Sports come and go, but some stay at the top of the ladder, like football. Sports are here to help us practice, have fun and eventually, maybe even go professional. However, not all sports are good for competitions and some are even terrible if you want to make them into a professional sport.

Some sports that were played centuries ago are no longer played, mostly due to either being dangerous or too boring for the modern audience. There have been many weird and interesting sports throughout history. Here are the weirdest sports that used to be played but no longer are.

Horse Long Jump

Remember the Olympic long jump event? Well, imagine doing that but with a horse. Horse long jump actually used to be an Olympic event, at the 1900 Summer Olympics. It wasn’t long-lived, obviously, as we have never seen it after that.

The record for a horse long jump is actually not that good. At the time, the record was about 20 feet or 6 meters. This is actually really bad, considering the world record for a human long jump is around 8.95 meters for men and 7.52 for women, both of which are a lot better than the horse long jump. Combine the event with the possibility of the horse and rider getting injured and it was out of the Olympics almost immediately.

Live Pigeon Shooting

Remember Olympic events such as skeet shooting, bullseye and other shooting events where people shoot at non-living objects? Well, at the 1900 Olympics, which is slowly becoming a trend, live pigeons were used as targets for shooting. Over 300 pigeons were killed during the event and after it was over, officials decided against using any kind of live target anymore. Clay pigeons were used from that point on. One could imagine the backlash if the event was actually played today, when animal rights activists are ready to get their pitchforks out at any mention of animal abuse (which is a good thing).

Pistol Duels

Imagine that, a wild-west sort of duel, at the 1906 and 1908 Olympics. Pistol dueling was a thing at one point, but the competitors were using wax bullets instead of real ones. The types of pistols that were used at the time were flintlock pistols. In today’s world, this sort of event would more likely be a lot more spectacular. 

Interestingly at the 1906 games, competitors shot at dummies and not at one another. That was changed for the 1908 games, when competitors were actually shooting at one another. We have not seen such an event since those Olympics.

Ski Ballet

At the 1988 and 1992 Winter Olympics, ski ballet made its appearance as a demonstration sport. It was pretty interesting, seeing professional skiers do choreographies while going downhill. Skiing is dangerous on its own, but when you add choreographies to the mix, it becomes really dangerous. 

Even though it was a thrill to watch, the sport wasn’t really popular and it was discontinued in the year 2000 by the International Ski Federation, at least as a formal sport under their wing.

Goose Pulling

A goose would be hanged on a frame upside down. A rider on a horse would attempt to ride through the frame going as fast as possible, and grab the goose by the neck, tearing it off. You could imagine why this game isn’t popular nowadays and why it wouldn’t go well in the limelight.

These are some interesting and weird sports from our recent history that no longer exist, or rather, are not played by many if any people.