Foo - Should horses be in the olympics??

This has always bothered me. Should equestrain events be in the olympics , and if so, why is the horse not awarded a medal as well ? Does a rider with a taller, bigger or smarter horse have an unfair advantage over another rider without such a clever animal ? Your thoughts on this topic will help me sleep better at night. ;)

why is the horse not awarded a medal as well ?

Horses are too smart to be concerned with such trivialities.

Did you hear that straight from the horses mouth ?

Seems to be a lot of horsing around in this thread.

Whether an event should or shouldn't be in the olympics comes down to economics. It's a business.

As long as the horse is getting its oats it doesn't care where it is. The horse is not awarded a medal because it wouldn't know it was being awarded a medal and would only care if it could eat the medal. If the people in charge thought they could sell more advertising by giving the horse a medal they would.

All of the horses in those competitions have similar potential genetically and cost big bucks. The training is where the differences really are. The terms "smart" and "horse" really shouldn't be used together.

horses can kiss my ass! i'll ride my ass anywhere! :D

Chariot racing was in the ancient Olympics (the pagan festival in honor of Zeus, held in Olympia).

The honors (there were no medals given) were given to the owner of the chariot; not the driver or the horses.

Dan

First of all horses are highly intelligent- most of them can out smart a majority of humans given a chance. Second of all "kiss my ass". Is that really nessecary? Third: Why in your opinion wouldn't it be an olympic sport? It takes alot more work to keep two beings healthy & in competitve form then just yourself. Also, horses have minds of their own which you have overcome by accepting each other as individuals. Only then can you become a team working as one. ;)

Obviously, the 'Newbie' missed MERTON's wry & witty humor.
Good thing this wasn't a 'Chicken' thread. OMG, the possibilities!

If horses are in the olimpic motor cyles chould be too. It takes a heck of a lot more talent and ability on the part of the rider to ride observed trials than sitting there making the poor horse do all the work.
http://www.trialscomp.com/Covers/Mar-02.jpg
http://www.trialscomp.com/Covers/May-02.jpg
http://www.trialscomp.com/Covers/Nov-02.jpg


horses can kiss my ass!
Careful, the result might be as stubborn as itself.:lol:

First of all horses are highly intelligent- most of them can out smart a majority of humans given a chance.

Lmao, I hope you are joking.

Hmmm horses are going to take over the world. Maybe like the terminator!

I think the model "T-1000" actually took over the world and the Terminator was there to spoil the attempt.

The Summer Olympics is becoming a parody of itself. They should cut the number of events in half; and put an age limit of 16 or 17 in.

We don't need horses in the Olympics. It is bad enough when they are in parades. ;)

first we got a horse winning the democratic candidacy... now this?

we need to replace an a55

This has always bothered me. Should equestrain events be in the olympics , and if so, why is the horse not awarded a medal as well ? Does a rider with a taller, bigger or smarter horse have an unfair advantage over another rider without such a clever animal ? Your thoughts on this topic will help me sleep better at night. ;)

Interesting question. I participated in equestrian eventing for a few of years and cycled competitively for 10 years prior to that so I've seen the insides of both "sports". Some points and counterpoints: the horse does make a huge difference to the outcome, but so does the bike and equipment - think last stage of the 1986 TDF. The rider makes a huge difference in both cases. A good rider on a bad horse/bike will always beat a poor rider on a good horse/bike. It takes sponsorship and money to get the best animal/cycling equipment. An equestrian has two somewhat independent minds to contend with, the cyclist also has two - him/herself and the competition, especially a pack race. The horse is high maintenance so is the bike. Both need frequent grooming. Full time training is essential for both - 8 hour training days for both is common. A horse can go lame or throw a shoe as often and suddenly as a wheel puncture. Strategy plays a key role in each. The equestrian trains their mind and body to communicate with the animal which needs to be trained to understand several dozen extremely subtle touch commands. The cyclist trains their mind and body to endure pain. The most common injury for both riders is a broken collar bone. Saddles are important pieces of equipment for both. After an equestrian cross country ride the quads are burning as much as after a 40km TT. The finishing sprint for both is ~ 40 mph! So ya, maybe the horse should be awarded half the medal, but maybe so should the bike, the luge, the canoe, the sharkskin swimwear, the polevault, the rifle, the archery equipment, the skiis, the wax, the track shoes, the skates, the caffiene ........ Sleep well ;-)

Anything that uses a tophat and coattails as an accepted outfit is not an athletic competition.



