Humans and horses competing goes back ages, long before the first modern Olympics. Racing, tricks, etc, they’ve been popular and outright loved across the board.
They’re demanding events that require athleticism as well, so they definitely fit as sports in that sense. More than some of the artistic events tbh, since some horse events can at least be objectively determined as far as a winner.
Now, I have no opinion as to whether or not they should be in, what with that line between how much is the human being the athlete and how much is horse dependent purely. Don’t have an emotional horse in the race either. I’m just saying that humans using animals to compete is way older and entrenched than some of the most recent additions to the Olympics, and there’s precedent for things like dressage and polo to be considered on the same level as track and field.
There were horse/animal events in the historic Olympics, both with riders and pulling chariots, so it isn’t like the modern events are out of the blue.
Why are there “horse sports” in the Olympics to begin with?
Tradition.
Humans and horses competing goes back ages, long before the first modern Olympics. Racing, tricks, etc, they’ve been popular and outright loved across the board.
They’re demanding events that require athleticism as well, so they definitely fit as sports in that sense. More than some of the artistic events tbh, since some horse events can at least be objectively determined as far as a winner.
Now, I have no opinion as to whether or not they should be in, what with that line between how much is the human being the athlete and how much is horse dependent purely. Don’t have an emotional horse in the race either. I’m just saying that humans using animals to compete is way older and entrenched than some of the most recent additions to the Olympics, and there’s precedent for things like dressage and polo to be considered on the same level as track and field.
There were horse/animal events in the historic Olympics, both with riders and pulling chariots, so it isn’t like the modern events are out of the blue.