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EQUESTRIAN SHOW JUMPING
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Show jumping is a form of competition in which horses are jumped over a course of fences, low walls, and other obstacles (e.g., water-filled ditches or troughs). Show jumping is a competitive sport consisting of many elements. The course is pre-arranged; the event may be timed or untimed. It is scored by a judge or panel of judges. Show jumping or "jumpers" is a member of a family of English-discipline equestrian events that includes hunters and equitation. Events that include these sports are called hunter/jumper horse shows.
Grand Prix show jumping
Overview
There are four types of jumping disciplines: Hunter, Equitation, Jumper(show jumping), and Stadium Jumping Courses (with combined three day eventing). In a Hunter style course, courses are designed for a smooth, flowing performance of the horse. A rider should demonstrate an even pace over fences simulating those found in the natural hunting field. In competition, a horse is judged on its performance, manners, and way of going. An even, steady pace, consistently good takeoff distances, good jumping style, long, low movement, and overall smoothness and ease of performance are paramount. If a horse ticks, or touches, the fence he is jumping with his fore or hind legs, a fault is added to the score.
Jumper courses are held over a course of show jumping obstacles, including verticals, spreads, double and triple combinations, and many turns and changes of direction. The more professional the class, such as a Grade A class, the more technical the strides between each fence becomes. For example they would make a related combination with the normal horse canter stride of six strides between each fence and change it to six and a half strides to make it more complicated for the rider. The purpose is to jump cleanly over a twisting course within an allotted time; jumping faults are incurred for knockdowns only (as compared to ticks), disobedience, and time faults for exceeding time allowance. Tied entries jump over a raised and shortened course; if entries are tied in the jump-off, the fastest time wins. Riders walk both course and the jump-off course before competition, to plan their ride.
Jumper courses are highly technical, requiring boldness, scope, power, accuracy, and control; speed is also a factor, especially in jump-off course and speed classes (in which time counts in the first round). A jumper must jump big, bravely, and fast, but he must also be careful and accurate to avoid knockdowns, and must be balanced and rideable in order to rate and turn accurately. A jumper rider must ride the best line to each fence, saving ground with well-planned turns and lines, and must adjust his horse's stride for each fence and distance, while avoiding knockdowns. In a jumpoff, he must balance the need to go as fast as possible and turn as tight as he can, against his horse's ability to jump cleanly.
The horses are allowed a certain number of refusals to take a jump or other obstacle, but fault points are added to their score for each one. Until recently, it was 3 faults, but was changed to 4 faults by the FEI (Federation Equestrian International) as it was decided that it is better for the horse to attempt the jump rather than to refuse it and should therefore not be penalized less for a more severe fault. If they take more than the time allowed for the course, they earn one fourth fault for each extra second. For every pole that is knocked down, four faults are earned.
The final rankings are based on the lowest number of points accumulated. In case of a draw, the horse with the fastest time ranks higher.
Grace, beauty and skill
History of show jumping
Show jumping is a relatively new equestrian sport. Until the Enclosures Acts which came into force in England in the eighteenth century there had been no need for a horse to jump fences as there had been none. But with this act of parliament came new challenges for those followers of fox hounds. The enclosures act brought fencing and boundaries to many parts of the country as common ground was dispersed amongst the wealthy landowners. This meant that those wishing to pursue their sport now needed horses which were capable of jumping these obstacles.
In the early shows held in France there was a parade of competitors who then took off across country for the jumping. This sport was, however, not popular with spectators as they could not watch the jumping. Soon after the introduction of these parades fences began to appear in the arena. This became known as ‘Lepping’. Fifteen years later, ‘Lepping’ competitions were brought to Britain and by 1900 most of the more important shows had ‘Lepping’ classes although they rarely attracted more than 20 competitors. The ladies, riding side-saddle, had their own classes.
At this time, the principal cavalry schools of Europe at Pinerolo and Tor-di-Quinto in Italy, the French school in Saumur and the Spanish school in Vienna preferred to use a backward seat when jumping for safety purposes with long length stirrups. The Italian Instructor Captain Fiederico Caprilli heavily influenced the forward seat with his ideas that the forward position would not impede the balance of the horse negotiating obstacles. It is this latter style which is commonly used today.
The first big show jumping class to be held in England was in the Horse of the Year Show at Olympia in 1907. Most of the competitors were servicemen and it became clear at this competition and in the subsequent years that there was no uniformity of rules for the sport. Judges marked on their own opinions. Some marked according to the severity of the obstacle and others marked according to style. Before 1907 there were no penalties for a refusal and the competitor was sometimes asked to miss the fence to please the spectators. The first courses were built with little imagination; many consisting of only a straight bar fence and a water jump. A meeting was arranged in 1923 to rectify it and this led to the formation of the BSJA in 1925.
Today , show jumping has come a long way in a relatively short time. Jumping courses are now highly technical , requiring boldness, scope ,power, accuracy and control from both horse and rider. In the early days the time element did not count and water jumps always contained water until it eventually drained away ( benefiting the later drawn horses in the competition ) . Further , it was some years before a competitor was penalised for circling between obstacles. In addition , the high jump would start with a single pole at a height of 5ft. ( 1.52m ) but this style of competition was abandoned due to the horses considering the easier option of going under the pole ! and led to the fillers and multiple poles etc that are seen on present day courses.
Show Jumping was introduced to the Olympic Games in 1912 and has thrived ever since. There have been calls recently to have all equestrian sports removed from the Olympics based upon the argument that the Olympics is about man competing against man and that there should be no involvement nor competition between any other living species. Well fortunately that argument did not gain much favour and we at Greenacres Stud cant wait to attend our first Olympics in London's Greenwich park in 2012. To list all the achievements of all the past great Olympic Horses would itself take until nearly 2012 to compile. We would however just like to give a very quick mention to just 2.... Milton who is a part Trakehner ( the breed close to our heart ) and Ahorn who is the grand sire of our own Dutch Warmblood Greenacres Hajla - Z and Holstein Warmblood Greenacres Hekabo - Z .
Original scoring tariff
The original list of faults introduced in 1925 was as follows:
Refusing or Running out at any fence:
Fall of Horse or Rider or both: Elimination
Horse touches a fence without knocking it down, then there are no faults, as they are only incurred if a pole or any part of the jump is knoked down.
For every jump that is knoked down 4 faults are incurred. The same as for a water jump, if a horse has lands with one foot or more than one in the water there are still only 4 faults incurred.
Water jumps were at least 15 feet (5 metres) wide although the water had often drained out of them before the last competitor jumped them. High jumping would start with a pole at around 5 foot but this was later abandoned as many horses went under the pole. It was for this reason that more poles were added and fillers came into use. In the early days time penalties did not count and competitors were not penalized until 1917. Showjumping was first incorporated into the Olympic Games in 1912 and has thrived ever since, its popularity due in part to its suitability as a spectator sport which can be viewed on television.
Great technique
The horses
Some horse breeds have characteristics tailored for different styles of jumping.
Some of the great show jumping horses in history have been:
Three-Day Event
Team Three-Day Event
Show Jumping
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