I’m an equestrian. I’m an athlete.

I’m an equestrian. Yes, I am an athlete.

Growing up, I played plenty of sports. I dabbled in plenty of team sports and dance classes and figure skating and all that jazz. Obviously the only sport that stuck was riding.

This is the point in the conversation that some beefy guy that played second string football in high school says “That’s not a sport. You just sit there.”

Conversations like these make me shake my head and pray for restraint as I respond. Having your passion cut down regularly by people who have never even seen a real horse gets old, and fast. Riding can be a hobby for some, but for most it’s a lifestyle. I haven’t worked my ass off for over 15 years trying to improve as a rider for a ‘hobby’. This is my sport and I live and breathe it.

Being a rider takes more than ‘just sitting there’. Riding takes guts- one misstep from your horse and you’re plummeting to the ground at a high rate of speed. One wrong move and you’re getting trampled or flying at the jump that your horse refused. I’ve broken more bones than I can count and I can count on one finger the amount of times I didn’t get back on. I mean, come on. Turn on any college basketball game and you see guys barely getting touched, flopping around and being carried off the court for a stubbed toe or a little nosebleed. Every rider knows that if you fall off, you get back on unless you’re physically unable- and physically unable is something like a broken leg or an arterial bleed. It’s a norm that few sports hold standard. Other sports communicate with their teammates by yelling across the field or strategizing in a huddle. My teammate can kill me as easily as I breathe. We communicate with shifts of weight and pressure- a 1200 lb. animal vs an 120 lb. girl. And that bond can run deeper than any human can. In my sport there’s no time out. There’s no way to guarantee my safety. There’s no bench and there’s no penalty shots. I have one chance to prove that I’m the best in the ring and I take full advantage. You don’t know what power is until you’ve got 1200 pounds of it running beneath you.

Some tell me that the horse does all the work. I just laugh. As a rider, I use muscles that most people don’t even know they have. I’d literally pay money to see those people try and keep themselves sitting properly on a horse going over a 3’9” fence. 10 times out of 10 they’d fall off and injure themselves. Equestrians have thighs and calves of steel without ever setting foot in a gym. We need a strong core to keep ourselves sitting in the correct position while simultaneously driving our horse with our seat and legs. Have they ever seen a jockey before? Those guys may be small, but they’re ripped. That goes for most professionals. The point is to actively ride strong while looking effortless and perfect.

Other athletes have to focus on themselves. I have to focus on myself and an animal that’s 10 times stronger than me. You can never be a perfect rider. Ever. There’s always ways to improve. I don’t care if you’re a world champion. There’s never a perfect rider but we all strive to get as close as possible. I train as often as possible with a variety of trainers. Before I came to college I rode nearly every day for multiple hours to get better. I practice as often as possible but I’d rather be riding all day, every day. I don’t know many people who could say that about their sport.

Sometimes I get the “anyone can do it. It’s so easy, you just let the horse do the work”. Sure! If you’d like to hop on and try to compare to my 15+ years of experience and talent, go right ahead. I mean, you just sit there, right? I’m sorry. If it was that easy, EVERYONE would do it. But not everyone can do it, because it takes so much more than just thinking horses are pretty. It takes a fearless attitude that knows that this ride could be your last if you fall and break your neck. It takes trust knowing that even the most trained horse could go beserk at any second and put you in danger. It takes mental strength because no matter what discipline you’re riding, you have to analyze and problem solve as the obstacles come. I don’t care if you’re a jumper, reiner, or all arounder- you constantly have to strategize and change your plans and adjust your game plan accordingly.

The foundation of sports is passion, dedication, and perseverance. NFL players have it and so do equestrians.  The actual definition for a sport is “an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment.” So at even the most basic sense, riding is a sport.

I spend thousands and thousands of dollars per year riding. I pay hundreds per show to win a ribbon or medal or buckle and it’s so worth it. Because while I may be competing against the 50 other people in my class, my only real competition is myself. And when I win a tough class, I can feel good about the win knowing that I’m the one that worked hard and got me and my horse there. I don’t know of any other sports that would be able to give me that satisfaction.

I mean, how many people would go nuts if I claimed that soccer isn’t a sport? (It totally is but just bear with me for argument’s sake) All you gotta do is kick a ball into a net! How hard is that?Just because the specifics of my sport aren’t as well known, doesn’t mean that there’s no merit in it.Riding is one of the oldest forms of competition. I’m sorry, I can’t picture any Roman soldier looking cool playing baseball. Think about knights jousting. Those guys were too badass to throw a ball around; they skipped straight to the dangerous and thrilling sports.

I’m not trying to detract from other sports- I won’t stoop down to that level. I just hate getting less respect as an athlete just because not many people have the drive, dedication, finances, and talent to do what we do.

Honestly, I probably can’t get too mad at the idiots telling me that riding isn’t a sport. They don’t know any better. They don’t realize that there’s more to it than pony rides at the county fair. They don’t realize that people fly their $175,000+ German imported horse across the country to face off against the best equestrians in the world. I mean,  it’s not their fault that the only horse experience they have is with Sandy the Penny Pony at Meijer. It’s cool, I’ll leave them to that while I continue kicking ass in the best sport that has ever existed.