HH question of the week

[jules89]

Should the sj be includded in the modern pentathalon?

Well, I am not opposed to it being included, but the rules need to be reviiewed,but there is not a multiple choice answer to reflect this!lol

 

[lucretia]

then yes i think it should. you cant damn the whole thing but one organising committee didnt get it quite right with their choice of equines. most of those riders had no chance no matter how good they were.

 

[only_me]

maybe they need to change the sj to an equitation class?

then they might realise that they need to sharpen up riding skills, and horse's way of going could be taken into account?

 

[Thistle]

yes but as style and performance, like the JAS series. Lame horses not allowed!

 

[ann-jen]

Yes it should still be included but the standard of riding needs to be raised or the difficulty of the jumping reduced. I think a course of 90cm-1m would be more appropriate.
I also think 2 refusals and you are out like normal SJ and elimination after a rider/horse fall should be implemented.
While a lot of those horses may not of been of the standard of horse you would see doing a 1.20m track in the UK they weren't all bad - but constantly being presented at the fence in a poor rhythm, on a cr*p stride and sometimes on an alarming angle, then being restricted by non-forgiving hands over the fence is enough to make most horses want to throw the towel in! Also I think once the horse has had a horrible experience with one rider - it will take more than 20 minutes for the next rider to build its confidance back up even if they are a decent rider and so it gets progressively worse after every round.
I didn't see the women's rounds and so didn't see the incident with the lame horse - which is terrible and there should therefore also be veterinary attendance as standard at an event of this magnitude.

 

[highjinx]

with this compatition the hight of the course normaly depends on the standerd of horse, in some countries they only jump 90cm AS THAT is all the horses can jump,over here they are up to hight as the horses are better, and for all internationals there is always a vet to do a trot up to make shore the horses are sound, i did not see all the jumping at the olympics but have herd it was bad, dose anyone know if there is any where i can see it.

 

[Chestnut_filly14]

I think the officials/stewards were the main problem.

And highjinx - go on the beeb website

Em
x

 

[ann-jen]

I understand that the height of the fences is at the discretion of the course builder and that is why the height was reduced to 1.10m for the ladies event. However if some countries aren't (routinely/capable of) competing over that height nationally then they shouldn't qualify for the Olympics or the course should be set at a height that gives all the countries a chance to compete - which would obviously give some nations such as Britain/America etc an advantage as our pentathletes tend to be riders too and are more experienced jumping round bigger tracks. As the Olympics is supposed to typify the cream of the worlds athletes then surely only people capable of competing at that level should qualify?
I'm sure the horses were inspected and passed as sound before the event started but the fact is that some of them became lame during the competition and were then represented to compete again with the next rider that had drawn them. This is obviously a serious welfare issue and I can't see it happening if there was adequate veterinary supervision.

 

[Mid]

I agree that there should be an equitation class instead. Some of the most terrible riders went clear simply because they had a better horse.