Equestrian is the only Olympic sport in which men and women compete on equal terms.There are no separate events for men and women in the three different disciplines -- dressage, jumping and eventing.However, women were only allowed to compete in the sport in 1952 when the competition stopped being restricted to active-duty officers on military horses.Riders must avoid accumulating penalty points for errors and to do that they rely on harmony with their horses.---CINDERELLA STORYLaura Graves of the United States will be aiming to write the perfect ending to her fairytale in Rio at her first Olympic Games.The former hairdresser burst onto the scene in 2014, when she and her horse Verdades (Diddy for short) finished fifth in the World Equestrian Games Grand Prix Freestyle and were also second at the Grand Prix National Championship, behind three-time Olympian Steffen Peters and Legolas.Graves love of horses began when her parents traded their washer and dryer for two ponies. She always dreamed of competing but was unable to due to a lack of funds.Her parents bought her a horse on a modest budget from a sales video but Diddy was temperamental and would refuse to be ridden many days.One of many falls resulted in Graves breaking her back, but she did not give up, and they rose from obscurity to one of the worlds best dressage duos.---CAPTAIN CANADAKnown as Captain Canada, Ian Millar etched his name into sporting history at London 2012, setting a new record for the most appearances in Olympic Games.Having surpassed Austrian sailor Hubert Raudaschls nine, the 69-year-old is hoping to make it 11 in Rio, where he could also compete with his children, Jonathon and Amy, who are also hoping to qualify.Millars total would already be 11 had Canada not joined the boycott of the 1980 Olympics in Moscow.Millars first Olympic Games were Munich 1972 and he won his only Olympic medal at the 2008 Games in Beijing, becoming the oldest show jumper to stand on the podium, at the age of 61.He dedicated the medal to his wife of 39 years, who had died months earlier from cancer.---PAMPERED HORSESIn equestrian, its not just the athletes who receive top treatement and training, but the horses too.Between events, horses run on treadmills and have massages, as well as physiotherapy and acupuncture sessions.Top horses also fly around the world on specially designed aeroplanes and have passports containing detailed physical descriptions and lists of vaccines taken.Problems can arise, however, especially with riders from Australia, which has strict quarantine laws. Many riders from Australia and New Zealand live in Europe or the United States.Phillip Dutton, who won gold at three successive Olympics from 1996-2004 as part of the Australian eventing team, moved to the United States in 1991 and started to compete for his adoptive country after officially becoming a U.S. citizen in 2006.---GERMAN DOMINANCEGermany has dominated the sport, specifically dressage where it has an impressive haul of 19 gold medals, 11 silver and nine bronze.The top three athletes in the history of equestrian are also German: Reiner Klimke won six gold and two bronze medals in dressage, Isabell Werth five golds and three silvers in the same event, while Hans Gunter Winkler won five gold, one silver and a bronze in show jumping.Germany won seven successive dressage team gold medals at the Olympics, until its run was interrupted in London by a Great Britain team, including Charlotte Dujardin on Valegro and Laura Bechtolsheimer on Mistral Hojris -- the individual gold and bronze medalists.Valegro has been the best horse for the past four years and the individual medal will likely be a battle between Dujardin and Werth, who did not compete four years ago.One of the best riders in the United States is originally German. Born in Wesel, Germany, Steffen Peters emigrated to America in 1985, becoming a U.S. citizen in 1992. He rode in the first of three Olympic Games four years later, helping his new nation to the team bronze medal in Atlanta.The U.S., with one silver and seven bronze, and Canada, one bronze, are the only non-European countries with dressage medals. Cheap Giants Jerseys Free Shipping . PETERSBURG, Fla. Wholesale New York Giants Jerseys 2019 .Y. - Free agent outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury, fresh off winning the World Series with Boston, reached agreement with the rival New York Yankees on a seven-year contract worth about $153 million, a person familiar with the negotiations said Tuesday night. http://www.cheapgiantsjerseys.us/ . 4 Villanova with a 96-68 drubbing on Monday. Wragge hit 9-of-14 from behind the arc, matching Kyle Korvers school record for 3-pointers in a game set in 2003, as Creighton (16-3, 6-1 Big East broke a conference record with 21 treys in the rout. New York Giants B. J. Hill Jersey . LOUIS -- Cardinals cleanup hitter Allen Craig says hes recovered from a foot injury and ready to be put on St. New York Giants Kyle Lauletta Jersey .Y. - Nelson Mandela will be honoured by the New York Yankees with a plaque in Monument Park. The Edmonton Oilers and Dallas Stars both seek better performances in their game Saturday at American Airlines Center in Dallas, but do so for different reasons.Edmonton (9-8-1) lost 4-2 to the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday at Staples Center, and Oilers coach Todd McLellan kept his focus simple during a Friday morning practice in Anaheim prior to his team hopping a plane for Dallas.We worked on fundamental skill development, plays in and around the net, McLellan said. I thought it was good for our group. Hopefully it carries forward into a game situation.McLellan said the Oilers could get injured forward Matt Hendricks (lower body) back for Saturdays game and that injured defenseman Kris Russell (undisclosed), a former Star, could also play in Dallas this weekend.Should Edmonton, who is 5-4-1 on the road, get both Hendricks and Russell back, the man behind the Edmonton bench has no doubt about what sort of jolt of positive energy that could give his club.It should provide an energy boost, it should give us a different look and it should create a competitive environment within the team right now for ice time, McLellan said.Dallas (7-6-5) edged the Colorado Avalanche 3-2 on Thursday at home, but all three Stars goals came in the first period, and coach Lindy Ruff was none too pleased about how his team performed over the games final 40 minutes.We got smoked in chances, we got smoked in zone time, Ruff said of Thursdays win after practice on Friday. I said to the team there was three things I liked. I liked our goaltending, I liked our discipline inside the game when it came to the differential in penalties, and I liked the little man that came in the dressing room after the game that the players spent some time with. That for me brought a smile to my face.The Staars got injured center Cody Eakin, who had yet to play this season due to a knee injury sustained in preseason, back on the ice against Colorado.ddddddddddddAnd on Saturday, it appears veteran forward Patrick Sharp could return to the lineup for the first time since sustaining a concussion in an October game against the Kings.Yeah, it feels great. Joined the team last week on the road. I think that was good for me, being out for a couple weeks to be around the team and get a few practices in, Sharp said after practice on Friday. Body feels great, I feel like Im past the injury, I feel like Im in great shape and ready to get back in there when the coach wants.Ruff now has the luxury of picking between two veteran goaltenders in Kari Lehtonen, who was strong in Thursdays win and the man reason Dallas won, and Antti Niemi, who played equally well in a 2-1 overtime loss to the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday.Lehtonen was first off the ice at practice on Friday, but that might not mean anything.Still, Ruffs focus isnt on which netminder hell go with on Saturday; its more centered around bigger-picture sort of things.I think that my focus right now is to get all areas of our team going well. Ruff said. We got to get firing on all cylinders. Thats our top-end forwards, got to get them playing well and producing. Theyre playing well defensively and right now the goaltendings been going good, our special teams has gone in the right direction, four or last five on the penalty kill side have been clean and weve pushed the differential in our favor. Now its time to build a little momentum.Dallas will be playing game three of a four-game homestand. Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping Discount Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap Jerseys 2020 Wholesale Nike NFL Jerseys Wholesale Stitched Jerseys Cheap Jerseys 2019 ' ' '