After an equestrian cross country ride the quads are burning as much as after a 40km TT.
B.S., unless the equestrian is in very poor shape relative to the cyclist.

but maybe so should the bike, the luge, the canoe, the sharkskin swimwear, the polevault, the rifle, the archery equipment, the skiis, the wax, the track shoes, the skates, the caffiene
Caffine is a banned substance for one thing and many distance running records have been set barefoot, skates bikes and sharkskin don't add any power or brains.

And who made sledding an olympic event?

And who made sledding an olympic event?
Sledding? Sledding? What's wrong with sledding? Talk about b@lls to ride a single or double luge, and when any sled crashes... they don't stop until the end.

Winter Olympics have it over Summer Olympics anytime, anywhere. 2006 is dialled in on my calender for a fortnight of real excitement. Athens, by contrast, was almost a complete bore... Australian cycling performances excepted.

Sorry to get all *****y-but i'm protective over the sport. Capsicum & Boyze made good points though. Biking is as difficult riding for different reasons. If we can't belive someone who has participated in both sports then who are we going to listen to besides our own opinions? Biking SHOULD be in the Olympics if horses are. I mean come on-table tennis, ball room dancing, & etc.? Who said they were sports & biking wasn't "hard" or "good" enough? Sorry again:)

I think that the Olympics should only contain sports which the Olympics is the Pinnacle of the event. I mean, tennis players dont care if they win gold, they just want to win Wimbledon, or soccer players would rather win the World Cup than win gold. But winning gold for something like gymnastics or table tennis, its the top spot.

Historically, a man's ability to control his mount (i.e., horse) was a measure not only of his abilities in warfare, but also a measure of just about everything else his peers held dear-- the ability to maneuver a large, not-too-bright supercharged animal through a complex series of obstacles or courses shows patience, strength, leadership, and control of the enviorment (Man vs. Nature). These are skills that of course have fallen by the wayside as technology made the riding/controlling a horse an antiquated hobby at best.

I can think of numerous surviving Olympic events that have their roots in martial skills which have now become gentlemen sports, just like the equestrian events. Is there any more primitive than the javelin toss?

I for one enjoy the equestrian competitions at the Olympics because (to me) it's like a window into the past, where one gets to see a skillset not commonly found elsewhere.

Dave

Sledding? Sledding? What's wrong with sledding? Talk about b@lls to ride a single or double luge, and when any sled crashes... they don't stop until the end.
….they don’t stop until the end…. I would think this is a good thing. It is the stopping suddenly that causes the injuries; like when you hit something solid.

I can think of numerous surviving Olympic events that have their roots in martial skills which have now become gentlemen sports, just like the equestrian events.
Now....if they could just get the horses to drink that Gatorade stuff. :rolleyes:

….they don’t stop until the end…. I would think this is a good thing. It is the stopping suddenly that causes the injuries; like when you hit something solid.

Don't they hit several solid walls on the way down?


Whether an event should or shouldn't be in the olympics comes down to economics. It's a business.


Winter Olympics have it over Summer Olympics anytime, anywhere.

This explains why female beach volleyball was on almost every time I channel surfed past the summer games. It did make me stop, at least until the next commercial :)

first we got a horse winning the democratic candidacy... now this?

ha ha ha ha ha....

What started me off ? Let me explain. I watched the equestrian events in the Olympics and thought to myself..." would it not make for a lot more entertaining viewing if the riders were to jump the obstacles themselves" (without the horse I mean)

My argument is this. When I cycled up Alpe Du Huez, only I cycled. My inanimate, non-motorized lightweight bike did nothing other than converting my physical effort into forward motion. Given, I could get a lighter bike, but stil it would require a supreme physical effort by myself, just me, to reach the top - there is no free rides up hill.

Equestrian events have a lot in common with motor racing. Both require that the driver/rider are almost "one" with their machines. The preformance of a secondary object ,other than the rider or driver is paramount. A good (r)driver paired with a good car/ horse will have an advantage over (r)drivers with lesser machines or steeds. A level playing field in both the obove mentioned sports will make for boring viewing.

That brings me back to cycling. In the Tour de France you have some of the most gifted bike riders in the world, all riding state of the art modern bikes over the same course. What accounts for the major time differences between the top riders? Answer, the physical input of the individual riders.

A few days after finishing the grueling La Marmotte cycle race in the Alps, I overheard some motorcycle tourists. They kept on telling everybody in the restaurant we were in, how hard it was to ride your motorcycle in the Alps for a week. I just looked at them and thought, try cycling over it buddy....

"not-too-bright...animal"
HEY!:) You guys need to talk to more horse people... horses are as smart as dogs if not smarter:)