Nightmare Fuel: Sumo Statue Is Spooking Olympic Horses, Riders Allege
The sight of a sumo wrestler's butt in turn 10 at the Olympic equestrian center has horses shook, according to the riders who are having to deal with horses who aren't used to seeing sumo wrestler butt while they're competing. Things got so bad on the 14-jump course that a few horses pulled up short of the sumo jump and accumulated so many penalty points that they didn't make it out of Tuesday's qualifying round, according to media reports.
French rider Penelope Leprevost, who won gold in 2016 at the Rio Games, said the sumo guy clearly isn't something horses are used to seeing on a course. “It is very realistic,” Vlock said. “It does look like a person, and that’s a little spooky. You know, horses don’t want to see a guy, like, looking intense next to a jump, looking like he’s ready to fight you.”
Leprevost's stallion Vancouver de Lanlore completed the jump without issues because she relaxed her horse during entry to the jump. You could say that she prepared Vancouver de Lanlore for the giant ass he was about to see. She knew the big ol' ass was coming up and did her best to prevent the stallion from getting too shook.
It worked, but Leprevost had other issues on the course and finished out of contention. Other competitors weren't so lucky. Their horses refused the jump, and that's clearly a big problem.