Animals in sport are a specific form of working animals. Many animals, at least in more commercial sports, are highly trained. Two of the most common animals in sport are horses and dogs.

Types of animal sporting events

There are many types of animal sporting events, with varying levels of participation from humans. Some are solely between the animals while others use the animals in a lesser role. Most sports involve training, while some can also involve selective breeding. There are some large-scale events that include animals in a variety of sports. A

rodeo Rodeo () is a competitive equestrian sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain and Mexico, expanding throughout the Americas and to other nations. It was originally based on the skills required of the working va ...

can comprise many different sports, ranging from bull riding to pole bending. Some of the most well known types of animal racing are

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...

, dog racing (e.g.

Greyhound racing Greyhound racing is an organized, competitive sport in which greyhounds are raced around a track. There are two forms of greyhound racing, track racing (normally around an oval track) and coursing; the latter is now banned in most countries. Tra ...

, sled dog racing), pigeon racing, and camel racing. JASDogRace

Racing

Racing is the most popular form of animal-related sport, particularly

. Some racing events directly involve humans as riders while others see the animals race alone. In some sports the rider is not directly riding the animal, instead being pulled along. Examples of this include

harness racing Harness racing is a form of horse racing in which the horses race at a specific gait (a trot or a pace). They usually pull a two-wheeled cart called a sulky, or spider, or chariot occupied by a driver. In Europe, and less frequently in Australi ...

, dogsled racing and popular ancient Greece and Roman Empire sport of chariot racing.

, a popular form of animal racing, dates back to the 1800s in the United States, after the dogs were brought over from Europe to help control the

hare Hares and jackrabbits are mammals belonging to the genus ''Lepus''. They are herbivores, and live solitarily or in pairs. They nest in slight depressions called forms, and their young are able to fend for themselves shortly after birth. The ge ...

population. While track racing is the most common, there are other forms of racing. Pigeon racing, for example, sees homing pigeons finding their way home from a set distance away. Kambala, he-buffalo racing in coastal Karnataka, India is a rural spectator racing conducted every year during winter in about 50 towns/villages. Racing events are a common way to gamble, with billions spent worldwide every year. This is one reason that some countries or states have made such sports illegal.

One-on-one and team events

There are some non-racing competitive events involving animals.

Polo Polo is a ball game played on horseback, a traditional field sport and one of the world's oldest known team sports. The game is played by two opposing teams with the objective of scoring using a long-handled wooden mallet to hit a small hard ...

is an example, with competitors hitting a

ball A ball is a round object (usually spherical, but can sometimes be ovoid) with several uses. It is used in ball games, where the play of the game follows the state of the ball as it is hit, kicked or thrown by players. Balls can also be used f ...

with

mallet A mallet is a tool used for imparting force on another object, often made of rubber or sometimes wood, that is smaller than a maul or beetle, and usually has a relatively large head. The term is descriptive of the overall size and proport ...

s while on horseback. Elephant polo dates back to the early 20th century when members of the British aristocracy in Nepal began playing the sport. In the 14th to 16th centuries jousting was a popular one-on-one tournament event involving knights on horseback.

Fighting

In most countries, the act of causing two or more animals to fight each other, as in cockfighting and dog fighting, is seen as cruel and is therefore banned by the law. Some animal fights are lawful in countries around the world, including cow fighting and camel wrestling. There are also some forms of lawful sport in which humans fight animals, such as

bullfighting Bullfighting is a physical contest that involves a bullfighter attempting to subdue, immobilize, or kill a bull, usually according to a set of rules, guidelines, or cultural expectations. There are several variations, including some forms wh ...

, which has a long history in Spanish and Portuguese tradition, and jallikattu, which has similar tradition in Tamil Nadu, India. Not all animals are large, however, with

cricket fighting Cricket fighting is a hobby and gambling activity involving the fighting of male crickets.

being a popular sport in Macau and Hong Kong, although gambling on it is now against the law. There are several other blood sports in history that were intended as entertainment, many of which involved baiting by dogs. Many different types of animal have been placed into a pit, sometimes tied to a post, and set upon by dogs. This ranges from rat-baiting and

badger-baiting Badger-baiting is a form of blood sport in which badgers are baited with dogs. A baiting session typically results in the death of the badger, and possibly serious injuries to the dogs. Background The badger is a usually quiet and docile creat ...

to bear-baiting and lion-baiting. There are even some tales of human-baiting. Animals that take part in animal fights are usually specifically bred for strength and stamina.

Killing

Hunting began as a crucial component of

hunter-gatherer A traditional hunter-gatherer or forager is a human living an ancestrally derived lifestyle in which most or all food is obtained by foraging, that is, by gathering food from local sources, especially edible wild plants but also insects, fungi, ...

societies, being an important source of food. The domestication of animals and the development of agriculture lessened the need for hunts, with food being more readily available. Hunting became a sport for those of the high

social class A social class is a grouping of people into a set of Dominance hierarchy, hierarchical social categories, the most common being the Upper class, upper, Middle class, middle and Working class, lower classes. Membership in a social class can for ...

es. In most parts of medieval Europe, the upper-class (aristocracy and higher clergy) obtained as privilege the sole rights to hunt in certain areas of a feudal territory. Dangerous hunting, as for lions or wild boars, usually on horseback (or from a

chariot A chariot is a type of cart driven by a charioteer, usually using horses to provide rapid motive power. The oldest known chariots have been found in burials of the Sintashta culture in modern-day Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, dated to c. 2000&nbs ...

, as in Pharaonic Egypt and Mesopotamia) also had function similar to

tournaments A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

and manly sports: an honourable, somewhat competitive pastime to help the aristocracy practice skills of war in times of peace. In ancient Rome the " Venatio" was a form of entertainment that pitted humans against animals in an amphitheater. In modern times, hunting is usually legal as long as the hunter has a license, though there are some unregulated forms in some countries. Animals can be on either side of a hunt, assisting the hunters or being hunted themselves.

