Dear kind yet obviously ignorant sir,
This is Keith's 17 year old daughter. It is clear to me that in order to make such an outrageous and misinformed statement, you must be unaware of both the physical and mental requirements of equestrian sports, including dressage.
a) First and foremost, the Olympic Games by definition is an international athletic competition. If the gruelling equestrian discipline of dressage was NOT a sport, it would not have held a place in the Olympics since 1912.
b) Olympic-level dressage is considered to be the highest level of training and education that a horse can achieve - like any other sport, decades of effort and determination are put into attaining such a high level of performance - of BOTH horse AND rider!
c) Both horse and rider are athletes, not one without the other. Equestrian sports come down to teamwork - both horse and rider need to be equally as good in order to place and progress. Is soccer not a sport because you have teammates helping you? Were the recipients of the 4 x 100m freestyle gold medal not worthy because they were not alone in their victory? I think not.
d) The very purpose of dressage is to have the horse perform fluid movements with minimal visible aids from their skilled rider. This is where your ignorance is paramount - a gold-medal dressage rider should be able to ride his or her horse through extended trots, shoulder-ins, flying changes and collected canters without his requests being obvious to spectators. It is SUPPOSED to look like horse and rider are moving in total, seemingly effortless harmony. The mental focus and concentration required to keep such demanding physical effort hidden is a feat only the best of equestrian riders can achieve. Do you really think you could ride an animal 6 times your body weight through that same dressage test and make it seem like 'you are just sitting there'? Do you really think that you could reduce the strength needed to push a horse forward to maintain an extended canter to a subtle, minor movement?
e) I challenge you to properly ride a horse - not merely wander leisurely through a forest - and tell me if your muscles hurt the next day. I am CERTAIN that you will feel pain in muscles you didn't know you had. Just because an equestrian is positioned on top of a horse does not reduce the level of fitness needed to compete.
f) With regards to the top hat comment, it is a long-standing tradition for the highest level of dressage riders to have a top hat as part of their sporting uniform; it emphasises the elegant and graceful nature of the sport.
Sincerely, Thoroughly Enraged Individual
Thank you for calling me kind.
a) There are many sports that were part of the Olympics but are no longer. Just being part of the Games isn't very persuasive. Some former Olympic sports include Rugby and Baseball. Few would argue that Rugby isn't a sport. Others have been absent until very recently Women's Boxing and Archery. Many factors are at work in determining what is considered an Olympic event. I for one, miss Tug of War (Olympic sport from 1900-1920).
b) I have no doubt that dressage is extremely difficult and requires years of practice to succeed at the highest level. This is true of many activities. Chess, Formula 1, and Standup Comedy. Practice and difficulty are necessary, but not sufficient, requirements.
c) Does the horse get a gold medal too? This changes everything! I hope the cyclist's bike also gets a medal.
d) Again, at no point did I say that dressage is not difficult. It is without a doubt extraordinarily difficult.
e) Yes, I'm sure it is physically demanding.
f) Tradition? I hear that Olympic sailors where eye patches and have parrots on their shoulders as well.
All the above is a long winded way of saying, yes, I agree that dressage is difficult. Yes, I agree that it physically demanding. Two important factors in "sport-hood". However, one critical element is missing. OBJECTIVITY. Anything that has a judge to determine the winner (as opposed to whether the rules were adhered to) discounts it as an Olympic Sport for me.
There are a lot of sports that use judges to determine the winner. That, and pretty much that alone is sufficient for me to reject a bunch of Olympic Events. For example, Gymnastics, Freestyling Skiing, Ice Skating, Synchronised Swimming and more. Including some that I absolutely LOVE, like Alpine Ski Jump (there is judging), Diving, and Half-pipe Snowboarding. Some are more ridiculous than others (ice dancing and rhythmic gymnastics, spring to mind).
All require unbelievable training, are physically demanding, and extremely difficult, but I have no problem rejecting all of them at the Olympics.
I would like to see top hats in more events though.
Ignorantly yours.
@philoye