(SPORTS SWAP)
Elke Vanhoof, the 2015 European Champion.
A good start from Vanhoof.
(CYCLING BMX)
Fast, exciting and dangerous.
A great ride from the Belgian athlete.
She'll be very, very pleased with that.
Daniel Bluman for Colombia.
(EQUESTRIAN JUMPING)
Three words to describe showjumping -
passion, magic, perseverance.
It was a feeling that I have never felt before
in my life and you are addicted to it.
It is the highlight for every rider to go
through the Olympic Games.
I don't think he's my friend.
(SPORTS SWAP)
(EQUESTRIAN BMX)
- Hi. - Hey.
I'm Daniel, nice to meet you.
- I'm Elke, how are you? - Very good, thank you.
What do you think of the track?
- Ah, it looks difficult. - Difficult?
But we're gonna give it a try with your help today.
Yeah, it's gonna be fine for sure.
(COURSE LENGTH: 470m MENS 430M WOMENS)
Really looking forward to it.
It's a great honour to be able to have a go
at the BMX track of an Olympic athlete.
Welcome to Tal Milstein Stables. Are you excited?
Yeah, for sure. A little bit scared.
But I think once I'm on the horse, then it's gonna be OK.
You're well taken care of.
I have a good coach, so...
You can do with a BMX what you want to do,
and a horse is an animal so if he has its own will...
you have a problem.
(THE KIT)
This is one of the best horses in the world at the moment.
(PEAK AGE OF A COMPETING HORSE: 10-15 YEARS)
Our sport has been a huge evolution
in the past few years,
the prices of the horses are getting higher so now
it's very important to breed high-end horses
with great forward technique,
and this is one of those horses.
OK, you can touch him. I will watch you.
He's trying to bite you.
Yeah, but that's how he plays.
Look, look. I just go like this,
and he's already like...
But do you know what?
Because he notices you are scared.
- That's why. - Oh, OK.
We've got a nice bike for you.
(BMX BIKES HAVE 1 GEAR)
(BMX BIKES HAVE 1 BRAKE)
A nice shirt and also a beautiful helmet.
Look at that beauty. Great.
So that is going to protect me if I fall off?
Yeah, for sure.
We are racing with seven other girls on the track
so it's really dangerous if we cross each other
and we crash,
so that's why we wear protection, clothes, helmets,
but today you're alone on the track
and I think your speed is not that high today.
(THE INITIATION)
So we are going to time you on the third straight
and we're also going to do the last straight.
OK, perfect. I'm gonna act like you don't exist, OK?
- Yeah, perfect. - So don't crash.
I could crash you
but I wouldn't even know where you are.
- OK? - Yes. Ready.
Great.
You went past me like a rocket.
That was good to start with. You got 45 seconds,
I got 21 but I think it's not too bad.
Just your technique needs to be a little bit more effective,
you need to work with your body.
I started and I was concentrated
but then when I saw you,
like a rocket go past me, I sort of lost my concentration
a little bit, but I will promise you
that the next time you are not gonna double my time.
Perfect, that's good.
- That's too hard for my ego. - Yeah, perfect.
So this is gonna be maybe the most difficult part of all.
How we get you on the horse.
Is he scared of me? Because he's going...
No, no. They always move. One, two, three.
There you are.
So now you're gonna hold the reins.
Yeah, don't lose the...
No, no, we're not gonna let them lose them, don't worry.
It's completely normal that you feel scared
when you're riding an animal of this size and this strength.
You don't have to pull. Be very relaxed
and he's just gonna be walking. Stay on it.
You want to become one with the horse.
- Like one with the bike. - Exactly, one with the bike.
This is an extension of your body.
That which you're doing right now is called walking.
- Yeah. It's hard enough! - It's as simple as it gets.
It was a little bit out of my comfort zone
but it was OK, I survived so...
It's not possible. Throughout my years of experience
I have never, ever seen anybody that for the first time
or the second time they get on the horse
is able to do more than this.
(THE BASICS)
(ON THE JUMPS)
Never put your pedal like this because sometimes
you're gonna hit the ground
and then you fall off your bike.
Yeah, you want me to stay straight.
Yeah, like this.
OK. And what is the movement that I see
that you guys do when you do something with your body?
If we go down the jumps?
(BETWEEN THE JUMPS)
You need to push and then you go a little bit backwards.
It is steep.
So, you need to pedal really fast.
And what do you do here?
Try to stay touching the ground.
No, no. Our speed is too high to just roll it.
