Horseback Riding Isn't a Sport?

Many people say that horseback riding isn't a sport. They think that all we do is sit on the horse and it does all the work. They think it's stupid to be in the Olympics. Some people think there are no benefits or physical exertion. There are also people who say that there is no talent involved and that if it is a sport, then why are there riders that aren't in shape? Those people have either never ridden or never had a lesson where they don't have a pony ride (lead around on a horse that never gets scared and the person isn't challenged to even do 2-point or drop their stirrups). There are many ways to prove that riding is a sport. It fits the definition of a sport even if some people don't get why. Sports have lots of things in common, even horseback riding. You can also get a ton of exercise if you are pushing yourself and riding correctly. Horseback riding is just as much of a sport as football, baseball, or swimming.

If you look up the definition of a sport on Google, this is what you get: "an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment." Some people say that horseback riding doesn't fit that description but it does. The first part says, "an activity involving physical exertion..." If you get on a horse, post correctly, make them move, and actually ride, it definitely involves physical exertion. When you ride a horse, the horse can be lazy so you have to use your legs and give them a strong aid to go. If the horse is fresh, than you need to use your core, stay upright, stay confident, and use rein to slow them down. Of course there are some horses for beginners (or well trained horses that were worked hard to get there) where they know voice commands and are extremely obedient. That's just getting the horse to move or slow down, there is a lot more. You need to stay upright with your shoulders back at all times so you stay balanced and keep your center of gravity low. You want it low so you don't fall off if they trip. That's just riding, you have to carry 50 pound bags for food, buckets of food to the horses, and carry 20 pound water buckets with the horse. Saying the horse does all the work and the rider just sits there is like saying a golfer just stands there and the ball does all the work. The next part of the definition is, "and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment." It takes great skill to ride well, and there are horse shows. In a horse show, there are many many other competitors. We compete against many individual riders with his/her horse. If you have a rough start, the judges are less likely to pay attention to you and you only have two minutes to show what you got. These shows are very fun and are competitive just like any other sport. I asked some of my classmates if they think it is a sport and why. Some of them said "Horseback riding isn't really a sport because you just sit there. It takes energy to jump with the horse but it isn't really a sport." Many people said things like that but some people said, "It's totally a sport! you get a great workout and do so much to get the horse moving!"

Sports have a lot of things in common. All of them can be done just for fun or on a competitive level. Sports are a great way to get exercise, loose weight, have fun with friends, and get outside. Some sports are inside but you can usually find a way to get them outside. When you are learning any sport, you aren't very good and you don't get as much exercise as a professional or a more experienced athlete in that sport would. Horseback riding is just another sport that has some things in common with other sports. However, horseback riders go to a higher level on a lot of things. Some athletes lift weights, we lift feed bags, hay bales, saddles, and water buckets. Some athletes run a mile or two, we ride at least 10. In other sports with a team, you can yell out a few words for them to understand you. We have to communicate with a 1,000 pound horse, an animal that doesn't understand words. In other sports, you can have a tough start and finish on top because you have 4 quarters or 2 halves. We have 2 to 3 minutes to show our competition and the judges what we've got. When athletes from other sports fall, they fall a few inches or a couple feet. When horseback riders fall, we fall at least 5 feet. Most sports have a season, horseback riding goes through the whole year no matter what the weather, there is still something. Horseback riding is just like every other sport.

You get a ton of exercise through horseback riding. When you do the posting trot, you are doing a whole bunch of squats basically. We work so much when we look like we are just sitting there. We might be engaging our core, we could be using our legs to make them go, or using the rein for contact. As equestrians we are trained and instructed not to show what we are doing and being subtle with our cues. Sitting the trot can be way harder than posting the trot because we have to stay still. We have to use our legs and core to stay stable and sit the trot. When we ride with no stirrups, we have to use our thighs to hold our legs in position and still ride the same. When we get tired we can't let the riding show it because the horse will stop, thinking it can get away with it. We have to use our minds a lot as well. We can't just let the horse do all the thinking because the horse might not get the right distance or know where to go. We memorize long jumping courses, we know what we have to do, we have to see the distance between jumps, adjust accordingly to the distance, and much more.

Horseback riding is definitely a sport. It fits the definition of a sport, it has things in common with other sports, and you get a ton of exercise through riding. People who don't think that horseback riding is a sport, just don't understand what horseback riding is fully. They don't know what we have to do and what is involved in riding. Those people need to learn a bit more about what it takes to ride and what you actually have to do. Although people may say that all you do is sit on a horse, you do so much more.