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What fabulous performances from our riders (and horses!) so far, to get a team silver and TWO team golds!
Germany unbeaten in Olympic Dressage since 1976, til Team GB 2012 came along! Amazing, history-making result!
And still good chances to come for Individual medals in Showjumping and Dressage. Can it get any better? Yes it can!
Though not actually racing, still horsy sport, and I thought it well deserving of a thread on the main board, and not just tucked away in the lounge. Big pats and lots of carrots for all concerned! GO TEAM GB!
Superb performance.
Great to see that children’s comic The Daily Express celebrated it by putting a picture of the Dutch dressage team on the front page:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/mediamonkeyblog/2012/aug/08/express-mirror-olympics-dressage
Idiots.
Mike
Yes, good stuff it was
It’s not a pursuit I’d care to watch on a regular basis but I find Dressage fascinating. The amount of training required must be extensive and time-consuming.
I did my best to work out how rider and horse ‘communicate’ but am none the wiser. Presumably a combination of vocal commands, tugs on the reins and leg nudges
Just to put a dampener on this Olympics, which I’m enjoying far more than I thought I would, did anyone see the truly dismal piece on Newsnight last night with some killjoy whose name escapes me appropriating GB’s dressage and rowing successes as examples of what he regards as the inherent elitism of the Olympics. Cue him in an inner city sports hall saying ‘no sign of a showjumping ring here is there’ ‘what chance do deprived kids here have of competing in dressage (sneer) and rowing (lesser sneer)’
What an absolute tit the bloke is. The Olympics is about encompassing all sports from all backgrounds, and given that a significant percentage of the medals won by Great Britain have been won by those from the ‘ethnic minorities’ who tend to be equated, rightly or wrongly, with deprivation, then their successes should surely be a cause for unqualified celebration
Furthermore am I alone in thinking what jolly nice young people our medal winners are. To a man and woman they have been polite, humble and just downright er…nice
Good stuff indeed
Agree with you totally Drone. Makes us all proud of being British and what a great country we have. The critics will always be there as they were for the jubilee . I pity them really
I don’t quite get what your gripe is drone. It’s hardly like the nations of GB, Germany, Holland, Denmark, Sweden, US, Spain, Poland, New Zealand or Cananda will be seeking emergency famine relief any time soon. The fact that equestrianism has a propensity to regularly feature actual royal competitors shows how utterly out of touch the sport is.
A child growing up in poverty, steering himself onto a clean path, dedicating himself to a career and training with unparalleled determination in the hope of winning a medal against an incredibly broad field of stiff competition is a much more meritorious achievement in life than winning a "Daddy’s little princess" contest against a bunch of other "Daddy’s little princess’s".
I pity them really
There’s no need to. I find a great deal of beauty and pleasure in life without having to resort to petty nationalism
winning a "Daddy’s little princess" contest against a bunch of other "Daddy’s little princess’s".
Well, never let the facts get in the way of a good prejudice but read about Carl Hester’s life – unemployed whilst riding ponies on Sark before moving to the mainland for his first job at a stables for adults with learning and physical disabilities. Onwards & upwards from thereon.
Mike
I find a great deal of beauty and pleasure in life without having to resort to petty nationalism
And me. But five of us irrationally screaming at the telly when Mo Farah kicked in the home straight I regard as damn good fun rather than ‘petty nationalism’!!
Mike
Well, never let the facts get in the way of a good prejudice but read about Carl Hester’s life – unemployed whilst riding ponies on Sark before moving to the mainland for his first job at a stables for adults with learning and physical disabilities. Onwards & upwards from thereon.
His token rags to riches story changes everything. I’m sorry for accusing equestrianism of being a bit toffy as now I see it’s clearly a hotbed of classless integration. The fact that he just so happened to grow up on an island where there were horses instead of cars means that every kid in the country has easy access to horses regardless of background or location
But five of us irrationally screaming at the telly when Mo Farah kicked in the home straight I regard as damn good fun rather than ‘petty nationalism’!!
Mike
You’re right. Fervently supporting a man on no basis other than his nationality is irrational.
