2024-07-25 12:15:28 - 24

Equestrianism: Lessons for life, beyond the tracks

Close to the Paris 2024 Olympics, CBR releases an episode of the CBR Podcast with Fernando Sperb - President of the Brazilian Equestrian Confederation

Credit: CBR

The twenty-first episode of the CBR Podcast was released on May 29th and featured
by Fernando Sperb - President of the Brazilian Equestrian Confederation (CBH) and lawyer. The theme of this edition is: “Equestrianism: Lessons for life, beyond the tracks”.

With the Paris 2024 Olympic Games approaching, which will open on July 26th, in Paris, France, the Brazilian College of Radiology and Image Diagnosis (CBR) released a very special episode of the CBR Podcast, with the participation of the President of the Brazilian Equestrian Confederation (CBH). In addition to being the current President of CBH and a lawyer, Fernando is an amateur rider in the sport
equestrian jumping.

During the chat, the CBH director shared a little more about equestrianism and the importance of this sport for humans: “The horse has the power to absorb human stress and has the ability to eliminate this stress. It's almost magic, but he does it, I'm a witness to that. Many times I rode with absolute stress, tiredness, sadness and bad everyday feelings, and I left there clean and with a totally different mood”, said Fernando.

+CBR is present at the 2024 Hospital Fair

The President of CBH also discussed the importance of equestrianism in the training of young people: “The citizen training that the sport offers is unparalleled. These are facts that show us that, the horse depends on us, from food to work and its needs. If we, human beings, don't take care of this, they (domesticated horses) end up not having a healthy life. The protection and well-being of the animal is an obligation within CBH and equestrian activities. These are the most important and demanding activities in sport.” Fernando continues: “Therefore, a child who enters the sport cannot ignore the needs and dependence that the horse has on us, so he starts to take care of it”.

This episode also talked about equestrian being the only Olympic sport where men and women can compete against each other on equal terms. Fernando Sperb highlights that only two medals are competed for per sport, one individual and one team, but both men and women compete against each other.

Another aspect of equestrianism that has been growing a lot is equine therapy. This activity helps children who have locomotor and intellectual difficulties, because horse riding helps with motor coordination, focus, interaction with the horse and also increases concentration. The President of CBH spoke about the existing programs regarding this therapeutic and educational method: "The great social contribution of the modality is through equine therapy. Through this, we were able to create the program for needy people who have these difficulties and who can practice equine therapy to be able to better develop their difficulties.” The treatment can be carried out by people with syndromes, autism and locomotor problems.

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At the end of the episode, Fernando Sperb spoke about the expectation of medals for Brazilian equestrian athletes at the Paris Olympic Games: “I think we can all be very hopeful. We have a really great chance of a medal. We have not won any medal at the Olympic Games for 20 years, we have been fasting for 20 years, the last medal was won by Rodrigo Pessoa in the individual jump in 2004, in Athens”. It is worth mentioning that only four athletes will represent Brazilian equestrianism in Paris, they are:

  • Pedro Veniss;
  • Rodrigo Pessoa;
  • Stephan de Freitas Barcha;
  • Yuri Mansur.

We wish good luck to the athletes who will represent Brazil at these Olympics!