Horseback Riding is an Olympic Sport?

I just discovered today that horseback riding is an Olympic competitive event. It doesn't bother me that the "three day equestrian event" is actually held over four days. Hell, I think you should call it the "half minute equestrian event"; that way you've got a fighting shot at getting some people to at least watch thirty seconds of it.

Who wants to watch the advertised three days of riding, much less four?

What bothers me (and maybe I've got this all wrong) is that the rider gets the medal. Who's doing most of the work here? If Custom Made, U.S. David O'Connor's Olympic dressage record breaking horse, was smart enough, it seems you could strap a dummy into the saddle and win.

Only the Horse Works???

Now, don't take this the wrong way. The horse does a tremendous amount of work. But it is actually the rider who is telling the horse what to do, when to do it and is the one scoring the points. Because you have obviously never been in a horse show before, I will explain; yes, the rider gets the medal, but what would a horse do with a medal? The horse gets the title of Olympic Champion and receives myriad respect. Dressage, show jumping, eventing or anything else on a horse is actually 50% the horse and 50% the rider. If a horse preforms beautifully but the rider is all over the place, YOU WILL SCORE NO POINTS. The same goes for a rider whose position etc. is perfect but the horse is not behaving. It's a team effort, you ignoramus. I suggest you go jump six feet then do some Olympic-level dressage before you consider insulting riders everywhere again. Have an excellent day.