Dave Barry is not a fan of equestrian sport

I love Dave Barry, I really do. I own his books and read his weekly Miami Herald column for years. But we don’t see eye-to-eye on the horse thing.

In a commentary published today entitled “Equestrian competition is a royal bummer,” he writes of his recent experience of watching Olympic show jumping, “in which a horse carrying a live human on its back must run around a course and jump over a series of obstacles.”

That may not sound riveting to you,” he writes, “but take it from me: When you’re right there, watching these expensive and highly trained animals perform in person, it really isn’t that riveting.”

He proposes a new, more exciting equestrian discipline:

Picture this: A horse is racing toward an obstacle. It launches itself into the air. Everything is looking good for this horse, but suddenly… UH-oh! There’s another airborne horse, coming over the obstacle from the opposite direction, sending the unspoken but clear message: “Out of the way! This is MY obstacle!”

Oh, Dave.

[Miami Herald]

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