Well, never let the facts get in the way of a good prejudice but read about Carl Hester’s life – unemployed whilst riding ponies on Sark before moving to the mainland for his first job at a stables for adults with learning and physical disabilities. Onwards & upwards from thereon.
His token rags to riches story changes everything. I’m sorry for accusing equestrianism of being a bit toffy as now I see it’s clearly a hotbed of classless integration.
Excellent. Your apology is accepted!
Mike
But five of us irrationally screaming at the telly when Mo Farah kicked in the home straight I regard as damn good fun rather than ‘petty nationalism’!!
Mike
You’re right. Fervently supporting a man on no basis other than his nationality is irrational.
No it isn’t. Screaming at the telly trying to affect a result was the irrational bit. Supporting people on the grounds of shared nationality with yourself is entirely rational and completely global (see football, rugby, cricket etc etc for further details).
Mike
Just wait til Nick Skelton opens his mouth again (hopefully later today after he’s picked up the Individual Showjumping gold medal)
How "toffy nosed" does he sound?
Just wait til Nick Skelton opens his mouth again (hopefully later today after he’s picked up the Individual Showjumping gold medal)
How "toffy nosed" does he sound?
Yes, he’s not exactly ‘Team GB on message’ is he? There’s always that frisson of excitement a la Ginger McCain that he might, erm,
speak his mind
shall we say?
Mike
Supporting people on the grounds of shared nationality with yourself is entirely rational and completely global (see football, rugby, cricket etc etc for further details).
Mike
Just because a large amount of other people do it, doesn’t make it right. This is why mob rule is usually frowned upon by freethinking individuals.
The notion of supporting an individual simply because of shared nationality is absurd. By this rationale, I should wish greater success for oafish pillock Wayne Rooney than for genuine class act Edin Džeko. When Haye fought Klitschko, even though Klitschko is an educated and thoroughly respectful, consummate professional, I should have supported the arrogant and repulsive Haye because he just so happens to have the same country on his passport as I do.
By this rationale, I should wish greater success for oafish pillock Wayne Rooney than for genuine class act Edin Džeko. When Haye fought Klitschko, even though Klitschko is an educated and thoroughly respectful, consummate professional, I should have supported the arrogant and repulsive Haye because he just so happens to have the same country on his passport as I do.
Well obviously! I was really pleased to see the unrepentant drugs cheat Dwayne Chambers fail miserably. However, Farah is a thoroughly decent family man (and British!) so I was delighted to see him to win.
Where you see irrational ‘mob rule’ (for heaven’s sake!) in everyone’s support for Mo, I see overwhelming appreciation of a great athlete and excellent role model for GB’s youth.
Whatever.
Mike
Nooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
How many British hearts hit the deck along with Nick Skelton’s pole down?
Poor Nick, he shrugged his shoulders like it was no big deal, but I bet it was a HUGE deal. Big Star is only 9, he can be there for the next two Olympics, but can Bionic Nick hold his poor old battered body together that long too? And would Big Star go so well for someone else? I hope he can, and I hope that person is a Brit, cos that is some seriously good horse! But, next best thing, a medal for Ireland
. Cos we don’t really regard them as a "foreign" country, do we? Particularly in the horsey/racing community, we regard the Irish like they’re our closest cousins. They are part of the British Isles and our nearest neighbour. (Yes, I know France is actually geographically closer, but France is part of mainland Europe and therefore truly foreign! )A brilliant SJ final, absolutely nail-biting! I grunted/shouted so loud when Cian O’Connor, up on time, clipped that last jump and lost the silver, that my neighbour stuck her head over the fence and asked if I was ok!
Thanks to all for a great afternoons top class jumping, congrats to all, and lovely to see the Swiss gold medal winner (sorry, forgot his name), give his horse a lovely big huggy snog!
Poor Nick, he shrugged his shoulders like it was no big deal, but I bet it was a HUGE deal. Big Star is only 9, he can be there for the next two Olympics, but can Bionic Nick hold his poor old battered body together that long too? And would Big Star go so well for someone else? I hope he can, and I hope that person is a Brit, cos that is some seriously good horse! 
Did not realise this thread had turned into a rather acrimonious anti-patriotism argument! - You must be logged in to reply to this topic.