Unnecessary to see at HOYS

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dynasty

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Am I the only person disappointed to see showjumpers spurring their horses and yanking them in the mouth at the end of their round when the horse has made a mistake. What sort of example does it set to our young and upcoming riders? Totally unnecessary and certainly should not be seen at a show of this calibre or any show for that matter. And why do so few british riders ever pat their horse either - Tim Stockdale you are an example to us all
 
Well, as I am not at HOYS and it doesn't appear to be televised anymore then I can't agree or disagree with what you say but, in general no, there is no point anyone doing this to their horse after a round - it means NOTHING!
 
bad losers and with that attitude i am not surprised they lost. makes you wonder really how the big guys can be so big but yet act so small.
 
Drives me insane, small or large competitors at any large show don't realise how much they're in the public eye and how really they should be setting an example. Drove me insane at Windsor seeing someone lunging, with a fag, whilst chatting on the phone, with the lunge line dragging along the floor.
 
I was far more bothered about the pony club games, I couldn't watch and ended up surfing the net while friends were watching. Kids with their knees past the bottom of the saddle flap, leant forward so their feet could constantly kick the ponies hind quarters. Boys who should really move on from their 13hh pony dragging it round and jabbing them in the mouths. Ponies harshly jabbed and pulled at for making a mistake. The commentator kept saying 'this is where it all begins guys - at pony club' yep I agree it is definitely where the 'animal as machine' begins. Nice one PC.
 
dynasty said:
Am I the only person disappointed to see showjumpers spurring their horses and yanking them in the mouth at the end of their round when the horse has made a mistake. What sort of example does it set to our young and upcoming riders? Totally unnecessary and certainly should not be seen at a show of this calibre or any show for that matter. And why do so few british riders ever pat their horse either - Tim Stockdale you are an example to us all
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Well I was at HOYs yesterday and didn't see this at all
 
I quite agree! I saw one female rider, in particular, do just that yesterday, when the mistake had been entirely her own. As ladyt25 says, it's completely pointless anyway, the horse will not link the two things.
I do know that a groom who works for that rider thinks that she should ride in that manner as well, so agree that this deplorable attitude rubs off on others.
 
To be honest I thought there was far too much jabbing in the mouth and hitting going on at the Olympics as well.

These people don't seem to realise what an enormous privilege it is to ride a horse.

Paula
 
Aargh, agree with the pony club riders. Last night one rider couldn't vault back onto the pony but got back on once they were over the line and about ripped its teeth out whilst booting it. Nice. Glad that team were disqualified in that event.

And I really like how relaxed Tim Stockdale's horses look before, during and after the rounds. You can really tell which horses are frightened of making a mistake. I feel strongly about this having a 'super stressed' ex showjumper that used to be terrified of knocking a fence down. She was written off as being a nutcase but actually shes not. Some horses just can't cope with being punished for minor mistakes and I for one would be furious if I was an owner paying some of these so called professionals to boot and yank my horse round such a large technical course (mentioning no names but anyone with eyes will know which ones I mean).

Oops that turned into a bit of a rant :o
 
Agreed.

Only watched a couple of rounds last and dont recall seeing one rider pat their horse even if they had gone clear- doesnt need to be hugs and kisses before people start with that just a nice pat/ stroke on the neck! Esp swhen you watch eventing and dressage they often pat their horse after a test/ round. Have even see some jockeys do it and they're going a whole lot faster!

Also agree those that had a fault were yanking on the horses mouth when they'd stopped. didnt notice the spurs but can imagine :(

Cant comment on pony club as never been but it probably doesnt help they are seeing the professional sj'ers doing that.
 
Yes anyone explain why don't feel the need to give a quick pat or a scratch? Really gives the feel that alot of the sj riders feel the horses are machines, which in some respects they are...
It is an industry I think that the average 'pony patting happy hacker' will fail to get a grasp on, certainly the horses are healthy and well cared for but i'm always thinking of their mental well being...
 
