Yesterday, Mackenzie sent me a link to her blog and asked for my opinion on the piece she did about the Pentathalon event. I loved it! Even though while I was reading it I was putting on mittens to prevent myself from scratching out my eyeballs at the horrors at what passed for “horsemanship”.
My understanding of the Pentathalon was that an athlete demonstrated their versatility by competing in 5 events. Not having ever watched an event, I just assumed that the competitors were good at each of the events. Ya, apparently that’s not the case. Well, at least they’re not good at riding – who knows about the rest seeing that, as was recently pointed out by a commenter, this is a horse blog! 
Please check out Mackenzie’s blog post here, and let me know what y’all think of the modern day pentathelete’s riding skillz. They be illin’, right dawg?
(I’m so sorry for that last part.)
32 Comments
I heard about that.
I give the modern pentathletes something of a pass. They have five sports to train for and most of them *can* ride. Not as well as a specialist, but they don’t run as fast as specialist track athletes or swim as fast as specialist swimmers.
Also, the rules for modern pentathlon, as you did NOT mention, Snarky, require that they ride an unfamiliar horse. The horses are leased to the competition by local trainers and the competitors literally draw their horse out of a hat. If you look at the video, that’s what the large numbers on the bridles are for. They get a twenty minute warmup and some basic information about the horse’s personality. That’s it.
Everyone who reads this blog has ridden a strange horse. So, we all know how unusual it is to be able to get on a completely unfamiliar horse and get a good performance out of it. And while the organizers do try to select reasonably sane horses…
And, for that matter, most people on this blog know how much harder it is to ride in a saddle that doesn’t fit, and of the rounds I watched, two riders were having to put up with saddles that *really* didn’t fit them.
Most of the time, I find modern pentathlon vaguely entertaining…whilst, as somebody who’s finances mean she has to ride whatever horse she can get her hands on…feeling full sympathy for the challenge of jumping a 4′ max course on a horse they don’t know in tack they didn’t choose. It’s NOT easy. But it is funny to watch somebody fight for control for the entire course and finally get taken out of the arena…over the fence…at the end
. Sorry, but it is.
(I agree that THAT guy’s riding left a lot to be desired…and that THAT wasn’t funny. But usually it’s just jump pole carnage and people being taken full advantage of by their mounts).
They did a similar thing at WEG – where the top 3 or 4 riders had to swap mounts (I’m sure you already know this! lol). Riding a strange horse isn’t an excuse for crappy basics (good gawd could their heels have been up any higher?!). For me to do an actual commentary on the sport I’d have to watch the full 5 events and see how well they did in the others but I thought that Mackenzie’s post was entertainingly written and had some good points
That’s slightly different – those guys ARE specialists. (That format has been how the show jumping World Championship has been decided for a looong time).
As for the actual flip incident. Sour horse didn’t want to go forward. Rider didn’t trust the horse and grabbed the reins. Sour horse went the only way it could at that point…up. Rider had no clue how to sit a rear.
That rider had a death grip on the reins. He kicked and the pulled back with said grip. A recipe for rearing. We might not have seen the horse flip if the rider had had any horse experience.
Or any common sense for that matter…
I have a good friend whose husband WAS an Olympic Pentathlete. I have to say that this sport is one of the few Olympic sports that uses actual life skills in the sport. Swimming–yeah. SYNCHRONIZED swimming–not so much. The sport itself does, yes, require quick learning of 5 sports. It’s actually a reenactment of the duties of a courier of the Napoleonic Era. The courier would be given a message and told to draw a horse from the common corral. He would then ride the thing until it was shot out from under him, at which point he would run as far as possible, often swimming creeks or rivers. Often he would be involved in hand-to-hand combat; that’s why the fencing and shooting. Not a pretty thought, but maybe that would explain things a little. In short, it’s not, at its most basic level, a horse event, but a human one. My friend’s husband tells a very funny story about the time he “drew” Stinker, an aptly named critter who gave everyone who rode him a rough ride. It was due to the temperament of the horse, not the skills/lack thereof of the rider!
