weak people do not make good horsemen. Period and end. Horses are at least half a ton of sheer power and keeping them paced through cross country AND staying with them over huge fences AND controlling them through turns and staying balanced is possibly one of the most exhausting acts of endurance you can do without doing the actual running and jumping yourself. Your core muscles and upper leg muscles go insane when you ride in general, and when you're jumping at that level there is not a single muscle in your body that does not function. i'm pretty certain with some of those fences, even your anal spinchter muscles function to keep you from shitting yourself.

In other words, if people are going to consider golfing a sport despite it's lack of exercise, you've GOT to consider equestrian a sport