Medal winning performances?

The Olympic Equestrian events have finished and we have had some great viewing and the sport has reached a wide audience. But sometimes, for me, that viewing had been uncomfortable, some dreadful images are doing the rounds on the internet like this

I still can't believe this woman was rewarded for riding her horse like this with a silver medal.....but the marvellously relaxed combination of Carl Hester and Uthopia were denied a medal. The chairman of the judging panel, Stephen Clarke, was on BBC Breakfast this morning and he actually said that Parzival, the horse pictured above, was crossing his jaw and leaning on his rider's hands. So why such a hight mark then???

The FEI's Facebook page is still being deluged with images like this, they are not only deleting them but denying the posters  access to the page, so much for freedom of expression!!

The showjumping was an undeniably exciting competition to watch, but why do a lot of the riders feel it necessary to shove a load of metalwork in the horse's mouth and strap its head down and its mouth shut? Why do they need to jab them in the mouth so much?

And the cross country took a heavy toll with 15 eliminations due to falls. I cannot imagine ever asking one of my horses to jump down something like this

But it is great viewing, and I have watched as much as possible, and winced at the pulling on horse's mouths, but I decided a long time ago that jumping and cross country and anything more difficult than a walk trot dressage test just isn't for me.....

Stressage....

I have so far been enjoying the coverage of the equestrian events at the London Olympics, until that is the dressage started. I watched so many horses being held on to in front, opening their mouths, breathing heavily, whisking their tails, grinding their teeth, in short, they were generally tense and stressed.

So why do people do it to them? Well, yes, obviously to win, but can't they see how they are affecting their horses?

Lots of controversy this week about these photos of some riders training at the Olympics. Using Rollkur, hyperflexion, whatever you want to call it.

Swedish rider Patrik Kittel

Patrik van der Meer from the Netherlands

Another Dutch rider, Adeline Cornelissen

The Fédération Équestre Internationale, the governing body for Olympic equestrian events has received thousands of complaints about these photos. They issued a statement on thier Facebook page saying "We are aware that there is concern about some training methods, but photographs can be misleading. Rest assured that our stewards are always there, on the ground, monitoring all training sessions. We’re on the case."

But they are so obviously not on the case! Even if those photos were misleading, and I don't believe for one minute that they are, yesterday Adelinde Cornelissen does this before and even during her test in front of the eyes of the world.....

....and gets rewarded with a score of 81%. Quite unbelievable. What kind of example does that set? Horses pulled in at the front, unable to use their backs, with their hocks trailing out behind......

Contrast this with the beautifully relaxed round we were treated to by Carl Hester whose horse  was always in front of the vertical using his back and hindlegs properly.....

......or Richard Davison leaning forward to give his horse a treat after their test.

And of course Charlotte Dujardin's Olympic record breaking score......

Makes you proud to be British.