When I was in Hong Kong we had a showing system just like the pentatheletes did. If you rode there for years odds were you’d get a horse you knew, but if not (as was my case) you got one at random. (well, usually your instructor would say what your skill level was and it went from there. I was highly praised… so I got the nutcases >.<) It wasn't fun. Some of the horses I got should not have been jumping. Some of the saddles I rode in just flat out hurt. So -to a degree- I agree with this comment.
The other side of that I watched some for the 2008 Olympics and they were just awful. One gal who thought jumping just meant tand in your stirrups via the reins. The horse wasn't trying to take off, but incidentally he stopped once when she pretty mush made him unable to jump an oxer and she came right off.
this was supposed to go under Jennifer R’s but it said something about request timing out o.O
I just went and watched the european championships for my own personal amusement and I noticed that they do gets some shit horses some of the time. Many of the horses had ill-fitting tack and two of them had semi-decent riders but appeared to not be very balanced animals. Two wouldn’t pick up the right lead without swapping behind and one was scrambling around corners like a baby (which he could have been a youngster for all I know) and while sometimes the riders got in the way most of the time they did pretty well. So I imagined if one of the crappier riders got a horse with these issues all hell would be breaking loose.
Where do these horses come from? Because the batch I just saw (admittedly not Olympic horses) really needed some solid training.
At least one of the Olympic horses had a running martingale that was one, maybe two holes too tight…
Thread on COTH
-http://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/showthread.php?t=364146
I shared Mackenzie’s blog there
I understand and sympathize that they have to ride a horse they’re unfamiliar with.
However, I think some of the riding featured was absolutely inexcusable.
I don’t expect these people to jump the best, but I DO expect them to put in mostly decent rounds. Not great, maybe not even objectively GOOD, but decent. This means I don’t want to see poles down at every fence or every other fence, tons of refusals, that kind of stuff.
I saw the video of that one man who beat his horse when it refused. He should’ve been out of the competition. That’s not good sportsmanship OR good horsemanship.
I also don’t think the jumps were 4′. I forget what the height exactly was, but I’m pretty sure not 4′. Not that it matters, because honestly ANYONE inexperienced with horses shouldn’t be jumping 1′.
Also, I visited all the links you gave and it seems the quality of the horses this year was very good. Been-there, done-that types.
I also read a comment somewhere (I forget where) that athletes feel it’s more about surviving the riding portion than actually getting a good score.
I think anyone participating in Pentathlon in the Olympics (you know, where you’re expected to be the best of the best) should get their riding evaluated by experienced judges. If they can’t walk, trot posting and sitting with and without stirrups, and canter (preferably with and without stirrups) in a mostly sane, balanced, and safe way, they will have so much time before they will be evaluated again. If they fail once again, they will not be allowed to participate. That might seem harsh, but the Pentathlon has five events, you should AT LEAST be arguably “good” at all five. I
The commentator said they were max height and width 4′. That doesn’t mean ALL of the jumps were 4′, of course. It looked like most of the course was more 3’6.
I actually have wanted to try a pentathlon because if you listen to interviews, they state that the horseback riding is usually the weakest sport in each contender because its a full time job learning to jump on strange horses to this level. You have to also understand that most of these athletes are in their mid twenties (where olympic jumpers are well into their 40s with 30+ years more of experience) and they usually start as a bi-athlete (so they are strong runners and swimmers) and then are taught the other three skills later in their lives (Sometimes around 18 years!) So they only have approx. 6 years of (part time) riding experience! They are forced to ride horses they are not familiar with, and do not understand the local training of the horses! I have been riding for 19 years, and I still state that I am NOWHERE near a professional at riding, or horse advice!
We also have to realize, they training in 4 other time consuming sports! We cant expect them to be as good as a Grand Prix rider! Just like I cant run as fast as Lolo Jones without my horse!
