**Official** Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics

[Howe_zat]

It sounds to me like that thing where the conscious part of the brain panics under pressure and tries to take over a process that the subconscious part is much better at. Happens to golfers a lot, but the stakes are much lower.

There's a short doco on youtube about it happening to trampolinist Bryony Page early in her career, so it's definitely a thing in gymnastics.

 

[Howe_zat]

Dressage has got to be among the most difficult human endeavours that just fails to look impressive. Right up there with shot put and darts.

 

[BoyBrumby]

The problem I have with dressage, aside from the absolute pointlessness of it as an endeavor I mean, is that I can't help but wonder how the poor horses are trained to do it.

I'm no equine expert, but I think I'm on fairly safe ground asserting that prancing around on tippy toes isn't a natural method of conveyance for the noble beasts.

 

[srbhkshk]

So apparently what happened to Simone Biles is that she got "lost in the air" mid-jump and more or less lost track of the where the ground was, which seems like an utterly terrifying thing to have happen to you when you're spinning like a top in the air around all sorts of large, heavy solid objects.

Sounds genuinely scary.

 

[Howe_zat]

The problem I have with dressage, aside from the absolute pointlessness of it as an endeavor I mean, is that I can't help but wonder how the poor horses are trained to do it.

I'm no equine expert, but I think I'm on fairly safe ground asserting that prancing around on tippy toes isn't a natural method of conveyance for the noble beasts.

I heard that during the 'horse inspection' they check for any signs of mistreatment such as marks left by whips, and can disqualify any horse that's got them. I can't speak for the source, it was just some guy on the internet, but it did make me feel a bit better about it.

 

[Flem274*]

The problem I have with dressage, aside from the absolute pointlessness of it as an endeavor I mean, is that I can't help but wonder how the poor horses are trained to do it.

I'm no equine expert, but I think I'm on fairly safe ground asserting that prancing around on tippy toes isn't a natural method of conveyance for the noble beasts.

dressage has had a problem for a while, one officials are finally being pressured into regulating since 2008 or so. some of it is a bit of a culture war i won't bore you with the details of, and personally most cruelty doesn't look obviously cruel at first glance because it's sunday mum having a gander at moves well beyond her, but there's definitely issues at pro-level because coked up alcoholic control freaks really want something shiny to show for their multiple untreated concussions.

as for natural movement, prancing about on tippy toe is literally what horses do as play. i've never seen as good a piaffe from a certain departed former cricsimmer as when it was dinner time. they're not just built for speed - they're built to be more athletic for longer than their predators. their instincts drive them to practice athletic manouvres as play and prancing about like dicks is even incorporated in how the animals communicate with each other.

 

[Red_Ink_Squid]

It sounds to me like that thing where the conscious part of the brain panics under pressure and tries to take over a process that the subconscious part is much better at. Happens to golfers a lot, but the stakes are much lower.

Like when I try to get money out at a cash point I need to quickly enter my PIN on muscle memory, as I can never remember the digits if I stop and think about them...

 

[Flem274*]

I heard that during the 'horse inspection' they check for any signs of mistreatment such as marks left by whips, and can disqualify any horse that's got them. I can't speak for the source, it was just some guy on the internet, but it did make me feel a bit better about it.

they look for marks across the body with particular focus on flanks and knees (for anything involving jumping) along with urine samples and at this level i think blood tests for drugs.

 

[Spark]

Isn't dressage mostly a modern, judged-sport version of what European warhorses used to do for military parades and the like?

 

[Flem274*]

Isn't dressage mostly a modern, judged-sport version of what European warhorses used to do for military parades and the like?

yes. eventing only changed it's name in the 60s i think, and it was literally called 'military' because that is how you train cavalry for war. you must be able to turn on the spot, go sideways, stop, back up, accelerate, sideways etc and it has to just happen or u ded.

 

[Uppercut]

Dressage has the most hideous aesthetic in all of athletics. "I want an outfit that combines Spoiled Prefect with Nineteenth Century War Criminal."

How did they manage to make dancing horses so ****ing ugly.

 

[weeman27bob]

The way I've always thought about what sports I think should be included in the Olympics is around whether winning a gold medal in the Olympics would be the most valued achievement in that sport.

That's probably true for pretty much everything that's in the Olympics at the moment except football, tennis and golf.

I guess at the same time though that would probably rule in some things that I personally wouldn't like to see like snooker and darts. I don't dislike them as sports but I don't think they fit within the ethos of the Olympics.

 

[Red_Ink_Squid]

Dressage has got to be among the most difficult human endeavours that just fails to look impressive. Right up there with shot put and darts.

It would probably have been the first thing that came to mind for me for 'lamest Olympic sport', but my 4 year old absolutely loved watching it yesterday.

Maybe not the most objective criteria but 'keeping the RIS children entertained' is definitely something I'm valuing from the Olympics this year.

 

[RossTaylorsBox]

All this horse talk is making me hungry

 

[Flem274*]

Dressage has the most hideous aesthetic in all of athletics. "I want an outfit that combines Spoiled Prefect with Nineteenth Century War Criminal."

How did they manage to make dancing horses so ****ing ugly.

because the noble families of spoiled prefect 19th century war criminals own the horses so by extension, own the sport and the kids wanting to ride those horses. trust me, they know it too. lots of abuse and ****in' pedos are getting exposed atm.

the first thing you should understand about horse sports is we are our own worst enemy. everyone with a real job is so stoked on a 35 degree summer day when the stewards decide you don't have to wear a jacket, but suggest this at 34 degrees and a lot of very boring people lose their minds.

even horse people only watch the freestyle. being given a set of moves and arranging them to your own song choice in a way to look as interesting as possible is the only hope dressage has of ever being relevant but they'll never do it because the people with political power in the game don't really see anyone below their social strata as worth a damn.

 

[RossTaylorsBox]

OK now I wanna see a horse dance to Karma Police.

 

[stephen]

guess what someone added to wikipedia today

View attachment 28681

Reported for lack of taste.

 

[Victor Ian]

The way I've always thought about what sports I think should be included in the Olympics is around whether winning a gold medal in the Olympics would be the most valued achievement in that sport.

That's probably true for pretty much everything that's in the Olympics at the moment except football, tennis and golf.

I guess at the same time though that would probably rule in some things that I personally wouldn't like to see like snooker and darts. I don't dislike them as sports but I don't think they fit within the ethos of the Olympics.

I don't like this approach. It allows for almost anything, because Olympics. Anything that doesn't qualify according to this then is made to qualify by adjusting some aspect of it, like having 7 players, or age limits, or something else. I particularly hate judged sports. Boxing should be until knockout, wrestling until tap out, etc. The motto is not higher, faster, stronger, prettier, narlyer, etc.

 

[stephen]

So apparently what happened to Simone Biles is that she got "lost in the air" mid-jump and more or less lost track of the where the ground was, which seems like an utterly terrifying thing to have happen to you when you're spinning like a top in the air around all sorts of large, heavy solid objects.

Some sports psychologists need to be sacked over this. Mental health issues just don't appear overnight.

 

[Flem274*]

I don't like this approach. It allows for almost anything, because Olympics. Anything that doesn't qualify according to this then is made to qualify by adjusting some aspect of it, like having 7 players, or age limits, or something else. I particularly hate judged sports. Boxing should be until knockout, wrestling until tap out, etc. The motto is not higher, faster, stronger, prettier, narlyer, etc.

this would literally kill the sport lol