PrintOur columnist believes our young riders and young horses could benefit one another for the future of the sport.
The best–and worst–thing about our sport is its uniqueness in requiring an animal and a human to meld into a single athletic entity. Success in any equestrian competitive discipline requires talent, training, and total focus on the part of both members of the team. Show jumping in particular demands teamwork to handle the many expected, and unexpected, challenges posed by today’s courses.
It’s such a frequent question posed by those unfamiliar with our sport: “Just how much of it is the horse and how much is the rider in achieving success?”
At the higher levels the answer has to be 100 percent—from each!
While we know that a great deal of talent and experience on the part of the horse can compensate for a comparative lack of these qualities in the rider–and vice versa–this really only works at the lower levels.
Yes, on a few occasions, we can be surprised to see the very best get beaten by the far less qualified. Yet the fact remains that the more demanding the test, and the greater the expectation of consistent results, the more important the abilities of both partners become.
For many of us it’s the horse-and-rider partnership aspect of the sport that we find most appealing. Learning the language and oh-so-different nature of the equine mind, becoming one with 1,200 pounds of raw power, earning the respect and trust of our partners are what provide the real gratification to not just our successes but to the journey itself.
This is not a team sport, nor is it an individual sport (except to that handful of individuals who treat their endlessly revolving string of horses like tools for the achievement of personal glory); this is a rare opportunity to merge abilities with another entity to achieve what each alone could never manage.
So what makes this unique nature of our sport not simply the best but also the worst thing about it? Plain and simple, it’s impossible to ride and compete without a horse. And, competitive success depends on having not simply a horse, but a suitable horse.
Whether you are the 8-year-old with an in-born love of horses who prays every night for a pony, or a young adult who has spent thousands of hours perfecting her skills and knows she is ready to tackle the demands of 1.40-meter competition, the next step is always the horse.
While sports like basketball, baseball, soccer and football require only a minimal amount of equipment and space to enjoy–and even to learn enough to show raw talent that might attract the eye of the omni-present scouts—riding can’t be practiced without access to something to ride. For riders hoping to go on to a career in the sport many, many horses are involved in that quest.
Riding Hungry
The realities of the world now intrude.
Horses are expensive. Even for those with property and the willingness to commit a great deal of time and effort to taking care of them, the costs of feed, shoeing and veterinary care are substantial. For those who have to board their horses out, costs go up greatly. Add in the expenses involved with competing, and it becomes beyond the reach of all but a small percentage of Americans today.
