once a rider, always a rider

[slidingsideways]

I miss riding.

I went in search of photos and videos yesterday. Saddletude is heaven for the horse-crazy. The site has video coverage of most equestrian sports, including show jumping and three-day eventing.



Most people know what show jumping is, but they're not familiar with eventing. Three-day eventing is a triathlon on horseback. The first event is dressage, which is essentially ballet for horses. It's comparable to school figures in ice skating; it takes a lot of hard work and it's stupefyingly dull. At its highest levels, it can be beautiful, but it's so technical that most of it is lost on non-dressage fanatics. But that's the first event.



The second event is cross-country. Cross-country is an obstacle course across open land with steep banks, water, and imposing jumps. It's insanely dangerous and addictively exhilarating. The goal is to ride the course as fast as possible while incurring as few faults as possible (faults include the horse's legs hitting the jump, the horse refusing the jump, the rider getting thrown off, and so on). Many riders wear protective padded vests and extra-thick helmets during this event.



The third event is stadium jumping. The fences are big, the course design is tough, the objective is the same: get in, get over, get out in the shortest time with the fewest mistakes. The jumps aren't as difficult as Grand Prix show jumping; that's what Grand Prix is for. But the idea of eventing is versatility, so they end with a stadium jumping competition.



I've done eventing a few times. It was fun, a few times. It wouldn't be my choice now, if I were to go back to riding and competition. Dressage is daunting, yes. But the real reason I'd never become an eventer is that they're the ugliest riders ever.

What's up with her elbows?

The pictures above are a perfect example of cause and effect. If a rider sits back that far and leaves the reins that long, she'll get yanked out of the saddle as the horse leaps. She's lucky she didn't land in the water.

D'oh, d'oh, D'OH! What is she doing?!

Clearly, she's doing the funky chicken in the third picture. (No, she didn't lose her head; that's a jump flag where her face should be.) She should be sent back to children's walk-trot classes until she learns how to hold the reins. Disgraceful.

The cardinal sin in riding: hanging on by the reins.

The first rule of Horse Club is you do not hang on by something attached to the horse's mouth. The second rule of Horse Club is you DO NOT hang on by something attached to the horse's mouth. It's the first bit of horsemanship a rider learns: thou shalt not lean on thy horse's mouth. A horse who is routinely asked to jump and then popped in the mouth in midair becomes a horse who will no longer jump.

This is why I would never become an eventer.

Now that you've seen the hideous form from eventers, watch a real rider take a tough, tight course with terrific form and style (8.9 MB, QuickTime).

I miss riding.

Comments

[vwip.livejournal.com]

Given that equestrian is one of the handful of areas that NZ often has medal chances in at the Olympics, I've probably watched a moderate amount of eventing over the years. And where I'm living is more or less NZ's equestrian epicentre (E.g. (http://www.eventers.co.nz/events/groups/mitavite/)). But I've never been inclined towards riding myself (not that I've tried much). Interesting post, thanks.

:)

[swerve.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the comment. I'm trying out this "write for yourself" concept. ;)

NZ has turned out some really fantastic horses and riders. Maybe someday I'll get a chance to visit and do some pony trekking in the countryside.