Olympics

I'm not even a Brit but I LOVE seeing all the British success. Especially after the pain the British always put themselves through with football.
 
Another gold in the 470 class:plus1::clap:…. Go Team GB. I hope they can keep second spot on the overall medals tabs..
 
Question:- if the Olympics is about Human endeavor, i.e. Swimming, athletics, cycling, etc what has sitting on a Horse got to do with it??
 
stryvya said:
Question:- if the Olympics is about Human endeavor, i.e. Swimming, athletics, cycling, etc what has sitting on a Horse got to do with it??
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As far as I'm aware, "sitting on a horse" isn't an olympic sport.
 
stryvya said:
Question:- if the Olympics is about Human endeavor, i.e. Swimming, athletics, cycling, etc what has sitting on a Horse got to do with it??
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The Olympics is about making money. All that human/horse endeavour stuff is just marketing.
 
O dear..thee speaks a cynic unmoved by the human endeavour and flood sweat and tears ...
 
stryvya said:
Question:- if the Olympics is about Human endeavor, i.e. Swimming, athletics, cycling, etc what has sitting on a Horse got to do with it??
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Try 'sitting on a horse' and see how easy it is.

Then try making that horse do a perfect round of showjumping. If you succeed first go, we'll all agree that we've been duped, if you fail, .... Well if this isn't the most stupid thing you've ever written, you must have written some really crazy s***. ;)
 
stryvya said:
if you knock down a Fence than the Horse fails but you don`t
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No, because tee rider doesn't just sit on the horse.

stryvya said:
Sorry but still don1t get it
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It's simple. You seem think that riding a horse is a lack of "human endeavour". Try controlling half a ton of prey animal with just your thighs and 8 fingers, you'd soon find out how much "endeavour" is involved.
 
stryvya said:
Ok, you knock down a Hurdle and you fail, but if you knock down a Fence than the Horse fails but you don`t.

Sorry but still don1t get it!
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The horse hasn't entered anything, it can't win a prize, how has it failed :thinking:

If your car careers cross the road and into a bus queue are you not responsible? Likewise (I appreciate it's a team effort) didn't Lewis Hamilton win the World Championship (not his car)?

I think your misunderstanding comes from the fact that you have no idea that the rider is the one in control.
 
Phil V said:
The horse hasn't entered anything, it can't win a prize, how has it failed :thinking:

If your car careers cross the road and into a bus queue are you not responsible? Likewise (I appreciate it's a team effort) didn't Lewis Hamilton win the World Championship (not his car)?

I think your misunderstanding comes from the fact that you have no idea that the rider is the one in control.
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OK, still not convinced, can`t wait for Wales to get the Olympics to see who wins the Sheepdog Trials. :exit:
 
Have to admit that I'm a bit with stryva here. Not sure that any of the other Olympic disciplines uses equipment that can have such an effect on the outcome. If the mounts were pooled and drawn by lot for each round, maybe that would remove the equipment's influence?
 
I am though also aware that riding the disciplines, even on a good mount, is far from easy!
 
Nod said:
Have to admit that I'm a bit with stryva here. Not sure that any of the other Olympic disciplines uses equipment that can have such an effect on the outcome. If the mounts were pooled and drawn by lot for each round, maybe that would remove the equipment's influence?
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In Modern Pentathlon the horses are unknown to the riders and assigned at random.

And equipment has a big influence in cycling.
 
Llamaman said:
In Modern Pentathlon the horses are unknown to the riders and assigned at random.

And equipment has a big influence in cycling.
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Didn't know that about the MP horses - shows it's possible!

The Americans' left hand drive train bikes helped them a lot! From my seat, most of the bikes were fairly generic and (for a [probably considerable] chunk of cash) available to all.
 
Nod said:
Didn't know that about the MP horses - shows it's possible!

The Americans' left hand drive train bikes helped them a lot! From my seat, most of the bikes were fairly generic and (for a [probably considerable] chunk of cash) available to all.
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Mind you, the Yanks only won 2 medals at cycling - gold in the BMX with a standard chainring setup and silver in the women's pursuit on the track with the "lefty" job. They were already a top pursuit squad without the latest change.
 
stryvya said:
Yes but it still needs the effort of the Cyclist to get there 1st, not have to rely on a Horse.
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Try riding a horse - come back and discuss. o_O

It's simple - horse riding is a skill, in the same way as archery, cycling, yachting, rowing, photography. They all rely on the skill of the operator, but the quality of the equipment has some bearing. How good a photo does your camera take when you're not available to control it?:thinking:

As to the quality of the bike - you've short memories if you can't remember the turning point in British cycling. It wasn't down to a new fitness regime. Everyone else turned up on a 'bike' that looked the same as it had for 100 years, and Chris Boardman turned up on this...
Chris-Boardman-in-action--002.jpg
 
If I remember correctly, a completely fresh approach was employed. They broke down the activity of cycling into hundreds of different factors. They then looked to improve each of those factors by 1%.

The bike is a huge part of that, but so is training, diet, bio-mechanics, etc.
 
Nod said:
Didn't know that about the MP horses - shows it's possible!

The Americans' left hand drive train bikes helped them a lot! From my seat, most of the bikes were fairly generic and (for a [probably considerable] chunk of cash) available to all.
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Chris Boardman said on air that UK cycling had looked at left hand train bikes 'years ago' and dismissed the idea as making negligible difference.
 
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The horsey events should be seen as a team sport where one member isn't human. The riders seem to see it that way when interviewed. I think the horse should get a medal too.

The problem with pooled horses is that the best rider could get lumbered with something shortly destined for lasagne, whilst a mediocre rider could claim gold by virtue of being paired with Champion the Wonder Horse.
I think the current setup is better - you just need to accept that the horse is part of the team.
 
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