preference, but at the Olympics you’re representing your country. Surely some pride in your presentation should be considered?
[QUOTE=KyrieNZ;8799246]
I watched part of the first round last night and noticed some hadn’t braided. I appreciate SJ is a performance sport, and not (dare I say it), judge’s opinion/preference, but at the Olympics you’re representing your country. Surely some pride in your presentation should be considered?[/QUOTE]
What would you grab mane with if you braided?
I think lots can go into taking pride of your horsecare without frilly useless braids.
but if it is not your country’s style/preference to braid, whose pride of presentation would this be for?
And then there is mane grabbing as a useful tool, not to mention some horses just really do not like being braided, the last thing I would want to do is unnecessarily annoy them in the wee hours before the Olympics
Pride is good but if you braid you can’t grab mane when you need to.
If I’m gonna braid the mane I’ll do the tail too. But this is show jumping not hunter over fences.
I should clarify I haven’t had enough coffee so didn’t type the original post very well.
I’m not judging people for not braiding, it is merely an observation. There are pros and cons to braiding or not braiding.
Happens to me all the time. This weekend, for instance, I posted about people speaking Spanish in Brazil even though I really know they speak Portuguese.
Coffee! What a wonderful thing! 
Obviously I need more of it. 
There aren’t really any cons, actually.
Wow
As an fei groom I can tell you show jumpers aren’t hunters and aren’t dressage horses. At shows in Europe braided to unbraided ratio is about 50/50.
I rarely braid. And honestly if I don’t or rarely braid I’m certainly not going to change what I do for the biggest show in the world. Part of it is braids can interfere with a rider if not used to it, but also from personal experience with our best mare can absolutely annoy the horse.
I think beautiful braids are great, but I also love a well trimmed and maintained mane.
Hey, I got a giggle when you could see that one of the horses had some pretty haphazard braids going on. Reminded me of a few of my early attempts at braiding. Wish I could remember who it was and to be fair, they might have started as decent braids and wound up that way by the end of the round…
Just looking down at a braided mane could throw me off if I’m not used to them. Psychological, I guess, but it throws everything out of proportion.
Plus how it would feel to the horse.
But I love braided manes and tails, they “finish” the look even better than a top hat and tails IMO!
[QUOTE=DMK;8799261]
but if it is not your country’s style/preference to braid, whose pride of presentation would this be for?
And then there is mane grabbing as a useful tool, not to mention some horses just really do not like being braided, the last thing I would want to do is unnecessarily annoy them in the wee hours before the Olympics[/QUOTE]
My horse gets very agitated when plaited spending more time flinging her head about than concentrating on what she’s doing. If she were chosen to represent her country (hahaha) deciding to plait up would risk disaster!
If I had a horse with an unruly mane then sure I’d braid for the Olympics, but a perfectly pulled, thin, and flat mane? That would stay unbraided. I love the look of a maintained mane with a bonnet in the jumper ring.
Also, I recently saw some close ups of Hickstead in Beijing after they won gold, those braids had been rubbedddd. lol
If the braider couldn’t keep the braids any more secure than some of the men can keep their own ties, then …
no braids.
When riding for your country, wearing your country’s colours, then I expect they demand the utmost in turnout, and judging from the Games, a lot do feel they should braid. I like it, because at that standard, I don’t think the mane is necessary to hold on to!
I don’t think they need it, but you know if you are doing a do or die flyer to the last fence, who wouldn’t like a little mane to thread your fingers through?
I don’t think THEY need it, but me, maybe mane is nice.
[QUOTE=Foxtrot’s;8802572]
When riding for your country, wearing your country’s colours, then I expect they demand the utmost in turnout, and judging from the Games, a lot do feel they should braid. I like it, because at that standard, I don’t think the mane is necessary to hold on to![/QUOTE]
The riposte (I’m echoing DMK): braiding may be the utmost in turnout in one country, but not in another. Each country has its own standards and expectations. Wouldn’t we consider the orange coats worn by the Dutch a bit untraditional in the US?
And no matter how great a rider you are, there may come a situation where you need to grab mane.
I have come to think that simple banding would look nice on showjumpers. Mane to grab, but stays on neck.
Anonymoose, I’m not sure how long it’s been there but just now I noticed your tagline. Hahahahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!
To quote the great Frank Chapot on the subject of aesthetics:
“It won’t make him go any faster in the jump off.” :lol:
The horses that were not braided were still impeccably groomed (in every aspect but in this context, their manes were perfect). Must we pick apart every little thing? Whiskers trimmed or not, braided or not, hairnets for riders or not (and I hate wispy or flying hair). jackets (from another thread) etc etc.
Being a follower of international show jumping, not just an Olympic watcher, no- I was not surprised some were not braided, for the reasons others have mentioned. Just as I am not surprised that I see pony tails in eventing (I don’t think I saw any in sj yesterday) hair wisps, soft shell (gasp) jackets.
Eh. “I” think it looks fantastic to be braided, but as MHM pointed out, the great Frank Chapot “it won’t make him go any faster” but it may annoy a horse who isn’t used to it.
If a horse can jump 15 1.6 meters and 2.0 ish maxed spreads, but doesn’t like his mane braided- do I care?
