Why do people think horseback riding isn't a sport?

I play basketball and baseball and I can vouch for you that this is DEFINITELY a sport. My girlfriend owns and rides horses. First off, I watched her saddle up a horse a bunch of times and it still looks SO complicated. Then actually getting on the horse and staying on is a task because the horse may have other plans. I have only sat on a horse at a slow walk and it was imtimidating lol and it was with my gf leading with the leash. I didnt even get into the care taking aspect of it. So dont let others put you down. Believe it or not baseball players are sometimes not considered athletic, go figure.

I get the same thing all the time, at my school all my friends believe that all i really do is sit on the horse and let it do all the work. i also believe that horseback riding is a sport because if it's in the olympics then why not consider it a sport like everything else? some people don't understand how difficult it actually is to ride a horse until they've tried it. then maybe they'll realize that its just more then sitting on a horses back, its about concentration and the ability to keep many instructions in your head at once, its also about being well balanced and ability to keep a horse under control at all times. also when you play "real sports" you most likely sit out when your hurt, or stop the game if it starts raining. horseback riding is a lot more demanding and dangerous then "real sports". you can fall off a over 1000 pound live animal, believe me i've done it while going over a jump. you know what i did? got up brushed myself off and got right back on and did it again, and if it rains don't care we'll ride in the rain and even show. and in "real sports" you are on a team and most likely the next year wont see most of the people you knew from the year before. with horseback riding you can bond with a special horse in your life. and have a friend you can work and show with for many years to come. whenever we get on a horse we risk our lives doing it. but we still mount up, you know why? because we love the SPORT we do.

Because the most many people do on a horse is just sit there and be led around (or have the horse play follow-the-leader on trail rides). Many people do not take lessons or ride anything less than a completely dead broke horse. They don't realize how hard it is.

Because they have never done it. Simple as that. You know damn well why people say that--you're just looking for an excuse to rant.

It is because people think you are just sitting on your a$$, and the horse does all the work. It is ONLY people that have never ridden, or never ridden competitively that think this. Those of us who have... Know better! Just laugh it off or ignore it. I have been getting those sort of comments for nearly 30 years, it won't change. Even when I explain it to them, they look sceptical and mumble about how they rode a horse once. Yeah right. Not the same thing! Edit: I have played some tennis, soccer, swimming, track, basketball... Riding at top level is actually harder, more dangerous and more time consuming than most sports. Thats why you dont see riders coming home with Olympic gold medals, at the age of 16, like they can in swimming or tennis.

I think the people that say that don't really know what goes into horse back riding. Or they just think of like leisure riding which isn't the same.

Tell them to get on a horse and they'll see Horseback rdinging gave me muscles I didn't know existed!

I honestly don't see why people can have that view; riders don't just sit there, as is the common view, you have to be physically and mentally prepared to handle the huge bulk that could easily kill you.You have to put in hours of caring and bonding before riding, and whilst riding, your reactions have to be quick, calm, knowledgable. You have to experience bucks, rears, bolts, charges, before you can say you're just a quarter of the way there. You can't tell a horse what to do, you have to negotiate- and when sat on top of them, it can be impossible. Even if riders fall, we get back on. When we're scared, we get back on. When we're tired, we get back on. And after all that effort of riding, maybe to just achieve one small task, we have to untack, groom, turn out, muck out, check for any dangers for all horses we see. It is a huge muscle builder, balance improver and strengthener. We literally fly through the air on them, we have to trust that the horse will do as we ask ; otherwise, it can end in disaster. I'm a rider and a runner, and although I run for longer than I ride, I think that there is less breath in running, but less sleep, time, and energy in riding. There are no breaks, every second we have to be alert. I can't see how people have to misguided view that riding is easy. Well if they do, let them get on a nervous horse who spooks at everything, rears when you get on, refuses to move, takes off, even after 7 months of bonding. It has happened to me. I stayed on, just, and I have been riding for 12 years. Now tell me horse riding isn't a sport.

People who say it's not a sport are so ignorant, they don't realize the amount of training and risk the rider goes through. What's scarier to you a 250 pound football player or a 2000 pound animal with a mind of its own. Watch this video if you think horseback riding isn't a sport.