- No way. - Yeah.
You can do it too but if you're...
No, no. I am not gonna. Definitely not. I'm gonna land
over there, I'm gonna pedal, I'm gonna go down,
I'm gonna take the safe route.
Here we're in the tack room.
This is called a bridle. This piece is what goes
in the head of the horse.
And this is called a bit,
which is what goes inside of the mouth of the horse.
There are many different bits, because they have
different points of pressure, some are stronger,
some are softer, some work by putting pressure
a little bit on the lips,
some a little bit on the tongue.
None of them are strong in the horse,
You know normally you want to protect
the mouth of the horse very much,
It's very sensitive.
Over here we have the different saddles.
Stirrups, this is like your pedals,
where you put your leg.
(IN OLYMPIC EQUESTRIAN MEN & WOMEN COMPETE TOGETHER)
So when you're warming up, you sort of take
a few minutes to stretch the body of the horse
and then I stretch his neck, and stretch his back
and stretch his legs.
Now I use my right leg, and the horse goes left.
(TURNING)
Then you can go longer, you know...
(SPEED CONTROL)
..faster, without galloping,
just going faster on the trot.
And then shorter.
You pull on the bit
and you sit down,
and the horse does a smaller step.
Yeah.
Then if you wanna go faster,
you just let go of the reins
and you put your legs both in the belly.
It's amazing how he controls his horse with the reins.
It's all, as you see, how we can do different things.
If I need to do that, it's gonna be difficult.
Not too fast. Brake.
We're gonna try it again
and I give you some tips and we'll be OK.
A little bit more pushing
through the jumps, a little bit more pedalling,
between the jumps. It's not that bad.
It's starting feeling better and better.
You know, the bike feels light,
it's a very pleasant experience once you start doing it.
Not as bad as I began.
It's insane how much leg you need.
Pedal.
It's good.
How does it feel to go that slow for you?
Ah, chilling.
No more practising.
Called it quits because I'm dying.
Gonna just let you
start sort of playing
with the reins - also put a little bit of your leg.
Touch with your leg. Feel and enjoy.
Pull on the right.
Hey, hey!
OK, how are you feeling there?
Still a little bit scared.
Like, I don't know what the horse is going to do.
Oh, sorry.
I said you have to be on your toes.
OK, try to stop.
Oh!
There you go.
Now the stopping part is going good.
Looks all so easy and then I came by myself on the horse.
And that was really, totally different,
like you're learning riding a bike again.
(THE DIET)
Before the competition, we eat a lot of carbs
and also proteins are really important for the muscles.
For me, it's a little bit the same, you know,
I want to keep my energy high enough.
So I do eat a lot of steaks as well and salads
and stuff like this but I don't want to be overweight
or lose athleticism because of gaining weight.
But now it's us in here so we can have some fries.
- I think it's a good idea. - Yeah.
(THE CHALLENGE)
Now we're gonna go one more time
to try to do the same thing we did the first time.
Now I'm gonna use the technique you taught me
to do with my body to be faster.
(COMPLETE SAME COURSE IN UNDER 45 SECONDS)
(READY SET GO)
Whoo! That was awesome!
- What was my time? - You can guess.
- 38? - 35.
- 35? - 35!
That was good. I have a good coach.
Yes, that's true.
I'm very tired, really, really tired. What a workout.
I don't know if the second time was very good
or the first time was very bad.
I'm going to again be optimistic
and think that I did a better job the second time
and I became quite decent.
He got 45 seconds and then the last time
he got 35 so that's a lot of difference in a short time.
He's a good student.
Good job.
(CONTROL THE HORSE OVER A SET DISTANCE UNAIDED)
We're gonna make you one test.
I'm not going to jump.
No, no. You're just gonna go around the stand
and then you're coming back.
I'm not gonna come to help you.
Gonna treat him like you learnt
and show him where you want to go and go.
Just a little leg, pull a little leg, you don't need
to move your hands.
Just use your leg.
There. Now show him the way.
A little more legs. Ah!
Go around that and come to me.
Bring him to me. Bring him to me.
He's not coming to me.
Hello! Right here!
There, whoa.
- Whoa. - Very good.
It was actually amazing. In the beginning I was scared
but then he taught me all the things I need to know
and then I could handle him by my own.
It's not easy to try to do what you are doing,
if Elke would have already ridden horses before,
even if she would have never jumped,
we could have done much more.
But it was great. Great feeling.
- OK... - Open the...
Ah!
(SPORTS SWAP)
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