It’s funny, because the sport was invented for cavalry officers–the explanation I heard is that it’s based on the things you might have to do if you are unhorsed behind enemy lines: fight with a sword, shoot a pistol, run, swim across a river, or steal somebody else’s horse and ride it. So it was expected that the riding part would be the bit they had trained for the *most*. I mean, definitely, an experienced cavalry officer would’ve been able to hop on a strange horse and ride a course of jumps no problem, but absolutely nobody is coming to the sport from that background anymore.
If the people in charge of the sport are determined to keep the same five events for the sake of tradition, I think they ought to at least make the riding part less rigorous, something that athletes who are devoting, at most 1/5 of the training time to riding can reasonably do without being abusive to the horses. And–here’s a radical idea–maybe judge the equitation, rather than basing it strictly on rails down. That way, the athletes would have some incentive to develop decent riding fundamentals instead of subscribing to the “point the horse in the right direction and try not to fall off” school of riding.
First off- In the world of the internet, thank you for rebutting in an educated and non-a**hole way!
Second off- I really cant agree with you more! I never knew the reason to why it had to be a RANDOM horse, but that makes perfect sense! We really cant pick on them for the tradition part since all equestrian games have some strange stigma of chaning tradition! (Why does it make news that a dressage rider in a helmet medals?!) I also agree with the less rigorous… 4 feet is a lot for even an experienced rider, so even a meter would be way easier and maybe a more “Childish” course would be easier on the riders.
The worst part of this is that they ride from worst to best, on the same horses (there is a small number of horses that all the athletes share) even if they changed something as simple as making the stronger athletes compete first they pose less of a risk of the horse going sour before the end of the day!
* rebuttal Not Re-butting!
Thanks, I take pride in my efforts to avoid being an a-hole.
I just learned from another source that juniors in the sport don’t ride at all–they just do the other four things, and riding is added in adult competition. Makes total sense in the context where the riding part is “people who don’t know how to ride crash around a 4-foot course, since a lot of kids would get hurt, but what about having the juniors do W-T-C equitation? That’s another rule change that would give the athletes an incentive to develop good fundamentals.
Its weird that you say that, because a barn I rode at in university donated its horses and property to a youth
pentathalon once a year. These kinds didn’t do show jumping either, they went CROSS COUNTRY. Let me tell you that was the scariest thing I’d ever seen in my life, most of the kids had never been on a horse before. There is something seriously wrong with this sport when it has the attitude that you don’t need to learn to ride; it gives the impression that these athletes don’t believe riding is a skill
That is absolutely horrible horsemanship! And that one man to saw the horse’s mouth after his less-than-perfect round is appalling, not to mention the use of whips. I’m not usually one to openly judge anyone and their riding techniques on the internet – but this had me fuming at the ears that I had to try and type so vigorously that, hopefully, some of this frustration has been dealt with.
The horse’s don’t half put with a lot and they do really try!
Very few of them have any idea about things like having the horse on the correct leg or placing the horse with the correct stride to give it any hope of jumping the fences
I have never watched the pentathlon before this year and felt really sorry for the horses who seemed to be reliable types who at times got upset by grabby hands and unclear direction. I also felt sorry for the riders, most of whom looked terrified. Totally understand that a pentathlete would not, for instance, swim as fast as a “pure” swimmer but you wouldn’t expect them to doggy paddle, swallow water then sink to the bottom of the pool, which is about the equivalent to the level of riding. I was at my local show last weekend and there were plenty of small children doing a better job over jumps this size.
I have to say that I agree with every.single.word.
Yes, the Pentathlon is hard. Well, duh! It was created to be one of the hardest, if not he hardest Olympic sport. So if you’re going to compete in a sport where you have to excel in 5 different activities, I expect you not to be utterly crap (by Olympic standards) at ONE of them.
Absolutely appalling horsemanship. Period. That Russian bastard better hope he NEVER gets close to one of my horses. I bet he kicks his own dog.
My. God.
