The European Equestrian Championship has ended in Rotterdam. The strongest riders fought for the title of the best. In addition to the prizes at the championship, tickets to the Olympics in Tokyo were played out, according to MIR 24 correspondent Anastasia Demyanets.
The rider’s task is to jump over the barriers as quickly as possible. Routes are designed by so-called course designers. It is they who decide in what order the athletes will climb.
Course designers think over the appearance of the barriers, right down to the color. Plants, flower beds, water – everything to distract the rider and the horse. Such tricks are to the liking of the audience. Show jumping is the most spectacular part of the European Championship.
A few minutes ago, the couple was stretching away from the public. Now they are preparing to enter the battlefield.
The battlefield is called because equestrian sport belongs to the military-applied types. All elements came from the cavalry. The main ones are: pirouette – a turn in place, acceptance – movement to the side, and backing down – movement back. The animal’s quick reaction to the rider’s command during combat could save the lives of both.
“They did these elements simply in order to quickly move from place to place, or quickly turn around, quickly stop and start moving again at any gait,” says Vladislav Kolosov, a member of the Russian national paralympic dressage team.
Today, horses do not participate in wars, and riders are no longer soldiers. Elements from the past have migrated to sports. All battles are now on the fields and stadiums. Here you cannot achieve victory by force alone.
“Of course, a horse is a very strong animal, but this is what the dressage of a horse consists in, that it does not need to be overpowered, interrupted, subordinated to oneself, but taught,” says Elena Sidneva, a member of the Russian dressage team.
Paralympians prove it. They control horses easily, but emotions sometimes get out of control.
Equestrian sports gave them the opportunity to return to active life. This happened with the leader of the Russian national team Natalia Martyanova. Her love for horses led her to dressage many years ago, but it was this passion that almost killed her later.
“The horse stood on the candle, slipped and fell on me. I was immediately asked: will you continue to study after such an injury? I say: of course, ”she says.
The Belarusian rider Sergei Aneychik also came to the championship. He represents his country alone.
“The horse is not experienced, this is his first year in international competitions, the third in his life. Of course he got excited. Sergei was also worried, forgot to ride a little, ”says the coach of the Belarusian rider Olga Kraeva.
The athletes have very little time to prove themselves. The results in the championship directly affect the composition of the national teams, and less than a year is left before the Olympics, which everyone dreamed of getting to.