The history of the equestrian sport
The use of horses as a means of transportation by man in harmony with nature is an ancient tradition. The first historical evidence of the art of riding comes from a drawing from the Orient and dates from around 2800 BC. Some scientists put the beginnings of the equestrian sport even earlier, around 3500 B.C.
The first literary treatise on equestrianism was written by the Greek historian Xenophon, who in the fourth century B.C. wrote "Peri Hippikes", in English "On the Art of Equestrianism". However, horses and their riders were used almost exclusively for the benefit of warfare, with the exception of parades, during which the art of riding also provided entertainment. In the Roman Empire at that time, horsemanship was an important social element. Here one can even speak of mass entertainment. In the Circus Maximus, the Roman racing stadium, chariot races with harnessed horses were held, attracting thousands of spectators.
In the Middle Ages, equestrian sports were used almost exclusively for warfare and the horses were used as a means of transport. This historical period saw the emergence of armored horse riding, which was first mentioned in the reign of Charlemagne in the second half of the eighth century. The Crusades gave the knights an enormous boost in prestige, and they attached great importance to owning high quality horses that could move effectively on the battlefield while carrying the weight of the extremely heavy knight's armor. In this epoch, entertainment through horsemanship was reserved for the nobility, who could enjoy themselves in the course of knightly tournaments. Slowly, the use of horses as a means of traction and load in agriculture also became more widespread in the Middle Ages.
With the use of the first firearms in warfare, more agile and maneuverable horses were gradually required, which led to the fact that people began to breed horses for these purposes in order to give them an appropriate stature. This also changed the way the rider handles his animal. The rather brutal way of treating horses that prevailed in the Middle Ages gave way to a gentler, more respectful treatment of horses. From the 15th century onwards, the high school of horsemanship slowly gained acceptance. Frederico Grisone founded the first military academy for horses in Naples in 1532. In France under Louis XIV, the Versailles School of Equestrian Art elevated the sport of riding to a high art. From 1733 on, the riding lessons of the French court stable master Francois Robichon de la Guérinière exerted a decisive influence on the equestrian sport. At the Viennese court, the foundation of the Spanish court riding school, which exclusively trained Lipizzaners, was a further step forward.
Towards the end of the 19th century, the trend towards dressage and show jumping started in Great Britain, where the nobility preferred to entertain themselves with fox hunts and horse races. Equestrian competitions were first organized by the Royal Dublin Society. In Germany, too, riding was introduced as a tournament sport as of 1895. In 1912 dressage became an Olympic discipline again, first in the disciplines of hunting, dressage and military riding, later under the term eventing. After the Second World War, when equestrian sports, which until then had still been reserved for the military, became a highly popular civilian sport, the number of tournaments and championships as mass entertainment also increased enormously.
