Please mount up and pay attention, equine. Having witnessed the presentation of 33 athletic events, the focus returns once again to one Equestrian as the Tokyo Olympics draw to a close.
We won’t waste time dancing around the obvious; instead, we’ll get down to business and discuss the other large mammal in the room, a horse.
While champion horses and their excellent riders undoubtedly share a mutually beneficial relationship. It sometimes appears that neither party benefits to the same extent from their successes.
So that we’re all on the same page, the horses in the Equestrian events do the vast majority of the work. Yet they don’t get any recognition for it in the Olympics, which is often regarded as the greatest and grandest stage in all of sport.
Why Don’t Horses Receive Their Own Equestrian Medals?
On Tuesday, an injustice occurred in the Olympics, one that has been going on unchallenged for over a century. And will happen another half a dozen times before the Olympic torch is extinguished in Rio.
And now, perhaps more than ever before, seems like the time to make amends for this injustice: Horses should absolutely be awarded medals in equestrian competitions.
The only mammals to wear medals in the equestrian medal ceremonies so far (two on Tuesday) are humans.
The steeds that led them to victory don’t share in the honours, even though their hooves are all that remain behind as they ascend the podium.
Totally ignored (maybe slight, if you go back to look for it). The Mr. Ed theme music must not be played. Not much, if anything at all, but a ribbon, a belly rub, and some “atta boys.”
Of course, horses couldn’t care less about trophies. All they ask for is a place to sleep and some food to eat.
You claim to understand horse preferences, but how? Were you a distant relative of Seattle Slew’s? Could it be that you’re actually Mel Gibson from a scrapped What Women Want sequel?
Then how could you claim to represent horse interests? If horses could talk, they wouldn’t treat you that way. Since I would rather not make any assumptions, let’s just say that I’m not going to assume that horses are eager to win an award.
Conclusion
Medals are meaningless to the horses. Ribbons are awarded, but even those are meaningless to them.
They normally get a few weeks or months of relaxation and lots of goodies and pat after a huge competition like this. The horse wouldn’t do its best without the rider.
As an aside, equines are often euthanized only when their injuries are so severe that they will never fully recover and remain in constant misery.
When it comes to broken legs, this is especially important to remember, as horses cannot hobble around on three legs like cats and dogs can. However, once they reach retirement age, they typically receive excellent treatment.
