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August 07, 2012
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We went to one of the days of an equestrian competition. When you stand at a fence and a horse running at very high speed turns on a dime in front of you -- as in sweat droplets fron the horse hit my camera -- it is time to change your underwear.
I wonder if the Lego dogs have brown piles nearby.
Posted by: Not My Usual Alias | August 07, 2012 at 01:50 PM
Beats watching the Lipizzaner Stallions, or as Craig Ferguson calls them, the Gay Horses of Austria
Posted by: poker | August 07, 2012 at 02:02 PM
The problem is every horse can make the jump with its eyes closed. The horses are graded on grace and style, which are synonyms for BS. If they ran the events like human jumping, where they just kept putting up higher and higher hurdles, maybe it would be slightly more interesting.
Posted by: Elon | August 07, 2012 at 02:18 PM
Ooh ooh ooh. To heck with the equestrian stuff. Dave, did you go into the museum and see Nelson's blood-stained uniform from the Battle of Trafalger? And stand either side of the Prime Meridian? Greenwich rocks.
Posted by: Jan in Grimsby | August 07, 2012 at 02:21 PM
Here I go again. ^ extract 'e' insert 'a'. Too preoccupied with Olympic diving. At least, that's the excuse I'm using today.
Posted by: Jan in Grimsby | August 07, 2012 at 02:24 PM
Pish posh. All the *true* equestrian fanatics attend the Dressage competition. Jumping. How barbaric.
Posted by: random romney-thunkingthwaite III | August 07, 2012 at 02:41 PM
Elon, if you're not being facetious, you really need to read up on stadium jumping as well as cross-country and dressage. Everything you posted is flat-out wrong.
Posted by: Guin | August 07, 2012 at 02:45 PM
Prince Andrew is married? Nooooooooooooo! I hope Dave meant Prince William.
Posted by: nursecindy | August 07, 2012 at 03:01 PM
Dave says the royals don't do much, but I saw the queen jumpin' out of a parachute with Sean Connery a while back, and that was pretty cool.
Posted by: padraig | August 07, 2012 at 03:27 PM
they shoot horses dont they... (nay, i am not suggesting we kill any horses!)
Posted by: queensbee | August 07, 2012 at 03:45 PM
The Modern Pentathlon features equestrian, fencing, and pistol shooting, along with running and swimming. Alas, they only do one at a time.
Posted by: oneblankspace | August 07, 2012 at 04:16 PM
poker, you are (if I may say so) nuts. We saw the Lippizaners at the Spanish Riding School in Vienna and they are incredibly cool and very impressive.
Jan, agree on Greenwich. We went to the Royal Observatory, on the Cutty Sark and and the Gypsy Moth that Francis Chichester sailed singlehandedly around the world.
Cool indeed.
Posted by: Jeff Meyerson | August 07, 2012 at 04:18 PM
I think that if we're going to talk about equestrian jumping, it ought to have to be jumping over horses, not some contrived obstacles. You could stand a horse between two trampolines, and then ...
Posted by: Omniskeptic | August 07, 2012 at 04:33 PM
Picture this: A horse is racing toward an obstacle. It launches itself into the air. Everything is looking good for this horse, but suddenly … UH-oh! There’s another airborne horse, coming over the obstacle from the opposite direction
From recent news reports all we need to do to accomplish this is turn the competition over to our Air Traffic Controllers.
Posted by: fivver | August 07, 2012 at 05:00 PM
Snork at fivver -- just don't let the RSCPA know.
Posted by: Not My Usual Alias | August 07, 2012 at 05:17 PM
There will be no horse helmets until our very expensive, major university, government funded horse helmet studies are completed and published in the " American Journal of Horse Helmetry ".
Posted by: Clankie | August 07, 2012 at 05:50 PM
Jeff, I was able to see the Lippizaners in Vienna at the Spanish Riding School. There were no tickets for a performance but at that time you could just sit and watch them practice, which was fascinating. I would have stayed all afternoon but my dad insisted on dragging me off to a museum. ;)
Posted by: Guin | August 07, 2012 at 06:24 PM
Jeff. We missed the Cutty Sark by a day. H. M. and the DoE came just after us and it hissed down rain. We had sunshine. Hee hee. Pretty much my fave place in London. After the V.& A.
Posted by: Jan in Grimsby | August 07, 2012 at 07:01 PM
Guin, I read up on the events at the Olympics before posting the comment, yes. I know that there are jump competitions where the object is to compete in actually jumping over stuff, but that is not show jumping the Olympic sport.
Posted by: Elon | August 07, 2012 at 08:22 PM
Elon, we will differ on this. I've been around horses for forty years and am well-versed in equestrian disciplines.
On the Blog, all is harmonious.
Posted by: Guin | August 07, 2012 at 08:50 PM
Elon:
You are flat-out wrong, but that's OK...we're blog-mates. The difficulty in appreciating the incredible meeting of the minds between horse and rider is understandable to those who have not actually participated.
I put my daughter into equestrian starting at age seven. Part of the discipline of the school was that the rider had to groom the horse following the exercises. I'll never forget the sight of my elf-like daughter picking up the feet of this enormous horse to clean its hooves. It was like watching a chihuahua lifting up a SUV...
Posted by: Afkat | August 07, 2012 at 09:53 PM
The Brits are crazy for the royal family, and for a very good reason, which is: I have no idea.
Well, it does prevent their politicians from trying to be the top celebrity the way ours do. I mean, how do you compete with Her Majesty? You don't, so you have to go for a degree of competence in your actual job.
Posted by: wiredog | August 08, 2012 at 07:03 AM
Having attended several equestrian events I've noticed that the horses refrain from pooping when any member of the Royal Family is present, yet, when any politician happens to be within view, they poop continuously.
Posted by: Mot the Hoople | August 08, 2012 at 07:04 AM
Yes, Afkat. "Reading up on" an Olympic event isn't proof of actual knowledge. It would be like me saying I know how to do an open-heart transplant because I've looked at WebMD. ;)
Posted by: Guin | August 08, 2012 at 07:08 AM
FOOD FIGHT!
Posted by: MikeyVA | August 08, 2012 at 07:41 AM
Do I really want to step in this? Yeah, I suppose so.
I am the son and nephew of a pair of horse addicts, of the show jumper and thorough pain - I mean thoroughbred variety. Things were rough until this nice guy from the neighborhood turned them on to crack (the mother and aunt, not the horses) and then our lives improved a lot. They were a lot easier to live with, after that.
Posted by: Omniskeptic | August 08, 2012 at 08:23 AM
♪ Go right to the source
and ask the horse...
oh, & i look forward to These guys at the winter olympics ;)
Posted by: ligirl | August 08, 2012 at 08:49 AM
*snork* @ Omni.
Posted by: Guin | August 08, 2012 at 09:41 AM
Would be far more interesting if they switched roles and had the horses riding the riders.
Posted by: EyeGore | August 08, 2012 at 10:13 AM
EyeGore, I think we saw a video recently about that -- except it was diving or trampoline or something, with canine participation. The human got ridden, no question.
Posted by: Omniskeptic | August 08, 2012 at 10:22 AM
Today's Google Doodle game isn't nearly as much fun as yesterday's. Hubby told me.
Posted by: Jan in Grimsby | August 08, 2012 at 11:12 AM