EllenJay said:
Well I was at HOYs yesterday and didn't see this at all
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I can't see how anyone that was there could have missed it. One person in particular nearly ripped his horses head off it was awful to see and to make matters worse it was then shown again in slow motion
 
I hate watching people showjump - spurring the horse while hauling on its mouth, no wonder the poor sods are always rolling their eyes and look confused!! It makes me cringe, it really does. Trouble is, you see it at local shows now, small kids with spurs and whips beating hell out their pony because they can't ride :(

I'm sure there are lovely showjumpers out there, I just happen to never have seen them ride yet :(
 
dynasty said:
I can't see how anyone that was there could have missed it. One person in particular nearly ripped his horses head off it was awful to see and to make matters worse it was then shown again in slow motion
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You were obviously at a different HOY's to me. Most the SJ's patted their horses. I have seen more displays of bad behaviour at local RS/livery yards.
 
Yesterday the commentators were discussing SJ on TV and the need to attract more owners to the sport. Showjumping was described as a business. That's the reality at that level - money talks - nothing else.
 
I didn't see any of HOYS but am horrified at what you are saying. I just hope threads like this get out in the public domain. And what the HELL are the organisers thinking? Oh, I forgot, money talks......
 
We were there yesterday didn't see the late class, but saw a couple of SJ classes and didn't see any of what is described here. Saw some super young riders and lovely horses jumping the high jump class. Also saw the mounted games for a bit - not my thing but saw blooming brave children on speedy strong, sharp ponies, which I suspect many on here couldn't ride one side of and would be writing off as loons. This forum does make me giggle. I wonder how many of the detractors could do what those SJers and children do? All you need to do now is talk about the obese show horses and you will have the full deck...ho hum......
 
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I don't disagree that I wouldn't be able to ride those whizzy sharp ponies but I am capable of getting a horse to move without kicking the ***** out of it and flapping my legs so hard it no doubt created a wind that the first two rows could feel. I can only tell you what I saw that I didn't like - as this is what this thread is about......
 
There's no denying there was, is and will be some fantastic riding in the competition. What I have a problem with is SOME of the unbalanced, mouth sawing riders making errors then punishing their horse at the end of the round by yanking its back teeth out. Couldn't care less if they patted, snogged or ignored it completly, I just found the clear bad tempered reaction to be unecessary (sp?) and a bad example to less experienced riders.
 
Some of the posts on this thread are hysterical, I groom regularly for a leading sj pro. Last week we were at a pre HOYS show with literally hundreds of other horses & riders, I saw ONE female rider riding in what I would describe as an agressive & unpleasant manner, she did pull the horses head from side to side after a bad round, so yes it does happen but IME is not the norm.

In the main the riders do pat the horses, but when they are jumping in the big classes nerves, pressure all of that play a big part & they are trying to focus, so huge displays of pony patting are unusual, particularly from the male riders. I have however caught the pro cuddling his horses on several occasions.
 
Since when is it not ok to say that you dislike something you saw. Pretty sure OP didn't say - this is systemic, happens everyday from every pro, was ALL of the competitors. Nonetheless, some horses were jabbed today, others weren't congratulated etc. If someone thinks that that isn't particularly nice then so be it. Doesn't matter if they then went on to snog their horse in private. We are talking about something very particular, seen with our own eyes and a moment in time.
 
Its because, Billie, we're just novicey, pony huggers who would never be able to ride a proper horse or compete at any sort of level that matters therefore might perceive such brilliant riding as not good because we're really jealous.





Sorry, feeling a bit pedantic ;)
 
Billie1007 said:
Since when is it not ok to say that you dislike something you saw. Pretty sure OP didn't say - this is systemic, happens everyday from every pro, was ALL of the competitors. Nonetheless, some horses were jabbed today, others weren't congratulated etc. If someone thinks that that isn't particularly nice then so be it. Doesn't matter if they then went on to snog their horse in private. We are talking about something very particular, seen with our own eyes and a moment in time.
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I didn't say it wasn't, but was pointing out that as a regular attendee at shows both working & riding I haven't seen many examples of the abusive riding being described on here. One poster has described horses with rolling eyes & people not being able to ride, sorry but this is ludicrous, perhaps at lower levels there are poor examples of riding, but this is true of all the disciplines, I could quote plenty of examples from the event I helped a friend at today, but at 1.40m/1.50m level I think you need to be pretty good, brave & accurate.
 
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