Monday, August 11, 2008

Horses in the Olympics

Nothing to write about. Just thought I would scribble something in my blog whilst I sit here watching the Olympics (horse jumping - cross country and diving). Speaking of horse jumping in the Olympics, what is up with some (not all) overweight riders. This is not sport. The only one that is physically fit is the horse. Besides, who can afford a horse and take care of it on a daily basis such that you can ride nearly every day to become a "world class" rider? It is a gold medal for rich people that cannot do anything else.

Some poor kid in Africa runs barefoot to school everyday hoping one day to mimic the exploits of his countrymen and escape a life of hard work and poverty. All while some (not all) overweight "cowboy" rides some poor horse that runs to school everyday hoping one day to run free like his fellow mustang.

Horses in the Olympics is not sport - it is animal abuse...call PETA, call Pamela Anderson! On second thought, calling Pamela Anderson and having an intelligent conversation should be an Olympic sport (it would require significant mental fitness...of a four year old)!

Go Michael Phelps...anyone that can swim endless laps in a swimming pool and not go crazy, ROCKS!

2 comments:

Jim said...

as long as we're griping about non-Olympic type sports, how about sychronized swimming, beach volley ball (admittedly, the girls are fun to watch), and the gymnastics thing where they dance around with ribbons. PLEASE. If you can't measure it with a stopwatch or tape measure, get it out of the Olympics!

Anonymous said...

Obviously, you have never ridden a horse. Riding takes physical and mental strength. Controlling a 1000lb.+ animal is harder than you would think.

Yes- the horse is an athlete, but so is the rider. And riders cannot be thin like models.

The "overweight" riders you talk about look overweight because of muscles. Riding takes multiple types of muscle, from legs, to groin, to stomach, and even more that I dont feel like naming. Right now, I am in the process of re-training a late gelded horse (a male horse that was castrated late, so has an especially large build and bad temper) who has repeatedly atttempted to throw me off (Its not fun, 1000lbs trying to get you off a spot, its takes a ton of strength to stay on). The riders in the top level sports, though they aren't re-training horses and trying to get a horse to do what it doesn't want to do, still have to communicate with the horse. Do you know how they communicate? Muscles. Yep, that's right. They actually use strength.

Oh- and while i'm at it, the reason it looks like the riders arent doing anything is because that is what horseback riding is all about, making it look easy and enjoyable. Trust me, you would be sore from riding a horse, even a marathon runner I know who rode a horse for one hour was sore and could barely walk after riding.

Please, get your facts straight before talking. And also, english riders are not in any way "cowboys."