Horse riding IS a sport (angry rant)

I have been riding and showing horses for 12 years. Ive heard people say that “its not a sport” and that “the horse does all the work”, but that’s not true. A lot of people who say this have been on a trail ride on an old slow horse. Yes, that is easy because you aren’t being judged on form and you are just walking. You can slouch the whole way, pay no attention to heels, leg or thigh pressure, and no one yells at you or gives you a bad score. Try jumping an actual course or completing a dressage test. first timers are always sore from their first riding lesson (not easy trail ride) because of how hard their legs and core work.

I am at the barn most days from 7 in the morning to 6 at night. When im not at the barn, I do 2 hours of daily leg workouts to make sure I can preform well. I practice my position on a fake horse while my horse is resting/ eating. I ride up to 5 horses a day for an hour each often back to back. I come home sweating. I get dragged, thrown, bitten, and pooped on just to be told its not a real sport.

so yeah. we wear fancy breaches and coats. we sit on $40,000 daily. But its still a sport. Prove me wrong.