Much of the world's population was intimately familiar with the horse. Within this context, what were 1900's main priorities for equestrian sport? Clearly there was no need to inform the public about horses or to further popularize them. Neither was there a need to enhance their prestige. Horses were closely associated with royalty and the aristocracy including the aristocracy of new wealth, and there was no question that the Cavalry was the most elite branch of the armed services.

Moreover, the cavalries of the world not only trained riders and their instructors, they also bred horses and taught saddlers, farriers and veterinary technicians, all at no expense to the civilian horse community. In consequence, there was no pressing need for civilians to address these tasks. Indeed, as far as the horse show world was concerned, the cavalries not only provided horses and competitors but also judges, federation officials, course designers, and sometimes even venues, ring crews and communications. In aggregate, the support provided by the horse cavalries of the world for all equestrian sports amounted to a subsidy of millions or even billions of guilder, marks, francs, dollars or what have you. It was a pretty darn nice cushion to have.