London International Horse Show (Olympia) 2024

PoppyAnderson said:
I look at these young male riders and can't imagine just how strongly they'll be applying aids to these horses.
Click to expand...
At this level not that much. You can’t jump 1.60m on a horse who is behind the leg. It will just be about the pressure between hand and leg.
The FEI is very hot on marks on the horse and they use very fine blades for clipping as produces a smarter look so hence leave the hair on.
 
I'm going out in gale force winds to poo pick because it's preferable to watching the rest of this.

Never mind the bits, the nosebamds on some of those horses 😞 mouths hauled and held open, tongues hanging out, clamped down nostrils flaring.

Where is the horsemanship? Maneuvering horses over large fences "successfully" isn't it.
 
Is it me or are the fences all a bit same-y these days? Beautiful designs but uprights or parallels with poles. No gates or triple bars or brush fillers. There used to be lots of other varieties I can’t remember the names of but I have a photo jumping a diagonal crossed fence at a decent show
 
TPO said:
I'm going out in gale force winds to poo pick because it's preferable to watching the rest of this.

Never mind the bits, the nosebamds on some of those horses 😞 mouths hauled and held open, tongues hanging out, clamped down nostrils flaring.

Where is the horsemanship? Maneuvering horses over large fences "successfully" isn't it.
Click to expand...
I certainly see a lot more happy horses enjoying what they doing in this session than I did sitting through the whole of the dressage on Friday. Tack is definitely improved, much more in just a cavesson these days. I really can't see sheepskin nosebands and hoods as a welfare issue. And although plenty of poles have come down they are so light.
 
Darcey69 said:
I certainly see a lot more happy horses enjoying what they doing in this session than I did sitting through the whole of the dressage on Friday. Tack is definitely improved, much more in just a cavesson these days. I really can't see sheepskin nosebands and hoods as a welfare issue. And although plenty of poles have come down they are so light.
Click to expand...
I don't see sheepskin nosebands or hoods as an issue either??
 
humblepie said:
Is it me or are the fences all a bit same-y these days? Beautiful designs but uprights or parallels with poles. No gates or triple bars or brush fillers. There used to be lots of other varieties I can’t remember the names of but I have a photo jumping a diagonal crossed fence at a decent show
Click to expand...

I posted about that last summer after getting back from a county show and noticing the same. They’d even filled in the permanent water jump and replaced it with a tray a few years back. Can’t remember the last time I saw a stile or a fan in an affiliated either but they were a standard part of my childhood jumping!

And walls don’t seem to exist outside the puissance either.

I do think a nice variety looks better to the audience.
 
I've not watched any of this until today but thought I'd give it a go. There seems to very little atmosphere in the arena- the crowd is so quiet. Years ago, when it was at Olympia, if it looked as if a horse was going to get a clear round then the crowd would be urging it on. I remember that the floor was wood and if a popular rider did well then everyone would bang their feet on the floor.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top