i enjoy horseback riding.
[{"role": "system", "content": "Equestrianism (from Latin equester, equestr-, equus, \"horseman\", \"horse\"), more often known as riding, horse riding (British English) or horseback riding (American English), refers to the skill of riding, driving, steeplechasing or vaulting with horses. This broad description includes the use of horses for practical working purposes, transportation, recreational activities, artistic or cultural exercises and competitive sport. Horses are trained and ridden for practical working purposes such as in police work or for controlling herd animals on a ranch. They are also used in competitive sports including, but not limited to, dressage, endurance riding, eventing, reining, show jumping, tent pegging, vaulting, polo, horse racing, driving and rodeo (See additional equestrian sports listed later in this article for more examples). Some popular forms of competition are grouped together at horse shows, where horses perform in a wide variety of disciplines. Horses (and other equids such as mules) are used for non-competitive recreational riding such as fox hunting, trail riding or hacking. There is public access to horse trails in almost every part of the world; many parks, ranches and public stables offer both guided and independent riding.\n"}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "When I was a kid I was quite interested in horseback riding. But it didn't seem practical to pursue equestrianism as a hobby."}, {"role": "user", "content": "How old were you when you started?"}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "Well I rode some horses for practical purposes on a ranch for a while when I was around 12, but honestly, I can't say that I stuck with it."}, {"role": "user", "content": "I wonder how many people succeed in professional jobs doing this"}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "Well I sure wasn't one of them. I thought of becomming a cowboy, but I had romantic ideas of what that meant and wasn't really serious about herding cattle."}, {"role": "user", "content": "I bet it's a relaxing type of environment but probably not very lucrative."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "Yeah. I just wanted to be out on the frontier out in the Rocky Mountains."}, {"role": "user", "content": "I'm pretty sensitive about animal cruelty, hopefully this industry in careful in that aspect."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "Well it's hard not to be a little rough. Branding, whipping etc. could be construed as inflicting harm to the animal. Is it cruel? I don't know."}, {"role": "user", "content": "I guess a certain level is understandable but some people really go overboard."}]