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For Glory: Equestrian Sporting Competition
| Article
# : |
18131 |
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Section : |
CULTURE
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| Issue
Date : |
11 / 1990 |
3,552 Words |
| Author
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Heather B. Hayes
Heather B. Hayes is a freelance writer living in the
Washington, D.C., area. |
For as long as people have gathered together for sporting competition, they have enlisted the horse as companion. Equestrian events such as polo, dressage, three-day eventing, rodeo, and racing symbolize glamour, ceremony, and competition. And no event is more spectacular than international show jumping.
Considered a perfect spectator sport, show jumping today is mass entertainment. Horse and rider, in synchronized effort, romp around a sprawling arena of flower-bedecked spread fences and grim walls. Action is centered moment by moment on individual fences; there is no peripheral diversion or chaotic activity going on elsewhere, as with team sports or even horse racing. Throughout, show jumping achieves its purpose: to challenge those characteristics necessary for survival on the battle and hunting fields - speed, strength, precision, balance, courage, and trust between horse and rider.
As a kind of condensed hunting field, show jumping provides a unique opportunity for nonriders to witness horses negotiate formidable obstacles, and as such, elicits a concentration and excitement that are almost as intense for the crowd watching as they are for the competitors. In both America and Europe, show jumping is appreciated as an aesthetic art form, and top-class riders and horses are feted as celebrities. Television has brought in new fans, although American TV coverage is relatively sparse and sorely lags behind that in Europe, where the sport is considered the province of the ordinary viewer and massive audiences are attracted to annual events such as Britain's "Horse of the Year" show.
Equestrian
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