The Olympics is an event celebrating the strength of the human spirit, cooperation, and sportsmanship.
The global sporting event has brought together millions of people in the spirit of unity and harmony. Athletes have made their countries proud by participating in events that pushed their skills beyond expectations.
Among these athletes, however, one has swept the internet by storm. And he did all of that with impeccable rhythm, grace, and his taste for rave music.
Suppenkasper, nicknamed Mopsi, has earned the moniker “Rave Horse”. He is a dressage horse partnered with American rider Steffen Peters.
He stole the hearts of millions with his graceful transitions and well-paced steps and introduced them to the sport of dressage.
Dressage dates back to the Classical Greek era where horsemanship is tied to the military. Soldiers trained their horses to perform maneuvers intended to charge and evade while on the battlefield.
Horse training has been credited to Xenophon, an Athenian military leader, historian, and philosopher. In his work, he explained how to train a good horse and how to anchor the program on rewards and rather than punishment.
Now, the sport has evolved through different riding schools until it was included as a part of the Stockholm Olympics in 1912.
Back then, only commissioned military officers are eligible to compete, but in 1952, the rules were changed to allow civilians to compete.
If these changes didn’t happen, we wouldn’t see Mopsi take the stage together with Peters. The duo brought the party to Tokyo where their stylish trotting went viral.
While Mopsi’s routine didn’t earn him the much-coveted gold, the popular performance earned an 80.968, or a 10th place.
Even if they didn’t win the event, the duo surely won the internet.
Peters, a 56-year-old athlete and a five-time Olympian, became the oldest U.S. Olympian to get a medal since 1952. He and Mopsi took silver during a team competition. Peters, knowing that there are fans who are not familiar with dressage, put on a show with relatable music.
According to Yahoo Sports, Peters used music from David Bowie, Queen, and even Kanye West.
But in their freestyle event, Mopsi flaunted his majestic gate to the upbeat electronic mix by artist Taylor Kade. Kade was so ecstatic as he shared how he created the piece for the program. In his TikTok video, he showed how the music perfectly synced with Mopsi’s gait and trot.
“There’s always a different taste,” Peters told Yahoo Sports. “Sometimes the dramatic music and the quieter, more emotional music is popular. Personally I like the upbeat dance music. If we have a party tonight, that’s the music I’d be dancing to. And that’s what I wanted to bring into the freestyle.”
With the pandemic still raging in different parts of the world, it might take a while before we go back to partying. But fortunately, there was an animal athlete in the Olympics who reminded us that we can party with ourselves just as long as good music is on.
Watch this head-bopping performance by one of the most admired animal athletes of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
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"OMG THEY'RE PLAYING MY SONG." – the horse at the club pic.twitter.com/xRNJ5N6acE
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) July 31, 2021
