The Rio 2016 Olympics included three equestrian events: dressage, cross-country and show jumping, all these including individual and team competitors. Although horseback riding has been a part of the olympics for decades now, recently it has been getting a lot of negative attention. The phrase “Olympics are for people, not for horses,” has begun to circle the internet, starting a spike in negative comments towards the events, and the athletes.

The olympics are generally associated with the best athletes in the world competing head to head, testing the ability of the human body. It is about finding the fastest runner, the best long-jumper, the most accurate archer, and arguably not about finding the strongest horse. People who do not believe equestrians should be in the olympics seen to share the common opinion that the horse wins the event, not the person, making equestrian events unfit for the olympics.

                                                                                       “I understand that horse riding must be a difficult skill but it does not make sense that it is part of the olympics because winning is based on horse breeding, not about who is,” mentioned an anonymous source. Also, “it is boring to watch,” they added when asked about their opinion on the subject.

However, students that are involved with horseback riding, or have been in the past, shared contrary
opinions on this topic. “I find it offensive when people credit wins in equestrian events to the horses alone, because they clearly do not understand the overwhelming amount of time, energy and sheer concentration that each and every Olympic rider devotes to their career,” said Antonina Lekawska (12).  When asked about the subject, Karolina Schneider (9) also stressed how “hard people work” as well as how much effort the “horses themselves put in.”

Horseback riding has been a part of the olympics since the 1900’s. It has formed a community of
athletesstriving to compete head to head to find the best in the world, and in a sense, is that not  what the olympics are all about? After reading about this issue, what do you think? Should equestrian events be taken out of the olympics?

Marcelina Lekawska