I didn’t look at any of the video, just the photos, but holy crap, I’m pretty sure even I could do better than some of those people. And the only time I’ve ever jumped four feet, well… let’s just say it wasn’t exactly the most graceful moment of my life. But at least I more-or-less stayed with the horse (even if I did fly about a foot out of the saddle), didn’t haul his face off, and attempted (though probably failed) to not come down on his back like a sack of potatoes. And that’s with me taking one lesson a week, and jumping only every second or third lesson (and only having jumped maybe 2.5 – 3 feet before that. I still don’t know why I thought it would be “fun”. It was only a couple years ago, but I’m definitely way too chicken now to do it again. Though that might also be because it’s been over a year since I’ve been on a horse that wasn’t green and/or actually has the ability to jump higher than two feet). I mean damn, if I practiced every day for a month…
Granted, I’m very cautious, and flat out refuse to jump any horse until I’ve had at least 2 flatwork sessions (with *maybe* some ground poles or a cavaletti). I don’t even like to canter my first session with a new horse, unless they’ve been exceptionally quiet.
But still… if I had to…
And I definitely know a few people nowhere NEAR the Olympic level who could do better than the people in those photos.
I think it’s difficult for very horsey-minded people to pass judgement on these athletes. Most of them will be amateurs at best, somehow managing to fit in training for 5 events into their normal routine, outside of work in most cases. How many sports do YOU train for, and how’s your standard in all of those?
Most of the ‘bad’ riding was by athletes from countries typically without a horsey heritage. And I reckon the horses that these folks normally ride in their home countries are treated a whole lot better than the average horse in those countries. They will also probably lack decent facilities and coaching. I think it’s exceptionally brave to go out on a strange horse and jump a 4′ course. I know people who have ridden for 20 years who wouldn’t do that. The point is, I don’t think you can hold them to the same standard as you would a full-time riding professional, or even an amateur showjumper who competes regularly (after all, they only have one sport to concentrate on). And I’ve seen far worse riding and behaviour from people who have ridden for 20 years and claim it to be their specialist sport!
I think the 20 minute time period they have to familiarise themselves with the horse is too short. I think a couple of sessions in the week leading up to the event would be better, but then again that would only work at events like the olympics, not at the smaller local or national events.
And Danielle, about getting their riding experience evaluated, they already have. All of those competitors would have qualified at a qualifying events. They aren’t just chosen at random. Plus it’s hard to replicate the nerves, atmosphere and setting of an Olympic arena like that. Everyone would probably pass an evaluation but it can still all go to pot in the main arena.
For crap’s sake, are you actually excusing the terrible and abusive riding by saying they are TOO BUSY to train for it so we should just pat them on the back and say its okay? They are FUZZY BUNNY-ING Olympic athletes. That requires dedication, training, and sacrifice. If they aren’t willing to put at least 1/5th of their training time into practicing riding, THEY NEED TO CHOOSE A DIFFERENT GODDAMN SPORT.
Annnnnddddd I got cut off. Yes it is difficult to ride a strange horse in strange tack–I also did IHSA in university so I know what it is like. I also agree with some other commentators that say the course should be made simpler and the jumps lower. However, there is no need for the behavior and lack of skill that has been demonstrated. Like I said, this is the OLYMPICS. You are supposed to be the best of the best to get there. This is just disgraceful.
I watched it (the mens event) for the first time this year and, not only was I horrified by the quality of riding, I was mortified at the seemingly non-existent vet presence in the ring.
After the horse reared over backwards onto the ignorant monster on his back, it was remounted and forced to jump the course IMMEDIATELY. Why wasn’t a vet called to check that the horse was okay?
These horses come from somewhere, they have owners that keep them in relatively good condition – why are they being hired into an event where they are routinely beaten, jagged constantly in the mouth, and allowed to fall spectacularly without veterinary presence?
I know this is worst case stuff, but are they even able to be ridden again after this event or are they sold as damaged, terrified, and unrideable horses for pet food?
It was an appalling exhibition of bad riding in a lot of cases. What I understand least is how anyone can allow their horse to be abused so, because even though the horses weren’t deliberately abused that is just what it is abuse plain & simple .