The 2012 London Games Equestrian competition begins on July 28 and ends on July 30. The three-day events have three individual and team elements: eventing (cross-country riding), dressage and jumping.
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Forty countries will compete in one or all three events. Not surprising Europe, the United States and Australia dominate the sport, but Brazil is a strong contender having won the Gold at the 2008 Beijing Games.
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Overall, 300 riders will vie for the Gold, the Silver and the Bronze in one or two or three categories.
Here’s an interesting side to this sport: animals compete with humans in the way they ride, jump or are dressed. It is an equal opportunity in that it is one of three sports where male and female compete with each other–the other two are sailing and mixed tennis doubles.
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And yet, although horse competition originated in the blue dust of ancient Grecian games, the sport, as the world-renown Viennese Spanish Riding School describes it, has its roots in “die Renaissance Tradition,” inspired by knights on horseback.
