Yeah We Get Hurt Too

While the occurrence of injury isn’t what defines a sport, it is a big factor in the description of a sport. Injuries occur frequently in sports such as football, soccer, and baseball, but they also occur during horseback riding. These injuries are often torn muscles, separated shoulders, neck and back injuries, and concussions. The American Medical Equestrian Association published an article in April of 2001 with the statistics of the most common injuries that occur during horseback riding and equestrian events.

While it seems a little redundant to list multiple statistics on injuries related to horseback riding, non-equestrians tend to forget that riders are working with a 1,300 or more pound animal and horses are a lot less predictable than a ball. The Journal of Trauma Management published an article with the hospital admission rates of equestrians compared to other sports in 2008.

While the fact that equestrians are more prone to injury doesn’t make them any more athletic than other athletes, or make horseback riding any more of a sport than football or soccer, these statistics definitely provide reason for people to believe and recognize horseback riding as a sport of the same caliber as the others.