Why do people think horseback riding is a sport?

Becca, there are plenty of sports where you will find overweight competitors. Swimming is one of them. For long distance, open-water swimmers especially, extra body fat is an advantage. There are also heavy power lifters, wrestlers, golfers, bowlers, shot putters, discus throwers, hammer throwers, judo-kas, football players, baseball players, not to mention sumo wrestlers. Can you imagine a skinny left tackle? Have you ever seen a picture of Babe Ruth? And yes, horseback riding is as much a sport as swimming. All equestrian disciplines require physical strength, stamina, balance, and body control, not to mention lots of practice. It certainly does take talent, and mastery takes hours of daily practice and years to achieve. Like many other physical activities, it can be done for purely recreational purposes or for competition at various levels. I'm sure you know swimmers who swim purely for exercise or who compete for their school or local team. You know these people are not going to the Olympics, but they still try hard. It's the same with riding. Sure, there are riders who take it easy, and plenty of others who compete in local and regional shows or rodeos. Some, however, compete professionally at national levels or even on the world stage. Riding is an Olympic sport. Someone else mentioned jockeys. Did you know that jockeys are, pound for pound, the strongest athletes out there? They are very fit. They also participate in one of the world's most dangerous sports. For a jockey, it's not a question of IF s/he will be injured, but when and how badly. If you think riding is simply a matter of sitting on the horse and letting it do all the work, I assure you it is not. The rider must actively work to stay on and move with the horse. Posting a trot is like doing squats, over and over again. Why don't you try it sometime? You will be sore, I promise.

ive been riding horses for 8 years plus. many people think its not a sport because they believe the horse does all of the work....that is NOT the way it is...riding is very challenging but its hard to tell until you actually get on a horse for yourself .riding takes SO much leg muscle, and core muscle ive been riding for 8 years plus and i am still not even close to being perfect . it is a skill that anyone can learn but it takes time. within the first years i would not be able to walk the next day because my legs were so sore..that still happens after a hard lesson. you should be asking about table tennis.

You are so right! Horseback riding is a sport! And even western. I want to see you on a professional barrel horse going top speed around those barrels guiding him and and keeping your stance. Or on a race horse! I've been riding for years and I couldn't do that. On a easy "slow" horse sure. But you are STUPID if you think it's not a sport. I'm in fact a swimmer and a horse back rider and I don't like it when either of them are called easy or not a sport. And I'm sure you've had people say swimming isn't a sport and you're just like just try to do one of my practices! Well just try to race a professional horse.

You aren't being fair to your overweight sister, her weight may have nothing to do with riding. I'm both a swimmer/diver, as well as, a horse rider, and I, too, like you are in great shape, but I'm lucky to have a great metabolism which not all are blessed with. Both are great competitive sports..with the focus on riding, what I know all to well is that it's easy for one to talk, but horseback riding is indeed a sport, it's called Equestrianism, more often known as riding, horseback riding, which refers to the skill of riding, driving, or vaulting with horses, it takes great skill and commitment to ride horses. Yes, a Sport because it can be competitive, and is entertaining. Look up Equestrianism and Sport..oh better yet Challenge yourself to a ride..that will teach you to judge the sport..LOL, I remember all to well when I first started..Not so easy. Also, If riding horses were not a sport, there would not be an olympic event for it. By definition, as spelled out by WordIq.com, "A sport consists of a normal physical activity or skill carried out under a publicly agreed set of rules, and with a recreational purpose: for competition, for self-enjoyment, to attain excellence, for the development of skill, or some combination of these. The difference of purpose is what characterizes sport, combined with the notion of individual (or team) skill or prowess." (1) Horse and rider are both athletes making it a sport, which has been around for centuries. . You both are correct, so build a bridge and get over it..you both should be proud of each other. :)

Horseback riding takes both strength and endurance. I hope your sister continues to ride horses as its a very good exercise. Riding helps improve balance, core strength and coordination. And its a great way to lose weight while having fun. Horseback riding while in competition is a usually considered a sport. Just as swimming while in competition is considered a sport.

