Women's Modern Pentathlon - Riding Phase

Haha said:
Oh for goodness sake they are all trying their best they don't know the horses and one or two are quite forward. I'd like to see some of you lot trying it:p
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Of courses they're trying their best. That's not the point. The fact is they're putting a living creature through the effects of their mediocrity and that simply isn't fair. In fact in some cases id go so far as to say it is cruel.

The horses are often not being set up correctly for the fences, and are then being hampered from being able to get themselves out of trouble, by tight jabbing reins and poor balance and control by the riders.

It makes a mockery of the Olympics that such mediocrity is considered acceptable. I think the riding phase should be removed.
 
BeesKnees said:
Of courses they're trying their best. That's not the point. The fact is they're putting a living creature through the effects of their mediocrity and that simply isn't fair. In fact in some cases id go so far as to say it is cruel.

The horses are often not being set up correctly for the fences, and are then being hampered from being able to get themselves out of trouble, by tight jabbing reins and poor balance and control by the riders.

It makes a mockery of the Olympics that such mediocrity is considered acceptable. I think the riding phase should be removed.
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I've seen a lot worse from people posting vids on here
 
Haha said:
Oh for goodness sake they are all trying their best they don't know the horses and one or two are quite forward. I'd like to see some of you lot trying it:p
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... They are supposed to be capable riders... Right :confused:

My RS buys horses in then 1-2 days later puts them in the RS. Clients in the advanced group are expected to be able to jump a course of a similar height to the one the Pentathletes were jumping, on horses that they may have never ridden, with less than 20 minutes getting to know each other/warm up. They may also be expected to ride 2-3 horses over the same course in that lesson with no time to get to know them.

Unfortunately I expect someone who is in the Olympics to be able to do at least that with minimal/no problems :o
 
BeesKnees said:
Of courses they're trying their best. That's not the point. The fact is they're putting a living creature through the effects of their mediocrity and that simply isn't fair. In fact in some cases id go so far as to say it is cruel.

The horses are often not being set up correctly for the fences, and are then being hampered from being able to get themselves out of trouble, by tight jabbing reins and poor balance and control by the riders.

It makes a mockery of the Olympics that such mediocrity is considered acceptable. I think the riding phase should be removed.
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I agree entirely with this ^^^^
I think we've all seen enough especially after the debacle of Beijing. Things clearly have not got a lot better, and I think it's now time the organisers review this competition and either remove the riding phase altogether, or change it to something which is less demanding on the horse - like a prelim dressage test, which I think those riders were just about capable of doing without causing harm or distress to the horses!
 
I think some of the horses were a bit unsuitable tbh, the ones napping badly and rearing for no real reason, and the ones completely tanking round. I think the riders were brave, some of those falls were nasty - you wouldn't catch me getting back on board and carrying straight on! I do think they should learn how to stride properly and they'd get on a lot better, but perhaps that's just a lack of time getting used to it. I wouldn't class any of it as "cruel", it's 70 seconds of the horses life!
 
Interestingly though, even the woman helping to commentate who I'm assuming is an ex Pentathlete said part of the challenge formriders was trying to rebuild the confidence of horses who had had previously bad rounds!

And I'm sorry but clattering through those jumps has to hurt. Each round may be 70 seconds, but it is 70 Seconds then repeated how many times?
 
This was the first time I have watched any of this event. Previously I think it was highlights only & in Beijing I guess it was on in the night & I missed it.

I was pretty shocked by the low standard of the riding & the ballot system too.
This is the Olympics & I would have expected riders to be beyond the novice stage if they had experience of competing at an international level. According to the commentary, most had taken part in World & European championships.. Also if it was their weak area then shouldn't they have had a lot more training & experience before a competition, with rides on strange horses?
I noticed riders hanging on by the reins & some had very weak seats. We are not talking about a riding club event, this is the Olympic Games!

The Korean rider yesterday & his horse could well have been killed. Time to rethink the competition qualifications before a tragedy occurs.
 
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