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