Why is equestrian part of the olympic?

Question

why is equestrian part of the olympic how about cricket, dancing!!! those are sports!!

Answer 1

Equestrian is part of the olympic games because of its roots to the historic pentathlon, as well as the fact that almost every culture has horses and people who can ride them.

Answer 2

Equestrian's more athletic than ping pong.  And the equestrian events are so much more interesting than basketball, IMO.

Have you ever tried competing in dressage?  Or cross country jumping?  One wrong move in cross country jumping can paralize you or worse, kill you.

Equestrian is one of the best parts of the summer Olympics.

Answer 3

None of the previous answers are correct. Equestrian sports are part of the Olympics today because they HAVE ALWAYS been part of the Games. The ancient Olympics included horse sports too- horse races, chariot races, dressage ( although it was not called by that name then) and they also featured a competition called the Militare, which was the forerunner of today's modern 3 Day Event. Horses are athetes too, just like their human partners, and events like dressage and show jumping require ENORMOUS amounts of skill and hard work if one wants to be successful and win medals, the way the US show jumping team just did this afternoon. They won the gold- and beat team Canada in the process.

Cricket is a sport, yes, but the only country in the world where it's played is in Great Britain- if you ask anyone in the States what cricket is, they will probably tell you it's a bug which chirps at night in the late summer. Most Americans have never even heard of the sport, which is practically a national pasttime in Britain. As for dancing, I am assuming you mean ballroom or competitive dancing, and that is actually considered to be a performing ART, NOT a SPORT. Dancing is popular in a lot of places, yes- and there ARE sports which include it, such as gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics, and ice dancing in the winter, but overall, it's still an art in the minds of most people, including those on the IOC's decision committee.

Equestrian sports have a long, rich history- and one that is, in fact, tied closely with the military, as one of the other writers pointed out. ALL of the equestrian sports which are currently in the Games began their lives as ANYTHING BUT SPORTS, and they were all invented in and by the different armies, etc, of various countries. The oldest of the 3 is dressage- which comes from an old French verb which means" training". Considered by many historians to have been the very first formal  horse sport, dressage is all about testing how well the horse and rider can communicate and work together to solve problems and achieve a common goal. The many movements which one typically sees in a dressage test or musical freestyle ride are all descended from those which were taught to horses that were ridden in combat by cavalry officers. Indeed, one of the major purposes for such training was to MAKE such horses more obedient and rideable, and to improve their way of moving so as to avoid injuries during periods of hard use.

The second sport, called Eventing, 3 Day Eventing, or Combined Training, was also invented in the military. This sport is a direct descendant of the tests which were given to cavalry officers and their mounts, at or near the completion of their training for combat and those who couldn't or didn't pass were prohibited from leading troops in warfare. It was like a final exam in a sense. Generally, most eventing competitions consist of three phases or sections, run over a 3 day period, WITHOUT a rest in between each day. There is a dressage phase on the first day, which tests a horse's obedience and willingness to listen. The second day, called cross country day or speed and endurance day, is just that- the horse goes across country over a series of fences which are designed to test the animal's jumping ability, speed, stamina, and ability to solve technical problems. Cross country day is fraught with hazards- every course has at least one or two water obstacles in it, and unlike in show jumping, the fences on a cross country course are heavy,solid, permanent, and normally, are rather unforgiving to horses which make a mistake while jumping them. It is this, more so than anything else, which makes Eventing so high risk and dangerous. This is one of the few sports in the Olympics in which there is always the ever present possibility of a FATAL accident involving horse, rider, or BOTH. Has anyone ever been killed doing it? Tragically, the answer to that question is a resounding YES. There have been numerous deaths, both human and equine, in recent years at competitions around the world, which is why the sport's governing body has passed new rules which hopefully will make it safer for everyone. On the third day of competition, there is a show jumping test. The purpose of this is not to make the horses jump high ( there are no jump offs in Eventing) but to demonstrate that a horse is still physically sound and able to work, despite having been worked so hard the previous day. The horse and rider with the LOWEST overall score for all 3 phases is the winner.

The final Olympic horse sport is show jumping. This sport too came from the military- it is a descendent of the jumping contests which officers sometimes held among themselves. Show jumping is all about speed and the ability to jump high and fast. Most Olympic courses start at 5 feet, with a 4 to 6 foot spread on each fence- and there are as many as two dozen of these in any single round. The courses always have a least one triple combination ( a series of 3 fences right in a row with only one or two strides in between them for the horse) and a double ( the same thing, except with just two fences) and a water obstacle or liverpool. Show jumpers are the powerhouse horses of the Games- the object for them is to get around the courses as fast as possible and with as few jumping faults as possible. Whoever can do that, and do it without exceeding the time limit, will advance to the jump off. During the jump off, riders are going against the clock as much as they are against one another, and the fence heights get raised to 6 feet or more. There are even special competitions at some shows which feature fence heights in excess of 7 feet. The tallest fence ever jumped by a horse measured over 9 feet tall, and the horse that did this was named Huaso. As you might guess, he was a cavalry horse- he was one of the horses owned by the Military Academy of Chile, in South America. His record, which was set in the 1930's, has never been broken- he's in the Guiness Book of World Records. Huaso is buried on the grounds of the military school, at the base of a permanent replica of the fence he jumped during his lifetime.

That's just a brief description of the different horse sports in the Olympics, and why they are there.  Cricket and dancing do not have this kind of history or tradition behind them, enjoyable though they may be to some people.  

Answer 4

I think it's a pretty lame "sport" to include in the Olympics.  It's an event to see how well you can control a horse?!?!   Gimme a break!  I don't think the spirit of the Olympics is represented in a "sport" like that.  It should be based on the individual or teams' efforts.

Answer 5

I would love to see cricket in the Olympics.

Answer 6

Because its the only event that horses participate in.  In ancient times I'll bet their were more events (like chariot racing) that had horses as an integral part.  So, even though it is not relevant in the year 2008, let the horses have their last hurrah.  By 2020 they'll be history.

Answer 7

Jockeys are athletes too.

Answer 8

dont underestimate equestrian enthusiasts, or jockeys. it is a compelling sport, and worldy respected.

Answer 9

Thank you Starlight.

The better question may be why the ignorance and negativity towards equestrian sports?

Try riding a dressage test or a cross-country course...you will use muscles you never even knew existed.  It is extremely athletically demanding.

Answer 10

dancing is not a sport and cricket is not internationally played which is why those aren't in the olympics.