Okay well for starters thats kinda rude that your calling your sister overweight and also you have clearly never done riding lessons. I can see why people THINK it is not a sport because from a distance it looks like "the horse is doing all the work" people from a 3rd party perspective do not see all the hard work that goes into riding a horse PROPERLY and at an advanced level. When you ride a horse you are burning the same amount of calories as you do running. Jockies are considered one of the best athletes in the world and horseback riding is considered one of the most dangerous sports yah you hear that SPORT. Furthermore a sport is considered something that requires physical exurtion and let me tell you!!! I can not even count the number of days i have gotten off my horse covered in sweat and gasping for air after a tough lesson.....horse back riding requires balance and tons of leg, and core strength. The stance for jumping kills after less then 2 minutes yet we are required to stay in it for lengthy amounts of time. Also in order to keep your horse going you have to squeeze your legs together every 2 seconds and after a while that starts to hurt! Plus you need to know what legs to use when and it is soooooo tiring keeping your horse in a frame which requires lots of arm strength and toooons moree leg. There have been countless days when i wake up the next morning barley able to walk properly because my legs are in so much pain from the night befores lesson. Riding has been considered a sport for a long time and people are just to narrow minded to believe that it can actually be hardwork even tho it seems "girly" or whatever else they think. Horse back riding is much harder then baseball and even that is considered a sport. In baseball you swing a bat run for maybe 5seconds and then take a break before running maybe another 5 seconds. And thats if u even hit the ball. SO u tell me....how come you are so pig headed that you believe something like that can be considered a sport but not horseback riding. And i know that I am NOT the only one who is going to jump at the chance to defend the beloved SPORT of horsebackriding.

OK..wondering why the thumbs down here, if you can't accept fact based answers, why ask?? Really, it's so obvious both are sports, even if a hobby it's sport..! Some people just have hard heads. Can't compare apples to oragnes type thing...Olympic..key word.

Becca, the only reason you think that riding isn't physically challenging is because YOU'VE NEVER RIDDEN. It's not easy to get animals that weigh half a ton to do what you want- it takes balance and courage as well as physical strength. When your sister rides, especially if she does a lot of work at speed ( meaning cantering or galloping, or even doing something like trot sets) then she uses EVERY MUSCLE and bone in her body, and burns about 450 calories EVERY MINUTE. Riding at speed or doing work over fences is one of the most strenuous things which anyone can do-and it's a great cardio workout. If your sister is overweight, then she may be eating too much, or eating the wrong kinds of food, or she may have a medical problem ( such as an underactive thyroid gland, for example) which may be contributing to or causing her issue. But don't go blaming her being overweight on horseback riding, and use that as an excuse to say that it's not a sport. That's NONSENSE. And by the way, the English disciplines are the ones which are included in the OLYMPICS, Becca. There are 3 of those, and this year marks the centennial of their introduction into the modern Olympic games. Dressage, Eventing, and Show Jumping are most definitely sports, although they didn't start out that way. These sports all came from and were invented in the military, and were used by the great armies of Europe and Asia as a means of training horses and riders for mounted warfare, Becca. When was the last time swimming was used as a means of training someone for battle that you can remember, I'd like to know? Another thing that you may not be aware of is that the ANCIENT Olympic games ALSO included horse sports. Horse and chariot races were always part of those games, and they also featured a competition called the Militare, which was the forerunner or precursor to today's modern 3 Day Events. And what about horse racing? Racing may be a seperate industry, but it is STILL AN English style horse sport, because the tack that is used is English style. Obviously, the riders ( jockeys) who compete in races are engaging in a sport. They get paid a percentage of whatever their mounts win, and those jockeys which are under contract to a particular trainer or barn generally get paid a salary as well. The same thing can be said of other horse sports, especially show jumping. There are competitions in the United States which offer purse prizes in excess of 100 grand to the winners, and show jumpers have to have strength, courage, balance, finesse, and the ability to put up with disappointment and heartache. People who event need to have a clock for a head in some ways, and it's essential for their own safety that they and their horses be physically fit. Fences on an event course aren't like those in a show jumping ring. No, these fences are designed to be heavy, solid, permanent, and many of them are rather unforgiving to a tired or unfit horse or rider. ALL of the horse sports, whether English, Western, bareback, fine harness, or side saddle, require that people understand at least a little bit of horse psychology. You have to know how your horse thinks, and respect the fact that he or she is a living thing. When you swim, the only thing you have to think about is what events you're swimming on a given day, and about finishing those as fast as possible. It doesn't require a lot of mental effort to learn how to swim in circles the way you have to when you practice for meets. It DOES require mental as well as physical effort to get a half ton animal around a course of fences or around a miles long cross country course safely and within the time limit. You have to know how to communicate with your horse, and how to solve problems and answer technical questions that the course designer throws at you. You can't let your horse see that you're scared, even if you're terrified out of your mind, because horses can sense violent human emotions such as fear and will react negatively to them. If YOU lose your cool in the pool because you lost a race, Becca, then the only person affected by that is yourself. If your sister loses her cool in a lesson or during an event or competition, it can cause all kinds of problems. That's because horses are living animals, not machines. They have minds and wills of their own. I invite you to go with your sister to one of her lessons sometime and try riding yourself. I think you'll be surprised to find out that it's a lot harder than it looks. Right now, though, you aren't in a position to criticize your sister.

I am also a year round swimmer and my cousin is a really good horse back rider...i too find myself questioning the significance of the sport..I think most of the excise comes from the rider squatting on the horse while riding....but idk because i have only been to one of her events once!