Dressage

[Bazile]

Isn't the olympics about ' sports '

Dressage - Really? - is this a sport ?

[ummmm]

I think so. Takes a lot of skill and training.

[hc4361]

Yes

[aelmpvw]

//I think so. Takes a lot of skill and training.//

as does darts and snooker

[Bazile]

Suppose it depends on your definition of sport

[Dodger666]

I wouldn't class it as a spectator sport unless you're into that kind of thing.

[chrissa1]

Are you mad, Bazile??? Of course it's a sport. What's, Your definition of sport?

[barmy]

It takes a lot of skill and training, same as 3 day eventing and show jumping. Would you class those as sport or not?

[rsvp]

Why is it not a sport Bazile? Can agree that for non horsey folk it is a bit baffling and perhaps because of this they find it boring but that doesn't make it a non spoort surely?

[Prudie]

On that basis you should also query gymnastics, diving, there are others. Dressage is a lot more skillful than many other 'sports'

[rsvp]

sport ! not spoort

[ummmm]

Ael - but dart boards and snooker tables don't have to also be trained.

[aelmpvw]

i can't think of any 'implement' used in sport that has to be trained :-)

[horselady]

Good Lord. Not a sport? takes years of building up the skill.

[Old_Geezer]

There are a lot of events that seem ill classed as "sport".

Certainly anything that depends on someone's opinion of how nicely you do something, is rather questionable. As is anything that doesn't have the physical demands to ensure you break out into a sweat.

[chrissa1]

You obviously don't know any thing about dressage or horses, O_G. The rider is not doing things, "nicely." They are making the horse do incredibly difficult manoeuvres thereby, showing their skill and lightness of touch of the commands.

It is incredibly difficult, and huge amounts of skill and training on behalf of both horse and rider are required.

[Old_Geezer]

It requires skill, fine. Many things not classified as sport does.

For sure I don't have much interest in dressage. These incredibly difficult manoeuvres, are they judged to have been done nicely, or is there an objective measure ? This lightness of touch, does it require a lot of exertion, perhaps sufficient to cause the "sportsperson" to break into a sweat ?

[woofgang]

OG have you ever tried dressage? As a not very good novice rider, I have had a couple of goes on “schoolmaster horses” You may not see the sweat by by God its there. It works every muscle in your body...even more so because you have to show no outward muscular effort.

[Mamyalynne]

Whether things are classed as sports or not is always a thorny issue - I don't watch much but do appreciate the skill.

For a comedy approach to Dressage, Eddie Izzard has a great if irreverent sketch on the topic - links are not working for me today and it would perhaps be out of place.

[woofgang]

Watch this....watch her arms and her body towards the end....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcDLLxgWa_Y

[rsvp]

All dressage movements are what a horse in the wild will do - the skill is to ask them to do it at the required time - this takes time and skill.