While the Cross Country segment of Three Day Eventing competition is considered to be breathtakingly exciting, in my opinion it is a grueling and arduous test for a horse which I feel borders on insanity. Unlike the Stadium Jumping segment of this equine Triathalon, where imposing obstacles collapse easily, cross country jumping's "natural"appearing obstacles are dense and in most cases do not fall if impacted by a horse on course.
Bryant Gumbel's "Real Sports" edition for Tuesday, July 29, will feature a segment about the risks of equestrian Eventing.
Judging from past editions which Mr. Gumbel presented about the equine industry, I imagine that this will also be an in depth examination of the pit falls and dangers of the sport.
The program will be aired on HBO on at 10:00 PM ET on July 29. I can't wait to see what the show will cover.
Watch your schedules as "Real Sports" is repeated frequently throughout the week.
What are your feelings about Cross Country jumping? Leave a comment and share.
8 comments:
I saw the show last night. It is very hard to watch, but at the same time explores the "darkside" of Cross Country, and talks about the controversy within the sport itself, about how and if it is possible to reduce risk.
I highly recommend the show. I commend Mr. Gumbel for bringing to light all sides of the sport.
This is new information for me. I have never watched Cross Country racing. If I can, I will try to watch the show. It constantly amazes me what we do to animals in the name of "sport".
I was all set to click the link and watch this exposa... and then I remembered that I watched the video that Behind The Bit posted on her blog, and read her take on it... and I could not do it. (She was discussing the tragic loss of Frodo Baggins, and the apparent "flip" attitude of his owner/ rider.)
Think I will stick to trail riding, and enjoying horses. Might be a tad safer, since we dont do anything insane these days.
I always thought this was a dangerous "sport" for both animal and rider. I will not watch this kind of program.
I have never been a fan of this, and I never will be. We have this event here every year, and every year there are multiple injuries to both rider and horses. The injuries to horses result in having to have some of them euthanized. ANd it is not just once in a while, it is every year.
Kathy,
It's not racing, although it is a race against the clock and other riders competing on the course.
I cannot for the life of me understand why they can't make this sport safer, and prioritize the safety of the horse and rider over the thrill seeking spectator's wishes.
Jo
As far as I am concerned it is just another "sport" in which the partcipant has no choice. Just like horse racing the horse has no choice in whether he runs or not. There is a real need to examine the safety and ways to improved these sports for the animals involved.
I agree with Joanne - we make decisions for our animal counterparts we have no right to make.
Dangerous for the rider is voluntary. That's OK w me.
Dangerous for those who have no say isn't.
Our tampering, from forced sport to horrific experiments is, well, tampering.
All of our environmental abuses, up to the most diastrous ones, stem from the mistaken assumption of human superiority.
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