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In defence of the most misunderstood Olympic sport: dressage

Following on from the idea that you have to be rich is the idea that you need no talent, that the horse does all the work and that consequently, riders don’t need athleticism. This is nonsense. Watch a horse and rider perform dressage from a distance, and the rider looks as if they are hardly moving. Then watch the close-ups of passage, that strange slow motion trot that was originally used in military parades. There is a tremendous amount of movement in passage (take it from me as a rider, the thought of dressage without a sports bra is too painful for words) and so for the rider to create the illusion of sitting still, they must move in synchronicity with the horse. The difference between each movement lies mainly in the use of your hips, legs and core muscles. Even at my low riding level, I have a nicely defined set of abs and the cardiovascular fitness of someone 15 years my junior.

Photograph: Markus Schreiber/AP