Horse riding encompasses a great many different kinds of leisure activity.
From the most intense and extreme sprints to a gentle stroll along a quiet trail, horse riding has something for almost anyone.
But does it qualify as an extreme sport or not?
It depends, but certain types of horse riding certainly are considered extreme sports—if only by the insurance companies! But there are considerable risks associated with many kinds of horse riding, which is all some need for the definition of extreme sports. But others might take a different view.
‘Extreme’ sport isn’t necessarily a perfectly well-defined bit of nomenclature.
There isn’t a comprehensive list of extreme sports, and indeed ‘horse riding’ can, as I said, encompass a hugely different array of activities.
Some will be far more extreme than others.
Let’s find out more.
What counts as an extreme sport?
This is a really important question to start with, so let’s look at how you define an extreme sport in the first place.
The basic definition is that any sport is extreme which is characterized by very high speed and, overall, very high risk.
Things like snowboarding, skiing, base jumping, hang gliding, these sorts of things where, if something goes wrong, it can go very wrong.
Risk is really the only thing that you need to define an extreme sport, then.
If there is a great risk of serious bodily injury or even death, then that is an extreme sport.
That said, this does become a bit muddled because, statistically, many of these extreme sports are actually quite safe.
The distinction is in what will happen if you are injured, though.
An injury while, say, playing soccer is unlikely to be all that extreme.
At worst, you could break a bone.
Not to trivialize that—breaking bones is really awful and can put you out of action for a long time.
But you’ve almost no chance of dying in a soccer game.
If something goes wrong while skydiving or skiing, then death or life-threatening injury is a very real possibility.
This is, then, essentially what we mean by an extreme sport.
Anything where your life is in danger if something were to go wrong.
So, does horse riding fit this description?
Is horse riding considered an extreme sport?
First off, it’s important to note that there are many different ways to ride a horse.
For many horse owners, riding just means a slow, steady walk down a trail, where there is little risk of serious injury for experienced riders.
But that doesn’t mean the risk is zero.
Even here, a fall from a horse can be a very serious injury.
There’s no trivializing that.
But naturally, there are some kinds of horse riding which carry a lot more risk than others.
Mountain trails are potentially the next step up in terms of risk.
A fall from here could easily be fatal if it went the wrong way.
Again, though, the risk of that happening for an experienced rider is really quite low.
There are many niche forms of horse riding which are extremely dangerous.
Chariot racing has made a comeback, and any rider in those races runs the risk of being trampled by horses and chariots.
But even more common things, like vaulting races, are still dangerous because of the risk of trampling.
So, ultimately, it may depend on who you ask.
As I said, there are doubtless purists whose idea of an extreme sport is something on the further end of the risk spectrum, like free form skiing.
But by any metric, there are certain kinds of horse riding which are extremely risky, and thus are extreme sports.
So, how safe is it?
How safe is horse riding?
Again, it depends on the kind of riding.
Most kinds of popular horse riding are extremely safe, and statistically, you are not at much risk of injury from horse riding.
The dangers usually come from a lack of experience.
Experienced riders have little risk of serious injury.
That said, there certainly are risks involved.
In children in particular, horse-riding injuries can often involve traumatic brain injuries.
Often, the risks involved with falling are not fully understood, and safety precautions are downplayed.
Again, though, if every precaution is taken and the rider has the requisite experience, then most kinds of horse riding are pretty harmless.
What is the hardest kind of horse riding?
Steeplechasing and vaulting are certainly among the hardest and riskiest kinds of horse riding.
The jumping carries a lot of risk of the jockey being thrown off, and either injuring themselves in the fall or being trampled.
Commanding the horse to jump properly and without risk of being thrown off or bodging the jump is very difficult and requires a lot of experience and training.
Other than that, things like cross country jumping, barrel racing, pole bending, and trick riding all carry significant risk and difficulty, too.
Horse riding is an incredibly old tradition and while we’ve learnt a lot to keep ourselves safe, it isn’t always enough.
So, while there may not be the hard and fast answer you were looking for, by most definitions, horse riding certainly includes a number of extreme or high-risk sports.
There are real and serious dangers associated with these kinds of horse riding, and for most, that is all you need to define an extreme sport.
Other, more purist extreme sporters may disagree—but that doesn’t change the risk factor!
