Why the h**l is Equestrian classed as a sport?

Question

Its those horse that do all the hard work!

Answer 1

Why not? It takes a lot of skill to lead the horse.

Answer 2

Horse and rider work very hard together to get to the point they do.   I happen to enjoy it but not everyone does. There are many sports we don't all agree about.

There's a lot of work behind what they do and I give them credit for their hard work and determination.

Answer 3

Sure, it LOOKS like the horse is the one doing the hard work - but the horse can't do it without the rider!  Think of how much skill it takes for the rider to get the horse to perform like that..... have YOU ever tried to get a horse to do an extended trot?  A passage?  I can imagine that it would be extremely difficult and requires a lot of practice and skill.  I'm a horseback rider myself, and it's sometimes difficult enough getting the horse to go in the direction that you want!  lol.

Answer 4

You can't just put some twit on a highly trained horse.

The rider must have discipline, skill, talent, and commitment....just like any other sport.  

Answer 5

Then I'd like to see you jump on a horse and ride the cross country course.  I'm sure your bottom would be sore, your legs would kill you and your arms would ache.

It is physical for the rider as well as the horse - they need strength, stamina  and skill to control the horse to manouvre around the courses (showjumping or cross country) and to complete the tasks in dressage.

Answer 6

Because a horse has the common sense to walk around a high wall same as you or me would

Someone has to teach the horse that if it doesn't jump instead of walking round it gets whipped and spurred. That is called "training"

Why it is an Olympic sport beats me.

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Answer 7

there are allot of events in the modern Olympiads i dont understand from when the Greeks started them...i mean did they play beach volley ball or basketball back then...some gymnastics i can understand and obviously track and field events...but equestrian..rifle shooting...baseball...seems they keep adding more and more events..it has become very commercialized and very political

Answer 8

The horse sports are true to the "historic origins" of the Olympic Games.

Eventing in particular, is a test, based on a mounted soldier/warrior carrying a message safely, from the Commander to his fighting forces, during the course of a battle.

Often the rider had to cross enemy lines at great pace & clear any obstacle in his path. Hence the Steeple Chase, Roads & Tracks and Cross-Country phases.

The Dressage on Day One of competition is a test of how well the rider has trained his horse & how much control he has of that horse. (High School Dressage - NOT seen in the Olympics, actually displays the way a horse can be used as a weapon, if necessary, in close contact fighting).

On the final day of the Three-Day-Event, the horse is Vet Checked for it soundness and it remaining fitness tested in the Showjumping phase.

If anything, the Media should give the horse sports much, much greater TV coverage and truly honor, the reason we have a Modern Day Olympic Games.

If the Olympics got back to it's "origins" we would see more horse sports, with at least one Harness (Chariot) event and the gymnastic sport of Vaulting included. If you could see all of these events & were educated as to their origins, you would better understand that it is not all horse but the partnership between horse & rider the is vital to success in all these sports. And the Rider must be as strong, subtle & fit as the horse he rides!

Answer 9

Yeah, that "sport" is just a bunch of BULL$H!&. They leave that in the olympics, and take out baseball and softball?!?!?!  

Answer 10

You have to train the horse.

Answer 11

Really? Then jump on a horse and see how easy it is.

Equestrian is the only sport in the olympics where men and women compete against each other. I like that about it.

Answer 12

It is clear from your question, you don't ride horses.

If you put a horse infront of a dressage arena, it's first instinct isn't going to be "Wow I think I'll turn down the centre line then proceed to medium canter then do a half pass right... "

Anyone who has ever ridden a horse without being at a walk knows that riding a horse is difficult and dangerous. Add to that the factor of the knowledge and skill involved in training the animal to the skill and level you want, which can be very detailed and complicated, and I think you have a high degree of not only sport, but but art.

While it may be more suttle(it's supposed to look like the rider's not doing anything), the rider does much more than a car racer would do or a moterbiker.

Also, you seem to think that equestrian isn't a physical sport for the human, it IS very physical (more so than alot of sports at the olympics) and that the horse does all the work, equestrian burns alot of calories. The human has to react to the horse’s movements to avoid becoming off balance, so the deep postural muscles of the trunk and pelvis and the adductor muscles of the thighs are being worked very hard. Step into the saddle and an hour later I can promise you'll be so sore you'll be hardly able to move!