Use Them but Do Not Abuse Them| Biomed Grid

The origin of the partnership between man and horse goes back to prehistory. There is evidence of this partnership in the art and literature of ancient China, Egypt, Persia and Greece. Xenophon wrote “The Art of Riding” 2000 years ago. The horse played its part in peace and in war. It was used for practical purposes in agriculture, hunting and transport and it was also used for recreation and sport. Most of the sports were purely local and depended on the culture and traditions of each community. Some of these sports were based on military skills, others were derived from hunting, but it is probable that wherever horses were used some form of racing will have taken place. Equestrian sports as we know them to-day, particularly the Olympic disciplines of jumping, dressage and eventing were born in the middle of the 19th century. The Société Hippique Francaise was founded in 1865 and a year later it organised its first Concours Hippique (Horse Show). This led to the first organised national “circuit” of such Concours. In July 1868 the Royal Dublin Society (RDS) included in the program of its annual “Horse Show”, for the first time, two jumping competitions: the “high leap” and the “wide leap”, both derived from the Irish passion for fox hunting. The Irish Times, reported on 31st July 1868 that the “high leap” fence was raised to six feet, which was jumped in magnificent style by Richard Flynn's Shaun Rhue, to whom first prize of £10 (approximately US$12/13 in to-day's money) was awarded. Fast forward to May 1921 when a meeting took place in Lausanne in Switzerland, chaired by the President of the International Olympic Committee, Baron de Coubertin, with representatives of ten nations present. Representatives of four of these nations, United States, France, Japan and Sweden proposed the constitution of an International Equestrian Federation (FEI) which was accepted by the other six. (Courtesy Max E. Ammann, History of International Equestrian Sport, Bern, Switzerland. Federation Equestre Internationale, printed in Switzerland 12/1989). Since then, all international events, taking place in FEI member countries, come under the auspices of this governing body.