
A great injustice has been committed at the Olympics, at nearly every Games since 1900. Despite de Coubertin’s visions of diversity and equity, the Olympics have neglected to include great champions time and time again and is likely to continue to do so. Since you’ve already noted that today’s topic is the equestrian events, you surely see I mean that the horses do not win medals.
Before you scoff, let me ask if you can name any horse that has won the Triple Crown? American Pharoah…Justify… what about the speedster with the giant heart, Secretariat? Now, can you name their jockeys? In the racing circuit, these noble engines of speed are given their due. Not so in the Olympics.
Nevertheless, let’s take a look at the equestrian events: their history and evolution as well as notable riders, including an American To Watch. I’ll try to include the name of steed as well as the medalist, where I can, because even historians don’t always list the horse’s name. A travesty!
Stagecoach Is A Comin’
Horse-based competitions were first featured in the II Olympiad in Paris, although most of the events were discontinued afterward. Polo was contested as a team sport for five separate Games, with teams from mixed countries, representing their clubs, kind of like corporate sponsorship today. Just as there are high jumps and long jumps for humans, horses also competed for medals in both disciplines, with High Jump medalists going six feet up and Long Jumpers twenty feet across. For comparison, today’s human world records are about eight feet up and nearly thirty feet across. But men don’t weigh 1000 lbs.
Continue reading “E is for Equestrian”