Fox hunting Fox hunting is an activity involving the tracking, chase and, if caught, the killing of a fox, traditionally a red fox, by trained foxhounds or other scent hounds. A group of unarmed followers, led by a "master of foxhounds" (or "master of ho ...

has been a controversial issue, particularly in the United Kingdom, regarding its necessity and the cruelty involved (See Fox hunting legislation).

Fishing

Fishing is somewhat different from other sports and is most commonly a pastime or hobby. However, it can also be a competitive sport.

Pigeon shooting

Pigeon shooting was one of the shooting events of the

1900 Summer Olympics The 1900 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1900, link=no), today officially known as the Games of the II Olympiad () and also known as Paris 1900, were an international multi-sport event that took place in Paris, France, from 1 ...

. Competitors in these events had to kill as many live pigeons as possible. Birds were released one at a time from 'traps' in front of the shooters.

Shows of training or breeding

Shows are intended to highlight the excellence of training or

breeding Breeding is sexual reproduction that produces offspring, usually animals or plants. It can only occur between a male and a female animal or plant. Breeding may refer to: * Animal husbandry, through selected specimens such as dogs, horses, and rab ...

of the animals involved. There is a variety of horse riding sports in this category, including

show jumping Show jumping is a part of a group of English riding equestrianism, equestrian events that also includes dressage, eventing, Show hunter, hunters, and equitation. Jumping classes are commonly seen at horse shows throughout the world, including th ...

and

dressage Dressage ( or ; a French term, most commonly translated to mean "training") is a form of horse riding performed in exhibition and competition, as well as an art sometimes pursued solely for the sake of mastery. As an equestrian sport defined b ...

, both of which are featured at the Olympic Games. At lower levels, horse shows offer a wide variety of competition both riding and driving as well as In-hand classes that evaluate

equine conformation Equine conformation evaluates a horse's bone structure, musculature, and its body proportions in relation to each other. Undesirable conformation can limit the ability to perform a specific task. Although there are several faults with universa ...

. Dogs, being easily domesticated, are one of the most popular animals to have in shows. Cattle and

sheepdog trial A sheepdog trial (also herding event, stock dog trial or simply dog trial) — is a competition or test for working abilities of herding breeds dogs. It is a type of dog sport that emerged in the 1860s in New Zealand. By the 1870s regular trials ...

s are popular in many countries and are used to show how well a dog can

gather Gather, gatherer, or gathering may refer to: Anthropology and sociology * Hunter-gatherer, a person or a society whose subsistence depends on hunting and gathering of wild foods *Intensive gathering, the practice of cultivating wild plants as a s ...

livestock. Other dog sports of this category include dog agility events, whereby the dogs must tackle obstacle courses, and obedience trials, where they must execute a predefined set of tasks. Crufts, a British conformation show for dogs, has grown since it started in 1886. While dogs are the most common show animal, cat shows are also common. Both of these animals have a wide variety of breeds and compete in categories, comparing each individual to the breed "ideal". Some unusual animals also take part in shows, such as the competitors in rabbit show jumping and common chaffinches in

vinkenzetting ''Vinkensport'' (Dutch for ''"finch sport"'') is a competitive animal sport in which male common chaffinches are made to compete for the highest number of bird calls in an hour. Also called ''vinkenzetting'' ("finch sitting"). It is primarily a ...

Popular culture

Films and television series about animals in sport can be realistic or fictional, involving animals in an activity that they cannot really perform. ''

Seabiscuit Seabiscuit (May 23, 1933 – May 17, 1947) was a champion thoroughbred racehorse in the United States who became the top money-winning racehorse up to the 1940s. He beat the 1937 Triple Crown winner, War Admiral, by four lengths in a two-horse ...

'' is a fairly accurate portrayal of the famous American horse of the same name, while '' MVP: Most Valuable Primate'', a film about a hockey-playing

chimpanzee The chimpanzee (''Pan troglodytes''), also known as simply the chimp, is a species of great ape native to the forest and savannah of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed subspecies. When its close relative th ...

, is unrealistic. The 1980 animated film ''

Animalympics ''Animalympics'' is a 1980 animated television film directed by Steven Lisberger and produced by Lisberger Studios for the NBC network. Originally commissioned as two separate specials, it spoofs the Summer and Winter Olympic Games and features ...

'' is a spoof of the Olympic Games and features

anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...

ised animals. In the combination live action and

animation Animation is a method by which image, still figures are manipulated to appear as Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent cel, celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited ...

film '' Bedknobs and Broomsticks'', animated animals play a game of

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

. Similarly, several television commercials used the Budweiser Clydesdales and other animals in live-action and CGA roles to appear to be playing American football. From 1976 to 1999, the BBC broadcast '' One Man and His Dog'', a television series about sheepdog trials. They also commissioned three series of ''

Pets Win Prizes ''Pets Win Prizes'' is a game show, produced by the British Broadcasting Corporation and shown on Saturday nights on BBC 1 in the United Kingdom from 16 July 1994 to 3 August 1996. It was originally hosted by Danny Baker, but Dale Winton became th ...

'', a game show with contestants' pets having to perform in various tasks. ''

Man vs. Beast ''Man vs. Beast'' is a series of sensationalistic television specials aired in the United States by the Fox television network in 2003. The shows were produced by Brian Richardson and directed by Bob Levy. They involve a variety of challenges i ...

'' is an American television show that pitches humans against animals in a variety of unusual challenges, including competitive eating between world champion Takeru Kobayashi and a brown bear.

References

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