subject: Horse Racing, An Equestrian Sport [print this page] Equestrianism refers to the skilled handling of a horse for artistic or competitive sports such as horse racing or show jumping. It is thought that horses were first ridden around 4500 BC and have been used by different cultures throughout human history since.
Horses have a gentle nature and have been used by humans in many walks of life - from war to their modern public roles in police forces around the world. Equestrian events were first introduced to the modern Olympic Games in the early 1900, all three equestrian events, dressage, show jumping and eventing attract a large following at Olympic and international levels.
Horse racing is the most popular type of equestrian sport and includes thoroughbred horse racing, steeplechasing, American quarter horse racing and endurance racing. There have been an exceptional number of horses who have gained celebrity like status for their exploits in the sport such as Sea Biscuit, Phar Lap, Red Rum and Desert Orchid.
Dressage involves training a horse to a high level of impulsion, collection and obedience, whilst show jumping comprises of a timed event judged on the ability of both the horse and rider to jump over a series of obstacles whilst knocking down the least possible number of obstacles. Eventing combines the obedience of dressage with the athleticism of show jumping and high fitness of cross country jumping, in which the horse and rider have to jump over fixed obstacles such as logs, stone walls, banks, ditches and water within the best time.
Rodeo is a form of equestrianism that is very popular in America and involves, timed events such as steer wrestling when a rider jumps off a horse onto a steer (an event which has raised the concerns of animal rights group). Other forms of rodeo include roping such as calf roping, team roping and breakway roping.
