Horses

Sport Horse is a designation, a phrase, a term that is used frequently in the world of horses, but it is not the name of a breed of horse.  Many breeds can be and are used as sport horses.  The ways in which a horse is used, or ridden are called disciplines and several popular disciplines are found under the title Sport Horse .  These disciplines are Show Jumping, Dressage, Eventing or Three Day Event, Combined Driving, and Fox Hunting. 

To perform these disciplines or jobs successfully, most often means meeting the challenge of very stiff competition, often internationally and in the Olympic Games; therefore, a Sport Horse possesses on the whole specific characteristics of  conformation that enable these horses to perform with such high skill and ability.  Correct leg angles, a good sloping shoulder, excellent musculature and a general body build and spirit that can deliver the performance, plus suspension in gaits that allow the type of movements needed and/or a body build that allows for high jumping, such things are all requirements for training and success.

A Sport Horse can be a purebred, an established warmblood type or a crossbred. Along with already proven and established breeds of horses, many countries in the world selectively breed their horses for sport horse sales and performance, and experiment with new crosses; sometimes new breeds are created. The rigors of competition and time will determine which breeds endure into the future.  One thing is certain, ever since man discovered the horses of the world could be domesticated and were so willing to partner mankind in almost any enterprise, humans and horse have been involved in sporting events of one kind or another and man has tried to produce the perfect horse.

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